Are Strategy Games Outdated?

A critical response to Christoph Harmann's claim that "strategy games are just not contemporary."

[hiredhelp]

i hope not i love my RTS and turn based games.

[BeastlyRig]

"strategy games are just not contemporary."

In other words they can't sell it on a console..

hmm any good strategy this year?
- http://www.metacritic.com/g...

should be goty with the witcher 2! But it won't becuz of some console rehash..

[PhoenixDevil]

Agree they don't sell on consoles but that's a good thing, I'm a PS3 gamer but love Starcraft 2 I do not want to see it consolised n dumbed down

[grailly]

@phoenix
I doubt-if blizzard were to port SC2 to consoles-that they would dumb it down, they would just make it impossible to control. They could use a keyboard and mouse on ps3 I guess, but I don't think people would play it like that.

[theonlylolking]

@phoenixDevil
A crap PC can run starcraft 2 on the lowest settings so a PS3 would not dumb down starcraft 2.

If it only came on PS3 and PC blizzard would not have to worry about space that much and they could wouldnt need to dumb down graphics.

On PS3 they could also make you use KB/M. Pretty much everyone owns one so nearly everyone would be on a even playing field.

[Enate]

Hold up now Beastly I know you are all in a rush to pounce on the notion that good strategy games don't exist outside of PC but that's bs. RTS maybe but TBS hell yea it does. Not tons lately but there have been quite a few niche or not. Vanguard Bandits, Front Mission 3 and 4, Final Fantasy Tactics and plenty more I'm sure. An don't even get me started on how many good ones there are in the handheld market.

[hiredhelp]

I think it could work ok on consoles if used with a mouse and devs gave that support using mouse.

the best game ive bought on the ps3. side is savagemoon psn fantastic titles. but also i did like R.U.S.E

obviosly pc dominates when comes to RTS turn based soo many to choose from. its not the most popular but then same could be said for RPG, im not huge fan of RPG.

but there still a fanbase for eaither one of thoe no matter how big. as of them being outdated. i dont think so. maybe a few new ideas may need to be added in command and conqure is way too over complex now. nothing like used to be. but the engines are getting nice touch up's its not soo all over head from 3ft away from the ground no more i like that.

[MattS]

Really now. People also say that "board games are not contemporary," and yet that industry is doing fine.

Heck, while people are going to make silly claims, let's also say books are not contemporary, who would write one of those?

This is a great article. I'm glad to see there are still rational people out there.

[Godmars290]

Mainstream devs aren't thinking about them, most smaller and indy devs don't have the resources to do them right. Also probably not thinking about them to boot.

[Stealth2k]

theres no validity in anything a FPS developer says

[grailly]

wasn't the full quote: "strategy games are just not contemporary to consoles" ?

[news4geeks]

Strategy/puzzle is still my favourite genre. Not really into these casual FPS games like Battlefield and CoD that everyone seems to flock to.

[Elwenil]

Battlefield is casual? Nice try.

[Saryk]

FPS games are casual. I can beat a FPS game in the time to play one strategy game. And there is no thinking compared to strategy games. However I love the action of a RTS game and a FPS. I have just as many strategy games as FPS , so love them equal.

[Elwenil]

"I can beat a FPS game in the time to play one strategy game."

If you only take into account the single player story in the average FPS, your comment has merit but you are completely ignoring the heart of FPS games which is the multiplayer. While there are a lot of "run and gun" and "twitch" shooters out there that require little thought in deathmatch modes, there is quite a bit of strategy in Battlefield conquest and rush modes as well as more realistic titles like ARMA. The strategy and tactics is the whole reason I play these games as I am no fan of run and gun style gameplay.

That said, I also love RTS and turn based strategy games both for online and offline skirmish modes. I still play Company of Heroes with the Blitzkrieg mod and Civ 4 quite a bit. My only complaint is how demanding RTS games are on the computer and sadly mine is not up to running some of the newer RTS games, lol.

But no, I doubt you will find very many fans of FPS games that will consider them casual. Casual to most of us is games like The Sims or Angry Birds that are easily accessible to people who are not die hard gamers and FPS games hardly qualify.

[nopunctuation]

No its just not very practical on consoles. Starhawk may change that.

[HAF912]

lol?

[nopunctuation]

Comment of the day, people. ^

[SageHonor]

Starhawk is throwing strategy in there.. Also, I stil say VALKYRIA CHRONICLES is the best RPG for PS3.. and the most underrated.. one of my favorite games!!

[Tony-Red-Grave]

for me ROAW was the most underrated.

[mobijoker]

Whaaaat???Shogun 2,SC2,Civ all are ruling!!!
Its just that consoles are not suitable for RTS.Without a great number of hotkeys,you are gonna be diminished within 20minutes in an online encounter.
Plus IMO the average rts players are most skilled in online as there is no easy way to win.

[HAF912]

yep console-only gamers are missing out on several genres of gaming: RTS like starcraft, warcraft, etc.

And the separate genre that holds HON, LOL, DOTA, etc...

Limited input control = limited options.

[Ness-Psi]

I would like to see a new settlers reboot. i also think the Wii U controller would be good fit for RTS.

[Ja555on]

To those saying that these games don't sell well on consoles you may be right but that doesn't mean they don't sell, one of my most played games is R.U.S.E. on PS3 and I love it.

[moe84]

They're definitely not out dated, however strategy games do appeal to a very small group of gamers.

[p4warrior]

A minority, probably, but Starcraft II and Civilization's million-unit sales figures suggest it's probably not a "very small" group.

[Guitardr85]

I would like to throw out that conversely put, I don't think Shogun 2 could even run on a console...I say consoles are not contemporary enough for RTS games...Take that Take 2!!!

[steve30x]

I absolutely love RTS games.