A Classic Case Of Serious Burnout

The gaming market is getting increasingly diverse and fragmented. The current market has 3 consoles games, pc games, retro games, arcade games, portable games (Ds,PsP), mobile phones games and PS2 games (last year, 14 million people worldwide bought a new PS2!) : all these markets compete for the gamer’s money and time against other entertainment mediums like music, dvds and tv. So obviously new games need to keep the gamer’s attention as long as possible before they move on to other things.

So why are Criterion games still working on "Burnout Paradise"? In January they released a great game for PS3 and 360 and sold over a million copies : quite a feat in an already crowded racing market, and particularly notable for its January release. But, instead of concentrating on the next release for next year, they have continued to focus on the same game. This August, 7 months after the original release date, they are releasing an update which adds motorbikes and island expansions (see photo above!). Unfortunately, updates like this cost a lot of money and time : in addition to creating and designing it, the update needs to be tested vigourously ( an earlier update was cancelled due to bugs) and go through the lengthy process of certification. But above all, how many people will have moved on to Grand Turismo 5 , GTAIV or other new games? How many will have sold or traded in their copy? After all, you can't purchase or use the update without the original game!

Ironically, "burnout" is also a psychological term for "experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest". Enough said , back to GTAIV : I need to finish it before I trade it in for MGS4.