Slashdot Mirror
Do Consumers Want Original Games?
Thanks to GameCritics.com for their 'Critical Hit' editorial discussing if consumers are actually interested in buying groundbreaking/unique videogames. Giving the example of Sega's PS2/DC shooter, Rez, the author asks: "United Game Artists' answer to the cries of gamers looking for those new and original games was largely met with ambivalence by those very same gamers.... Why is Sega, or any publisher for that matter, obligated to support a game or games that no one is interested in?" The article concludes: "...how do you criticize the industry when it produces these games yet consumers repeatedly flock to the likes of Square's, Konami's and Capcom's sequels and rehashes?"
I got Rez for the Dreamcast when it came out, and I love it to bits - I even got the 'butterfly' ending - but it isn't original at all.
It's a very basic game, and the only thing that makes it play different to Space Harrier is that you can target eight enemies at once - which was done in the Panzer Dragoon games anyway.
Whilst the graphical style may be original, the game itself isn't.
I put my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Demonoid, ISOHunt and Pirate Bay. Search for 'Michael Cargill'
Gameplay does.
Some consumers want original games, aka not morons. And some consumers will continue to pay for and eat up the majority of recycled crap over years and years and years; aka morons. Unfortunately the world is more populated with morons who eat up the recycled crap than the former, so video game companies will obviously manufacture games for the moronic majority. But every once in a while a true classic is born satisfying the non-morons.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
This article was in a similar Slashdot post a while back and is just about the GBA. It kind of backs up the GameCritics guy's point at the end that consumers are maybe just getting what they want. Sure that definition of "original" is kind of lame in the GBA article, but look at all that licensed crap! If the market is really giving people what they want, then they want stuff they've heard of before. So you get games based on Disney and Pokemon.
I was assistant managing an EB when REZ came out, and here's the exact lifespan of REZ: we received two copes in the day it was released. One, an employee bought. One of our regular customers bought the other copy. Within 5 days, the game had a "D" status in our POS, meaning that either it had been discontinued or EB had stopped restocking the stores from the warehouse for whatever reason. After a few calls to the home office on behalf of several stores in the district, we learned that Sega had stopped shipping REZ to retailers.
Needless to say, REZ quickly became one of the most sought after preowned titles. Several of our regular customers that found copies at Blockbusters and what have you would excitedly tell the staff where to direct other customers to find the game. I have a hard time believing that within a period of 5 days Sega had already ascertained that it had not sold enough copies to justify shipping any more copies.
But let's be honest. All the titles mentioned in Critical Hit are definitely not mainstream titles. Would they have sold better if the companies behind them pushed it? Possibly, but probably not. ICO had a very impressive marketing push behind it, including TV spots and several multi-monthly placements in major gaming magazines. It did not sell.
Basically, the problem is that the game industry hasn't reached the point that films have in terms of possessing the general depth of field to allow a "indie games industry" so to speak. Moreover, the nature of the industry doesn't really lend itself to support lesser selling games like the film industry does. At the risk of sounding elitist, go glance at the REZ reviews in gamerankings, and I think you'll agree that most of the reviewers (some of whom compare REZ to the Blue Man Group - good god) just "didn't get." Finally, the game industry hasn't had a "Blair Witch" of sorts; that is to say that there hasn't been a surprise lower-budget hit to suddenly sell millions of copies.
I think that in time we'll see the industry not only mature but logistically evolve enough to support a kind of arty-indy-sub-market. Until then? I guess these devs will struggle to get by; but isn't that always the plight of the underdog artist?
Ha! I don't think so.
Rez? Space Harrier? Panzer Dragoon?
Ico? Maybe a bit of Zelda. Actually, what it reminded me of was Solstice for the NES. Old game
Space Channel 5? Samba de Amigo? Don't make me laugh.
Were these games complete knock offs? Of course not. They each added something new to their respective genre. Rez was lots of fun, the combination of the music with your surroundings was totally intense. Ico was a new style of game play, and the two rythem games had a sytle all their own.
In the same way, GTA VC added a Noir style that was cool, Final Fantasy X had a very innovative Sphere Grid system. Mario Sunshine's water cannon added a lot of options.
By their own nature, video games are rarely revolutionary. Even Animal Crossing has at its roots an RPG background.
However, what we hopefully get is a series of evolutionary steps. Where games take established genres and add a twist to make them special. Style and twists. That is where the true creativity lies.
Some games are both original and good. An example of this would be Pikmin for the GameCube.
Some games are just original. An example of this would be "Cubivore" for the GameCube. Very original and "interesting" but certainly not good.
Some gamers care more about originality than others -- there are people who love "Cubivore" -- but in the end most of us just want good games. It's not a lifestyle, it's something to relax with friends with for a couple of hours or so.
It's like abstract art -- some people like it just because it is "abstract", and others just want a decent picture to hang on the wall. Some abstract art is good and worth hanging. Other abstract works of art are "interesting" but in the end just plain "not good".
MORTAR COMBAT!