Mailbag 01.25.07
As crazy as snow in Austin, Texas.
Enlighten yourself with our incoherent ramblings about non-essential issues.
Why the gaming industry isn't growing…
I'm a casual gamer. Some of my best memories are of my family and I sitting around Super NES, and playing for hours. But I'm an artist. So most of my time has gone into my work instead of spent in front of a television. But I kept playing on and off, and became what is known as a casual gamer.
Years later I married a serious gamer, and happily stepped back into the gaming world. But I was very disappointed.
Gaming is now a place for "hardcore gamers." I was teased by other gamers for not being good enough. And then I heard it...the horrible term that hunts me and forces me to lose interest. Noob.
My husband keeps up on the new systems and the companies behind them. I sit and watch, listen, or read how the gaming industry is having trouble creating a larger customer base.
The problem? It's not their marketing. The games today cover such a wide range of interest that there really is something for everyone.
The problem...is the elitist attitude long time players have adapted. Not all of them are like this. My husband is very encouraging, and very good at suggesting games that suit my personality, and my ability. But from what I've experienced, most gamers aren't like this.
Now not all of it was mean. Some is good natured teasing. But most of the time...well...it's simply not.
My point is if the gaming community is unwilling to welcome new players, you will have the problem the industries are having now. No one wants to try.
Starting anything new is hard enough without people looking down on you.
I can almost see the long time players rolling their eyes. But open your mind. Think on this.
Gaming is no longer an escape. Gamers are no longer friendly people who share a common interest, and a healthy competative spirit. Their snobs. Much like the wealthy, but instead of money being what they judge you on, it's exp.
If gamers want they're beloved industry to continue to grow and survive they have to be willing to drop terms like "noob" and help new players find their place.
It's time for the gaming community to determine what kind of image they want to project. The fact is it's an industry that strongly depends on growth. In order for it to grow and expand more money is needed. In order to get that money...you need us. The casual gamers.
So show a little respect. The future of gaming depends on it.
-- Brenna Giver
Well Brenna, it's definitely not just your problem. Many of us here at IGN have had plenty of problems with ridiculous gamers ruining the fun for others. I don't think that's necessarily the entire reason that potential new gamers are intimidated, but it's undoubtedly one of them. I'm no psychologist, but this is probably the only forum where some of these people probably ever feel an inkling of power in their lives, which is why they take advantage to boost themselves up and knock others down. At the same time, gaming is also a new type of sport to others and, like many other sports, you get guys that like to talk trash regardless of the company they're in. I know I don't want to hear it, but I'm basically forced to online.
There probably is also some sense that many of these gamers WANT to keep their pastime elite. They see the hardcore games slipping into mass market appeal and feel their ownership waning. People like to feel like they were the first ones in on something so that it's special. It's like anything else that goes mass market. The people that were there first tend to say "Yeah, I was there when it was still good." The more people that join up and begin to play, the more people will get better at these games. It's a power struggle.
It's definitely in the best interest of the companies making the games to provide a better access point to many of their games, but the truth is, most of the appeal is still in the hands of the hardcore as they are almost guaranteed to by a good hardcore game. It would be nice to see more games take the effort to provide easy access to lobbies of people to find games for newer people. It's already the case in some games that provide ranking and matchmaking for new players.
More importantly though, there really are a whole range of games where you can play with like-minded people online or just experience the games offline. I'm pretty sure Company of Heroes won't talk crap to you if you're playing through the single player campaign or skirmish. Any of the Wii games will find you playing friendly games with your family. I'm not sure how settled you are on gaming online, but it's certainly not necessary to have a good time. Most of my friends outside of work aren't gamers, but we manage to hang out and play Karaoke Revolution, Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, and others without ever having to connect to the Internet.
I guess the only real way to make sure you're having a positive experience online is to keep searching for the right people and when you find one, add him or her to your friends list and make an effort to create a play group with those people that you enjoy. Most of the guys here at IGN schedule games with each other to mitigate having to play with randoms online. I've had enough aggravating experiences online with strangers that I won't do it anymore. You aren't alone and there's no easy solution, but once you do find that group to play with online, your gaming experiences will be fantastic.
-Dan, IGN PC
Top 10 Books
I have to say this top 10 is pretty bad. It seems like no one has read much of anything and just compiled a few books out of thin air.
