The Conglomerate Industry

Well at least this one has a cool polar bear in it!

Over the years we have seen gaming become more of a business institution than a entertainment or art one which has led to a lot of rampant greed, abuse and general issues with the market as whole. From games that deliverately exploit players using psychological tricks to physical abuse that goes on behind closed doors on the development staff it’s a sad state of affairs to think of where gaming has gone compared to what it once was, something for nerds made by nerds.

Part of this issue has been large media corporations trying to cash in on one of the fastest growing entertainment mediums in the world. No longer is gaming the thing basement dwelling dorks do but now most first world children and plenty of adults also involve themselves within. This isn’t even mentioning the mobile game market which has exploded in popularity over the years and has allowed many companies with little to no gaming experience to cash in on hype surrounding other products and tie them in together to maximise profits.

These giant media conglomerates generally don’t care much about games or the gaming culture as a whole. Many simply hire good PR people to make it seem as though they care while thinking about how it would be best to exploit people or push the boundaries on acceptable mechanics or systems to help their bottom line. The more gaming is pushed as a business, the less it becomes an art form for expression and creativity. Hell there’s a reason why I mostly stick to the indie scene nowadays as most of the really interesting and actually fun content is based there. A smaller scene and perhaps a look into the past for how games used to be made and played.

Now not all giant media conglomerates are necessarily bad for the industry. It does allow further funding to be placed into big projects allowing further advancements in gaming technology and some like Nordisk Games (Seen above) while they work for the Egmont ,which is in itself a conglomerate that seeks to absorb and control more companies, is focused more on just providing funding to smaller game studios and assisting in conservation projects to keep the history of gaming alive. These things are what large amounts of money can be put towards and can really help those who are struggling to make their vision come to life, not to mention the importance of video game archiving.

In the end we have to be wary of big media conglomerates taking up as much as they can. If we lose Nintendo to something like Disney then we know something is going terribly wrong. I again encourage you to check out the indie scene as many of the interesting projects happening there are made by people with true passion and it’s best to keep them in this industry by showing your support and love for the craft and hard work they put in. We could all use more fun games, not second jobs.

That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *