[NiGHTS Noob]

This guy has a really good point.

I wish he wasn't just ranting to a small group, and that people actually took note of this.

[Master of AFTER]

Huh, that guy does make some pretty good points. Comparing the comic industry to the video game industry was a clever tactic for making his point, since they do share a number of similarities, as he pointed out. I don't think the game industry will fall the same way that the comic industry did, though, chiefly because video games currently enjoy a perk that comics never really experienced: they're mainstream. Even in the pre-1986 world of comics where they were enjoyed by a much larger and more diverse audience, collecting comic books has always been largely viewed as a hobby for little kids and huge nerds. Games were essentially in the same boat for a long time, and Bob's doom-n-gloom prophesying might have been more convincing during that period. However, games have recently captured a much broader audience, with the medium becoming almost trendy in certain circles as every new piece of technology on the planet features games of some sort, indoctrinating hipsters and technophiles alike. Meanwhile, the Wii has succeeded in pulling in just about every other possible demographic imaginable.

While the comic industry began to whither and die in the 90's because the fanbase became polarized and eventually stopped caring (an inevitable fate for anything that panders to one demographic, as demographics are constantly changing and/or disappearing), the video game industry has succeeded in pulling in new blood and renewing itself. While the success of comics actually caused the medium to narrow its focus and target an increasingly small group of consumers, video games have only expanded and broadened their appeal among new kinds of audiences.

While there are a lot of other factors that separate the comic industry and the game industry in even more significant ways, suffice to say, I don't think his comparison is entirely accurate—at least not in the ways he's claiming. That being said, that "rant" still had a lot of really solid substance that gives gamers plenty of food for thought. If nothing else, I think it should act as a reminder to all the self-proclaimed "hardcore" gamers that video games being mainstream and commercialized isn't a bad thing. While some people may think of games as entertainment aimed at them and their interests, broader mass appeal is what is keeping the industry alive. Just because you might only be into M-rated games and very specific, obscure genres doesn't mean that the average consumer is, and if they don't also get what they want, then the companies making these games won't have the resources to give you what you want.

[???????]

Heh, that guy does give us something interesting to think about. I'd really hate it if the whole industry took a hit because of the lack of people who want to play games because companies decided to really only focus on their core audience, who'll eventually be unable to afford to buy too many games due to rising prices, anyway.

While I agree that we need more games to draw in more new gamers (even if they will only play casually), I think that there should be more advertising for certain games. There are some really good games out there that anybody would enjoy playing, but they tend to go unnoticed outside of the gaming crowd because they're not advertised well enough.

[Zephyr]

It's definitely an interesting thought. I can see something along the lines of this happening, although, not exactly. I can definitely see alone on the shelves, in the future, the same ol' cliched mature games. Makes me miss the old legendary games like Zelda and of course Sonic.