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Andy Phelps Proposes 'B-Sides' For Games
Andy Phelps has once again begun blogging. A recent post of his to the Corante Tech site suggests an intriguing idea: B-Sides to major commercial games. "I think there is an interesting opportunity here: stick some "B-Side" experimental games on the DVD with the big title. Little Flash games, or student games, or Internet games that haven't taken off yet. Don't advertise them on the box, sell the "big game" just like always." Thanks to Hylton Jolliffe for the submission.
If the industry wanted this, they could easily do it out of the profit margins of the larger titles. Easily. So if the industry really believes itself about the lack of innovation that it touts at GDC every year, put your money where your mouth is, and offer some incentive for experimental throw-away games. The way you innovate is make 20 totally different different games and find the one (or parts of some) that works. No one in the art world has every really had a different model.
But that's the thing - the industry doesn't want it. Only game designers and hardcore gamers really care about "innovation". As a game designer myself, I'd love this and heard this suggested in no less than four other places, but the truth is that it isn't really a profitable endeavor.
Why spend X dollars on a B-side that isn't neccessarily related to the A-side game at all when you could spend those X dollars to make the A-side game better (or, in most case, bigger)?
If you can figure out the answer to that which would convince an executive, I'd love to hear it so I can get to work on some B-side games.
By the way, if you are looking for a fun and innovative game, go pick up Katamari Damacy for the PS2. I just picked it up this week and it is the freshest, most original fun I've had on a console in a while - and it is twenty bucks. It gives me hope for this concept in the form of EPs (shorter, cheaper standalone games) rather than B-sides.
And they have in lots of games, whether as Easter Eggs, unlockables or just fun minigames. Presumably, these are side projects thrown in to add something to the mix
These major ones spring to mind:
Pyoro 1 and 2 in Warioware Inc. Fantastic fun little things
The lightgun game Demolition Racer for Dreamcast. Lovely fun little game
The useless VMU games and both Pocketstation games that no-one ever played
Galaxians in the Ridge Racer loading screen
All the retro games in modern titles (PoP and the NES games in Animal Crossing)
NiGHTs and Puyo Pop for GBA in PSO and Billy Hatcher for GC
Blackhole Assault with an inbuilt pong game
After Googling, there's a whole FAQ full at http://www.steverd.com/faqs/hiddengames.htm - dates back to 1999, but the point is still there.