Zadoc
01-16-2007, 03:46 AM
Before you all start throwing rocks at me, just hear me out first.
There are no new genres in the videogame industry today and that there haven’t been in quite a few years. It seems that the best that one can hope for is a fresh new take on an existing genre, as Bungie did with Halo, as Valve did with Half-Life, as Visual Concepts did with NFL 2K, and as Nintendo did with Super Mario 64.
Platformers, shooters, RPG’s, RTS games, MMORPGs, sports… genre’s become stale and the market becomes inundated with a new Sims game every six months, a new Madden game once a year, ten different Army Men games, and so many Medal of Honor titles that even EA has lost count.
One genre, however, has been left dormant for nearly a decade. It’s been tucked away under the beds of game developers and stuffed into a sock. But now, it’s ripened and is ready to be welcomed not only by gamers, but by that mythical group of consumers known as the ‘casual gamer,’ and by those who have never played video games at all.
In the 1990’s, a new fad had appeared in the gaming world. The CD format was seen as the future by both software developers and hardware manufactures alike. It was a cheap replacement for costly cartridges, and it could deliver CD-quality sound and even full motion video. Yes, I am talking about the forgotten genre of the infamous FMV game.
FMV games of the 90’s are left buried and dead for good reason; they sucked, they were horrible, and everything about them should be forgotten, except for the lesson to be learned from the experience.
Technology of the time delivered barely watchable, grainy video that could not approach any resemblance of TV quality. If that wasn’t horrible enough, the budgets for these games meant that developers could only hire actors who couldn’t even land a job in soaps. Even if the actors were skilled, there wasn’t enough money in the budget for a well-written script and an engaging plot to come to light.
Today, current and next generation systems are all capable of DVD quality sound and video, some are even equipped for high definition; blockbuster game budgets rival those of major Hollywood movies, and a weekend opening for a video game launch can shame the box office draw for a major motion picture. What we have is the technology, the ability and the budget, but we have not the desire.
How can FMV games be good, let alone bring a new type of gamer to the market?
There have been numerous games based on movies and TV shows alike; The Terminator, The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, Batman, Robocop, CSI, Law & Order, Farscape, Pirates of the Caribbean, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lord of the Rings, and even a recently announced game based on the TV drama Desperate Housewives.
The average reception of games based on movies is a-typical of the reception of movies based on game franchises (which is famously dismal). The sales of games based on movies is historically poor. Generally, a publisher gains the rights to X movie/TV franchise and puts out a piece of software that is completely devoid of anything resembling art, not to even mention fun. This narrows the market for the game released to only fans of the TV series/movie who are willing to by the software and who already own the game system that the title is released for.
Imagine a game released based on a popular TV series such as Friends, Gilmore Girls, Lost, or (insert name of TV show here). Not a game licensed out to a developer who intends to use the intellectual property for a quick buck before they move on to a new project, but imagine if this were an FMV game. Not a game with a poor script, small budget and bad actors, but a game that was co-produced by the same producers of the TV serial, and used the same writers and actors. Now imagine if this game bridged a gap in the story-arc of the TV series.
Such a game could allow for a consumer to enter the virtual world of their favorite TV show and interact with their beloved characters. With the possibility for multiple paths to be followed in the game, there in lies the possibility for multiple outcomes in the game, thus high replayability.
The game described would not only appeal to gamers, but would also appeal to the non-gamer, a number of whom would be willing to purchase a new game console just for the chance to become a part of their favorite story. Non-gamers would especially be inclined to come to the game market if the FMV game were to reveal important plot developments in the show.
If the FMV concept were to be revived, there lies the possibility for Hollywood to find a new outlet for their creativity, a new way to capture the minds and hearts of consumers, a new depth to storytelling can be discovered. There also lies the possibility for game publishers and developers to expand based on gaining the rights to these properties, and for console manufactures to experience a surge in sales as the non-gamer comes to their system to play the newest chapter in their favorite TV show.
