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LFTE: Video Killed No Radio Star (April 12)
I often witness first-hand the strange fascination gamers have with defending a game or system with zealous enthusiasm - as if it's impossible to like both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. It is easy to admire the passion and excitement gamers have for the medium, but at the same time these juvenile arguments are no better than "my dad is stronger than your dad." They are as interesting and engaging as watching a battery recharge.
I often put game developers above such reproach, but as the battle rages between console, PC, handheld, and games on social platforms, I get the feeling that developers themselves are starting to be blinded by their own beliefs and are falling into traps about the delivery system rather than focusing on the ingenuity and innovation of the games themselves.
Free-to-play companies claim without hesitation that all games must be free-to-play, and that games that come with a price tag simply can't exist in the future market. Some industry analysts say no handheld system can ever survive in a world dominated by phones. Social platforms and cloud services claim they will soon make consoles obsolete. Developers can't survive with used games. Piracy is good. Piracy is bad. Digital eats retail. Nintendo is dying. There is fire in the streets and cats and dogs are living together.
Some prophecies will come true as the world continually evolves, but all these prognostications remind me of the Buggles' 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star." I love free-to-play games and I love triple-A blockbusters; why must things be looked at as either/or? Video obviously never killed the radio star, so why do people believe that one fish must always eat the other?
If only free-to-play existed and I had to deal with the annoying game concepts designed to milk every dollar one penny at a time from my wallet, I would go insane. If the gaming world was composed only of the biggest and loudest blockbusters then it would truly be a boring hobby.
We need independent developers pushing the envelope. We need Apple and Facebook introducing millions to gaming. We need platform holders, manufacturers, and publishers creating new products and innovating the ways we consume them. It's all part of the ecosystem that makes gaming what it is today and tomorrow.
Saying there is only one future is shortsighted. Gamers, game publishers, and developers should realize there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. Then we can let the silly arguments fade away and focus on the important things in life, like how games will entertain people around the world from now till the end of time.
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