Games and Media

Back in the early days of consoles, gamers didn’t have many sources to turn to for the latest relevant news. Once the Atari, Commodore 64, Intellivision, and other systems of that age became household names, publishers began to realize the then niche market and created a few game related magazines that mainly focused on puzzles and basic programming. Unfortunately, the popularity of game consoles began to wane in the 80s and the industry headed on a path to extinction. That is until Nintendo released its Entertainment System (Famicom) in the mid 80s.

Nintendo had the foresight (or marketing prowess depending on your perspective) to understand that gamers wanted to be informed. Nintendo Fun Club, which later became Nintendo Power, delivered game fans with the detailed information about games that they craved. Nintendo managed to revitalize the ailing gaming industry and created a sensation that has today grown even larger than Hollywood. At the same time, they inadvertently forced the birth of a new branch of media, one related to gaming entertainment.

Numerous gaming magazines began to sprout up in the late 80s and 90s. Gamers had an outlet where they could air their opinions, learn new information about upcoming titles and get maps and walkthroughs to help them beat games. Game journalism was born. Consumers were more educated about games than ever before. Long gone were the days when games would be purchased solely on the attractiveness of the box and the pictures on the back. Gamers now knew what they wanted and this helped make games better. Game creators were forced to appeal to their audience and their audience had a vessel with which to communicate.

Once the mid 90s hit, information was ported into a new age. The Information Super Highway was to be the new method of gathering and disseminating information. News agencies naturally made the move to provide up-to-the-minute news to their audiences. Gamers no longer had to wait a month for the next publication. They didn’t have to listen to word-of-mouth accounts that had no major credibility. Gaming news was there, online, 24 hours a day, uniting gamers worldwide.

While the game magazines had proven to be helpful tools for game companies to understand what gamers wanted, perhaps the expedition of the Internet has become a bit of a thorn.

Rumors can spread fast. Leaked information can be damaging. Easy access to thousands or even millions of dissenting voices can potentially damage sales. Has the new method of information transfer become an encumbrance for the gaming industry? A more pertinent question to ask is: How does this affect the games they make?

This is a difficult question to conclusively answer but a good one to ponder nonetheless. Take for example the PS3. Original hype and expectations moved systems. The media outlets wrote favorable articles and were as anxious as gamers. But what is happening now? There is a real lack of system-selling games on the market and no killer-aps scheduled until Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII hit store shelves. People are waiting. But is it the sense of collectivism that is keeping them from buying? So many articles of late, in both Japanese and in English, have included or at least alluded to the fact that consumers are waiting to purchase the system. Has that kept other gamers from buying? The Sony marketing machine has been quiet and the game magazines and Internet forums are picking up the slack. Of course there are positive reviews out there as well. The system is no doubt a powerhouse with potential to bring gamers the best in the next generation of gaming. This brings us to yet another question: Why didn’t an excellent title, a perfect arcade port, like Virtua Fighter 5 sell more?

There is no hard evidence to support an answer here. Could it be the lack of media on Sony’s part? Gaming magazines gave glowing reviews to the game. A search on google.co.jp reveals over 1 million links. However, many of the top links related to the home version include information that takes away from the PS3 version; namely that it will also be made for the Xbox 360 and that it didn’t sell as well as it should have. To its credit, the game managed to reach number one on the charts last week, with reasonable numbers. Perhaps the media has created a set of expectations too high for systems. Must systems always be sold out to be considered successful? Is the problem related to the emergence of blogs and editorials without rule? Are consumers following a natural trend to fit in with what they see or perceive to be real, a trend often attempted to be artificially created by marketing managers?

One could argue that this type of trend benefits gamers by forcing companies to make games the public wants. But what happens when good games like Virtua Fighter 5 go unnoticed? VF5 is by no means a failure. Neither is the PS3. But how much of a negative impact is the speedy transfer of news having on gamers’ decisions to make purchases? For now, we can only continue to observe and search for answers.