You are viewing an archived version of the site which is no longer maintained.
Go to the current live site or the Adventure Gamers forums
Adventure Gamers

Home Adventure Forums Gaming General What Does the Game Industry Have Against Innovation?


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 12-20-2005, 01:48 PM   #1
OB
 
Orange Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 662
Default What Does the Game Industry Have Against Innovation?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6141519.html

Interesting article. Tim Schafer and Psychonauts is prominently featured.
__________________
The Disenfranchisedâ„¢ - A Film Noir adventure series for the PC. Coming later.
Orange Brat is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 02:31 PM   #2
Burning
 
Naveed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Posts: 341
Default

It is wishful thinking, but had Majesco invested some more resources in Psychonauts and released a Psychonauts 360, or whatever edition as the launch title for XBOX 360, possibly it would have sold more copies given the mostly crap launch titles for the system.

Edit: ...and actual Psychonauts' sale figures are so depressing
__________________
Spoiler:
Monkey Island 2 : LeChuck's Revenge is the best game of all time.

Last edited by Naveed; 12-20-2005 at 02:39 PM.
Naveed is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 03:27 PM   #3
capsized.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,534
Default

We've got a saying that goes like: Was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht.
__________________
Look, Mr. Bubbles...!
samIamsad is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 03:33 PM   #4
The Threadâ„¢ will die.
 
RLacey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 22,542
Send a message via ICQ to RLacey Send a message via AIM to RLacey Send a message via MSN to RLacey Send a message via Yahoo to RLacey
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by samIamsad
We've got a saying that goes like: Was der Bauer nicht kennt, das frisst er nicht.
"Which the farmer does not know, it does not eat."

__________________
RLacey | Killer of the Threadâ„¢

I do not change to be perfect. Perfect changes to be me.


RLacey is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 03:42 PM   #5
capsized.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,534
Default

Yes. The main problem with the crapload of WWII games coming out is that they're (more or less) all the same. How about a game that digs deep into the horror of war from a civilian's point of view? Joe Everyday's life in which he has to deal with the loss of family members, friends? A game that tells to story of a man desperately trying to survive?

Or a game in which you're playing the father/mother of a Jewish family living in Germany? Ah, well...
__________________
Look, Mr. Bubbles...!
samIamsad is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 04:14 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
lumi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Washington, USA
Posts: 2,120
Default

The article mentions what I've felt is the reason: companies want to make a profit, and they'll go with what they know works. The bottom line being profit is what I hate the most about companies. I want progress, damn it!
lumi is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 04:33 PM   #7
capsized.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,534
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spider Crusoe
I want progress, damn it!
I like to make geeky jokes about technological advancements and what they're being used for. Like physics engines in frag fests like Half Life 2 (and before the panning will start - I perfectly know that the term frag fest doesn't do the great game HL2 justice). Anyway! Interaction is still so limited, even though fiddling around with the nerd's gimmick that came with the game (the grav gun) is fun, booyeah. But sometimes it *is* just that depressing what's being done with that kind of stuff...
__________________
Look, Mr. Bubbles...!
samIamsad is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 04:35 PM   #8
The Threadâ„¢ will die.
 
RLacey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 22,542
Send a message via ICQ to RLacey Send a message via AIM to RLacey Send a message via MSN to RLacey Send a message via Yahoo to RLacey
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by samIamsad
I like to make geeky jokes about technological advancements and what they're being used for. Like physics engines in frag fests like Half Life 2 (and before the panning will start - I perfectly know that the term frag fest doesn't do the great game HL2 justice). Anyway! Interaction is still so limited, even though fiddling around with the gimmick that came with the game (the grav gun) is fun, booyeah. But sometimes it *is* just that depressing what's being done with that kind of stuff...
Just think what would have happened with Half-Life 2 if Valve hadn't decided that the gravity gun was the most fun thing in the game during early testing ...
__________________
RLacey | Killer of the Threadâ„¢

I do not change to be perfect. Perfect changes to be me.


RLacey is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 04:37 PM   #9
capsized.
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,534
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by RLacey
Just think what would have happened with Half-Life 2 if Valve hadn't decided that the gravity gun was the most fun thing in the game during early testing ...
Mh... the poor guys at id had to come up with something interesting for the Doom³ expansion pack on their own?
__________________
Look, Mr. Bubbles...!
samIamsad is offline  
Old 12-20-2005, 04:38 PM   #10
The Threadâ„¢ will die.
 
RLacey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 22,542
Send a message via ICQ to RLacey Send a message via AIM to RLacey Send a message via MSN to RLacey Send a message via Yahoo to RLacey
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by samIamsad
Mh... the poor guys at id had to come up with something interesting for the Doom³ expansion pack on its own?
__________________
RLacey | Killer of the Threadâ„¢

I do not change to be perfect. Perfect changes to be me.


RLacey is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 12:13 AM   #11
Not like them!
 
MoriartyL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Israel
Posts: 2,570
Send a message via AIM to MoriartyL
Default

I would have bought Psychonauts had it been released for Gamecube. But I don't have an XBox and my PC ain't good enough. So I'll never get to play it. Oh well.
MoriartyL is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 01:37 AM   #12
Psychonaut
 
Lucien21's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 5,114
Default

The more appropriate question would be.


