Imminent Market Crash?

Opinion: Yoshki Okamoto

A recent headline caught my attention, the Street Fighter II creator Yoshki Okamoto predicted the resurgence of a videogame market crash similar to 1983 when loads of poorly developed software were released thinking consumers were idiots who’ll let get go of their money to purchase the product for the sole reason it carries a well known franchise - the likes of the infamous E.T. game.

It was only until Nintendo came into the picture in the late 80s that gave the market a sudden jolt. However, ironically, Nintendo’s Wii is utilized by ‘casual’ developers now to distribute their poorly developed games according to Okamoto.

Reaction:

I just don’t see the market crashing anytime soon. The industry has been growing at a consistent rate and even if he argues that Nintendo Wii’s games might cause a slowdown on consumer uptake, he overlooked on the quality of games being released for the other two platforms. Moreover, the diversification of the industry as a whole -- revenue for publishers and developers alike have found new mediums for distribution such as Valve’s Steam and Xbox Live’s Marketplace/Arcade.

these two could may very well be 'the' cause for the demise of the industry as we know it...

The Industry has matured greatly since 1983, it has changed. Quality titles are roaring in the year ahead, however many these atrocious software are, there would be sufficient quality, triple A titles in the market. Why? Because publishers and developers know that with quality comes profit (note: some minor exemptions). Consumers are not drones, they make themselves informed through online reviews and reader feedback on the playability of their desired purchase -- they didn’t have this back in 1983.

The casual market may be rising but the bulk of software purchases are coming from the core market for which Xbox 360 and PS3 thrives. Only recently have these two giants started developing their own wii-mote to break into the casual audience but they know where repeat business stems from, I just hope Nintendo still knows that. Wii sales may be high but market share based on software sales are pretty low -- quite alarming for the top selling videogame platform.

Imminent market crash? Highly unlikely.