(no subject)
I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine that works as a game developer. He stated that sports games are the most dreaded titles to develop as they tend to be the most banal, bottom-of-the-barrel tripe aimed at quick easy sales within the very low-end gamer market. The chances of generating a gem that will propel anyone to game-development stardom are practically nil when you get assigned to one of these trash bins.
Console games are very receptive to sports titles, and by and large, people who only game on consoles tend to be a bit thicker-browed than those who game on computers. This also means that they are, by a landslide, the larger market.
I suppose there's a lot of truth in that, since I've seen more than a few very innovative game projects get scuttled as staff are pulled off to work on yet another Madden football game. The artistry of game development fades to nothing when confronted by developer companies who want fast project cycles, good turnaround, and a large return on investment that quick easy sports games can deliver.
He also stated a similar logistic about games made to cash in on successful movies, and a marketing department will press a game development team to get a game out, even if its half baked, within a week of a popular movie launching in order to cash in on easy sales and hype. Avatar and Lord of the Rings were great examples of good movies with half baked game titles accompanying them.
The thing is, though, as a marketer myself, I TOTALLY understand and would do the same thing.
Despite my own artistic sensibilities about why all games should be as good as Star Control 2, the fact is that financially, amazingly good games often flop simply because they tend to be over the head of console gamers. Supreme Commander (nods to Total Annihilation), was an excellent sequel with very complex gameplay, massive maps, and thousands of units. Supreme commander 2, however, stated from the outset that it was going to be made more console-friendly. This immediately told me that it would be awful as it would be losing the amazingly complex gameplay of the original. Sure enough, I was right on all counts - it was indeed dumbed down to be playable on console, at the expense of what made the game so unique. It flopped. Still too complex for console gamers, and not cerebral enough for PC gamers. In the process, this flop has likely gutted one of the best PC game series ever made and pretty much ensures that no further sequels will be made. The game is COMPLEX! It has to be complex by its very definition. Sorry guys but you cant just take a popular PC/Mac game and toss some aborted fetus version of it onto a console, and expect the same appreciation of it. It just doesn't work.
Console games are very receptive to sports titles, and by and large, people who only game on consoles tend to be a bit thicker-browed than those who game on computers. This also means that they are, by a landslide, the larger market.
I suppose there's a lot of truth in that, since I've seen more than a few very innovative game projects get scuttled as staff are pulled off to work on yet another Madden football game. The artistry of game development fades to nothing when confronted by developer companies who want fast project cycles, good turnaround, and a large return on investment that quick easy sports games can deliver.
He also stated a similar logistic about games made to cash in on successful movies, and a marketing department will press a game development team to get a game out, even if its half baked, within a week of a popular movie launching in order to cash in on easy sales and hype. Avatar and Lord of the Rings were great examples of good movies with half baked game titles accompanying them.
The thing is, though, as a marketer myself, I TOTALLY understand and would do the same thing.
Despite my own artistic sensibilities about why all games should be as good as Star Control 2, the fact is that financially, amazingly good games often flop simply because they tend to be over the head of console gamers. Supreme Commander (nods to Total Annihilation), was an excellent sequel with very complex gameplay, massive maps, and thousands of units. Supreme commander 2, however, stated from the outset that it was going to be made more console-friendly. This immediately told me that it would be awful as it would be losing the amazingly complex gameplay of the original. Sure enough, I was right on all counts - it was indeed dumbed down to be playable on console, at the expense of what made the game so unique. It flopped. Still too complex for console gamers, and not cerebral enough for PC gamers. In the process, this flop has likely gutted one of the best PC game series ever made and pretty much ensures that no further sequels will be made. The game is COMPLEX! It has to be complex by its very definition. Sorry guys but you cant just take a popular PC/Mac game and toss some aborted fetus version of it onto a console, and expect the same appreciation of it. It just doesn't work.