My KZread videos? Highlights of my insights - quick, engaging, and to the point. But on Substack, I unpack the full story. Subscribe for full access to all my essays with all the details that didn't make it to the video at www.belindaercan.com

@estebanescalona8430

Ай бұрын

Very good videos I Will share your chanel Belinda very informative 🎉🎉🎉

Its crazy to me that people seem to have completely forgotten about covid-19, not just as a disease (I'm on healthcare so let me tell you, people completely forgot about it lol) but also as a historical phenomenon that happened, and that we're still facing the aftermath of its devastation.

@BelindaErcan

7 ай бұрын

That’s exactly it!

@osark2487

15 күн бұрын

biggest psy op in history

This is not what I wanted to hear, I wanted to hear that the game industry is going to crash and we will go back to finished games being pressed on ever bigger optical media 😅.

OMG Thank you! I have been saying this to younger gamers for years. You covered everything, so I am not sure what to even add. I spend more money now as a 48 year old gamer, than I ever did even 10 years ago. I just spend it where I want, which is usually an indie game. One of my favorite games for almost a decade has been 7 days to die, which is still in EA, by a small company. I have only bought one AAA game in years, and that is BG3, and only because on release it got such great reviews.

@BelindaErcan

7 ай бұрын

hahah thank you! So glad it resonates with you. Yeah how we spend our money is all in our hands. And 7 Days to die is worth it becuase it's "perfectly imperfect" and that's what makes it so great... (btw, NIN is amazing!)

@MrVariant

2 ай бұрын

The sales help a ton and there was a big comeback in April though a lot of games had bad localization censorship like paper mario or stellar blade. Then stuff like tekken 8 adds microtransactions post review. So I'm kinda disappointed by vid. It's for whales like the monopoly go vid, pretty much dead for the person on a budget until the next stealth release. At least vid mentioned glitches. Current gen and switch upgrade has limp hardware upgrades, which killed Xbox with their poor decisions to jump ship to other companies like Sega.

A great video to understand the current evolution of the gaming industry, thanks!

Why I love a good 20h game is that there's so many games coming out now and we only have a limited amount of time to play each day or each week if you're more casual. Great video, amazing points and a good perspective on the situation.

As a Game Dev I can confirm, the industry is re-shaping, but not dying!

I can't believe this video has only 727 views, god bless you and have luck doing videos, gosh, this video is GREAT.

@BelindaErcan

6 ай бұрын

Thank you so so much 🙏 😊

I feel like if game studios didn't rely on DLCs and micro-transactions as their main business model the gaming industry would be much more healthy. People should make full stand-alone games first, then add DLCs to the completed game. What we have now for most games is a buggy unfinished game on launch that RELYS on DLC and updates to reach the functional expectations of a full piece of software.

in summary. big studios are now cutting back on dev expenditure so much to the point of using the customer base for black and white box testing. Great for the shareholders, until people no longer buy products from studios pushing beta versions final, with gama testing all but a fading memory.

It’s amazing how the gaming industry often can be a crystal ball as far as what tech will be the future gold standard. I remember the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD wars and how Sony backing Blu-rays helped nudge them over the edge. Your point about things being in flux is so true. We’ll see similar clashes for years whether it’s with tech like I mentioned, a pandemic, or the economy. Well done on this - I’m gonna get my paws on the subscribe button right now 😊.

@BelindaErcan

6 ай бұрын

Yep, well said - a crystal ball indeed! The Blu-ray/DVD is a good example. And thanks for scratching that subscribe button :)

We certainly told Rocksteady Studios what we thought of their latest product. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had a 150-player-peak in the last 24 hours. Ouch...

I can’t believe your videos don’t have more attention, incredible quality and content

This is one of the best explanations I've seen out there, I hope this gets around more. I'm nearing 50 and still gaming daily, and purchase 40-70 games each year. I happen to enjoy the Live Service and such. Among my friends and family, our regular weekly games included things like PUBG, Rocket League, Fortnite, 7 Days to Die, The Sims 4, Call of Duty, Elite Dangerous and a few more. All games we bought years ago, continued to invest in a little, and now have 3-5 years and thousands of hours of entertainment for the low cost we paid. I love remakes also, it provides me a chance to replay games that don't hold up on today's screens as well or control schemes. Just the other day I started Command & Conquer Remastered and it's great. (Other than the horrible 1990's AI lol). There are games also my kids haven't played and now can with the best quality that game has ever seen. I'm still waiting for remakes for System Shock 2, Deus Ex, SiN, Daikatana, C & C Generals, Battlefield 2142. And I'd buy them day one, because also unlike the old days, today bugs can be fixed. Also as you mentioned the microtransaction thing... yeah well the complaints are usually unfounded. I had a 20 year old try to lecture me that arcades weren't as bad, and refused to listen when I tried to explain to him that arcade games were literally designed to be hard to make you fail, to spend more money. I know, I was actually there. That's much more corporate level nefarious than $5 for an outfit you'll use for hundreds of hours. I won't even go into economic inflation impact on everything, except video games where the cost an employee needs to live comfortably and support their family goes up as does the development, but the price of the game doesn't.

