It has actually being on my mind for so long, the industry being non-existence in Nigeria and the fact the game section in Nairaland receives almost no traffic, revamped it me.
It's so sad that people under look the gaming industry, People fail to understand that in as much as Music and Movies are important in our ever busy social life; Games also play a very vital role in providing similar entertaining features. Over the years, Gamers have been seen as mindless people with nothing to offer, and over here in this part of the world, we feel Games should be met for kids, but it's actually been a very wrong and myopic ideology.

Games have really evolved, looking back at the days of Atari and the popular Mario or Sonic era, where games were actually mediocre, it could easily be regarded as a waste of time, but in recent times, The gaming industry has really taken a new dimension, from game play, to character, amazing visual effects, sound, realistic movement and to story telling. we have actually seeing games like 'Metal gear solid 4' make world class director Steven Spieberg go crazy and games like it have equally inspired big-budget movies. Games like 'Gran Torismo' 'GT' has taken driving Sims to the next level. In the UK, learners use it as an official driving simulator. I recently saw a comparison between GT5 and real life, and it actually blew me away. Car manufactures now meet with GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi on research and developmental advice. Innovative games like Little Big Planet, Guitar hero, Rock band, Afrika, and wii sports have also revolutionized the gaming industry. Morealso, Games like Zippers MASIVE ACTION GAME 'MAG' has changed our concept of online play, with a massive 256 online player with almost no lag. This, no console game has ever achieved until now. Some of the top-rated games today take years of work and tens of millions of dollars to produce.

There was however something missing in games, that is Emotions, players got their characters killed without any emotional feelings, they just go ahead and press restart or rematch button. They were need to address this, the introduction of Fumito Ueda 'Team Ico' and David cage's 'Indigo Prophecy' managed to close the emotional gap  between the player and their characters, the bar is being pushed even further with the release of David Cage's hotly anticipated game 'Heavy Rain' next year which deals mainly on players emotion and story telling. A game highly acclaimed by the industry to be the best graphic ever, where there is no Game Over, when a character dies, a new character and a new story begins, your decision actually affect the story, what's more worth knowing is that the games has a massive 2000 pages script, mMm, Some movies don’t even get that close. Most importantly a very strong emotional balance between the player and their characters was attained based on early previews of the game. Something no game has ever achieved. Owing to these series of events, Sony recently patent an Emotion control, were your emotions can actually affect the outcome of games like this.

Economically Games have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry and created revenue for developed countries, we have actually seen huge amount of money spent on the development of games. some, even out performing movies, ‘Gran Theft Auto 4’ was developed for a whooping $100 million, made $500 million in it's first week of release and selling over 10 million copies world wide, Halo 3 made more than $170 million on first day of release. While the highest selling game, Gran Torismo series which has sold over 50 million copies on only the Playstation platform, has brought a little above a Billion dollar. The largest Third party publisher, Activision Blizzard posted profits of over $2Billion last fiscal year. Surprisingly, last year Games brought about $1.5 billion more revenue than the Movie industry in the US. The gaming industry has also boosted major economies of countries, noticeably is Japan, the world second largest economy, UK and the US. Recently Ubi soft announced that they were working on a new plant in Canada in collaboration with the Canadian government, which would create over 1000 jobs when fully operational. So why then is the gaming industry still under-appreciated in developing countries? Painfully, Nigeria has only specialized in oil as it main economic driver, but things like this could actually create millions of jobs and enhance our revenue, including our GDP and probably actualize the much doubted MDG or vision 2020.

a wonderful read, @ poster u just made my hour,

ok

lol @poster What a signature,

Great Post, The Nigerian Gaming Industry is not underlooked, it may be because some ppl are too busy or some reasons but I tell you a lot of nigerians play games, though I wonder why I've never met a nigerian on an online multi-player before,

Fantastic read, I'm glad to find another Nigerian whose passion for gaming actually goes beyond the experience of simply playing the game into the realm of gaming as a culture and how the audience interacts with the medium. I especially like what you mentioned about emotion. Peter Molyneux is trying to get into that with "Milo" developed for the Xbox 360 with their Project Natal technology. He also tried to do it with the dog in Fable 2. You also mentioned "Heavy Rain" which seems to be shaping up nicely, I personally can't wait to get my hands on it when it comes out, the graphics are actually incredible.