What does the game buying public have against innovation?

Because if it sold people would make it.

Standard Supply and Demand model.

People just want the same as the old one but with little improvements.

Just look at how well the annual Fifa games sell.

Innovation takes a lot more effort for reduced returns. Not an attractive business product.
__________________
I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!
Lucien21 is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 04:10 AM   #13
delusions of adequacy
 
Crunchy in milk's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 1,403
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucien21
The more appropriate question would be.
What does the game buying public have against innovation?
Because if [innovative titles] sold [well, developers] would make [them].
Standard Supply and Demand model.
Hive mind mentality is common when it comes to purchasing non necessities. The current popularity of Sony and how through slick advertising and marketing it triumphed over the 'made in japan' label stigma that dogged it in the past (especially in America) is a great example of how demand can be manufactured as well as supply.

Individuals may desire innovation, but the majority of people will buy what the hive mind tells them to buy, because what drives them to buy it in the first place IS the hive. Convincing the hive to buy something different is tricky because it goes against what's normal for the hive, to alienate differences. Sony did it, Apple sorta did it (many would claim the iPod has become a sellout of a different nature).

As for developers wanting to make innovative titles, they may well bemoan having to make "shoot-em-all 5" but the likelyhood of all of their 'innovative' titles being interesting or fun to play is pretty low.

People often point to the ammount of shooter titles on the market, I liken the shooter title to the fancy assed columns of the baroque age. The shooter is just the natural progression of the best you can do with the existing medium. They're finally getting so fancy looking people are just starting to wonder if all the stupid curves and doohickeys make much difference. A shooter is a shooter and a marble column is a marble column.

Ok so I'm waffling, but I have high hopes for the Nintendo brick-remote-sword-tennis-racket-thingy... or something like it... I think it or something else wildly different to the keyboard and monitor method of entertainment delivery is needed if we ever want to see anything more than curly bits of decoration on a pillar that holds up the roof first person shooters.
Crunchy in milk is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 10:07 AM   #14
Homer of Kittens
 
SoccerDude28's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: San Francisco, Bay Area
Posts: 4,374
Default

I think for innovation to start happening, the market has to open up to a different demographic. Like someone said, pretty much 90% of the games right now are the equivalent of action block busters in the movie industry. Where are our romantic comedies, our dramas ?etc... Even the ones w4e currently have with the deepest stories like RPG's have a lot of fighting to attract the non gamers.

But it's like a catch 22 right now. Different games don't sell well, so publishers do not take risks on them, and this in turn leads to more of the same demographic. I believe it will take more than a tetris or a few arcade games to open up the market to the non gamers. It will take games like the old adventure games, stripped out of the frustration, and with much more diverse and interesting plots. Indigo prophecy might be a first step, but remove the murder thriller and replace it with a drama - with a love story. I know it won't be popular with the guys, but maybe with their girlfriends.
__________________
--------------------------------------------------
Games I am playing: Jeanne D'Ark (PSP)

Firefox rules
SoccerDude28 is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 10:42 AM   #15
Not like them!
 
MoriartyL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Israel
Posts: 2,570
Send a message via AIM to MoriartyL
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoccerDude28
...I know it won't be popular with the guys-
-Hey, speak for yourself. If it's either fun to play or enlightening, anything else is irrelevant. And I tend to think that a good romance could be both.
MoriartyL is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 10:58 AM   #16
Evil Webmaster
 
MDMaster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,037
Default

I know I know!! Let's all stop buying games and just download them! That will teach those greedy bastards!!!

Oh wait, we already did that...
__________________
Pushed back to square
Now that you've kneed her
In the throat
So there you go
MDMaster is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 04:45 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Martin Gantefoehr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 549
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoccerDude
remove the murder thriller and replace it with a drama - with a love story. I know it won't be popular with the guys, but maybe with their girlfriends.

I just read the latest issue of Game Developer, which has a Pac-Man post mortem. (That's right. It has a Pac-Man post mortem.)

The following quote of Pac-Man designer Toru Iwatani has radically changed my entire set of values, for both game development and private life:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toru Iwatani
The original concept of Pac-Man was the result of my desire to create a game that everyone could enjoy. With a female target audience in mind, I wanted to create a game about eating.
Martin Gantefoehr is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 05:07 PM   #18
The Threadâ„¢ will die.
 
RLacey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 22,542
Send a message via ICQ to RLacey Send a message via AIM to RLacey Send a message via MSN to RLacey Send a message via Yahoo to RLacey
Default

That is solid gold. At least you can use it as an example of non-PC attitudes leading to good games ...
__________________
RLacey | Killer of the Threadâ„¢

I do not change to be perfect. Perfect changes to be me.


RLacey is offline  
Old 12-21-2005, 05:13 PM   #19
SamNMax
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

To answer the question: Nothing.
 
Old 12-22-2005, 01:50 PM   #20
OB
 
Orange Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 662
Default Innovation: Does Size Really Matter?

Part Two: Innovation: Does Size Really Matter?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6141548.html
__________________
The Disenfranchisedâ„¢ - A Film Noir adventure series for the PC. Coming later.
Orange Brat is offline  
 



Thread Tools

 


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.