An introduction to the Game Industry
The games industry is growing immensely lately. It is one of the fastest growing markets currently, with a much greater competition between companies. The industry is worth billions globally, which means certain problems can end up costing loads. Time constraints for example are very important, as releasing a highly anticipated game at key times in the year (such as Christmas) helps sell a lot more than a regular date. Also, if another competing company releases a game on a different format before it is finished, it can cost sales due to more interest in the opposing console.
Standards for gaming quality have increased since the time where Pong and Pacman were classic winners. Games are at the same level as the latest films, where a convincing storyline, characters and elements are very important to get the player involved. This increases the number of staff required to complete a game in little time. Where it used to take as few as 2 people to program and finalise a computer game, it now can take 100s with different positions, such as concept designing, level design, animators, sound developers to finish one of today’s games. However, many people means a game can be completed a lot quicker than before. The wide range of available jobs is a good invitation for specialised artists and programmers to get into work in the gaming industry. This also means there are more opportunities to get promoted and progress in the business.
But as games become more renowned, the problems they face become apparent in the media. One of the latest stories is about censorship and moral limits in the gameplay. Manhunt 2 by Rockstar has been given an AO (Adults Only) rating due to its graphic violent content and sadistic influence it could give out. This means that Sony and Nintendo refuse it on their console in the same shores. This is the first game that has been banned in the UK for about 15 years, so is a historic milestone in the gaming industry. It has also triggered concerns about censorship in games. They follow very similar rules at films do with the BBFC, such as violent or disturbing imagery with no effect on the character, so games have to be careful with what they include for release. Other countries also have different rules, so for a game to be released globally it has to comply with each regulation they put down. For example, games such as Postal and Manhunt are illegal to own in Australia due to their content. This seriously affects sales and the whole gaming industry.
The games industry is growing immensely lately. It is one of the fastest growing markets currently, with a much greater competition between companies. The industry is worth billions globally, which means certain problems can end up costing loads. Time constraints for example are very important, as releasing a highly anticipated game at key times in the year (such as Christmas) helps sell a lot more than a regular date. Also, if another competing company releases a game on a different format before it is finished, it can cost sales due to more interest in the opposing console.
Standards for gaming quality have increased since the time where Pong and Pacman were classic winners. Games are at the same level as the latest films, where a convincing storyline, characters and elements are very important to get the player involved. This increases the number of staff required to complete a game in little time. Where it used to take as few as 2 people to program and finalise a computer game, it now can take 100s with different positions, such as concept designing, level design, animators, sound developers to finish one of today’s games. However, many people means a game can be completed a lot quicker than before. The wide range of available jobs is a good invitation for specialised artists and programmers to get into work in the gaming industry. This also means there are more opportunities to get promoted and progress in the business.
But as games become more renowned, the problems they face become apparent in the media. One of the latest stories is about censorship and moral limits in the gameplay. Manhunt 2 by Rockstar has been given an AO (Adults Only) rating due to its graphic violent content and sadistic influence it could give out. This means that Sony and Nintendo refuse it on their console in the same shores. This is the first game that has been banned in the UK for about 15 years, so is a historic milestone in the gaming industry. It has also triggered concerns about censorship in games. They follow very similar rules at films do with the BBFC, such as violent or disturbing imagery with no effect on the character, so games have to be careful with what they include for release. Other countries also have different rules, so for a game to be released globally it has to comply with each regulation they put down. For example, games such as Postal and Manhunt are illegal to own in Australia due to their content. This seriously affects sales and the whole gaming industry.
However, like films, these sorts of games push the boundaries as much as possible so the content can be stretched. Also, as audiences become more and more desensitised to violence and other content, these kinds of games will become more acceptable and may become available for purchase. This will take years though, due to many games being blamed for youth behaviour, which also affects the companies, as they have to try as hard as they can not to appear to influence actions of their players. So in the future, games may go either way, to game developers being free to add whatever content they please as it is no longer a big deal, or them being restricted greatly and censored much more so not to influence children’s minds if the government gets their way. However in my opinion, this is merely using games as a scapegoat to avoid issues that parents themselves must take responsibility for.
posted by Emmanuel at 4:55 PM
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