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Midway addresses game industry's "creativity" and new IP issues |
Listed in: PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC Gaming Tags:
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In an essay submitted to Outsourced, Midway's chief marketing officer Steve Allison addressed the issues regarding creativity, new intellectual properties and the game industry's manner of marketing games of the new generation. According to Allison, 93% of games developed over new IPs fail.In fact, he even named gaming gems such as Psychonauts and Shadow of Colossus as "big financial disappointments and money losers," although nothing was mentioned about their own Psi-Ops which fills the same category.
But for a publishing giant safely within the financial "black" because of franchises such as Unreal Tournament, Midway suggests new IP development is what needs reflection, refinement and change.
Allison defended the game industry's lack of creativity by pointing out that the product development staff of each development company always get trapped in the hardcore gamer's mindset. At length, games that were set to attract the avid and average mass market consumer always end up attracting only the core. He also added:
It's really important to understand that our customers on next generation home consoles - Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 - are 90 percent male, and that's not going to change anytime soon. Therefore, the games that have the highest commercial potential are those that provide an outlet for them to live out their alpha male fantasies, to do the things they truly want to do but never could in real life.
But tapping into what the gamers really want is tricky. Surveys and debates never quantify the demand for a certain game concept, according to Allison. In fact, he stresses that game developers should instead look to getting to know their audience and make sure that game concepts are tested and loved by the audiences.
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