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Making games is very different from making software, but what about movies/tv shows? Netflix overall seems to have a good idea of how to do that? I suspect it'

Making games is very different from making software, but what about movies/tv shows? Netflix overall seems to have a good idea of how to do that? I suspect it's a lot more expensive to find out if you have a good idea with games vs tv/movies.

sandworm101 2y ago
There are definite similarities. There is the mercurial creative team making the art, and the technical team that gets that art onto a screen. But TV/film relies on the "star system", a network of families and agents that generate the recognizable actors that in turn drive sales. Gaming doesn't have such a system. Sure, there are recognizable people in gaming, but while the average movie watcher can recognize maybe a hundred actors, the average gamer cannot name more than one developer. Netflix is integrated into the star system and so can consistently generated profitable content. They never found an equivalent hook into gaming, because there isn't one. Game development likely cannot be made consistently profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_system_(filmmaking) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_system_(filmmaking)
- InDubioProRubio 2y ago
  UbiSofts attempt to scientifically generate consistent games following the formula also come to mind. The whole standardize the production attempts are super-toxic in gamedesign, as the alure is there (use the same engine everywhere) etc. and the result is always bland shovelware.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
fidotron 2y ago
> Making games is very different from making software, but what about movies/tv shows? Ridiculously different. Movie people really rely on the fact they control the camera, and when a movie is done it replays the same every time. That allows a lot of corner cutting which you cannot do in games.
oersted 2y ago
Isn't the film industry struggling too? Perhaps not as much financially but still. Holywood is dominated by Marvel and a handful of recognizable directors like Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino, and they are struggling to fund and distribute their projects too. Actual cinema theatres are dying a not-so-slow death, accelerated by the pandemic, and streaming seems to be very ineffective for movies unlike TV. TV is doing okay, but it has obviously declined from the golden-age of Breaking Bad, early Game of Thrones, early House of Cards, Stranger Things... Just off the top of my head. There is still some good stuff coming out but the overall density in quality has dramatically gone down. Netflix and Amazon Prime are not doing great financially, HBO just about managed with the weird Discovery merger, Apple TV remains small (seemingly intentionally). And the music industry? All but gone really in terms of a real money-maker. There's Talor Swift and all the Spotify beggars. Is there any creative industry that is actually in a healthy growth stage? Podcasts? There's just too much supply and not enough demand at this point, people have only so much free time.

sandworm101 2y ago

There are definite similarities. There is the mercurial creative team making the art, and the technical team that gets that art onto a screen. But TV/film relies on the "star system", a network of families and agents that generate the recognizable actors that in turn drive sales. Gaming doesn't have such a system. Sure, there are recognizable people in gaming, but while the average movie watcher can recognize maybe a hundred actors, the average gamer cannot name more than one developer. Netflix is integrated into the star system and so can consistently generated profitable content. They never found an equivalent hook into gaming, because there isn't one. Game development likely cannot be made consistently profitable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_system_(filmmaking) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_system_(filmmaking)

InDubioProRubio 2y ago
UbiSofts attempt to scientifically generate consistent games following the formula also come to mind. The whole standardize the production attempts are super-toxic in gamedesign, as the alure is there (use the same engine everywhere) etc. and the result is always bland shovelware.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

fidotron 2y ago

> Making games is very different from making software, but what about movies/tv shows? Ridiculously different. Movie people really rely on the fact they control the camera, and when a movie is done it replays the same every time. That allows a lot of corner cutting which you cannot do in games.

oersted 2y ago

Isn't the film industry struggling too? Perhaps not as much financially but still. Holywood is dominated by Marvel and a handful of recognizable directors like Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino, and they are struggling to fund and distribute their projects too. Actual cinema theatres are dying a not-so-slow death, accelerated by the pandemic, and streaming seems to be very ineffective for movies unlike TV. TV is doing okay, but it has obviously declined from the golden-age of Breaking Bad, early Game of Thrones, early House of Cards, Stranger Things... Just off the top of my head. There is still some good stuff coming out but the overall density in quality has dramatically gone down. Netflix and Amazon Prime are not doing great financially, HBO just about managed with the weird Discovery merger, Apple TV remains small (seemingly intentionally). And the music industry? All but gone really in terms of a real money-maker. There's Talor Swift and all the Spotify beggars. Is there any creative industry that is actually in a healthy growth stage? Podcasts? There's just too much supply and not enough demand at this point, people have only so much free time.