This should be of no shock to anyone who has been paying attention to release schedules over the last few years. With the changing of the winter season comes red leaves, cold wind, and of course the best line-up of video games of the year; and this year is no different. There are close to 9 or more AAA titles that should be released within the next 10 weeks that will bleed dedicated gamers dry. But in the end it will be the publishers that will lose.
The cramming of so many good games into one season forces the majority of gamers to pick and choose which games they will buy and which they will rent. Moreover, with the economy of late, it is likely that the industry will be just as affected as other industries that thrive on the shopping habits of middle class Americans during the three months of October, November, and December. Perhaps it would be better if this orgy of upper echelon titles should be spread throughout the year, or at least divided into two separate divisions of release.
Similar to that of the movie industry which releases two types of flicks during different seasons. During the summer you see your typical blockbusters and big action epics, and during the winter you're more likely to see serious intellectual dramas. Now I'm not saying that we should release all the FPS's during the summer and all the platformers during the winter. What I am saying is that the powers that be should look to releasing some of the these quality games during the summer. Reducing the competition in the winter and creating a market for premium games in the summer could lead to new prosperity and maximum earning potential for publishers throughout the year.
AAA titles being released in Oct-Dec
- Dead Space
- SOCOM: Confrontation
- Fable II
- Little Big Planet
- Guitar Hero: World Tour
- Gears of War 2
- Resistance 2
- Call of Duty: World at War
Another idea could be to release certain games with the help of hardware suppliers after large trade events. So hypothetically speaking Bungie and their publisher Microsoft could leak interviews, gameplay footage, and DLC announcements of Halo 3: Recon during e3; and release the game the week afterward. But the problem is that dev cycles are difficult to budget, much less predict milestones, or deadlines and timing a release to coincide with a trade event is something that can only be done by larger developers, if at all.
My concern is that if publishers don't do well they will continue to do what they have done in the face of bad sales: rehash previously made games. With profitability, publishers can take more risks on games with new mechanics, new ideas, and new controls. That could possibly mean more games like Braid, and Katamari Damacy. It's in the industry's best interest to conceive ways to sell top name titles during the entirety of the year, not just the holiday season. To do so would signal a step towards financial stability, and creative growth.
You missed Fallout 3 in that list. That's going to be my timesink.
Posted by: Rob | October 22, 2008 at 06:14 AM
Ah, you're right, I don't know how I missed that.
FYI, there will be another contest for readers in November.
Thanks for reading Rob, and I appreciate you taking the time to post.
Posted by: Ash | October 23, 2008 at 06:48 AM