@BelindaErcan

7 ай бұрын

Thank you for your insights! You hit the nail on the head there regarding remakes and especially arcades and micro transactions. I’ll be talking about arcades and cloud gaming in one of my next videos too and the coins you’d throw into these arcade machines were actually the predecessor to modern micro transactions, just worse :)

This is really well put together.

Interesting take. Yeah it could be levelling up for sure

You go girl! Thanks for the shoutout and thank you for spreading the good word 🙏Subscribed!

@BelindaErcan

6 ай бұрын

Omg - No, thank YOU for your videos! And for the sub 🙏

you will own nothing and you will be happy...

If gaming is consumer driven industry, gamers should own those companies of industry, at least those who work there. We don't make decisions with wallets which games are made, we made decisions which game will survive. But ultimately incentive to create one is from companies (CEO, management, leadership etc). If game isn't successful that's just waste of time, resources and people for company where profit over quality of half-baked product and wellbeing of working people with tons of examples of abuse is unfortunately a priority. Let's not makes decisions with wallets and let workers do their job.

6:35 I cannot find which video this clip came from. It's not in the description as of when I'm writing this: I am unsure why she is uncredited.

@BelindaErcan

2 ай бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/i6qap9uLpMeyXaQ.html I added her now to my resources. Thanks for pointing it out.

Just watch your esports in 2024 video, and just wanted to say the quality of your channel is very high and you should definitely stick with it

To be honest the only thing AAA studios had innovate is monetizations and mobile games for people with gambling addiction. I dont know any AAA or AAAA as EA now have with skull and bones that would be interesting or good to play now. The last good AAA game for me was Baldurs gate and Elden ring and neither of them had anything to do with the "modern" live servis crap. I dont think that gaming is dying but AAA definitely does.

I like your big picture take. As a trader/investor it's my job to look at the big picture to see where the market is going _long term_ and this also explains a lot about life itself when you start looking at life from a big picture perspective so why not apply that logic to the gaming industry indeed. Great video... And you even unintentionally gave me some gems to invest into. Thank you.

@BelindaErcan

Ай бұрын

Totally - big picture perspective is so important. As above so below. Big picture of life = big picture of industries. Underlying pattern is the same. And many lack a big picture/pattern thinking.

@profitabundance70707

Ай бұрын

@@BelindaErcan Yes. Sadly many people do lack big picture perspective, it can solve lots of problems in life if many people apply a big picture perspective but this flaw is not going to stop us from enjoying life because that is a big picture perspective too. Good talk. Keep up the great work.

Love your videos.

@BelindaErcan

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much :)

@Belinda Ercan Which Headset do you use? It looks good and the Micro sounds quite good for an incorporated one.

@BelindaErcan

Ай бұрын

Sennheiser XSW-D Wireless Lavalier Microphone Set (headset I don't know, everyday a different one from the office :) - I plug it into the camera to hear my voice and check for potential static sound/noise

Another great video! Your insider pov really balances between gamers/streamers' questionnable rants and multinational CEO/official channels' sanitized corporate talk. I'd be interested in hearing you about the state of Mobile gaming. I don't play Android games anmore. The levels of ads, microtransactions, false advertising, dark patterns, etc. has really turned me off. (at least there are still exceptions, gotta mention Polytopia

@BelindaErcan

3 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your feedback and thoughts! The reason I haven’t done a video about ads in gaming yet is because it’s …. truly off putting as to where it’s heading. It’s a casino in your phone. Across apps. Luckily some CEOs of some notable game companies literally hate ads in their games and are a vocal opponents to this “business” but others truly just try to make games for the sake of milking the gamers’ cow. It’s a huge topic but I guess becoming more and more relevant. My next two videos are in the pipeline so maybe my third - if I manage to overcome my internal resistance - could be about mobile gaming/ads in games. :) Glad you like my vids - appreciate your comments!

@trbdann2

3 ай бұрын

@@BelindaErcan thanks for the reply! indeed very off-putting, I understand 😄, revolting! I feel like we're in a very tumultuous era of gaming this year, but with a lot of great things happenning. Hopefully a mobile gaming revolution is next!

