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March 31st, 2007, 17:36
Originally Posted by aries100 View Post
This is actually a much more deeper and complex problem (or challenge) than we think it is. On the bottown or basis of this lies the very core of how our society runs. Investors, banks, shareholders etc. want to see a quick return of their buck (aka dollars). For that very reason they focus alone on the first months or so shipments or selling of copies. And if a game doesn't sell (or ship) like a million copies in the first month or so, the investors are going to be grumpy. (it's like the movies where the first weekend often decided whether or not the film is hit or not).
Sure, true enough, *but* the problem is a lot more salient in the immature gaming industry. Generally speaking, the media industries (film, music, games) tend to be the worst cases of the short-term thinking you described. But both music and film, while sharing the same problems as games, have a special bit of room cleared out for the niche films or niche music that others won't cover. Considering the production costs sometimes involved, the level of professionality sometimes seen in niche films or music is impressive.

Games has this too (Spiderweb), but we can hardly call that filling out the niche properly, and the mainstream media and companies spend way too much time looking down their nose 'pon it.

Just because a game like FO continues to sell and just because it has sold maybe a million copies during its entire 10 year lifetime, doesn't mean it is a financial success.
Yes it does. Your basic understanding of the concept of full price selling is correct, but you are reading it wrong. These games are still turning a profit, through edition and re-edition. There is nothing about this market that differentiates it from the DVD market. Sure, for the DVD market, initial sales matter. But do you honestly think Warner Bros. doesn't care anymore how many Matrix editions and re-editions they can sell? Why wouldn't this apply to games?
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