I'm all for the development of a Nigerian gaming industry, too many times have I thought of a Grand Theft Auto set in Lagos  . But seriously, it would be absolutely wonderful to see something like this come to fruition, but I fear that the obstacles are large. If you know of a reasonable way to start one in Naija, let's hear it,

One contentious point though is that people seem to be really divided about cut-scenes in games, I'd like to hear what you think. Do they distract from the gameplay or are they and effective and necessary means of moving the story along?

Again, thanks for the refreshing post,

@HQ, I actually met a Nigerian on Playstation Home once, it was interesting,

@ Cogito

Fantastic read,

thanks,

I'm glad to find another Nigerian whose passion for gaming actually goes beyond the experience of simply playing the game into the realm of gaming as a culture and how the audience interacts with the medium. I especially like what you mentioned about emotion. Peter Molyneux is trying to get into that with "Milo" developed for the Xbox 360 with their Project Natal technology. He also tried to do it with the dog in Fable 2. You also mentioned "Heavy Rain" which seems to be shaping up nicely, I personally can't wait to get my hands on it when it comes out, the graphics are actually incredible.

   personally i love how this generation of games is going, i mean the close competition has really made us gamer happy, all major games companies are pushing various console to its limits. i think i like the concept of microsoft project Natal, it may revolutionize  the industry.

One contentious point though is that people seem to be really divided about cut-scenes in games, I'd like to hear what you think. Do they distract from the gameplay or are they and effective and necessary means of moving the story along?

  that's true, i personally like games that contains lots of cut scenes, i love to appreciate the characters when m not in control, but some people just like to kill and kill, or drive for ever, too many cut-scenes Metal Gear Solid 4 actually made some people call it a movie rather than a game, i think a little cut-scene is needed at least to drive home some points and enhance the story.

I m speechless ,however , i m a pro when it comes to PS 2 soccer.

kosovo:


Games have really evolved, looking back at the days of Atari and the popular Mario or Sonic era, where games were actually mediocre, it could easily be regarded as a waste of time,

How can you say games in the 80's and 90's were 'mediocre' simply because they lack all the CGI and fancy effects in the world?

It isn't just about the graphics, it's all about the gameplay. Amazing games like Super Mario World or the early Sonic series are what you're calling mediocre? Not to mention the final fantasy series 1-4?

@Rooneyboy

I m speechless ,however , i m a pro when it comes to PS 2 soccer.

@texazzpete

How can you say games in the 80's and 90's were 'mediocre' simply because they lack all the CGI and fancy effects in the world?

It isn't just about the graphics, it's all about the gameplay. Amazing games like Super Mario World or the early Sonic series are what you're calling mediocre? Not to mention the final fantasy series 1-4?

  m sorry, but i didn't really enjoy such games,

players got their characters killed without any emotional feelings, they just go ahead and press restart or rematch button

  that's it

kosovo:

                                                 
It has actually being on my mind for so long, the industry being non-existence in Nigeria and the fact the game section in Nairaland receives almost no traffic, revamped it me.
It's so sad that people under look the gaming industry, People fail to understand that in as much as Music and Movies are important in our ever busy social life; Games also play a very vital role in providing similar entertaining features. Over the years, Gamers have been seen as mindless people with nothing to offer, and over here in this part of the world, we feel Games should be met for kids, but it's actually been a very wrong and myopic ideology.

