It's not one on the list but I just thought of yet another thing that may have become a threat to gaming as we know it...also life (congratulations to anyone who gets the reference).

Bad in the good old days of the SNES and Megadrive we were satisfied to see a bunch of pixels run across a screen and explode into 3685 pieces, we didn't care about graphics, we didn't care about storyline, those things were nice to have but they weren't vital.

Nowadays people have begun ripping into games just for being average. For example, Army of Two, it was pretty bland and the AI clearly had 'special needs' but it was an alright shooting game and pretty fun to play with a friend.

In short, I get the feeling that the ludicrously high expectations of many gamers with eventually run games into the ground, remember, average doesn't mean bad.

I do have to concur. Mercenaries 2 looks like a fun time and everyone craps on it for not being gods gift to sandbox.

Of course the 60 DOLLAR!??! price tag is probably what makes people expect more awesome experiances from games.

The same thing that makes everything extinct: inability or unwillingness to change

Codgo:

stinkychops:
I would actually say that the greatest threat to gaming is that no-one is properly catering to children so there wont be as many future gamers.

Wii? DS? The whole of Nintendo is aimed at bloody children at the moment.

Yeah, but nintendo is the only ones doing it, and I dont know how long kids are gonna still be playing Mario games for, without any competition in that demographic the quality can fall, and the life expectancy will go with it.

EDIT//
@ Zenmonkey:
Nicely put.
I would quote you and say it, but I am incredibly lazy.

Surprised no on mentioned this, but I think that the most significant threat to gaming right now is the people who are against net neutrality.

The problam with Australian Cencorship is one States Premier, the Premier of South Australia. For an R18+ Rating to be introduced all states MUST argee, the SA Premier thinks that games are (sexually abusing) young children and on the latest meeting the SA Premier waked in, said "I'm never going to vote for it" -Not actual quote but same sort of thing
So until a new R18+ government is voted in, in SA there is not much we can do. It's a shame, the real corporate is ignorant parents who let children buy R18+ games and give the politions an excuse to use.

(I was tired while writing this so sorry if there are any mastakes ....... *mistakes)

Jazzyluv:

Im sorry, but you have to understand how utterly hard these games are and how much they have evolved. Quake is a game that has been in constant evolution, quake 3 for example came out in in 1999, and the level of play has completely changed how the game is now played. Imagine keeping track of 4 armors timings on 25 second timers mega health on 40 second timer, weapons on 15 second timers to control them from the opponent, the position of the enemy, and what weapon to use when.... all while having to do a complex movement system called strafe jumping.

I have played Quake before, but to me it isn't any different to any other FPS. You get a gun, you shoot people. Not much else to it. Maybe if you play it obsessively but then that's true of any game.

Jazzyluv:

Cs, because it has been fine tuned into a game that requires amazing aim in 1.6 just to even compete with the strategic element, the timings, movement patterns and all that have constantly changed as players strategies, skills, and overall timing and teamwork have improved.

I'm sure this is true if you run through Halo or say Perfect Dark (I game I loved) on the hardest setting.

Jazzyluv:

Doa, because of its very complex and hard to master counter system, as well as its highly phycological play to get an advantage. The reflex and control as well as general game understanding you have to have to be competitive is staggering.

Hahaha. You don't play many fighting games do you? The counter system is ridiculously easy to master on that game and it's all too easy to win a game just by guessing a counter anytime people get close to you. Granted, if you play as certain characters (Helena, my best character Christie and Hitomi) then the combo system is good enough for me to say it's the best on a 3D fighting game, but people don't use these characters, they use Hayate, Ayana and Jann Lee and make me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. No offence, but I don't think you have a clue when it comes to fighting games.
I haven't actually played Starcraft so moving on.

Jazzyluv:

Forza because it is extremely hard to master, the intricacies are almost like that of a real car. Again i could go driving.... but of course that isn't exactly exciting is it? It has a very high skill ceiling and that is what makes it a solid game.

Maybe. But it shows you exactly what line to take and exactly when to brake, which totally undermines the... goodness of the game for want of a better word.

Jazzyluv:

Halo doesn't have shit to master in comparison to any of these game, and cod4 is a joke, and Portal is just another movie

edit: you must understand the game before you can see its peak

You haven't played Portal have you? I must admitt, after seeing all those internet memes about it I was reluctant to play it for fear of catching the chan virus. But the game itself was excellent. But none of what either of us just said is the point.

