If necessity is the mother of invention,
then boredom is surely the heroine-addicted, neglectful mother of philosophy. I bite my lip through every class period, knowing that my classmates are sick of my direct, scientifically proven, psychological explanations for these "great mysteries" of life.
I propose a challenge: Offer any issue (NONPOLITICAL, I don't want anyone bringing up gun-control or abortion) issue and we will see if our collective minds cannot accomplish a suitible solution. I have traveled to other forums, bolstered by my positive experiences with the Inkammich (my first forum) only to discover how very unique an experience it is it have an average IQ over 70. Let us use our collective powers of....OKness, for the bettermeant of mankind.
I propose a challenge: Offer any issue (NONPOLITICAL, I don't want anyone bringing up gun-control or abortion) issue and we will see if our collective minds cannot accomplish a suitible solution. I have traveled to other forums, bolstered by my positive experiences with the Inkammich (my first forum) only to discover how very unique an experience it is it have an average IQ over 70. Let us use our collective powers of....OKness, for the bettermeant of mankind.
Comments
Or look at some of these links.
(And NOT THESE LINKS.)
jason
erstwhile procrastinologist
I think getting into a pattern of getting things out of the way and activating yourself is the only way to go.
But then, I don't consider processing information procrastinating.
that can really get out of hand if you don't have structure, though.
Or the kind I am thinking of anyway.
It can also be medical apparently. A friend of mine is currently getting Ritalin because he is too unfocused to make things happen. It’s pretty much like a miracle pill.
He is a really smart guy but he never gets anything done and the difference is really quite dramatic.
Edit: I use the expression miracle pill because the difference is really dramatic, not like "omg panacea" in case that comes up.
I just take a lot of breaks, but it gets done in the end. I think the stress helps me concentrate.
The industry is becoming topheavy. Twenty years ago a game could be made for only a couple hundred bucks at most. Get a few guys together, they write up a basic plot, code it together, make a few sprites, and boom, game. Now games are on average multimillion dollar endeavors, often breaking the $20 million mark.
Pros:
1. Games are extremely pretty to look at. Better graphics offer a better sense of realism, allowing the player to be better absorbed in the game.
2. Game designers get a chance to really flex their artistic muscles, and players get to enjoy the minute details that flood the worlds of the games they play.
Cons:
1. High costs are stifling innovation. Unless your name is Will Wright or Shigeru Miyamoto, you typically don't get to make a brand new game idea and get it off the ground. Game companies are still big business run on Wall Street. They still have to live by the bullshit stigma of "increasing shareholder wealth," and this can most easily and safely be accomplished by creating sequels to hit games (Madden, anyone?).
2. High costs are going to keep coming back to hurt gamers. Next gen games continue to rise in prices. If I recall correctly, the game industry made the change to CDs from cartridges BECAUSE they were getting too expensive. We are being required to foot the bill for these high budget games, whether we really care about excellent graphics or not. Game prices will continue to rise. PS3 games are rumored to be anywhere between $60 and $99. Wii first party games will be $50, but third party will possibly be more.
Those are the only pros and cons I can think of off the top of my head, but there are more.
(Edit): The questions I pose to you fine Orange Beltians, then, is which is better? Graphics or innovation?
If it is graphics, then what is the industry doing right? What is it doing wrong? If it is the industry, then what is it doing right/wrong?
DISCUSS.
I was quite specific. An issue that can be solved. This is a problem you are having. As long as it has an implied, "How can we fix this situation?", then it's fine.
Just try to keep it from being questions of what is everyone's opinion on *blank*, and try to bring up obstacles in life that we can try to overcome.
That's pretty much how I am. I think this type of procrastination has more to do with fear an official project. Even if you know it'll be easy and maybe even fun, deep-down it's still work, and that causes stress. So, we avoid it.
jason, excellent links, I really liked that first one, and the MacGyver one.
On the graphics issue.
I completely agree, as nice as the games are going to look, how can anyone be asked to pay one hundred dollars for a single game? That's far beyond anything i'm willing to spend on video games.
Let's also not forget the consoles themselves, with the hardware needed to show all the stunning graphics the PS3 is going to cost $600!
If the trend continues like this only the most hardcore of gamers are going to want to foot the bill, you can kiss casual gamers goodbye.
We can only hope that as time goes on the advanced graphics and new technologies can become cheaper and easier to manufacture.
Innovation. I don't care how nice the game looks if the game isn't any fun to play. Thank the gaming gods for the Nintendo Wii. Somebody has to tell the corporate jerkoffs that graphics aren't going to sell their games anymore.
(and yes, I linked that right. I hated Metroid Prime)
No, but seriously, the graphics fad had better come to an end soon, or games are just going to continue to be the same crap. (i.e. GTA clone or EA sports game)
Also, like 90% of last year's games were in LA. Why? I'm so sick of LA, I practically know my way around it despite never having been there. Coming soon: Final Fantasy EleventyVIthousandM: LA Chronicles.
As far as I can tell, the best way to solve this kinda thing is to only buy the games that support innovation and gameplay over graphics and gimmicks. So until this kinda thing happens en masse, let's all buy Spore.
Next issue, please!
Not saying that they're the best-run businesses... Bing Gordon (big-honcho at EA) once spoke to my school and told us, much to the amazement of the crowd, that {paraphrased} all you kids freshouttaschool want to make crazy new games, but the likelihood you'll do that is very small; in fact at EA, we DON'T WANT NEW GAMES, we just want add-ons to existing franchises. {/paraphrased}
A research programmer friend of mine, wanting to get into games, asked Jeff Orkin (designer on No One Lives Forever and AI guy behind F.E.A.R.) for advice, and this is what he said.
Perhaps because I've been hanging out with a lot of games-type-people, and have seen the Game Developer's Rant while volunteering at GDC*, these conversations just seem played out. No offense, but this is all preaching to the choir.
* If you REALLY are interested in making games, may I highly recommend volunteering to be a CA (Conference Associate) at the Game Developer's Conference.
http://www.gdconf.com/register/caregistration.htm
Registration opens in November. I've done it the past two years, and I really wasn't that into games when I went the first year. All of the information is on the page...but you essentially get the equivalent of a $1700 Giga Pass to the conference in exchange for working something like 20 hours that week. Plus, you get the chance to talk to people like Will Wright or hang out with Steve Wozniak.
ETA: To my knowledge, you don't have to be a student to do this, and although they generally do look for people over 18, they have had volunteers as young as 16 in the past. The CA program is phenomenally well-run, too, making it all the more fantastic an opportunity.
Next issue, please!
Darn right.
Seconded.
I would think he was speaking to jason. Jason did express a strong desire to change the topic fairly quickly. His points were valid and the links were much appreciated (I do have something of an invested interest in the games industry, myself), but it is an interesting topic that many would perhaps have liked to express themselves on yet. As such this desire to move on so quickly came off as being a bit rude. A good solution may be to discuss that issue in a separate thread as, it is not necessarily an issue to be solved. That leaves us needing a more suitable topic for this thread.
EDIT: I could be wrong in my interpretation though.
Congratulations, you win the internet.