I see the point of this article, though there are sometimes cases where the absence of a good boss fight can wreck a game.
Case in point: Fable II...
Bosses are important in JRPGs. They can also be used to change up gameplay elements in action games like the God of War series.
Games are probably more attractive to small publishers like Aksys if they aren't region free. Imports of niche titles can cannibalize sales in certain genres, and I'd argue that Cave bullet-hell shmups are one of those genres.
Interestingly enough, rumor among fans is that Cave was denied the right to release standalone games on PS3 at retail...
The localized version of DeathSmiles on Xbox 360 sold over 100k, yet the (region-locked) sequel was passe...
Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64, and GoldenEye.
Those were good times.
Japan's substitute for a Clash of Ninja release last year. What a shame it turned out so poorly. There's potential for a Naruto action/adventure game (as shown by some others in the franchise) but apparently this one didn't turn out so well.
That score hurts. "Believe it!" >_____<
No industry is "recession proof" right now - especially not in entertainment. Though with the addition of new kinds of business models aside from the $60 retail release, there are plenty of new ways to make money from games.
Corporations are massive and resistant to change. Imagine what would have happened if the Big 3 announced their next-gen home consoles this year to coincide with the usual 5-6 year turnaround? The industry would implode on itself.
I used to be a fanboy because I had to make choices about the gaming systems I invested in. Growing up in a household where one parent really didn't approve of gaming made things even more difficult.
I ended up having to choose one console out of each generation up to the PS2/XBOX/GCN era when I could start buying my own stuff.
Then again, the internet wasn't the force of nature it is today, either, so I wasn't exposed to as much fanboy hate as...
Yeah, this type of game isn't really my cup of tea. Plus, when you borrow so many gameplay mechanics from other games/series, your execution has to be on-point or it just doesn't work.