Saw this article with the above title on Cracked.com yesterday, but I haven't seen anyone talking about it here.
Since the article is fairly long, here's a brief summary (click on the link above for more):
[quote][b]TL;DR Summary[/b]
The main argument of the article is that the video game industry is headed for another crash like the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_crash_of_1983]video game crash of 1983[/url]. Here are the arguments why:
5. We put people who don't know gaming in charge
(Execs at large game developers tend to have little experience in game design/development)
4. Budgets have gone insane, and that's making innovation impossible
(Making a game costs so much money that studios are hesitant to take risks)
3. Publishers are gaming the review system
(Video game reviewers/journalists rely on ad revenue from the very companies they're purportedly reviewing, and combined with the widespread industry practices of providing swag, comps, early access, and VIP treatment for game journalists/reviewers, gamers are losing trust in video game reviews)
2. You're always flying blind
(Innovations in hardware and software mean that game developers are frequently coding for systems that don't exist yet, so early gameplay trailers rarely end up looking like the final game, causing further loss of customer trust)
1. The industry is extremely exploitative, and it's driving away talent
(Developers and publishers put extreme demands on their employees for very low pay and very poor job security, and talented people who feel exploited may leave for a different industry with more stable working conditions and better pay)[/quote]
What are your thoughts on this? To avoid making the OP too long, I'll reply with my own opinion in a separate post.
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Given the size of the industry, and just how many people are willing to buy AAA shlock, I doubt we'll ever see a crash.