Where'd my new games go?

[Achika]

http://www.avault.com/editorials/index.asp?editorial=edit116

Interesting.....

[maxlords]

I knew that....but it's nice to see it in print. By the way...I miss games where the focus is on fun factor over graphics :)

[zmeston]

I totally agree with his assessment that the game industry is in dire need of originality, although he doesn't adequately mention that a primary reason for the current ultra-conservatism is that the game industry took a fucking beating in 2002. Rockstar and EA made money, and everyone else got whupped. Retailers are still flooded with Xmas '02 overstock, so publishers are playing it safe and rehashing the few titles that sold.

Also, his invocation of the independent-film world is fatally flawed. Movies work on a storytelling/emotional level, and a great story and powerful acting can overcome modest production values. Modern videogames are audio/visual experiences that can only benefit from additional resources. Mo' money allows for more and more talented artists, programmers, musicians, voice actors, et cetera. Yes, an abundance of resources can occasionally result in a Daikatana, but not often. GTA:VC wouldn't be as enjoyable without its licensed soundtrack or Hollywood voice actors. Lunar:SSSC's most powerful moments were its pricey anime sequences.

Games of the 1980s could get away with minimalist graphics because that's all there was at the time -- although it's worth noting that Activision received almost as much attention for its designers' ability to conjure great graphics/sound/music out of the humble 2600 as for its revolutionary gameplay.

-- Z.

[IntvGene]

Interesting article... I agree with Zach that his movies argument doesn't hold as much water as he'd like.

I also agree that we are on the edge of a new generation of video games, and that will come when the graphics hit their peak. I don't see many of these companies surviving in such a market. There are some people who will take a chance out there. Companies like Treasure, some parts of Sega and Nintendo, as well as some others. But, when Sega struggles to sell games like Rez, it doesn't look good for anyone.

I think it takes a designer or producer with a strong vision to make the great, original games that we love so much. Are there really enough of them out there? I was really disappointed in a recent interview with Yuji Naka HERE (http://eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=52142) where he states that "As a creator, my goal is to make games for the largest audience. I think we must make it easy for children to play." That kills me because I expected him to say that his interests are creative, rather than commercial. It is also bad because I don't want the original and creative games to be aimed at a 10-year-old's difficulty level.

Finally, while I love Peter Molyneux for his creativity, a lot of his games aren't that fun to play. Black and White--Creative? Yes. Fun? No. I am really interested in Fable though, because to me, it sounds original in some ways and fun to play at the same time.

[Sylentwulf]

<shrug> when the clones stop selling them, they'll stop making them. Don't like them, don't buy them.

[Captain Wrong]

I know what you're saying Sylent, but it's getting harder to find the non-clones to buy.

And I have to dissaree with your point Zach. Lunar's anime seqences enhanced the expirence, but it was really the dialogue and gameplay the kept me going. The fact that I played the much more primitave Sega CD version after the PSX remake, and enjoyed it as much, only drove that point home further for me. And though I haven't played GTA:VC, I know that licensed music helps create an atmosphere but for me anyway, if the game play isn't there, I'm not interested. In fact, the reason I passed on Vice was it seemed to me too much like GTA3 with a Miami Vice paint job.

There's a lot of games I've played that weren't near the top of the pack with audio and video at the time they were released but I kept playing for the simple fact that the gameplay was so good. To take it back to the 80s, when there wasn't much they could do, they had to concentrate on the gameplay. Hopefully if Carmac is right (on a hunch I've held myself for quote a while that we're reaching the point of diminishing returns with graphics) maybe designers will return to the gameplay as the focus.

[maxlords]

Yeah...seems like 75% of the market is clones and sequels these days. How many new original franchises have you seen lately that SOLD?

And I too played Lunar for the story...the anime was nifty, but honestly, I'd have rather played the game without it and bought a separate Lunar anime DVD. And I didn't play GTA3 or Vice City...tried GTA3 and hated the gameplay, so I ignored the franchise.

I don't care if stuff is licensed or not. I was playing SF Rush 2049 for DC today and saw a Dickies billboard ad on the side of the road and my immediate thought was "how stupid." Licensing helps occasionally, but I play my games for the GAME, not for the music 9which is a nice bonus) and not for the graphics (which occasionally suck, even on some of my favorite games. I find myself coming back to the games with the best gameplay and fun factors and not to the impressive looking games with licensed this and that. I find more and more that the games I come back to are 8 and 16 bit era games and not PSX and PS2 and such.

