Week 15 Task

The games industry continues to grow as it has done since the industry started and will most likely keep growing for a long time to come although the speed at which it continues to grow will most likely vary. The increasing game production costs are making it more and more necessary for companies to out source certain aspects of their games. I think this increasing cost will eventually either slow the growth of the industry or hinder the advancement of computer games in general.

One of the biggest challenges the games industry seems to have at the moment is originality in the kinds of games that are produced. This is due primarily to the fact that the vast numbers of titles that have been out on the market have covered a hell of a lot of things. Some time last term I remember having a conversation with someone about how tough it is to come up with an original game idea now, the person in question then responded with a wacky game idea involving the world being taken over by mutant vegetables. It was then that I informed him he almost exactly described the game “Tonic Trouble”.

An opportunity to make more original titles has come about thanks to the introduction of movement sensitive controllers but ultimately it will only really alter the way in which games are played rather than generate truly original titles. Developers also seem to be afraid of trying to create original game ideas and opt more for tried and tested ideas that will guarantee at least a small profit rather than take a risk on something new.

Employees in the game industry need to be prepared to work long hours and even longer hours as the product deadline gets closer and closer to the point where the entire team is working sixteen hour days. This has lead to a number of disputes between employees and the company they work for but that’s how things work at the moment and will most likely continue to work.