Unfair to say arcades were microtransactions since today those are usually rng ridden lootboxes, and built on top of already paying a sub and/or (inflated) box-prices + expansions and/or DLCs and/or cosmetics wherever they can get away with it (cough diablo IV cough) On an arcade you knew what you were paying for, you just paid for the right to start the game, and people who were good at it could stay on it for quite a long time. And I can't comment on what the situation in the US was since I'm not from there but they were very cheap per unit of time spent and probably a better deal than the gaming time you get out of most bought games afterwards that era. (Insert angry joe 'four fkin hours' campaign rants here)

Good video, don't know why again the likes are locked because I wanted to like it! Anyway, I would strongly state there is a shift in the development companies. You see that some triple A games you mentioned that were broken on launch, some even drastically so are able to make a comeback by fixing what they didn't deliver on. But all the games that were hits right off the bat that you mentioned where all Indie games. As you also mentioned the innovation part of the industry rests now almost solely on Indie game development companies. Where as the successes of triple A companies lie more in remasters of old games. And that's where the money is definitely shifting. While remasters do bring in cash, they aren't cash cows. Where as a successful title needs a bunch of ingredients. And one of them is innovation. Most triple A games feel stale. Remasters, remakes, new versions, but mostly nothing new. And even the few new titles like an Anthem still are heavily used theme's given just a different coating, skin. Fusion of genre's is generally a genius move giving you innovation without having to reinvent the wheel. But even those sorts of things generally are avoided by the triple A's. Triple A's are stuck behind their stockholers and investors demanding a sure fire strategy to make profit. And that's the problem, games don't do well with sure fire strategy's. You need to take a certain measure of risk. And that's where most triple A's, if not out right all of them stop. They don't do risk management, which honestly baffles me. If you have a large amount of resources to invest into projects risk management is the pro move. You take a risk with one game, then take a different risk with another and so on, until while you are constantly taking risks, you have all bases covered meaning you are actually taking no risk. Some games will under perform, but that's calculated in and other games will end up over performing. I think that Nintendo is the one triple A that understands this, perhaps Sony does a little too but they certainly do miss the mark a bit too often. I come from a background in software testing, where risk management is a given, because mistakes and errors are unavoidable. Which brings us to the ones which take both the biggest wins and the biggest losses, Indie developers. Any Indie developer will be able to tell you of how big a risk they take. Take Larian. They took all the profit they made in their previous games, then took on multiple loans all betting that their Baldur's Gate would be a winner. A definite risk which they mitigated by building it on their already build up experience in the genre. Some people are surprised by their success but honestly, it's only surprising just how much of a succes it was, it was bound to be a profitable game. They layered quality in their game. Good story, good voice acting, good game play, diversity even, it has it all. They paid for that, they invested for that and the payout was huge. Less headlines but still successes are games like Dwarf Fortress (nice one, using their music by the way), V Rising, Vampire survivors as you mentioned and so on, all Indie games where they often took genre fusion and paired it with quality and effort. And I'm not even going into the monetization pie of the market, which is a huge one but I think quite a separate beast when compared to the more standard part of the gaming market, one that's aimed are very specific targets. In short, I expect many triple A companies to run out of resources, even the big ones, if they don't start learning from the Indie games market and returning back to the more beginning of the games market times, only taking their capital and spreading it out wisely. And the whole buying up successful Indie games and re-marketing them with upgraded graphics or such will only keep companies afloat for so long, it's a band aid solution. They need to restructure themselves if they want to achieve Nintendo levels of succes.

@BelindaErcan

Ай бұрын

Thank you for this wonderful message! Agree. You're right. Indie games are driving innovation while triple-A studios stick to remasters and familiar themes, more or less. Indie game studios are startups. Startups try to break into an oversaturated industry with novel ideas by taking risks, in order to even have a chance to stand out. Meanwhile, established companies don’t feel the same pressure to innovate because they already dominate the market. They rely on their established franchises and guaranteed profits. But without taking risks and pushing boundaries, they risk becoming stale and losing touch with what gamers really want. So yes, you're spot on. Playing it safe and rehashing old games is just a temporary fix. They should embrace the indie mentality of risk-taking and innovation to avoid running out of steam. But, in any case, this doesn't mean the games industry sucks or is in decline. It's just yet another cycle phase.

@martindevries8335

Ай бұрын

@@BelindaErcan My pleasure and thanks for your answer! Yeah, the industry is far from dead, but there is a major shift in it. It will be interesting to see how things go going forth.

Remakes always change the game mechanics and without the same rules as before then you're not actually playing the same game but a new game that just hints at what you liked. Games are the rules and mechanics. The graphics and plot are just visual and mental stimulation to make it more interesting. Even cards are just a symbolic representation of the rules. This and the time and space it takes instead of trying to create something new are the only problems I have with remakes. Great video though.

Never understood why ppl say that games are dying, but i have been playing mostly indie and AA games for past 5 years or more. Also look at Baldur's Gate 3 and Helldivers 2, some games just take a lot of time to cook.