A great book that would make an amazing game would be "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.
The Odyssey is great, I liked the Tripod series, Horatio Hornblower, and Lord of the Flies. But the latter has no place in gaming.
"Oryx & Crake" by Margaret Atwood would be an ingenious selection for a game. (Post apocalyptic)
Anyways, just my two cents.
-- Andrew
I'll echo your thoughts on Ender's Game making a good transition from book to video game. Take out all the crap about Ender's sister and brother, leave in all the zero gravity school training and strategic map RTS style battle field command, and there's potential for an entertaining product.
I have no idea how Lord of the Flies got on that list. It's got a great theme, for sure, but the setting and characters don't seem appropriate for a video game. A bunch of kids on an island slowly realizing the barbaric truths of human nature wouldn't exactly translate into a good game plotline.
Aside from the plot being incompatible, what kind of genre would you turn Lord of the Flies into? There aren't enough people on the island to make it an RTS. An action game wouldn't work because all you're doing is hunting boar and "thematic monsters," at least until the artificial layers of civilized behavior peel back to reveal primal, violent instincts, at which point we can only assume the game would end. Open ended RPG? Not really; not enough square footage on the island, unless there's a chapter in the book about a huge underground cavern I skipped over.
I think the only kind of genre appropriate for this book would be an adventure game, likely point and click.
For my own suggestion not included on that list, I'd have to go with Walter M. Miller's Canticles of Leibowitz. It's got an awesome version of a post-apocalyptic world, and, I think, could really work as an episodic action adventure title. Even if the main characters from the book weren't used, the universe itself is ripe with opportunities for game creation.
-Charles, IGN PC
Fallout 3 new news?!
In recent days, there's been some table scraps thrown off the table from bethesda about fallout 3. Why haven't I seen an article on ign?! I have to go to other news sources now, b/c apparently ign PC is caught up in the WoW circus. I would trade everyones' lvl 60 character on WoW, worth millions, just to get 5 mins out of fallout 3. thanks
-- Mail eating pitbull
I wouldn't call it news, more like rumors and speculation. We haven't said anything yet as we're waiting to track down some concrete or pseudo-concrete information, but we're following up on all possible leads.
I'm assuming the recent developments you heard about were a few comments in an upcoming OXM UK. Unfortunately, nothing new was said. We all already know Fallout 3 is being worked on by Bethesda. Of course, the real question is what kind of game Fallout 3 is supposed to be. An isometric overhead RPG like 1 and 2? A strategic RPG with less narrative focus like Tactics? An action game like the console version? From what we've heard so far, they're leaning towards the roots of the series, but beyond that nothing is clear.
We'll of course provide updates whenever Bethesda starts talking.
-Charles, IGN PC
No C&C; love from IGN??
I just read all three most anticipated games, and then as I finished reading the notable mentions, I realized something, no C&C; 3! No one at PC IGN is excited about C&C; 3??
-- Garrett
Honestly, I just forgot about it, which basically speaks to the fact that it's not as hotly anticipated for me in particular as the other games on my list, which offer more compelling gameplay in one aspect or another. I can't speak for the other jackasses that I work with.
-Dan, IGN PC
More recognition please
Why is every time you yanx make some wargame you never include British troops? And when you do it's based upon another boring WWII, where's the originality, it's so dissapointing! SAS INFANTRY, MARINES, PARAS, NAVAL COMMANDERS, COMBAT PILOTS the full on works are missing here! We done shit too, "come on guys stop being like the rest be the best"
-- Cliff
You're preaching to the choir Cliff. I was born in Canada, and have always found it suspect that the Canadian military, which had a significant impact in the Allied effort during World War II, isn't even mentioned in most games. Call of Duty 3 recently quelled some of my frosty rage.
It seems like you have less room to complain. I recall British troops making appearances in numerous war games set in the World War II era. What genre are you talking about specifically? RTS or First-person shooter? Also, if it's an American-made game, what do you expect? Americans want to play as Americans. Fueling the mysticism of wartime heroics while simultaneously bolstering an American's sense of national pride can only equal bigger sales numbers.
I think we're all sick of seeing World War II used as a setting, but unfortunately it still sells games. There's also the issue of great games like Company of Heroes being made, making it hard to condemn the setting if it's still proving useful.