Games have really evolved, looking back at the days of Atari and the popular Mario or Sonic era, where games were actually mediocre, it could easily be regarded as a waste of time, but in recent times, The gaming industry has really taken a new dimension, from game play, to character, amazing visual effects, sound, realistic movement and to story telling. we have actually seeing games like 'Metal gear solid 4' make world class director Steven Spieberg go crazy and games like it have equally inspired big-budget movies. Games like 'Gran Torismo' 'GT' has taken driving Sims to the next level. In the UK, learners use it as an official driving simulator. I recently saw a comparison between GT5 and real life, and it actually blew me away. Car manufactures now meet with GT series creator Kazunori Yamauchi on research and developmental advice. Innovative games like Little Big Planet, Guitar hero, Rock band, Afrika, and wii sports have also revolutionized the gaming industry. Morealso, Games like Zippers MASIVE ACTION GAME 'MAG' has changed our concept of online play, with a massive 256 online player with almost no lag. This, no console game has ever achieved until now. Some of the top-rated games today take years of work and tens of millions of dollars to produce.

There was however something missing in games, that is Emotions, players got their characters killed without any emotional feelings, they just go ahead and press restart or rematch button. They were need to address this, the introduction of Fumito Ueda 'Team Ico' and David cage's 'Indigo Prophecy' managed to close the emotional gap  between the player and their characters, the bar is being pushed even further with the release of David Cage's hotly anticipated game 'Heavy Rain' next year which deals mainly on players emotion and story telling. A game highly acclaimed by the industry to be the best graphic ever, where there is no Game Over, when a character dies, a new character and a new story begins, your decision actually affect the story, what's more worth knowing is that the games has a massive 2000 pages script, mMm, Some movies don’t even get that close. Most importantly a very strong emotional balance between the player and their characters was attained based on early previews of the game. Something no game has ever achieved. Owing to these series of events, Sony recently patent an Emotion control, were your emotions can actually affect the outcome of games like this.

Economically Games have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry and created revenue for developed countries, we have actually seen huge amount of money spent on the development of games. some, even out performing movies, ‘Gran Theft Auto 4’ was developed for a whooping $100 million, made $500 million in it's first week of release and selling over 10 million copies world wide, Halo 3 made more than $170 million on first day of release. While the highest selling game, Gran Torismo series which has sold over 50 million copies on only the Playstation platform, has brought a little above a Billion dollar. The largest Third party publisher, Activision Blizzard posted profits of over $2Billion last fiscal year. Surprisingly, last year Games brought about $1.5 billion more revenue than the Movie industry in the US. The gaming industry has also boosted major economies of countries, noticeably is Japan, the world second largest economy, UK and the US. Recently Ubi soft announced that they were working on a new plant in Canada in collaboration with the Canadian government, which would create over 1000 jobs when fully operational. So why then is the gaming industry still under-appreciated in developing countries? Painfully, Nigeria has only specialized in oil as it main economic driver, but things like this could actually create millions of jobs and enhance our revenue, including our GDP and probably actualize the much doubted MDG or vision 2020.

Great post my guy

but I think you should appreciate that game programming is one of the most difficult aspect of coding and not for the lily livered.

I've been a programmer for some years now and I know how hard it is to even write a very basic game, it pushes AI techniques, OOP and graphic handling to its very limit.

Until we are ready to invest heavily in research and not just 'hit and go' apps, it will be a no go area for now. With the developments made globally, It might take some years for any body around here to get advanced enough to profit financially from writing games
and I also wonder where the person/group will get the funding from 

For now, what sells in the country are just novel ideas and business models based on IT solutions that do not require much effort and intensity to implement.

kosovo:

@texazzpete  m sorry, but i didn't really enjoy such games,
  that's it

That's because you're too young to appreciate such games!

You don't need realistic visuals to convey a story. That's why the story and characters in games such as Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 are even better than those in modern games like MGS 4 and Devil May Cry etc.
People cared when Aeris got killed in FF7. You think anyone felt any empathy when Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Solidus or Liquid Snake croaked?

ah ahan, i cried when Snake died o

texazzpete:

You don't need realistic visuals to convey a story. That's why the story and characters in games such as Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7 are even better than those in modern games like MGS 4 and Devil May Cry etc.
People cared when Aeris got killed in FF7. You think anyone felt any empathy when Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Solidus or Liquid Snake croaked?