You said it yourself, "you must understand the game before you can see it at it's peak". Maybe you don't understand these games and should just respect the people that enjoy them rather than say that they're killing the games you enjoy. I mean, DOA4 and Forza came out relatively recently, but you claim that the games industry is being destroyed by new games. I don't know, just seems very hypocritical. A bigger games industry can only mean more good games, you just have to trawl through more shit to find them I guess.

I would say that EA and Australia's government joined together would be the greatest threat. Though every game would have some fat politician in it with a deep, husky voice talking about why beer is good (it has happened before, except not in a game).

Phoenix Arrow:
It's not going anywhere, but journalists will stifle it.
How are MMO's ever going to ruin the games industry? You say it takes away from making other games, but Square Enix have Final Fantasy XI and do well to make other RPGs. You just don't like them by the look of it and that's fine. But you can't fairly justify what you've been saying as a fact. I play FFXI, I have a level 75 Red Mage, I play the game with my current best friend and then boyfriend who I bought the game with for something to do. I also go out with my friends at weekends, do alright for myself at college and also buy and play various of games from various other genres. Does that mean this MMO is destroying my life or that I'm destroying the games industry?
And you won't listen to arguments to the contrary? How bloody closed minded are you? MMO's are THE most expansive games available and can be very graphically apealling. Moreover, while I can't speak for GuildWars or WoW, FFXI has 7 seperate and well thought out stories. I think elitists such as yourself are a bigger threat to the gaming industry.

Amen.

for the record, WoW doesn't have much of a single player narrative, it's up to the players to develop their own narratives if they so choose with the vast amount of lore and quests/areas available. Most do not, and that's ok.

It does however have a fairly strong overall narrative. Each expansion is a new chapter in the story, and each major content patch also adds to the overall story as well. They're trying in the latest expansion to make the story seem more relevant.

This question probably shouldn't have been a poll with just 5 answers (of many), more of a general discussion.

The only thing that could become a threat to gaming is if everyone goes off it and takes up other hobbies. As long as it remains popular (and therefore profitable) none of the opposing forces in that poll, or any of the other hundred possibilities we could dream up, stand a chance of putting a stop to it.

When rock music first came about, it had its opposition. When TV emerged so did it. These are just a couple of oft-repeated examples which solidly illustrate the point that if something is popular, as gaming is right now, opposing it is futile.

In short, you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

EA for a neck and a half.

Let's see which good games were made by EA:
Undying.

I would have to take a look at the wikipedia to be able to find more games.

I can remember too many that could-have-been-god-and-then-there-were-none

Casual gaming which ruins every reason to be original in games

Hmm I hate to change the poll now,it would rob people of opportunities but obviously "Uninformed (note both Ns, yay me) Mother Groups", "Casual Gaming" , "Elitist Gamers (like me)" all need to be thrown on the list.

Also, lots of Colbert fans which makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

TsunamiWombat:
I do have to concur. Mercenaries 2 looks like a fun time and everyone craps on it for not being gods gift to sandbox.

Of course the 60 DOLLAR!??! price tag is probably what makes people expect more awesome experiances from games.

Yeah, and it's more in some other places. I paid 80 for Bioshock, and it wasn't even special edition. Doesn't Yahtzee always say games cost 110$ in Australia? Of course, maybe everything costs more in Australia.

It's just like Stranglehold. When Stranglehold came out for 49.99, I was completely uninterested. When I picked up a used copy for 24.99, suddenly I was on board and really enjoyed that game.

MMO's, purely because the money pile Blizzard swim in is far too attractive to not get a slice of the pie. And to get into the market requires significant money, which means less for more traditional games. Plus they tend to be quite addictive by design, and people want to progress that character. Hence why many games are picking up MMO concepts, look at Call of Duty 4, even Team Fortress 2 in many ways.

I could see MMO's and Casual Games becoming the normal, with the normal staples becoming significantly rarer.

I've been a gamer for many years and i swear the quality has gone downhill. I really think there is only a few quality releases a year, something that gets me interested for a protracted amount of time. Only games of note recently were World of Warcraft and Desert Combat for Battlefield 1942 and Team Fortress 2. Portal and Call of Duty 4 should get notable single player mentions in my honest opinion.

