Comment Re:General Technology (Score 1) 23
I've worked for over five years in both the general computer software industry and in the games industry as a programmer.
I don't think the general computer software industry ever went through anything like this. This industry originated at universities and research institutions. The requirements are generally more detailed from the beginning and the planning is much more thorough and the management is better so there is less/no crunch time. Also, if a project is behind schedule, either more people are brought in (and used efficiently) or more time is added to the schedule.
I think the games industry will go through a phase where it will slow down and companies such as EA will begin to really study how to make the process of making games more efficient and look at how the rest of the software industry manages software projects. Games are becoming more and more expensive to create. So making a game which gets canceled or flops is very expensive and game companies are going to want to find a way to minimize these. Flops and cancellations will still happen though, that's just part of the industry.
Also, the pace of innovative games will slow down. We've already seen this in the industry. Most games are now sequels instead of new titles/genres.
I don't think the general computer software industry ever went through anything like this. This industry originated at universities and research institutions. The requirements are generally more detailed from the beginning and the planning is much more thorough and the management is better so there is less/no crunch time. Also, if a project is behind schedule, either more people are brought in (and used efficiently) or more time is added to the schedule.
I think the games industry will go through a phase where it will slow down and companies such as EA will begin to really study how to make the process of making games more efficient and look at how the rest of the software industry manages software projects. Games are becoming more and more expensive to create. So making a game which gets canceled or flops is very expensive and game companies are going to want to find a way to minimize these. Flops and cancellations will still happen though, that's just part of the industry.
Also, the pace of innovative games will slow down. We've already seen this in the industry. Most games are now sequels instead of new titles/genres.
