On recommendation from my buddy Marshall, I checked out the Fortress Ameritrash site today.
Read the article about how the hobby game industry may crash like the video game one did long ago. I found this fascinating. For starters, the "video game crash" reminds me of the Reagan presidency. When Reagan was elected I was 9 years old and when he finished his second term I was 17, so I did a lot of growing up during that time. What I remember of those times was people making fun of him because he was an actor/old/Republican/etc... There were scandals like the Iran-Contra thing. But he talked a good game, had buckets of charisma, and everyone loved him.
Fast forward to the beginning of this century, and airports are being named after him. All of a sudden he's remembered as being one of the greatest presidents ever. Not how I remembered it at all.
Now, I'm not saying Reagan wasn't a great president, that's not my point. What I'm trying to say is that how history has looked back on those times is very different from what I remember experiencing during those times.
Just like the video game crash. People talk about that now and I'm like, "What video game crash?" I remember having the Atari 2600 and loving it. I remember really wanting a computer to play games on but my parents wouldn't buy one ("Them computers are a fad!"). I remember playing the Nintendo Entertainment System when I was in 11th or 12th grade. Somewhere in between the Atari and the NES was the fabled video game crash. I didn't notice.
Granted, if the hobby board game industry goes belly-up, I'll probably notice since I'm a lot older than I was back in the early 80's. But it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'll just watch tv and play Dungeons and Dragons like I did back in those dark days between 1983 and 1987.
1 comment:
Personally, I say bring on the Great Boardgame Crash. I know that might be a little harsh and irrational. But there are already tons of great games that I own that don't make it to the table enough. Not having new games to buy would help me get the old gems I own off the shelf. I already have enough to keep me busy for years. Sometimes I feel like I am a gaming jack of all trades, master of none in that I am always playing and learning something new, but never really playing the classics enough to get a sold grip on strategy.
Another issue I have with the state of boardgaming is the amount of games out there that are too similar to other games. How many times do you read about a game and it's described as it's like game x with a little of game y thrown in. If game X and Y are good enough on their own, why try to add to them. How many area control games do we really need?
Not having a giant budget for new games, I often find myself really thinking over my purchases, asking myself is this new game I want just too similar to something I already own? El Grande is a decent game, lots of strategy and choices to be made. I can understand its high ranking, but I can't justify buying it because I already own Mission Red Planet. A few times I've contemplated Lifeboats, but after reading about it, it's just sounds to similar to Mall of Horror.
On the flipside, what kind of game companies would make it through a "boardgame crash?" Maybe the giants like Fantasy Flight? Would the smaller companies that come out with some truly unique, great games make it? Czech Games comes to mind with one of my favorites, Galaxy Trucker.
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