In business, if you give people what they want, you are rewarded with money. This should be obvious, but this seems to be lost on a few people I've heard in the news lately. The goal, then, should not be to make money, but to make customers, as they are the source. Making customers, then, should involve giving them what they want, even if they don't know that they want it. Many games and products this generation have integrated in them many more ways to make money than to make customers. Granted, there are a few that get it, but especially on the console side of things, this isn't so. Let me illustrate this.
By and large most 360 and PS3 games released come with available downloadable extras. These extras cost usually a few bucks apiece, up to ten in many cases, and are usually released shortly after the game is (one company had the gall to have their content up on day 1). The defense for this content is that the game is complete without it, and is simply there for those who want more content. The problem, and usually the counterpoint, is that the games themselves are expensive already (PS3 and 360 games are $60 standard), many people want a value for their money. Placing content outside of the regular game and charging for it means that $60 doesn't mean that you buy the game anymore, rather, you get the bare bones edition. This is actually something that the game industry can learn from movies: give a few extras on the disc, so it's a complete experience the first time.
Many game companies are risk-averse; this is usually okay, unless you work in entertainment. Entertainment needs to surprise people, and in order to do that, risks must be taken (you can't, after all, ask someone, "What surprises you?" and get a relevant answer). They view the Wii as much too risky of a venture, despite its success. This success is seemed to be limited to only Nintendo, as they have had more success with their platform than anyone else (partly true; Nintendo is a fantastic developer, to be sure, but it's not like the platform is exclusive). Many of these companies will go with "test games", used to try the market out with a small investment. Gamers, though, are pretty keen, and can tell when a game is cheaply made, or is entirely uncreative. So when these tests fail, and they always do, the blame is placed on the customers who didn't buy into their cheap crap. Making things worse for these companies is they refuse to develop proper games for the leading platform, because they don't know how to succeed (I'm paraphrasing, here, but these are their words, not mine).
So there is this industry with much more potential than is being realized. The conversation between gamers and industry can improve leaps and bounds, and when it does, both can be satisfied.
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