But... does this shift from vert to horz product enhance or stifle creativity? That is, are we going to see more creative titles in the future, when everyone has a game machine, or are the masses going to force game developers to cater only to the lowest common denominator?
Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios
www.spin-studios.com
Currently I see the trends as "hardcore games" being totaly verticle, like the FPS and RTS genre (for the most part).
I think a "lower common demonitor" may actually round games out more. Most people like characters and story, not just bigger guns. Wouldnt hurt a lot of the games out currently.
-Geoff
I think that more and more companies are trying to cater to the hardcore gamer, because they know that's a proven market. Instead, they should be looking at the titles in the industry that have been proven horizontal products, like Myst (return of Adventure games, anyone?)
Games targetted at the "hard core gamer" and his high-end PC (that he keeps as close to the cutting edge as possible) are vertical...for about the first 3-6 months. After that, the game is no longer "the latest thing" and most "casual gamer" hardware has caught up with it. So that game becomes, more or less, horizontal in its appeal.
Even if a computer game is considered truly vertical (that is, doesn't change orientation due to changes in technology available), could it then reasonably expect to charge more? Or is it forced to charge *less* because it cannot compete with the more horizontal offerings?
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DavidRM
Samu Games
Niche market games (like all entertainment) can always charge *more* than average, because they don't have as much competition as mainstream titles.
Charging less, however, doesn't make business sense - if you lower cost you must raise volume... and you can't really raise volume with a niche market.
Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios
www.spin-studios.com
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Actually I think a lot of games in the 80s were very horizontal. Centipede, Asteroids, Pac Man, Pong, Breakout, and others had a profound draw to people who didnt like computer-y things at all.
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I was talking about computer games. I think the # of people playing arcade games has been pretty much constant since the 80s... but in two decades, computer games have gone from a very obscure hoddy to a very BIG horizontal industry, and I see no reason why that trend won't continue, as more and more people get wired.
Mason McCuskey
Spin Studios
www.spin-studios.com
Are computer games, in general, a "horizontal" or "vertical" product? By horizontal I mean they are marketed towards the "masses." While a vertical push would be towards a particular, narrowly defined segment of said "masses."
Since computer games require a computer (or a console), they are already a segment of humanity, but I don't think that alone causes them to qualify as a vertical market. PCs and consoles are proliferating, and the game developers consider all such people their market. So this would mean that the games have to be considered horizontal.
I have more to say, but I'm not writing an article here...I'm trying to start a discussion. =)
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DavidRM
Samu Games
