The Digital Pulse 06.04.07: A Summer Without Games
Posted by Joshua Richey on 06.04.2007
Traditionally, gamers are left without any new games during the summer. Why is this, and what can we do to change it?
Here at 411mania, we have this pleasant little monthly column called ‘The Roundtable'. Now, inside of this roundtable, we, the writers and editors of the 411Mania Gaming section, discuss the events and the games that were released during the month that just concluded. We discuss who had the best month, and who had the worst. We also discuss things like what the best game released that month was, and what we (as gamers) are currently playing. It's a fun little piece, but while filling out the May Roundtable… I noticed something, and then that observation got me into thinking about a side of that Gaming Industry that I absolutely despise.
Quickly, what was the best game that you bought in May of 2007? Chances are you're either still thinking or the answer is ‘none'. That is because for years the summer months have become the ‘down-time' for the Gaming Industry. May didn't see any major releases nor will June or July. That's just how the business works. It's been like that for years and I don't really ever recall anyone calling them out on it.
Anything that is considered a ‘major release' is saved until the late Fall. Now I can understand the reasoning for that. You release a game near Christmas and public interest in it will be high, and it'll sell. But I also think that a lot of games get lost in the shuffle when they go that route. Everyone is excited for Halo 3 and GTAIV, but chances are that there are a lot of other great games that are going to come out around that time that aren't going to sell as many because so many people are investing money into the ‘big' games. Not releasing anything during the summer is just bad business. Think about it, kids are out of school; and many are working their summer jobs. There is a lot more down time for people during the summer, so what's there to think that games wouldn't sell?
To further my point, I'm going to use Lost Planet and Crackdown as an example. Now, traditionally, if any game is anywhere near being completed when the end of the year comes around – you work overtime and you bust your ass to get that game done. The goal is to get it out before Christmas. But this year, we noticed a few games benefit greatly from going the opposite route.
Lost Planet was released in January of 2007 and sold incredibly well. Now Lost Planet isn't a bad game, but it's nothing all that great…. Yet it sold millions. Why? Well since so many developers rushed their games out onto the market in December of 06, Lost Planet was the only note-worthy game to be released that month; which meant that a lot of new Xbox 360 owners were hungry for a new game to play. So Capcom benefited greatly from being the only game released that month. Had it been released in November or December, there is no way that it would have sold so well. It would have gotten lost in the mix of the Gears of War and console launches.
Crackdown was in a very similar situation. Crackdown is somewhat of an enjoyable game, but by no means would it have had the success that it did if weren't the only major release of Febuary. We gamers have naturally short attention spans. Once we beat a game or tire of it, we need something else. That's just how we roll. Having beaten Gears of War, Lost Planet, and everything else on the market, Crackdown capitalized big time.
As of now, the only really "can't miss" game that is set to be released this summer is The Darkness. And you know what? I'm so tired of playing Gears and the Halo 3 beta that I'm going to go to the store the day that The Darkness is released, and purchase it…. just because I need something new.
Do you think it's some kind of coincidence that Hollywood decides to release their big blockbusters during the summer? Nope, it's not. Hollywood knows how it works, and I think it's time the Gaming Industry wised up to it as well.
In closing...
Another week, another late column. I'm seriously slacking, but I'm sorry, there's not much going on in the gaming industry for me to talk about. As this column has stated, the summer is traditionally very quiet for Gaming Industry, and I don't see that really changing until E3 at the earliest. So in the meantime, be sure to check out my blog at OMGodzilla.