-Charles, IGN PC
Games of 07
Not one mention of Lord of the Rings online? Am I missing something here?
-- Zac
Well, to tell you the truth, the only time I played Lord of the Rings Online I wasn't really that hot on it. It had some neat features, but nothing that really stood out to me as something I had to play. The other guys may have different reasons, but that's mine.
-Dan, IGN PC
JTF Review
"Vehicles go down quickly as well, especially the astronomically expensive air units. Attack choppers and jets will crash to the ground after only a few hits by an enemy air unit, and go down very quickly against AA turrets. Is it realistic? Probably. I can't say for sure, I've never been to war."
This quote just baffles me.
FYI the punishment humans and vehicles can take in JTF is very exaggerated. For example, one TOW missile would totally and absolutely devastate any lightly armored vehicle but I counted 4-5 hits before the BMP-2 in the first mission went down. And you don�t have to "have been to a war" to be aware of the historical fact that it only took a single (although a bit lucky) RPG hit to bring down the blackhawks over Mogadishu.
That a person like you is allowed to review a game that at least tries to emulate some kind of realism is not fair at all.
Please stick to Super Mario Bros and Fantasy.
Do you really go by this way of thinking in your daily life? "Oh, there may be trouble breathing in the hard vacuum of space but I don�t know because I haven�t been there"
-- Mank
The "I've never been to war" part was a joke, I thought it was pretty clear. I hope I didn't baffle you too much. I'll assume living in such a tortured mental state can be a painful, soul-crushing experience.
The point was, the rapidity with which vehicles that require a bulk of resources to construct in the game go down too fast. Considering you only have a limited pool of resources, this greatly impacts gameplay. Of course it isn't realistic (it's a video game), but that's not the root issue. It isn't fun, and that's all that matters.
I will point out that I do in fact go around everyday asking, "Oh, there may be trouble breathing in the hard vacuum of space but I don't know because I haven't been there." I can also be found wondering if it's hot near the equator (I've never been there), if neutrinos really exist (I've never seen them), and if I fell through the center of the Earth, would I end up in China?
As I ponder these questions, I'll try and find this "Fantasy" game you speak of. Maybe it will have coins for me to collect. Man, I love coins. They're sweet.
-Charles, IGN PC
IGN PC Gold Buying
I just wanted to let you know that I noticed a link under your sponsored linke area to a gold buying site for a very popular mmorpg named World of Warcraft. Seeing that makes me wonder if the editors of IGN condone such types of websites? Recently PCGamer magazine banned all advertisements in their magazine that had anything to do with gold buying and farming. I believe you should follow in their footsteps and try to not make it easy for people to buy gold for any mmorpg. Thank you.
-- Bill Maynard
Well, in this case, the up and ups aren't actually playing the part of the evil empire bent on world domination. It's actually bad for business to advertise sites like that. The issue in this case is that the Sponsored Links box you're talking about are feeds from our partner Google. We try to block those sites as diligently as we can, but they register new names sometimes and slip through the cracks onto the site. We certainly don't condone this. If you happen to see any more, please send in links so that I can forward them to the correct people that can add them to the blocked advertisers list.
-Dan, IGN PC
Other Book Into Game Suggestions
I enojyed your recent article on books that should be turned into games. My fiancee and I have a few more suggestions, if you're interested.
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley
Leven Thumps (young adult) by Obert Skye
Star Trek: The Left Hand of Destiny duology by J.G. Hertzler and Jeffrey Lang
Star Trek: IKS Gorkon series by Keith R.A. DeCandido
Star Trek: A Time to Kill and Star Trek: A Time to Heal by David Mack
Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
The Protector's War by S.M. Stirling
A Meeting at Corvallis by S.M. Stirling
James Fenimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans (as well as related films)
Frank Herbert's Dune series - I know there have been games, but I'd like to see a new interpretation of these amazing novels.
-- Jackson Piper
Suggestions are always appreciated. Even though book plots are generally far too complicated to incorporate into a video game (assuming it's not an RPG), it at least provides a solid narrative grounding. Unfortunately, it seems most RPGs only spawn from mech and magic related fiction or have something to do with a book called Rord of the Lings. At least that's what I think it's called.
-Charles, IGN PC
