RIP EGM, Microsoft, Midway Sucks

Happy New Year to all! Welcome to the first Wrath of El Pato for 2009. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and had Santa show up at their door loaded with presents. I got a pink slip! It was so nice of him, let the job hunt begin!

It’s been so long since I’ve done a news editorial that I felt like doing one. Typically I do this with a topic, but since I’m tired from running around all week, I’ll just go through a few things in my mind.

The big news of the week…and there were a few things big, but none other than Electronic Gaming Monthly shutting its doors. While I guess I could call them competition, since 1up is in the same industry as [OC]modshop.com, they still are fondly remembered as THE video game magazine at one point.

It is truly sad, as several writers are losing their jobs, and EGM was a staple in the video game industry. I remember pretty badly wanting to work there out of college and not getting a fricken job interview, but I digress. It really is a blow to videogames as this was the TV guide of the game industry in my day.

The sad part is, EGM isn’t going to be the last. The internet is just flat KILLING written publications. Publishing something on the net is cheap, editable, and much easier for a reader to access than a magazine. It isn’t going to happen tomorrow, but I’d expect several other magazines to go under in the next decade that were once popular. It really isn’t a good start for 2009 with those guys. Wow, that’s all I can say.

A lot of you may not remember far back, but this was one of the magazines everyone read growing up. It basically started with Nintendo Power, then as we got a bit older we switched to EGM somewhere in the 16-bit or 32-bit eras. It was the Sports Illustrated of gaming. Now I am not going to defend them, as their editorial quality has been sorely lacking a few years back and just now was starting to look better, but I knew something was up. After Dan Hsu and Crispin Boyer both left at the same time, I think the writing was on the wall about Ziff-Davis’s financial problems. It’s not good for the economy either, because gaming journalists like myself who look for freelance work are in line behind guys who have done it for a profession since I was in high school. I’m sure a bunch of them will remain with 1up, but make no mistake, a lot of people are getting canned in this. I guess I don’t need to send job apps to ZD anymore.

Considering that Ziff-Davis has filed for chapter 11, and I don’t think this is the first magazine to go bye-bye anytime soon.

Microsoft says during CES that it was the 360’s best year ever and I tend to agree with them. The 360 is basically the “game console” of choice now as the PS3 is never going to catch up with the installed fan base Microsoft has now. If anything that means Sony will have to f*ck things up even more and make another machine that costs a gazillion dollars. I bet by E3 this year there will be some huge upgrade for the PS3 much like Sega did with the Genesis when Nintendo beat their ass.

What Microsoft didn’t mention was how the 360 is dead f*cking last in the Japanese market. Not that Japan is doing that great anyways. According to a study Japanese game sales are down 15 percent from last year. Analysts attribute this to no new console launches.

Huh? Where’d they find these guys? Console launches have NOTHING to do with this slump. One thing contributing is something called a “Bad Economy”. People aren’t buying 500 games every friggen month. It isn’t just the US, most of the world is taking a recession of some sort. Another reason games in Japan are down? They are getting too inaccessible and too redundant. It’s like I’ve been saying all along-we no longer have an industry with a million genres and sub genres. It’s now, MMORPG, first person shooter, and sports titles, only ONE of those genres appeals to a Japanese gamer.

Japanese developers aren’t as prominent as they were a decade ago. Our FPSs are going overseas, not the other way around. It’s the same thing as when RPGs first hit America with the SNES-no one bought them. They sold like hotcakes in Japan and no one bought them here-same scenario. Japanese gamers like RPGs because they can sit down and play them without having to remember a gazillion things to do. In FPSs they have to be alert and doing something entirely different than an RPG…or even a fighter. Since they don’t like what the big stuff out is now, they aren’t buying it which equals less numbers. Americans like doing lots of things in their games- then there was the happy medium (ex. Mario) that everyone loved. It’s just a shift in equilibrium. Why isn’t there much genres? Because games cost too much to make thanks to Final Fantasy VII. Developers have to stick to what works, in America, dating simulators don’t work, FPSs do. In Japan, they can’t come out with much original titles to keep the country interested in video games anymore, and American stuff isn’t doing it either.

Game sales will plummet until Japan can pull its head out of its ass, make original titles, and quit doing sequels and dating simulators. America isn’t going to help them, they are too concerned on Halo 5 and appealing to their new macho jock high school audience to care what made money years ago. Console launches have nothing to do with this-it’s the lack of variety.

So Midway is having severe problems after horrible games like that Mortal Kombat/DC crossover (alright it wasn’t THAT bad) and TNA Impact, but that isn’t enough to hurt the executives.

Yeah, I found this to be just f*cking hilarious. Midway is in the red, could face a hostile takeover if they aren’t careful, and NONE of their execs have taken a pay-cut. I hope I read that story wrong last week, because that just shows you how poorly handled that company is. It’s one thing if they knew that cutting the grunt’s salaries wouldn’t hurt the company-but that company is going down, quick. You’d think the execs would look around and say “Alright, lets cut some of our ventures to save this company”. Nope.

I’d like to be there during a meeting….

Vice Prez: Hey president!
Prez: Yeah?
Vice Prez: You are valued, so am I. So with this rut the company is going in, lets keep our six to seven figure salaries, cut the grunts and enjoy the good life. It’s corporate America and we don’t need to take care of them. Let’s just put the programmers on minimum wage. Whatever we need to do, we’ll cut the bottom.

(Programmer who makes minimum walks in)
Programmer: Yo! I just did 80 hours and need a raise to put my kid through school, you think I can get a bonus? What about me?

Prez: What do you mean about you? Get back to work! You get nothing!

It should be obvious to everyone by now, Midway, gamers, the media, that Midway is handled POORLY. And wherever that company is going, they brought it on themselves. They cut everyone’s salary, then the execs just sit in the room knowing they are going under and don’t even sacrifice their money to try and stop it.

Idiots.

I think that’s all I need to say this week. Next Week: A look at the Metal Gear Series, did it go out well? Or was it bad all around? I’ll try and continue the Spike TV bashing tomorrow possibly.

El Pato Outo