Comments on: Recent observations http://blogrium.com/2006/03/06/recent-observations/ Jeff talks about various things, though nothing very specific. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:31:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: eric http://blogrium.com/2006/03/06/recent-observations/#comment-285 Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:07:47 +0000 http://blogrium.com/2006/03/06/recent-observations/#comment-285 that's supposed to be "he'd rather make games that aren't so cumbersome..." that’s supposed to be “he’d rather make games that aren’t so cumbersome…”

]]> by: eric http://blogrium.com/2006/03/06/recent-observations/#comment-284 Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:06:14 +0000 http://blogrium.com/2006/03/06/recent-observations/#comment-284 I noticed those headlines too in my gamedev mag, and I have seen this sense of coming back to smaller, less MEGA COMPLICATED SUPAR EXTREME GAME SEQUEL #62 games that are easier to create, manage, and design. I think its a combination of users sick of being force fed these uber franchises and continuous sequels and the lack of innovation in the field at this time. I'm not saying the whole industry is like this, but the parts that are are starting to take notice and it seems they are beginning to shift away. Take for example EA - they recently mentioned they are going to back the game Spore heavily instead of relying on their hashed and rehashed sports and other established (but tired) franchises. I recently saw somewhere ( which I knew where, can't remember) a game designer mention that from a design perspective, (maybe it was will wright or molyneux bah cant remember) make games that arent so cumbersome and a clusterfuck to organize. The fact is those uber games cost alot of man hours, brain pain, and pure $$$ to develop. So the publishers unfortunately demand sequels to the successful ones because its an almost guaranteed revenue stream. I know a lot of this stuff is obvious to you but I think I'm throwing in some complimentary stuff to go along with your thoughts. The movie industry also has been having problems with super big budget feature films not being able to recuperate development costs despite decent box office success, so in the future we will see less costly, more indie-style films in the next few decades. I noticed those headlines too in my gamedev mag, and I have seen this sense of coming back to smaller, less MEGA COMPLICATED SUPAR EXTREME GAME SEQUEL #62 games that are easier to create, manage, and design. I think its a combination of users sick of being force fed these uber franchises and continuous sequels and the lack of innovation in the field at this time.

I’m not saying the whole industry is like this, but the parts that are are starting to take notice and it seems they are beginning to shift away. Take for example EA - they recently mentioned they are going to back the game Spore heavily instead of relying on their hashed and rehashed sports and other established (but tired) franchises. I recently saw somewhere ( which I knew where, can’t remember) a game designer mention that from a design perspective, (maybe it was will wright or molyneux bah cant remember) make games that arent so cumbersome and a clusterfuck to organize. The fact is those uber games cost alot of man hours, brain pain, and pure $$$ to develop. So the publishers unfortunately demand sequels to the successful ones because its an almost guaranteed revenue stream.

I know a lot of this stuff is obvious to you but I think I’m throwing in some complimentary stuff to go along with your thoughts. The movie industry also has been having problems with super big budget feature films not being able to recuperate development costs despite decent box office success, so in the future we will see less costly, more indie-style films in the next few decades.

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