Today this symbol will be used
in a rebellious cliché method
I'm a child of the 90's. I was born in ol' '92. It was a good year. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 came out, Batman Returns and Wayne's World hit theatres and Miley Cyrus was born...wait, what?
From my young perspective throughout the 90's, whenever I saw a movie or played a game, I thought nothing of it. The gaming scene was the latest and long-lasting thing among kids in those days (among many hip fads!) Suddenly we were breaking from mere 16-Bit games to fully 3D games that opened a new world and gave us a much more realistic approach to how we interact with a virtual world.
Basically this...but kinda not
So from my young perspective, it really seemed the gaming world was booming with interest, sales and new ideas.
Comics! We had a Golden Age, a Silver Age and a Bronze Age of comics. But the 90's, man...comic's were trying new things. Some titles had "experimental phases", new publishers were created and with them came new IP's for the coloured funny-book industry. You could chalk it up as semi-modern underground phase in comics. But while we saw new ideas and so-so, it wasn't all money and success for everyone.
The industry still had interest and that's what mattered to a fanbase of ageing-awkward nerds growing up in the height of awful fashion.
Just your average 90's gamer
waiting on his mail-order set of DOOM Floppy Disks
Now the Film industry. An industry that has been going strong since it's inception, the 90's saw a butt-load of cheesy movies. It wasn't the 80's no more, you couldn't get away with it! It wasn't all doom & gloom, we saw some compelling drama movies rise from this glorious decade.
On a side note, the 90's gave us Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption and heck, even Toy Story! New ideas were aplenty in this splendid era and it was a business that could still surprise the market of modern viewers.
As the world we knew changed, creative media
began "falling with style" (sorry)
BOOM - The Internet happened. When the internet grew bigger, it started becoming available in more and more homes. Sooner or later, most 1st class and 2nd class citizens and families began having internet readily available in their own premises to explore the big wide web. While the process started slow, it was soon to change the creative outlet forever and all forms of media would indeed be effected...
As time passed, computers and the internet became something we used in our lives almost daily! In the last few years, all forms of media have began to experience a sloping decline, in a sense.
YES, movies, comics and videogames are readily available at many retail stores where we can find them at our own leisure, but not in the same way we used to....
Let's start with Comics! Today, Comics are still readily available in certain stores. You won't find them among traditional magazines in your local convenience store, but rather only in shops that tailor towards the nerdy user-base. As far as the collectable comic-book market goes...it's very much declined, per se'. True, if you manage to own like the first Superman/Batman/Spiderman/Etc. issue, then yeah, you'll be in the big money. But with the inception of Digital Comics, the industry has changed completely, forever.
Now people can purchase comics from the beginning till the present day, essentially killing off the value and validity of it's physical counterpart.
What's changing this industry also? Indie comics - Comic's created by individuals with a story to tell. Indie comic-book creators are creating more unique and interesting titles than Marvel or DC. Thankfully, most if not all indie creators want their titles to be physical, giving a new lease of life for physical comics and digital as an afterthought. Unlike Marvel or DC, a good amount of Indie comics usually have a conclusion set up, whereas with most/all superhero comics by the "Big Two" continuing for decades with characters being killed, then brought back constantly. But in the end, an Indie comic is only as good as how much effort and money the creator(s) put into it.
Films! Films are readily available in a variety of ways - Physically bought on store, bought online to download, streamed on a subscription service (Netflix, Now TV) or watched in the Cinema. Now when people want to watch a film, they usually turn to one solution - illegal streaming/download. In the good ol' days, when you wanted to see a new movie, you went to the cinema. When you wanted to see a movie that was already out, you either bought it or went on a quick trip to your local Video Store to borrow a movie for a day or two.
Now, with everybody turning to online streaming of movies illegally, the business is limping along. Companies have closed, movies have bombed and Video stores have closed because of illegal streaming of movies and why? Because it's free! Because people feel entitled.