I don't buy many of the clones myself. I like to think I don't contribute to the perpetuation of that trend :D

Oh...and the Blair Witch....while doing really well at the box office...was TOTAL ASS and not creative! I fell asleep watching it. One of the lamest movies I've ever paid to see. If we can crush that kind of "originality", I'm all for it :)

[Griking]

<shrug> when the clones stop selling them, they'll stop making them. Don't like them, don't buy them.


More likely to happen is when the clones stop selling they'll start blaming piracy for it rather than people getting tired of the same old shit.

[kevincure]

Look at it from the POV of the game companies:

Rez - bombed.
Ico - bombed.
Everblue - bombed
Zoocube - bombed

I think GTA3 was the last original game that actually was a success. While there are certainly niches (Working is still in business, after all), it's tough for a suit at a major company to justify making a highly original game when even UGA, a highly respected Sega division, will bomb sales-wise with an awesome original game.

[maxlords]

Very true, but I bought stuff like Ico and Rez new, and I don't buy the clones new. I'm just in the minority.

[zmeston]

I know what you're saying Sylent, but it's getting harder to find the non-clones to buy.

And I have to dissaree with your point Zach. Lunar's anime seqences enhanced the expirence, but it was really the dialogue and gameplay the kept me going. The fact that I played the much more primitave Sega CD version after the PSX remake, and enjoyed it as much, only drove that point home further for me. And though I haven't played GTA:VC, I know that licensed music helps create an atmosphere but for me anyway, if the game play isn't there, I'm not interested. In fact, the reason I passed on Vice was it seemed to me too much like GTA3 with a Miami Vice paint job.

I don't mind if you disagree with my examples, but are you disagreeing that in the current PS2/GCN/Xbox age of game development, with very rare exceptions, bigger budget = better (or better-selling) game? If so, please cite some examples.

I'm playing devil's advocate here, by the way; I've enjoyed several of the PS2 budget games (Road Trip in particular). But all the chart-toppers seem to be the ones from big-ass publishers.

As for Lunar, I'm naturally biased to prefer the PS1 version's dialogue, and I thought the anime sequences were among the most emotionally moving moments in videogame history. WD's voice acting usually blows, but there are scenes in Lunar:SSSC that are truly moving.

As for VC, it has great gameplay above everything else. (In fact, the graphics are occasionally fugly, and there are dozens of bugs and glitches; BenT cited Enter the Matrix as the buggiest commercial release ever, but I'd put VC right up there with it.) The licensed music just takes the game to a higher level of immersion and atmosphere -- my fancy term for "Miami Vice paint job."

-- Z.

[Captain Wrong]

Naah, I'll grant you better selling. I just don't think it always equals better game.


And I hope you didn't think I was coming out against Lunar PSX in anyway. I really dug the anime stuff and Lunar in both it's forms ranks as the ONLY RPG I actually like. My point was more that I still liked the game even in it's earlier format without all the bells and whistles.

[zmeston]

Look at it from the POV of the game companies:

Rez - bombed.
Ico - bombed.
Everblue - bombed
Zoocube - bombed

I think GTA3 was the last original game that actually was a success. While there are certainly niches (Working is still in business, after all), it's tough for a suit at a major company to justify making a highly original game when even UGA, a highly respected Sega division, will bomb sales-wise with an awesome original game.

GTA3 wasn't original in concept or design (if that 3 in the title hadn't already clued you in), but in its groundbreaking 3D presentation. GTA1 and 2 had virtually all of the gameplay elements found in 3. Just proves the point that modern games can't only give you gameplay -- they need to deliver on the audio/visuals as well.

You're right about all those games bombing, although they were (excepting Ico) too Japanese/goofy to register Stateside sales in the first place. Also, Rez was overrated, Ico was barely marketed, Everblue 2 was barely marketed, and Zoocube was an N64 port. Of those four, only Ico's failure surprised and dismayed me; that game was art.

As for Working Designs, they won't be in business much longer. Sony flatly refused to approve Goemon, and is forcing the company to bundle Growlanser 2 and 3 because of their joint obsolescence. Also, all the Japanese developers from which WD used to license games have either folded or merged with companies that already have US branches. WD missed E3 this year for the first time in its history, which is a death knell.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

Naah, I'll grant you better selling. I just don't think it always equals better game.


And I hope you didn't think I was coming out against Lunar PSX in anyway. I really dug the anime stuff and Lunar in both it's forms ranks as the ONLY RPG I actually like. My point was more that I still liked the game even in it's earlier format without all the bells and whistles.

Nah, I didn't infer that you disliked Lunar PS1, although I'm cool with you hating it (heh), and I understand your point about appreciating games without modern audio/visual trappings. Hell, that's why I find myself more and more attracted to classic games, and this productivity-destroying forum.

-- Z.