Consoles are over, long live the apps!
polycounter lvl 14
So I've been reading a few things lately and pondering these things myself.
Phone apps and browser games seem to be on the increase in popularity. This is fine, but personally I love playing console games and experienceing the latest in cutting edge graphics.
Now as an aspiring Games Environment Artist, I have spent a long time getting up to date with all the latest techniques and skills needed. I am now wondering if this is a massive waste of time, as low end graphics on apps etc will take over, and consoles will die. Rending the majority of my learned skills unecassary.
Throw into the mix that lots of games studios are closing, so there are less jobs with ever increasing competition from experianced artists.
There are also reports of studios (like Team Bondi) massively exploiting staff and providing horrendous working conditions.
All in all, it seems a bad time to get into the industry properly.
Now if apps are on the rise, it would makes sense to get into that side of games. But I just don't know if I would enjoy that any where near as much as making kick ass poly-tastic graphics.
Enough of my ramblings. I'm intersted to hear others thoughts on these issues.
Are high end games on the way out, giving in to apps and browser games?
And would it be more prudent for up coming artists to focus their skills elsewhere (away from high end graphcs)?
Phone apps and browser games seem to be on the increase in popularity. This is fine, but personally I love playing console games and experienceing the latest in cutting edge graphics.
Now as an aspiring Games Environment Artist, I have spent a long time getting up to date with all the latest techniques and skills needed. I am now wondering if this is a massive waste of time, as low end graphics on apps etc will take over, and consoles will die. Rending the majority of my learned skills unecassary.
Throw into the mix that lots of games studios are closing, so there are less jobs with ever increasing competition from experianced artists.
There are also reports of studios (like Team Bondi) massively exploiting staff and providing horrendous working conditions.
All in all, it seems a bad time to get into the industry properly.
Now if apps are on the rise, it would makes sense to get into that side of games. But I just don't know if I would enjoy that any where near as much as making kick ass poly-tastic graphics.
Enough of my ramblings. I'm intersted to hear others thoughts on these issues.
Are high end games on the way out, giving in to apps and browser games?
And would it be more prudent for up coming artists to focus their skills elsewhere (away from high end graphcs)?
Replies
Just my 0.02$ ofcourse.
if anything PC games are coming back, which means even more high poly. But when it comes down to it. consoles arent going anywhere. the core gamers will always want a good controller in their hands, looking at a big screen (and yes, PC can go into this category). consoles are also way more social than apps and web based games. They arent going anywhere.
that being said, with phones getting better and better, every six months, you`ll be seeing those poly limits rise and rise. so id say getting into that side of games is also a wise choice. those games arent going anywhere either.
Maybe someone can provide evidence or articles about that.
I very much doubt smartphone games will replace high end consoles or PC gaming though. There will always be a need for high end modeling.
So I don't expect mobile devices to kill traditional console gaming. Maybe there'll be a docking station under your TV which you can plug your phone into, so it may provide the hardware. But the kinds of games we play on consoles won't disappear, and won't migrate to a small phone's or tablet's screen either.
[ame]
it eventually would, but not yet.
, next gen app should capable to deliver high quality graphic to current gen console no excuse
also, one more thing, production value.
app todays doesnt have that much production/art/gameplay value even compared to old game that has lower tech graphic like ps one for example.
just compare, castlevania SOTN, to any sidescrolling game app today, SOTN still offer gameplay experience by lightyears compare to them, despite SOTN has lower graphic processor.
I agree, PC's can replace the incumbent consoles as the main entertainment source in the living room. They fill a variety of roles, DVR, HTPC, gaming system, and other non-entertainment roles. Why have a HTPC, DVR, and a gaming console in your living room when you can condense them into one device?
learning to make art well is never wasted
And if we have room for both TV and Film, I see no reason we won't have enough room for mobile and console.
A friend of mine said that he couldn't believe how much better he felt about games when he got a new pc. He said he played non stop because it was so much better. I personally am looking fwd to studios developing more for PC. It is just tech that will improve and not go anywhere soon. Consoles are getting ridiculous. I can see more potential in portable games for the VITA and 3DS than phone apps. But that i just me.
I do agree that it's better to have shorter games in development and maybe when you are good you can cook a really awesome game. Epic does it, they release other small games, gems like shadow complex which was amazing! and then GoW.
Anyways.... i am not scared of the industry going anywhere. The monopolizing of big studios overtaking everything is not gonna destroy the industry. There is more smaller studios with a different mindset that are making a difference and influencing the way the industry is perceived. Team Bondi was in charge of someone that was careless and insensitive, and people spoke and now he is sad without a publisher. Believe it or not, this industry is not stuck and is changing day by day with the development of tech and software. So i am looking fwd to pc and the wiiU. of course, just my opinion.
/rant
Also, before we make any conclusions about consoles dying; are we sure that the "app" demographic and console demographic are the same?
Personally, I have no interest whatsoever in casual/social gaming; I might pop one of those games every few weeks but I'm not gonna play it for more than a half an hour. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks like this; as long as there are people who want a more in-depth experience there will be companies making games for them.
That said, development times need to be shorter and budgets need to be lower; that goes without saying, but unless studios cut down on the "umph" factor I see only more studios being closed down. Do we really need all those "cinematic" experiences anyway?
Personally, I'm finding myself playing more PSX and PS2 games than any recent releases. And Wind Waker running on Dolphin is the most visually impressive game I had played in a while.
and PCs wont replace consoles in the living room of most homes....why...a console doesnt need much setup...a PC requires it...most people dont want the bother
HAHAHA that'll be an epic ass mobile device. :nerd:
I would dare to say that the gap is slowly closing. Consoles have gotten much more complex this gen due to patches, network configuration, firmware updates, installs, etc. Consoles are no longer the plug&play devices they used to be. On the other hand, PC's have gotten cheaper and popularity of gaming/entertainment laptops had been growing quite steadily. And then, there are services like Steam which make the whole installing/patching process a lot easier.
I guess it will be interesting to see how the next console gen will be like. Personally, I believe that PC might become an important platform again. But, I also think that the experience of playing games on a console and a PC will be extremely similar.
The kinect and PSMove where just stall tactics used to extend the life of the current hardware. All of the companies don't want to move on before the life of the hardware is over. Especially when you look at what they are stacked against.
I see scalability and portability as key concerns for developers. Instead of 2-3 teams building 2-3 separate games for different hardware that all happen have the same name but are "multi-platform"... There would be one game made by one team.
Maybe there would be different versions output at the last stage before being shipped out for different platforms but to the majority of the team it would be one high end game that scales to whatever tech. Let them play that game on any hardware they happen to own without having to remake it for each set of hardware. That means more hardware standardization and a lot of tools need to be made but I think we're almost there.
Even just designing a mobile app that better compliments a game could even be a good first step. Design features that play to the strength of the the two different platforms. Mobile and location locked hardware.