So, this is something new that I’m trying. If I have something to say, speak on, preach, bitch, whine, moan, whatever… I’ll just start writing it here. Maybe someone will read it, maybe they won’t… but more importantly, I won’t have to worry about the mandates of blogging on some other website. I can say what I want, how I want, and on my own schedule.
So to start, I want to deal with a phrase that some people throw around when they feel that they are being treated poorly by a company: “Vote with your wallets.” Pretty simple concept; if a company pisses you off, you hit them where it hurts the most by not giving them any more of your hard-earned money. This can be a very effective strategy to get your point across, but for some reason most commentators on the video game industry seem to believe that gaming consumers are incapable of voting with their wallets, noting that their preferred method of complaints are through internet message boards (semi-effective) and internet petitions (completely ineffective).
On the contrary, gamers are perfectly capable of letting their money talk for them in the face of perceived injustice. The Nintendo 3DS was slammed for having a paltry game library, and as a result Nintendo had to drop the price significantly after only eight months on the market. After releasing the most successful home console of the generation, Sony launched the PlayStation 3 with an unimpressive lineup of exclusive games and an exorbitant $600 price tag. Sales stalled until they got their act together. Sales of EA’s Spore were well below expectations as gamers protested the stringent DRM included. Those are just the first three examples I could think of.
However, when it comes to voting with their money, gamers have a very debilitating Achilles’ heel. Gamers don’t want to make statements, they want to play games. When the most effective course of action also involves depriving themselves of a potentially great gameplay experience, their collective resolve wavers almost to the point of non-existence. The major game publishers and developers know this point all too well, which is why they always attach their most heinous bullshit tactics to highly anticipated titles. No matter how much the internet protests, sales are pretty much guaranteed. EA’s Online Pass? Debut it with Madden. Eliminate the options for LAN play and dedicated servers? Try it with Starcraft 2 or Modern Warfare. Ridiculous always-on DRM schemes? Tack them on to Assassin’s Creed 2 and Diablo 3. The internet collectively thrashed its teeth hard enough to cause lockjaw over all of these developments, but almost none of the complaints translated into lost sales. Let’s be real, if a gamer has to choose between dealing with excessively invasive DRM and lack of mod support or not playing Diablo 3 at all, you already know what choice he or she is most likely to make.
As gamers, our wallets speak just as loudly as all other consumers’, perhaps even louder given the size of the industry. Publishers and developers are listening, and they’re listening well. It’s up to us to make sure that we’re speaking with the right words. Otherwise, what’s to stop EA from requiring a fingerprint scan before you can play Mass Effect 3? Not much… you’ll probably even pay for the privilege.
