This week, I chose to write my blog on Nintendomania: Rapid Adoption of an Entertainment Innovation by Everett M. Rogers. I chose this article because I find it interesting the influence that video games have on our society, and how they play a part in the history of graphic design, the video game industry, as well as the movie/television industry. I think this industry is growing due to more people working from home, having more free time, and finding ways to connect virtually with friends. This is something I’ve grown more interested in since the start of the pandemic last March.
When it comes to the video game industry, particularly the development and distribution of video games, I believe that there are many more risk-takers now than there were before. The article mentions that America was afraid to take the risk with Nintendo after the quick decline of Atari, but I think that America was right. That being said, Nintendo was able to show how different it is and how they had a much better plan to avoid that. People are much more willing to take risks now than they used to be because they see success stories like this and the high risk panned out a high reward.
Derek Strickland mentions that companies take risks when they consider expanding games that they have made. They could either make a lot of revenue and expand their customer base, or they could lose current customer and hurt their current built-up reputation. One example is Bethesda doing this with Fallout 76. He believes that many people and game creators are risk-takers, but they must think through the adverse effects they are putting on the line when taking risks.
After doing some research, I realized that there are many people that do not agree with my argument. For instance, Steve Goldstein believes that people are not taking risks and investing in new games. He says that many games are being invented and advertised, but people stick to what is familiar and comfortable, like a new Call of Duty game. This makes sense because I know several people who re-play their favorite games to try to make the story go a new way and unlock the game completely, which can take hundreds of in-game hours.
According to Endeavor Insight, “The authors analyzed the behavior of 362 video game developers over 8 years to see how their business decisions were influenced by two types of performance feedback: expert reviews and sales.” They argue that successful game developers are more risk-averse. They also mention that it can be difficult for a new game to get consistently positive reviews, which is a necessary benchmark for the game to be successful.
In conclusion, the game-development industry is still a risk-averse field. Even though people saw that the risk taken with Nintendo was one that definitely paid off, video game developers are still fearful of the many things that could go wrong when launching and marketing a new video game. I was disappointed that my research ended up not supporting my argument as much as I would have liked, I understand why and am interested in understanding this interesting industry more.
References
E. (2017, January 30). Successful Entrepreneurs in the Gaming Industry are Actually Risk Averse. Retrieved April 22, 2021, from http://www.ecosysteminsights.org/successful-entrepreneurs-in-gaming-are-actually-risk-averse/
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations, 5th Edition (5th ed.). Free Press.
Strickland, D. (2020, November 03). Making Video Games is Risky Business, Even for Activision. Retrieved April 22, 2021, from https://www.tweaktown.com/news/65047/making-video-games-risky-business-even-activision/index.html
Takahashi, D. (2017, May 30). Turtle Rock’s Steve Goldstein Believes the Console Game Industry Lacks Risk Takers. Retrieved April 22, 2021, from https://venturebeat.com/2017/05/28/turtle-rocks-steve-goldstein-believes-the-console-game-industry-lacks-risk-takers/3/
Mikayla Flynn 