CybrSlydr
June 14th, 2005, 10:24
http://pc.ign.com/articles/624/624722p1.html
Gaming's Original Sin
In a time of sequels, where have the fresh ideas gone?
by David Adams (http://pc.ign.com/email.html)
June 13, 2005 - Why are there so many sequels or games based on big existing franchises, and so few original ideas? Is this even a problem? Is this just the way it's going to be as the industry grows up to reach wider and wider audiences with more and more money at stake? Or will the current blandness of many sequels lead to eventual stagnation, inviting upstart originals to charge in and smash the palace? What does this have to do with talking mice?
Any gamer with a long memory or a passion for great games knows the numbing ache of "sequelitis." As a once-niche hobby shifted into a multi-billion dollar industry, games have become more and more mainstream: carefully designed for broadest appeal and quick recognition. Where once the Kid Icaruses and Marble Madnesses -- or even a fresh shooter like DOOM -- got plenty of attention, these days almost all major publishers stand on the solid sales of regularly regurgitated franchises. Or they take a break from this to imitate each other.
Of course, a sequel isn't an inherently bad thing -- so long as the IP (that's hot industry lingo for "intellectual property") is kept fresh and growing. Still, as game enthusiasts, it's hard not to be annoyed by the constant movie tie-ins, the fourth game in a racing series, or the thirteenth in an RPG saga; because sooner or later we crave something really new. Give us another Madden, sure, but there's a reason so many of us hyperventilate over Katamari when it bounces out of nowhere.
Ask anyone who keeps a close watch on the industry, too, and you're likely to hear that these maverick games are only getting rarer.
Trying to find a handle on the whole topic, we checked with several people who, from what we could see, were actively creating or supporting original games. We know why Electronic Arts makes another Madden game every year, and why The Sims will still have new expansions available by the time you're settled in a nursing home. More mysterious is how a Psychonauts or Katamari Damacy still happens. Are the original and the left-of-center the result of brave visionaries, or savvy businessmen? Or both?
"If you're running a company and you own the Lord of the Rings license," said Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer, "and you also have this crazy person at your company who made up their own world based on talking mice, or something, you'd be like, okay -- I have one more dollar to spend. Should I spend it on the Lord of the Rings-licensed game or should I spend it on the talking mice game?" We know what the business answer usually is.
Follow the above link for the full 3 page article.
Gaming's Original Sin
In a time of sequels, where have the fresh ideas gone?
by David Adams (http://pc.ign.com/email.html)
June 13, 2005 - Why are there so many sequels or games based on big existing franchises, and so few original ideas? Is this even a problem? Is this just the way it's going to be as the industry grows up to reach wider and wider audiences with more and more money at stake? Or will the current blandness of many sequels lead to eventual stagnation, inviting upstart originals to charge in and smash the palace? What does this have to do with talking mice?
Any gamer with a long memory or a passion for great games knows the numbing ache of "sequelitis." As a once-niche hobby shifted into a multi-billion dollar industry, games have become more and more mainstream: carefully designed for broadest appeal and quick recognition. Where once the Kid Icaruses and Marble Madnesses -- or even a fresh shooter like DOOM -- got plenty of attention, these days almost all major publishers stand on the solid sales of regularly regurgitated franchises. Or they take a break from this to imitate each other.
Of course, a sequel isn't an inherently bad thing -- so long as the IP (that's hot industry lingo for "intellectual property") is kept fresh and growing. Still, as game enthusiasts, it's hard not to be annoyed by the constant movie tie-ins, the fourth game in a racing series, or the thirteenth in an RPG saga; because sooner or later we crave something really new. Give us another Madden, sure, but there's a reason so many of us hyperventilate over Katamari when it bounces out of nowhere.
Ask anyone who keeps a close watch on the industry, too, and you're likely to hear that these maverick games are only getting rarer.
Trying to find a handle on the whole topic, we checked with several people who, from what we could see, were actively creating or supporting original games. We know why Electronic Arts makes another Madden game every year, and why The Sims will still have new expansions available by the time you're settled in a nursing home. More mysterious is how a Psychonauts or Katamari Damacy still happens. Are the original and the left-of-center the result of brave visionaries, or savvy businessmen? Or both?
"If you're running a company and you own the Lord of the Rings license," said Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer, "and you also have this crazy person at your company who made up their own world based on talking mice, or something, you'd be like, okay -- I have one more dollar to spend. Should I spend it on the Lord of the Rings-licensed game or should I spend it on the talking mice game?" We know what the business answer usually is.
Follow the above link for the full 3 page article.