（CNN）从销售暴跌到社交网络转变，评论家总喜欢无休止的争论什么破坏了游戏产业。

但可笑的是，所有的问题是游戏工业已经没什么新奇的地方值得谈起，而且“视频游戏”本身也已经过时。

“我从来没有见过这样的时期…有那么多干扰，”电子艺界的创始人Trip Hawkins最近在网上视频“Game Theory”说道。“这个产业真的被弄得乱七八糟。”

farmville

认可新技术的兴起–从可下载的游戏到智能手机应用程序–一连串的“云”游戏和社交网络。（社交游戏和手机游戏）

免费游戏可玩版在你的Web浏览器上，电子娱乐基于电子虚拟商品销售，而且大型多人在线世界也正处于上升阶段。

不幸的是，对于这些工业巨头像Activision和电子艺界，大部分现代模式的电子娱乐在游戏方面游戏有很多工作要做。

为新平台建设的数字娱乐，像 Facebook 和 iPhone，不仅仅是设计不同的方法个和方式播放。他们意味着不同的内容和时限的享受，以及按照玩家的反馈意见不断的更新和完善，提供更多的更好的服务，而不仅是产品。

“许多玩家【包括】零售商和出版商担心。”奇异世界开发者Lorne Lanning说“他们有很好的理由去担心。人们在其他地方发现经验和产品，而且不同的企业不断涌现，大型公司不习惯适应这些，而且他们许多也不愿意适应这些。”

“任何人认为自己是根深蒂固的…是自欺欺人。”

这种转变已经使软件市场萎几个月来萎靡不振。Origin and Portalarium 的创始人Richard 预测了一个商业巨变，那些适应并接受这些变化的公司会得到飞速发展，相反就会注定失败。

“这个行业是健康的，是不会走向衰亡的，我们可以更多人一起通过比以前更多的方式娱乐”Naughty Dog 公司创办者Jason Rubin说到。“但是从盈利的角度来看，console的运作不是很顺利。”

可能我们最好做一个深层次的分析对于谁该对游戏的根本变化负责任，而不是辩论什么破坏了这个产业。（张敏熙）

mobile-game

From plummeting sales to a shift to social networks, critics love to endlessly debate what ails the gaming business.

But ironically, the biggest problem of all may be that there is no singular “games industry” to speak of anymore, and that the term “video game” itself is hopelessly outdated.

“I’ve never seen a period like this … there’s so much disruption,” Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins recently said on the online video show “Game Theory.” “The industry is really being turned inside out.”

Credit the rise of new technologies — from downloadable games to smartphone apps — streaming “cloud” games and social network titles.

Free games playable in your Web browser, electronic amusements based around the sale of bite-sized virtual goods (“microtransactions”) and massively multiplayer online worlds are also on the upswing. Simultaneously, tightened household spending is forcing players to look more toward episodic and downloadable content such as new maps, missions and story add-ons that extend the life of games they already own.

Unfortunately for industry titans like Activision and Electronic Arts, most modern forms of electronic entertainment have about as much to do with games like “Call of Duty” and “Mass Effect” as Apple does quilting.

Digital diversions built for new platforms like Facebook and the iPhone aren’t just designed to be played in completely different methods and manners. They’re meant to be enjoyed in different context and timeframes, and constantly updated and refined based on player feedback, defining them more as services than products.

“A lot of the established players [including] retailers and publishers are worried,” said “Oddworld” creator Lorne Lanning. “They have good reason to be. People are finding experiences and products elsewhere, and different businesses are emerging that large infrastructure companies aren’t used to adapting to, and a lot of them won’t be able to adapt to.

“Anyone who thinks that they’re deeply entrenched … is fooling themselves.”

As he explains, it’s one thing to sell a copy of “Metroid: Other M,” which costs a fixed price, offers everyone essentially the same experience and lasts a few hours before being put down. It’s another to build a 3-D online universe such as “Free Realms” or social game such as “FrontierVille,” which have to stay relevant for years and offer reasons to keep clicking day after day.

The shift has made for many bleak months of retail software performance. Most recently, sales of games for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 and popular handheld consoles slumped a whopping 15 percent to $531 million in June, according to market research firm NPD.

“Everyone was caught figuratively with their pants down,” said Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski of the shift to online, digital and social alternatives. “Everybody in the industry is still trying to figure out how to make blockbuster games in this day and age.”

Independent game designer Clint Hocking, most recently responsible for “Far Cry 2,” wholeheartedly agrees with these sentiments. “[Game industry insiders] stood around saying for so long that the game industry is immune to the recession,” he said. “But we’re not.”

Origin and Portalarium founder Richard “Lord British” Garriott predicts a radical shift for the business, citing that those who choose to accept it will flourish, while those who don’t are doomed.

But as insiders are all quick to point out, upsides are also plentiful for video game fans.

More than 40,000 games are now available that speak to all ages and interests, and at a broader range of prices than ever, on the iPhone and iPad. Sales of PC digital downloads have either caught up to or surpassed retail purchases as of 2009 as well, depending on which analyst you ask.

“The industry will be healthy, is not headed for doom, and we’re entertaining more people in more ways than ever before,” said Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin. “But from a profitability standpoint, the [blockbuster] console stuff is not quite working.”

At this point, it’s a little premature to write the pastime off.

Instead of debating what ails gaming as a whole, maybe we’d do better to take a deeper look at the fundamental changes responsible for these painful upheavals.

Not to mention, that is, wake up and realize that “video games” can’t all be lumped into the same single grouping any more, or viewed through the same myopic lens.（source：cnn）