Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory’s Creative Chief, believes that the AAA retail model that is currently on top is stifling the game industry. If you have no idea what I just said, it’s basically another argument in favor of the “new” digital movement that has been slowly invading our planet. Basically, his thinking is that high price points for consoles and their media makes it less likely that consumers will buy them at the quantities that developers are hoping for.
Does that sound right to any of you? Because I’m pretty sure that he just advocated quantity over quality. It’s all fine and good for the developers to make more money by producing inexpensive digital games, but what about the consumers? Although it may be hard for some to believe, there are still gamers out there that want a quality game that they can physically handle.
The interview that Antoniades gave comes off as a little confusing. In one answer, he seems to praise the lower-cost digital industry – which is famous for a few gems among a lot of bad games – by saying that “one of the advantages of being independent is to be able to pursue the things you want to do rather than the things you’re forced to do”. Although he was referring to picking and choosing what games they want to develop, game developers are being forced into the digital world whether they like it or not. The weird part is that they are forcing themselves into that spot by trying to cut corners.
“If you’re paying that much for a game, you don’t want to take chances,” Antoniades says. “You want everything to be there, all the feature sets. You want it to be a known experience, guaranteed fun. That’s not healthy.” This remark is a little on the sketchy side; it once again feels like his argument is leaning towards a high volume of releases being what’s best for the industry. Some of the best and most successful games out there are big projects that are the result of years in development by large teams of talent.
Sure, there is always the risk of a major project turning out poor (Duke Nukem Forever) but there are also a lot of great series that have prospered under this model. When a developer actually puts the effort into making something truly innovative, the cost ends up being worth it in most cases. If a developer just goes with what’s safe, they end up stifling the industry by putting out more of what we’ve seen before in order to try to replicate the success of others.
Is this digital world really taking over? Let’s just say I wouldn’t recommend throwing out your consoles just yet. As long as there are gamers out there that want immersive games that show a lot of time and effort, it seems there will still be a place for them. Disagree? Let us know what side of the fence you fall in by leaving a comment below.
[Sources: GamesIndustry.biz 1 and 2]
[Image via Gamepur]
