Game publishers threatened by user-generated content

via joystiq

Video game executives fear you. Seriously. They cower in their cubicles every day, praying that you don't destroy them. So says a poll conducted among entertainment-industry bigshots, which found that 57% of respondents named "user-generated content" among the top three threats to their yacht collections.

That's bad for them, but great for us. Internet distribution and cheap production software have thrown open the gates that, until now, were traditionally tightly secured by publishers. Got an idea for a video, a song, a podcast, a game? Make it, put it online, and people will find it. We all benefit from the mind-bogglingly wide variety of stuff to consume, and the competition increases quality for everyone. The dinosaurs who have become rich off outmoded means of production and distribution are quaking in terror. Some, like SCEA president Phil Harrison, are making attempts to adapt and thrive. Those that don't may perish. Don't pity them. Nobody mourns the Great Auk.

Yes....fear us lol

but seriously, how can they see us as a threat?

Old games being emulated?

Games never thought of but were made by independent people

Programs which help systems more than the provider usually provides.


I say rather than being a threat, its a beneficial factor in gaming.

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! AND I HAVE BIG SHARP TEETH TOO!!!

Well, I think the idea is that by using the internet, people can stop using physical publishers. If you can still sell your product to hundreds of millions of people on your own, why do you need to pay someone else to do it for you? Artists and programmers may decide that a box isn't that important.

However, people like things. Especially here in Japan where you can find box sets of just about anything: music, movies, games, etc. So publishers won't ever disappear, they just might take a backseat to internet publishing. Assuming internet publishers do it right anyway.

Personally, I think that once you purchase something, you should be able to download it as many times as you need. At least be allowed to do so a certain number of times a year. What happens if you buy a program online but then your computer crashes and you have to format your drive? Do you have to buy the program again because you only downloaded it and never made a backup? I say no! That's the whole idea of EULAs. You're not buying the physical data, you're purchasing a right to use the data. That right shouldn't expire just because the physical representation gets destroyed. That's one reason I applaud Microsoft's decision to replace game discs.

So anyway, publishers hate anything that makes their salary decrease and they typically fight against the stream instead of riding the winds of change. Maybe that's why rich people are usually republicans/conservatives.

I'm tired of these archaic business models and businesses trying desperately to hold on to them (RIAA & MPAA anyone?). People want internet distribution not pyshical medium anymore. I want to be able to download anything I want and burn it to a disc myself. Movies, Music and Games all via bittorrent style downloading to save on bandwidth and its respective costs for the content producers. They don't give it to us so people find a way to have what they want themselves in a not completely legal way. It's their own fault for not using the technology available to them out of fear and wanting to protect their archaic business structures.