Do you know, how much I wish Nintendo would just do a HD remake of Ocarina of Time? I would soooo buy it. While you might not need realistic visuals to convey a story line, I still think that a little eye-candy doesn't hurt you know?
And I have to say, MGS4 had quite an epic story line and I did get emotionally invested in the characters. Although, I did do more watching than playing, lol. Besides, MGS has been around since before the days of realistic visuals, long enough for people to form an emotional connection with the character.
I agree with you though I wouldn't call those games mediocre, I mean, look what happened to Sonic. Going 3D was the worst thing that happened to him,

kosovo:

i personally like games that contains lots of cut scenes, i love to appreciate the characters when m not in control, but some people just like to kill and kill, or drive for ever,     too many cut-scenes  Metal Gear Solid 4 actually made some people call it a movie rather than a game, i think a little cut-scene is needed at least to drive home some points and enhance the story.

One thing I can't get into for the life of me is the Halo universe. I just can't. I guess it's because I'm not much of an FPS fan, although, I still love Call of Duty 4. That game was sweet.

Wow kosovo, you made it to the front page. Nigerians are not serious gamers, even the ones who think they are. As for me, I'm gaming till I die.

@baekdoosan

Wow kosovo, you made it to the front page. Nigerians are not serious gamers, even the ones who think they are. As for me, I'm gaming till I die.

we are in together bro.

This is nice.

@ Kosovo, good write up.
As someone has said earlier, coding games ain't a stroll in the park. It involves excellent programmers, 3d modeling, composers for the audio, script writers, e.t.c. It can be done, but I don't see it happening any time soon.

My own major beef is with people who disturb me when I'm enjoying a game on my console. I believe It's only in Naija that people still hiss (and make comments like; are you still a child) when they see you enjoying a stroll around Liberty City. I guess some peeps cant see beyond the stereotypical view that video games are just entertainment for the kids. It beats me why someone who spends hours watching an entire season of Prison Break (at a go) would complain about me playing video games for a similar period. Using their logic, aren't we both wasting our time?. Besides, I read somewhere that playing video games improved the hand eye co-ordination of surgeons. So playing video games actually has benefits

@ kosovo nice write up, you have given me a reason to visit NL game section keep up the good work on game updates. Well its not that Nigeria do not have gamers, look at the economy does it permit us to grow the gaming industry in Nigeria? Example NO POWER, to enjoy yourself you need at aleast if not 24hours you need 5 years straight to enjoy a good game. Apart from that do we have good game programmers? The only thing this economy forces us todo is make money and spend big!

If not for poor facilities like the Internet etc I would ve owned a ps3 since last year whats the point when 24hours internet is hell to maintain, I was at my cousins place we were both playing GTA LIVE so we were competing with other gamers across the web. Only for Nepa to strike, I had to run down stairs turn on the Gen b4 we could boot the game etc and join back on the game we were killed by other players. Another time the internet becomes slow mostly we get disconnected while playing.

so whats the joy in it? My cos called me on phone that her saved game cant load, I asked her what she did last she said she defeated a boss and saved her game only for Nepa gaian to strike while saving the game. I just laughed at her and said well to Nigeria she cried and felt sad. I just looked up a saved game on the net and download it to her ps 3 using my PSP. Now tell me after seeing this my cousin going through all this stress you think I will waste my money and get a console?

Well all the same sha am getting a ps3 next year march just before the release of GOW 3

everyone, thanks for your encouragement, i ll try my possible best to keep the updates comming.

Lack of serious gamers in Nigeria - LOL

We do exist.

@NEPA - I got a UPS for my Playstation. So when NEPA goes I run for a while allowing me to save stuff. In my own case sometimes to put on the generator.