It isn't every consumer's fault though. With online streaming, companies in Hollywood may see new ideas as too much of a risk. The solution? Churn out a remake!
Remakes, remakes, remakes...If it's not a superhero movie or a comedy, it's a remake. Where are the ideas I hear you say? In Indie creators! There are generations of individuals out there who yearn to bring their ideas and stories to the screens in any way they can. The indie film fanbase is filled with devotion and commitment unlike any other and some indie films can really surprise you in ways blockbuster films haven't for a long time. Look into it, get involved.
Videogames are a little tougher. Unlike simply putting a pen to paper or pressing record on a camera, to make any kind of progress in creating a videogame, its required that you have a good idea of what you want to create and some knowledge of coding in general. Todays games are a sad affair when you compare them to the games of yesteryear when we had variety!
Now? If it's not Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, Fifa, Far Cry or Battlefield, it usually isn't given much attention. Like comics and films, videogames have also moved to being available both physically and digitally - unlike other media, not resulting in being any cheaper. With new generations of consoles comes new updates in graphical quality...and not much else. It's become a cliché market of DLC available on the disk and sold to idiotic consumers later, micro transactions you 'should' buy to win, multiplayer-focused titles and remakes!!! (Taking a page from the film industries book?)
You know what is giving us variety? Indie games! You know what isn't simply tacking-on DLC? Indie games! You know what isn't shoving micro transactions? Indie games!
Unlike Comics and Films, most teams/individuals in the Indie gaming scene can't bring their idea to a physical format, usually relying on something like Steam or Android's app store to make their game readily available. Indie dev's are certainly bringing the meat of "what makes a game a game" with them in their titles, some reminding you of your favourites and some reminding you why you enjoyed games in the first place.
That's not to say blockbuster games are dead or that all are boring. It's just not a good time at the moment? I dunno.
But there's something that can be learned here! The market could change, depending if the masses were able to organise and make it happen.
If an artist creates a comic, he/she can easily get it stocked in his/her local comic shop. What if you make a game and can pay to make it physical and work on a console (in that very unlikely situation)? Well to start, there should be an ability to apply and submit your game to a console manufacturer who for a fee will make it physical and with a payment plan, put your game on say 100, 500 or 1000 Xbox 360 disks with options for old consoles too, such as the Dreamcast or the Snes. Why not? right? And with that, it would be on the shelves of local game stores. It would surely benefit anyone. I also acknowledge it would need a more thorough plan than that.
Films could also take a page from this book too. It's a lot easier for someone to bring their indie movie to dvd and yes, they can sell them on their own. But to mass-market like blockbuster movies?
It seems almost unachievable. If we still had videostores, this could help keep them open, maybe?
Imagine - your head down to your local Blockbuster, your having a movie night with the other half, you grab some popcorn, but now for the movie. You acknowledge there are plenty of blockbuster movies that you have and haven't seen. What's this? an Indie section? Sure, why not? You see a movie with an awesome cover, a nice title and your interest is piqued. You read the back and you like the sound of it. You go home with your companion, watch it, love it and your sold! Another Indie movie to go!
Seems possible, right? I would like to believe that!
Now comics can already be stocked in comic stores. But what if this industry took a page from the Videogame and Film market. Sure you get Comic-Con where creators can show and sell their unique idea(s) but what about a Comic-book festival? Similar to Videogame and Film Festivals. Have Comic creators submit their Comic book creation into a festival. Albeit, this would need more planning to it than I am prepared for, as Videogame and Film festivals have content you can watch. At the same time, motion comics exist and I suppose that would be a smart way to submit your comic in a festival-like manner.
But with a festival and a prize for the best comic sounds like a good way for creators to get exposed as opposed to Cons.
So that's it everybody, just a few ideas from myself. But in the end, I'm just a fan of many movies, comics and games and would love to see the businesses survive and get better!
Have a good day everybody!
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