UP FRONT
Problems, problems, problems! How many times have
you heard that little phrase? More times than you would
care to count, I' m sure. But the problem (pun intended) is
that we' ve been hearing it a lot lately . l guess it' s just a sign
of the times. The bigger you get, the bigger your problems
become .
And that's just as true with this industry as it is with
anything else. The industry has gotten a lot bigger and so
has its problems. But I' m tired oftalkingabout problems.!
think by now, just about everybody out there knows the
problems that we as an industry are faced with . And I also
think that, for the most part, all of these problems are be-
ing dealt with to one degree or another rather successful -
ly, and, like all problems, will eventually be solved.
As always, Pla y Meter stands ready to do whatever
possible to help solve industry problems. But let's put our
problems on the back burner for a moment, and ask
ourselves the question , "What is it that really makes this
industry tick?" One thousand people may give 1000 dif-
ferent answers, but when you get right down to it, it' s the
games themselves that make this industry tick. Not long
ago, it was pinball . Today, it' s video . But not your run -of-
the-mill pinball or video. What I' m talking about here are
great pinballs and videos. We all know there' s a dif-
ference, and we can all rattle off the names of all the past
great pin balls and videos. It's truly incredible the tremen -
dous effect a great game can have on this industry.
Just look at the impact Pac-Man has made on America.
Almost everywhere you look, you see something with
Pac-Man associated with it - clothes, accessories, toys,
etc. The point here is that Pac-Man was a truly great game.
And what this industry thrives on and needs desperately
are more great games and fewer stiffs.
I think that if I were a manufacturer, I would rather build
100,000 of one particular game than 10,000 of ten dif-
ferent games. With all the talent that it takes to develop
ten games, that same amount of talent could be used to
develop one truly great game. And just think of the
manufacturing costs that would be saved by not having to
gear up for ten different games during the year.
That all sounds good and looks good on paper, but if it's
all that simple, why are there so many manufacturers
coming out with so many different games? The apparent
reason is that nobody knows beforehand whether or not
a particular game is going to be a winner or loser.
Too many manufacturers spend too much time,
money, and effort trying to develop new games on old
ideas. In this sense, all they're doing is legally copying
somebody else's idea. And every now and then , they will
come up with a winner. But more often than not. all they
end up with is another loser .
What manufacturers need to do is seek out new ideas
and create innovative games that set the pace, not follow
it. It seems likeeverytime somebody comes up with a tru -
ly great game, everybody else jumps on the bandwagon
and comes up with a version of their own. All this leads to
is market saturation and boredom at the player level with
too many games of the same type everywhere .
I' ve seen the things that can be done on a video
monitor. The technology is there. The visual effects that
can now be created on CRT are almost beyond one' s im-
agination. The video games of the future will most cer-
tainly be a far cry from the games we have today. The
question is, howfaroffarethesegamesofthefuture?One
thing is for certain. The less time manufacturers spend
chasing old ideas, the sooner that day will come. Let's
hope we don' t have to wait too long. Let ' s get ticking!
R@~
Editor and Publisher