Articles
Names have been hidden to protect identities of students who have not given consent to have their name published on the internet If you’ve bought a "Call of Duty," "Guitar Hero" or any sports game in the past few years, you are the disease that is killing video games. All right, maybe that’s a little harsh, but that statement is a dose of reality that consumers need. People expect something new when they spend $50 on a video game. However, most people don’t realize that what they’re getting isn’t new, but just another rehash of the previous game.Sports games often have at most a graphics update and some new players. The game mechanics stay relatively the same with maybe a few added bells and whistles, but in general there’s really nothing new.
“Sports games are a waste of money because they put them out every year with little changes – they’re just riding off people’s obsessions,” said junior [name hidden]. “It insults the gaming industry in general.”
Companies such as Activision and EA pull the wool over consumer’s eyes then serve people up the same game – oh, but this time, there are more guns! And what’s this, a plot that makes no sense but involves you shooting people with a rocket launcher? Brilliant, buy two copies! “Call of Duty is the laziest franchise in all of video gaming,” said senior [name hidden], “Black Ops is an insult to any war game and war in general. It’s based off of the Cold War. Last time I checked, it wasn’t an actual war.”
People are too afraid to buy something that may seem new or interesting, and instead stay with the same brands that have given them their daily, shallow source of killing.
“People are playing more mainstream games like Call of Duty instead of higher quality games such as Team Fortress 2, a game that constantly communicates with its fans and community,” said junior [name hidden].
But what if someone says, “I just want to shoot people, I love 'Call of Duty;' Sarah and Abby, you have no right to criticize my opinion because it’s my opinion!”
Well of course it’s fine to like whatever games you want, but if you like "Call of Duty" why not try a different shooter that isn’t, you know, "Call of Duty"? Try some first person shooters from other companies that don’t treat their developers like garbage.
"Infinity Ward," the company who developed "Modern Warfare 2," recently had some of their senior members get the boot from Activision’s payroll. Activision had bought Infinity Ward in 2003, and just this year in 2010 they fired two of the senior developers. The kicker is that they were fired for insubordination right after releasing one of the highest grossing video games of all time.
So what’s to stop Activision from firing senior members, or even dissolving entire developers that work for them if they’re not afraid of dropping the two founding members of a team that made them a $1 billion profit?
Absolutely nothing.
Independent game companies can’t compete with these big fish, meaning that that they’re eventually going to get absorbed into these big companies. Because they’re not the highest profit makers, they’re going to be reduced to making whatever games Activision or EA wants them to make with no creative freedom. Video games will become a stale, stagnant industry with no imagination or originality.
But there’s hope, if the consumer stops buying into the same game over and over, one day they’ll stop being made and companies will be forced to make something new.
“Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock” only sold 100,000 copies, which means that people are finally sending the message to companies that they want something new and different.
Even if you love "Call of Duty," "FIFA," "Madden" or any other sort of big-name series game, try a different franchise; take some time to expand your horizons and invest some effort into discovering something new. Maybe you’ll find something you like.