A year or so ago i'd have probably said EA without a second thought, though i remember thinking they deserved some kudos over defending themselves with the whole Mass Effect mess. That said, their policy on DRM annoys me and their support life for a game is woefully short. If Red Alert 3 has a mismatch error, grrr.

inu-kun:
Casual gaming which ruins every reason to be original in games

Yeah, get rid of those noobie casual games and go back to the real old-school hardcore gaming; Space Invaders, Missile Command, Centipede, Berzerk... oh, wait...

(Thanks for illustrating my point.)

-- Steve

Jazzyluv:

Im sorry, but you have to understand how utterly hard these games are and how much they have evolved. Quake is a game that has been in constant evolution, quake 3 for example came out in in 1999, and the level of play has completely changed how the game is now played. Imagine keeping track of 4 armors timings on 25 second timers mega health on 40 second timer, weapons on 15 second timers to control them from the opponent, the position of the enemy, and what weapon to use when.... all while having to do a complex movement system called strafe jumping.

Cs, because it has been fine tuned into a game that requires amazing aim in 1.6 just to even compete with the strategic element, the timings, movement patterns and all that have constantly changed as players strategies, skills, and overall timing and teamwork have improved.

Ok, Quake3 and Starcraft i'll give you. Both are still among the best games of their genres, at least as far as competitive play and I'll skip DoA and Forza because i've never played racing or fighting games seriously enough to comment.

But as far as CS is concerned, it is only your personal preference. I've been playing CS competitively since 1.6 (where i returned after a brief stint on source) and i've also played the shit out of the CoD games, although i never played 1&2 that seriously since i was still addicted to CS.

If you're playing CoD4 on any sort of competitive level, you need solid teamwork and strategy. Knowing the maps like the back of your hand, the timings, player movements... is this sounding familiar to you? The teamwork involved is the same, communicating enemy positions & movements, providing cover, adapting strategies on the fly.

Different game, same skillsets required. You can argue which is better until the cows come home, it comes down to personal preference in the end. I have to admit that CS is the more "pure" competitive shooter, for lack of a better description, but at the end of the day, its not the game, its how you play it.

Oh god I want to vote for all of them

Some people are fighting the "casual games" as a threat to our hobby. I'm not sure I understand it myself, but I think the theory goes like this:

1) It is cheaper to create Sims, or Boom Blox or Bejeweled than it is to create, say, Shadow of the Colossus.

2) Those casual games make just as much money.

3) Another art form, like movies or film, needs to be deep or interesting to get people to buy it. But games, with the participation element making them so much more potent, don't necessarily require that and so, why would anyone bother?

Do I have that right?

Rising production costs are the biggest threat. It's harder for the new developers to get into the business and game companies are afraid of making something new, as there's a bigger risk of failure.

L.B. Jeffries:
It's uninformed. You left out the n. When I first read it I thought you were talking about something else entirely.

I think only Bill Gates has so many lawyers that giving them uniforms would be a plausible idea.

MMO's can't that bad. A truly terrible product doesn't sell and the company goes bust. I don't like them so I don't play them. If you don't like them do the same just stop moaning about them, I hear more about MMO's from people who don't like them than from those who do.

Decoy Doctorpus:
What you've got to understand is that gamers helped make Thompson by giving him a platform to speak on. Same goes for that lunatic talking about anal rape in Mass Effect. It's gamer websites and forums that made them famous. We're just as responsible as Fox news.

Wait,

Was that one of the renegade options I missed?

Anton P. Nym:

inu-kun:
Casual gaming which ruins every reason to be original in games

Yeah, get rid of those noobie casual games and go back to the real old-school hardcore gaming; Space Invaders, Missile Command, Centipede, Berzerk... oh, wait...

(Thanks for illustrating my point.)

-- Steve

Yeah, because of casual gaming the wii is the best console to buy.......oh wait

inu-kun:

inu-kun:
Casual gaming which ruins every reason to be original in games

Yeah, get rid of those noobie casual games and go back to the real old-school hardcore gaming; Space Invaders, Missile Command, Centipede, Berzerk... oh, wait...

(Thanks for illustrating my point.)

-- Steve

Wait, I'm confused, so the "HardCore" games of yesterday are the casual games of today? Space Invaders has become casual, but used to be a carpal tunnel syndrome study? So... how does that work when there's more casual games today? Everyone will be playing a "hardcore" FPS in 15 years, but what will more serious gamers play? Or will we all just blend into gamers and drop this whole "Casual vs. Hardcore" thing? That sounds nice, but it also sounds like it would work against innovation.

