Those sale numbers have less to do with gamers not wanting innovative and new and more to do with gaming spreading to a wider audience(ermahgerd look at these growth numbers from '96-'13, clearly we like the same things over and over again)(not that we don't, human beings tend to like routine, it's familiar, comforting).
Generally when anything does this, in order to maintain it, it must be(harsh words but it is the sentiment) dumbed down. Story and content evolves to reach the wider audience and feed the sales numbers because as all things, business boils down to money.

Indies and Kickstarter and still making fun and innovative games and those that want them will find them, there will always be a market for them; they've simply gone from being the only market to a niche in the market.

Not to ignite the larger war; but casual gamers(if your DVD tower consists of 50% or more of games and their sequels) aren't really gamers.


Edit: to add, number fluctuation has somewhat to do with which consoles they're on, which is the popular one at the time as well. The early Nintendo Mario games out-sell because it was the "big" console at the time and since then, much of the audience of the time grew up and some grew out.

As someone who has worked with product management, my experience is that people in general and gamers in particular do not know what they want. All they know is that they want something new and fresh that is most importantly, familiar. Very few truly new things are immediately accepted.

It is the job of the game makers (or anyone making products) to fill that gap.

Take an MMO for instance. The bar has, over the years been raised fairly high. Not only do you need a graphically complex and beautiful world but you need a large number of flawless mini-games to round it out. In addition to that you need a level of operational service that is more or less equivalent to that which you see from a TV station (near zero down time and constant access). Not only that but you need to provide a never ending stream of new content. Plus you need to get the social aspect right, story, quests, pvp, etc.

All of that stuff is tough. And people are fickle, there is an "embarrassment of riches" with regards to options for players, which is why risk averse capital tends to back the sure thing as much as they can, and why you see CoD 5 instead of 3D FTL for instance.

eNumbra wrote: »

gooneybird71 wrote: »

people in general and gamers in particular do not know what they want.

This. Nobody can possibly underline this thought enough.

I can attest to sticking to my own predilections and writing games, music and movies off because "I would never enjoy that"; and only as I grew up and learned to be less closed-minded in such instances did I find many of those things have their place on my shelf as well.

Nobody really knows what they like until they've sat down and tried it.

Maybe you disagree with me, but the bold part should be taken with a grain of salt. There are obvious fine lines I don't think people realize when they hear it. If you've played a type of game many of times, and each time you just stop playing after 30 minutes... You might want to stop buying those types of games, or trying them out, at least for awhile.

This is how I view a lot of games like Civilization or really old computer / NES console era RPG's. I've played under a hundred of them, but well over 30 or so (That I can remember). I never really liked any of them past a few, and quite a lot of money has been sunk into playing them legitimately. that isn't always an option, but it's always something I strive for.

Granted as I've gotten older, I just play new games because hell -- it's something to do. Which is completely different from actually seeking out a game to play that interests me.

Yeah. I don't think its just gaming though as even movies are the same these days and haven't seen a truly unique film in many years.

There's an excellent point on this sort of thing made in a Ted Talks. "Malcolm Gladwell: Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce" I believe it was. Fun information for all and easily found with a google search.