Feature: 'Question Of The Week Responses: The Christmas Rush'

In today's main Gamasutra feature, we present game professionals' responses to last week's Question of the Week, in which we asked: “Do you think that releasing the vast majority of major video games in the run-up to Christmas best benefits developers, publishers, and consumers?” A responses from Eric Buxton characterized a number of the replies on the subject: "I think the traditional holiday season blitz will increasingly become a detriment to the industry. As the median age of gamers continues to climb, I predict overall sales will sag as it becomes apparent that fewer and fewer consumers have either the time or the money to enjoy all the high-quality titles that are released. A more evenly distributed release schedule would allow today's gamers, who now increasingly have families and other financial responsibilities not faced by previous generations, to experience a wider variety of games throughout the year, rather than being faced with a glut of choices at precisely the time their budgets are strained the most. Furthermore, without the pressure to release games in time for the holiday season, we would see fewer half-finished games rushed out the door, an all too common product during this season that benefits neither developer, publisher, nor consumer. Gamers could rest (more) assured that the game they're buying is actually complete. Developers would (theoretically) have the time to polish their vision. And publishers would not have to convince skittish shareholders to bide their time in anticipation of a sudden end-of-year revenue windfall. Sadly, though obviously necessary, such a massive transition requires a leap of faith for the whole industry, one which will hopefully come sooner rather than later." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including a number of other responses by video game professionals (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).