• 30Dec 05

  World War 2 Shooters

  I recently read an article here on Gamespot, of an interview with some suit at EA, and ex-Blizzard staff... The article was pretty in-depth, and explained how these big companies are very conservative in their spending on video gaming titles - more specifically, sticking to the same old formula (i.e. gaming genres).

  Here's my beef.
  Do we really need more World War 2 games? First person shooters, 3rd person strategy games, and on and on. How many times do we need to reinvent the same genre. I can't tell you how tired I am of all the same games, packaged by different vendors, with different titles. Yet, essentially, it's the same damn war, and the same damn games that we've been bombarded with since the 80s.

  I know it's a huge risk for companies to reinvent themselves. I realize the millions of dollars spent on salaries, marketing, development, licensing fees, etc. etc. And I realize the risks of releasing a "dud" game, after investing so much time, energy and finances. And I know that it's the shareholders who have a huge say in what gaming titles are released by corporate giants like EA...

  However, maybe at the heart of it all.. this is where the problem lies. In the 1980s and even into the 90s, I never recalled the term "shareholder" as being part of the gaming equation. Nowadays, it's commonplace. These software titles which take epic manhours to produce - in areas such as artwork, GUI, music, marketing, etc. etc. have essentially killed the "little guy" from even thinking about entering the market with an indie title.

  How the hell can these guys compete? And really, THIS is the area where real creativity lies. The indie guy - like the indie artist - who still has the freedom of choice, because (s)he hasn't yet been caged by these corporate giants, with their policies and politics.

  Now, I'm not saying "down with EA" or any of these software houses. Quite the opposite actually. I very much enjoyed The Movies, Doom3, HalfLife2, and a variety of other excellent titles in 2005... But the unfortunate part is that these games are the odd-ball games now. The titles that aren't advertised on TV at all, the titles that don't get much mass-exposure.

  Instead, we see Call of Duty TV spots, and spots for the "safe" or "surebet" pleasers. Yes, I'm talking about WW2 titles again. I'm talking about your NFL, NHL, FIFA titles... same old conservative bets that are a no-brainer to be accepted by the audience.

  It would be nice to have a real platform for the indie developer to actually have a REAL shot at bringing their projects to life. Because I'm willing to bet that THESE are the developers who aren't coding late at night on the next "Call of Duty killer".

  Thanks for listening to my rant...

  • Posted Dec 30, 2005 8:32 am GMT
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