There are no new genres in the videogame industry today and that there haven’t been in quite a few years. It seems that the best that one can hope for is a fresh new take on an existing genre, as Bungie did with Halo, as Valve did with Half-Life, as Visual Concepts did with NFL 2K, and as Nintendo did with Super Mario 64.
Platformers, shooters, RPG’s, RTS games, MMORPGs, sports… genre’s become stale and the market becomes inundated with a new Sims game every six months, a new Madden game once a year, ten different Army Men games, and so many Medal of Honor titles that even EA has lost count.
One genre, however, has been left dormant for nearly a decade. It’s been tucked away under the beds of game developers and stuffed into a sock. But now, it’s ripened and is ready to be welcomed not only by gamers, but by that mythical group of consumers known as the ‘casual gamer,’ and by those who have never played video games at all.
In the 1990’s, a new fad had appeared in the gaming world. The CD format was seen as the future by both software developers and hardware manufactures alike. It was a cheap replacement for costly cartridges, and it could deliver CD-quality sound and even full motion video. Yes, I am talking about the forgotten genre of the infamous FMV game.
FMV games of the 90’s are left buried and dead for good reason; they sucked, they were horrible, and everything about them should be forgotten, except for the lesson to be learned from the experience.
Technology of the time delivered barely watchable, grainy video that could not approach any resemblance of TV quality. If that wasn’t horrible enough, the budgets for these games meant that developers could only hire actors who couldn’t even land a job in soaps. Even if the actors were skilled, there wasn’t enough money in the budget for a well-written script and an engaging plot to come to light.
Today, current and next generation systems are all capable of DVD quality sound and video, some are even equipped for high definition; blockbuster game budgets rival those of major Hollywood movies, and a weekend opening for a video game launch can shame the box office draw for a major motion picture. What we have is the technology, the ability and the budget, but we have not the desire.
How can FMV games be good, let alone bring a new type of gamer to the market?
There have been numerous games based on movies and TV shows alike; The Terminator, The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blade, Batman, Robocop, CSI, Law & Order, Farscape, Pirates of the Caribbean, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lord of the Rings, and even a recently announced game based on the TV drama Desperate Housewives.
The average reception of games based on movies is a-typical of the reception of movies based on game franchises (which is famously dismal). The sales of games based on movies is historically poor. Generally, a publisher gains the rights to X movie/TV franchise and puts out a piece of software that is completely devoid of anything resembling art, not to even mention fun. This narrows the market for the game released to only fans of the TV series/movie who are willing to by the software and who already own the game system that the title is released for.
Imagine a game released based on a popular TV series such as Friends, Gilmore Girls, Lost, or (insert name of TV show here). Not a game licensed out to a developer who intends to use the intellectual property for a quick buck before they move on to a new project, but imagine if this were an FMV game. Not a game with a poor script, small budget and bad actors, but a game that was co-produced by the same producers of the TV serial, and used the same writers and actors. Now imagine if this game bridged a gap in the story-arc of the TV series.
Such a game could allow for a consumer to enter the virtual world of their favorite TV show and interact with their beloved characters. With the possibility for multiple paths to be followed in the game, there in lies the possibility for multiple outcomes in the game, thus high replayability.
The game described would not only appeal to gamers, but would also appeal to the non-gamer, a number of whom would be willing to purchase a new game console just for the chance to become a part of their favorite story. Non-gamers would especially be inclined to come to the game market if the FMV game were to reveal important plot developments in the show.
If the FMV concept were to be revived, there lies the possibility for Hollywood to find a new outlet for their creativity, a new way to capture the minds and hearts of consumers, a new depth to storytelling can be discovered. There also lies the possibility for game publishers and developers to expand based on gaining the rights to these properties, and for console manufactures to experience a surge in sales as the non-gamer comes to their system to play the newest chapter in their favorite TV show.