ThePlasmatizer:
4. All mmorpg players are evil - Come on everyone at one time has PK'ed a lower levelled character, the thing is with mmorpg's like real life people are nice to one kind of person and hate another.

Nahh, I'm not that evil, I only PK players within 5 lvls of me. If they're really low I just follow them around and /dance.

Crunchy English:
Wait, I'm confused, so the "HardCore" games of yesterday are the casual games of today? Space Invaders has become casual, but used to be a carpal tunnel syndrome study?

Ding-ding-ding!

The "hardcore" gamers these days actually come from an offshoot of a gamer fringe from the earlier days of gaming that somehow rose to ascendance in the eyes of the game industry. As that process evolved, and increasing fractions of games created catered to this vocal fringe, the arcade-going type wandered off in pursuit of other diversions they found more rewarding.

It's not that today's "casual games" are bringing the Great Unwashed in to ruin gaming for the True Fans, it's that today's game designers are returning to the design ethic that polycounts, gibs, and UI overcomplexity aren't as important as the game mechanics... and those who would've fed quarters into standups twenty years ago are instead buying Wiis or firing up browser games.

If anything, this renaissance offers more developers more chances to break out of the kubuki mindframe of "hardcore" gaming by offering new styles (or at least new takes on styles abandoned since the '90s) outside the genres of platformer/3PS/FPS/god-game/etc. Whether they take advantage of that or not remains to be seen... but the "casual game" market is an opportunity, not a threat, for gaming.

-- Steve

I can't think of much that would ruin gaming for me, other than a really crappy game. As long as I can play good games still I'll be happy.

Johnny Ringo:

Decoy Doctorpus:
What you've got to understand is that gamers helped make Thompson by giving him a platform to speak on. Same goes for that lunatic talking about anal rape in Mass Effect. It's gamer websites and forums that made them famous. We're just as responsible as Fox news.

Wait,

Was that one of the renegade options I missed?

the options weren't that great, if you read the post "Uniformed Journalists" was the reference to the Mass Effect Debacle.

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding why i like games like starcraft, quake, and CS. These games, unintentionally went beyond what the developer imagined the game would be. These games are still being pushed further and further in skill. Games like COD4, everything was planned out, the game style, the maps, and most importantly skill development and metagames are completely planned. Games now don't give tools for self expression, they have "debugged" games so much, and they have made rules that just so hard to break. In COD4 for example, all the weapons can really only be used in their main role, Ak-74u is close to mid range, while Ak-47 is good all around, while sniper can only be used as a defensive class because of the strength of the other two weapons. While in CS, sniper can be used in far more situations, and the game has become so fine tuned, that certain weapons just can't even compete anymore in a competitive environment.

And no, I don't think gamers that play COD4, Halo, and Portal are pathetic people, I'm just saying that this group threatens my games, because most of the games that i like are of course secretly complex while hiding under simplicity. You have to figure the game out, it isn't shoved in your face at how the game is "meant to be played". It gives you your tools and says... figure out how to use them as well as you can, be creative, think. Games arent like that anymore. I don't use games as escapism, I don't use games for relaxation, I use games to compete with other human beings, to out think them, to push the game as far as it will let me go to get an edge on the opponent. Alot of people enjoy doing this, im not obsessive about gaming, hell, i spend only about 2 hours of my life every day on the computer with my friends on vent, we are all working towards a common goal, to win. And it's fun everyday to sit back and see what we can do to exploit a maps advantages as much as possible. Without my teammates, I wouldn't be playing online, this isn't an ego trip as some may think of it. This is my hobby, and i think it will be for a long time, as long as atleast one good competitive game comes out every 2 years. Quake live is this years.(and no, i haven't been gaming a long time, started 2 years ago)

At least i don't spend 400 hours of my life playing final fantasy 12 by myself....

I offer a new suggestion. Women!! A lot of the guys i play with are married/have girlfriends and most of them have been put under strict rules as to when they can play and for how long and what they can play.

Everyday Estrogen-powered tyranny aside,I don't think women are a threat. Well, not to the industry anyway. I play more often than not with my girlfriend. Co-op modes are pretty much our best dates. The only time she kicks me off the tv is when she wants to play DMC4.

Besides, strict play time restrictions don't prevent men from playing and enjoying video games, so it can't really make a big dent.