THIS CHANNEL AS A WHOLE REQUIRES MORE VIEWS AND SUBSCRIBERS

Sure the numbers are up , but the AAA games a are shadow of what they used to be, most of the"innovations" are exciting new ways to get some more money out of you , before you even know what the game is ( 100$ to play 4 days earlier, collectors editions without the game in them, 48k Star Citizen dlc, ads in full priced games ) . Great for you because half of the games budget often goes to marketing, not so much for the actual players. There are still some bigger companies actually interested in making good games .Most of the innovation comes out of the Indie scene and some smaller Companies like Larian, Neowiz. Rockstar Games used to make legendary titles every year ,now they make online casinos and shark cards. Bethesda has fallen and can't get up since 2015 , Ubisoft has lost the plot( maybe that Hip-Hop Samurai Game will not be that bad ) . The saddes one for me is CDPR, people bought Cyberpunk( full price) in 2020 , it should be working for them in 2020, not after two years . Some smaller hits and more convenience do not justify all that which has been lost

@BelindaErcan

23 күн бұрын

Hip hop samurai 😂

To me, the video game industry is becoming like Hollywood with few original ideas and corruption of reviews but with added microtransactions, unfinished releases and dull live services. It will never die, just produce mediocre dross and a few gems you have to hunt. I've mostly given up on video games and mostly look for board game ports.

@alastor-yw7og

6 ай бұрын

I honestly pitty you that you can't make a simple Google search and start doing better game decisions and purchases

Sorry to write this but I am only 40 seconds in and got super confused. The shirt looked like you are wearing a seatbelt, I love it

lol you are bringing in facts and logic to that white haired gaming journalist. Nice video

The companies ripping you off will thrive. It's only the things that you love about games that will die.

Found out about this channel on an Asmongold's video. Really great material, with a professional feel and mindful takes from such a pleasant hostess. Hoping you find a lot more to talk about, I'll be listening.

Interesting

The hunger game series was the first battle royale

@silversolver7809

Ай бұрын

Not the first. You have the Minotaur sacrifices in classical times, and the Japanese books & films called 'Battle Royale' from ~25 years ago.

FF7 Remake "Meta Verse" was terrible. It was not what I wanted as a fan of the original. They biffed the story line so much, it literally makes the original seem like a joke. And the original FF7 was amazing. I just wanted the original story with updated graphics and sound, obviously new content. But what we got was just... So disappointing. Now Sephiroth can time travel and make all the events that made the original great, are irrelevant. Sigh... And they literally trolled fans for years with a gut wrenching back and forth. Gawd, I really buyers remorse on that one.

@MrVariant

2 ай бұрын

Tons of lies with reviews. That multiverse bs there with cid's cigarettes censored and unplayable with Vincent, spiderman 2 bugs and plain MJ, lots of censorship/wokeness added for no reason. Nintendo is milking mario as well, and even edited catcalling goombas from paper mario. It's harder to buy though 3rd parties and good sales give hope. Subscriptions help when day 1 like tales of kenzera zau or Dave the diver and you don't need to like everything, just have something passable you don't already have at a reasonable price.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

already dead, and not because of layoffs/ simply because the games being produced a trash.

@CSJ2

Ай бұрын

Indie games meanwhile:

@BrobjeV

Ай бұрын

@@CSJ2 yah, i never noticed "the great game dying" cuz i play indie for so long, there's always more cool new titles

@CSJ2

Ай бұрын

@@BrobjeV People say the industry is dying based on triple A games mad e by huge studios who are well known in the industry though.

Crazy how this is a 5 month old video and there's been so much drama lately that it seems like Microsoft is going to straight up cancel the Xbox with all their studio closings when they could have just let those companies do what they've been doing ie making money under their own supervision like they even shutdown the studio behind HiFi Rush which was a hit in and of itself. Then there was Sony nearly destroying Hell Divers 2 (surprised you never made a vid on Hell Diver tbh) just for psn brownie points effectively locking out several countries in the world and I doubt the game will ever reach it's peak again. Finally gaming has been invaded by woke pandering with ESG, DEI, Bridge, same as Hollywood/Disney dropping the overall quality of games and gaming journalists are always on corporate side instead of the consumer. To think gamers as a whole didn't even officially know this crap was happening until a loud mouthed Sweet Baby Inc employee couldn't keep her mouth shut which essentially started Gamergate 2. The whole mess is just a headache :/

Naw gaming is falling off because instead of making good games companies just wanna continue digging in customers pockets. They're just rushing games out to get money from us.

@alastor-yw7og

6 ай бұрын

Well my guy clearly you've nevered looked into or played double A middle market games and indie games before

@babyj5261985

6 ай бұрын

@@alastor-yw7og I play whatever games I like. Currently the best game I played this year is Grounded

Corpo-shill