HELP TODAY: NEED SOMEBODY TO ANSWER THIS INTERVIEW

author=SorceressKyrsty
Ljink: tbh you're asking informed games student/magazine person/designer etc questions to normal people and as a result you're probably not going to get the answers you expect (i.e arcan) Also, they're leading questions generally.

I would do my own version but I'm not classed as an ordinary gamer, since I actually study this at school. Design, mobile vs. console, the way the market trends are heading, etc.

author=EzekielRage
Will: Do you feel that videogame consoles will last any longer? Explain.Spike: Consoles won't go away. I know a lot of "analysts" state otherwise but that is simply not true. Lifecycles for consoles will become longer but they will not go away. Multiple devices can coexist. Back in the day they said that Radio will kill the music industry, TV will kill the movie biz, Video will kill TV and so on. And none of that happened. As long as there are people who are not interested in upgrading yearly and instead just want to sit down and play on a big screen with a surround system, there will be consoles.

Will: How do you think the current video game market will recover?
Spike: By realizing that bigger is not better. Producing more smaller high quality games instead investing millions into big graphic titles and copy protection. You can't stop piracy and if your game sucsk it won't sell no matter how beautiful it is. Indie games are growing fast and there is a reason for that. I don't want to pay 70 bucks for a game that lasts me a few hours. But I donÄt have the time to spend hundrets of hours on a game. Si I like games I can complete in six to eight hours and maybe invest some time afterwards in sidequests or collectibles. Price that right and you have a winner.

Will: Why do you feel that some gamers are ditching consoles for mobile games?
Spike: The blame here lies in the media that dubbed the word casual gamers. Such people ALWAYS existed. Previously they had a console and played Tetris or Sim City. They had to have a console because they neither had the time nor interest in pushing big PC hardware. Nowadays they can play those games on their mobile. Nothing changed with those people. But ever since the press started dividing gamers by what they play this became a problem. So it's actually a self made problem.

Will: How often, if you have one, are you on your phone vs. a game console or a handheld?
Spike: I don't have a Smartphone, iPhone or whatever those things are called. To me a phone has to serve three functions: Make a call, read a text message, alarm clock. I can do that with my ancient stupidphone. I do have a 3DS I use regularly and I also own multiple consoles I use regularly.

Will: Is there a reason for the way you answered the question above?
Spike: I like to explain myself :p

Will: Do you think gaming companies such as Nintendo aren’t trying to move forward and
compete with mobile games? Why?
Spike: Nintendo is probably the only company out there who does it right in terms of console manufacturing. "Analysts" say otherwise but they are wrong, as so often. Not sure what Microsoft is doing but I fear they go down the route of Sonys PS4 which just is a failed idea. Sure, the new specs are nice but NEVER in the history of consoles did the console with the most technical prowess "win" the "console wars". Never. Not one single time. So that doesnÄt say a lot. And those social features are just broken. Nobody who is interested in social features is interested in a PlayStation and nobody who is an avid PlayStation gamer is intersted in social features. Sure, there might be a few thousand people but that is a minority. Sony should ahve focused more on what a console is about: Games! And less on social features. They completely missed the point there. The best proof for that is that they didn't have one single woman on stage during their presentation.
Nintendo doesn't care what the compteition does. They understood one thing: The main factor a console sells are the games. So they announced TWO new Zelda games, a new Mario, Smash Brothes, a new "secret" X(enoblade) title and a few other heavy hitters. The 3DS is proof of that. When it launched people and the media were saying Nintendo is doomed and will go 3rd party ect. But now the 3DS has sold MORE than the DS has in the same time. Nintendo is not doomed. They will never go 3rd party. But people will never learn that. The WiiU will be doing perfectly fine this year.

Will: Do youthink the economy has to do with the gaming market’s current slump, specifically
pointing out Nintendo’s Wii U?
Spike: No. As stated above the WiiU will do just fine when the games are released. It's just that there is NOT ONE killer app on the system. Nintendo has so much moeny they could not sell a single game and wuld still be in business for the enxt fifty years. The economy has nothing to do with the gaming markets decline. As alredy said its the companies that completely miss the point there. This is the 80ies and Atari all over again. People will pay money for good games. They will not buy half assed games with shiny graphics. The minority cares about movie like experiences. The rest of us go to see a movie. We play games because we want to PLAY. That is why indie games are getting bigger and bigger. Then there is the factor of "innovation" Companies are all about innovation nowadays. But they try to fix a system not broken. Don't innovate for innovations sake. Innovate where neccesary. Square Enix made a huge loss because of the yen situation but also because their games did not sell as expected. If they would have focused more on a quality game instead of being cinematic, something the japanese generally fail because of a different cultural understanding of the term, they would do fine. Don't spend 75 Million on a Final Fantasy game where you run through a corridor with a battle system that is a parodyof itself and a story so silly it reads like bad fanfiction and voice actors as bad as a german porn dubbing. Invest half that money in a Final Fantasy game that works, has working gameplay, a regular battle system but a great story and quality voice acting. You know, like Xenoblade had.

Will: Although highly unlikely how would you feel if all of a sudden Nintendo went
out of business or Sony’s gaming sector went out of business?
Spike: I would shrugg it off and move on. There is ALWAYS a new player to seize the opportunity. If one of them goes out of business another one steps in. See Sega-Microsoft.

Will: We hear it all the time, are videogame companies doomed? If so why or why not?
Spike: No. Not in the long run. In the short term there will be a few that fail, once again because they miss the point. Get a good plan and stick to that and you have won. Why do you think people hold Valve to such high standards or Blizzard? They focus on what they do best and it works. So no worries there.

Will: Thank you --- for taking time out to take this interview. Any last thoughts?
Spike: I would not give too much thought about what the "market experts" say and think more about basic psychology. Humans want to play. Humans are hunters and collectors. That will not change, at least not in our lifetime. So how come everybody suddenly thinks we stop playing and we stop collecting (in terms of physical media)? There are a few things that are certain and one of them is that humans buy, play, collect and enjoy games. No matter the format.

You are welcome.