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Creativity in Game Sequels
The New York Times (reg. required) has a look at two sequels that manage to recapture some creativity from the original games. Resident Evil 4 and Mercenaries aren't just knock off money makers, a refreshing note in a rehash heavy industry. From the article: "Capcom's invigorating leap into 2005 includes tossing out what had been the basic premise of the series, which centered around a manmade virus that destroyed Raccoon City."
see nintendo games over the last 20 years. Pumping out sequel after sequel but never resting on their laurels. It is not sequels that characterise stagnation in the industry, but tarting up old games, you hear me EA?
"all through my house i set up traps, it seems like the rats have a map, so now i feed the rats crack" - Donald D
Simply because they have to be related somehow to the previous version, so by definition they cannot be as innovative and original as the first version in the first place, which--aux de counturiarie--had to be different from anything else that came before. Ergho, if anyone says that the sequel is more crea-/innova-tive than one is lieing, simple as that.
Enemies that drop ammo and stores is not something that I would normally equate to a Resident Evil game. If they dropped Raccoon City AND they dropped most of the old play mechanics, what exactly is 'Resident Evil' to RE4 but the name?
BTW, Mercenaries is not a sequel, so I don't even know why it is being discussed unless the thread really isn't about sequels and rather about interesting shifts in gameplay.
Why does Slashdot always post those annoying "reg. required" links? Not everyone is willing to give up privacy, waste time and get spam just to read a stupid article. Here's a Google News link. Enjoy.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
I' afraid i have to disagree, take Mario 64, a 'sequel' to Super Mario World, yet it was far more innovative than a first generation game such as Clay fighters, or Turok could ever be
"all through my house i set up traps, it seems like the rats have a map, so now i feed the rats crack" - Donald D
The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.
Do not touch -Willie
Don't forget this generation of consoles mixed old ideas with new technology. We never had Sony eyecam, MMORPG, Steering wheels, online gaming on a console before.
And the egregious Latin is just the cherry on top.
GTA3, Dune 2, Mechwarrior 2, Star Control 2 come to mind as more innovative than their predecessors.
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Surely SOMEONE realizes that the parent is a matrix-inspired quote, right? Neo and Colonol Sanders talking in the monitor room?
"God does not play dice with the Universe." - Albert Einstein
"Stop telling God what to do." - Niels Bohr
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is more innovative than the original in terms of the multiplayer experience it offers.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.
...when the article claimed that Resident Evil invented the survival horror genre.
Resident Evil: third-person survival horror game, using polygon graphics on rendered backgrounds, where a lone character wanders around fighting zombies. Key scene that sticks in everyone's memory: the bit at the beginning where the dogs jump through the window. Published 1996.
Alone in the Dark: third-person survival horror game, using polygon graphics on rendered backgrounds, where a lone character wanders around fighting zombies. Key scene that sticks in everyone's memory: the bit at the beginning where the dogs jump through the window. Published 1992.
Question: which of the above was innovative?
I don't think even the matrix would have such blatant misure and mispelling of foreign terms. Come on... aux de counturiarie Maybe looking for au contraire? Maybe not the exact same meaning, as it actually means something in another language. and Ergho is usually spelled Ergo where I come from.
Hmmm... misapplication of a once trendy movie quote, mispellings galore... ladies and gentlemen... I THINK WE HAVE A TROLL! Either that or just a dumbass.
Your error is that you assume that the first version was created in complete isolation, with no similarity to any other game (creatio ex nihilo, seeing as you're fond of latin). There are many ways that the first version of just about any game is related to previous games. Yes, a sequel is related to the previous version, but that relation can be quite small and superficial. It can easily be smaller than the connection of the first game to other, technically unrelated, games.
Wow, I REALLY always thought Dune 2 was just the freakin' sequel to the movie...
Don't Blame me if I seem bitter, I'm at work, and the TV only plays soap operas.
Wow, I REALLY always thought Dune 2 was just the freakin' sequel to the movie...
Lucky you... the original Dune (game) was a shnore fest. Although Home of the Underdogs gives it a rating of 8.75... I did play it after I played Dune2... maybe I should try it again.
Alone in the Dark may have been one of the first survival games to have come out (I played that game on the PC), but it came out at a time when the gaming population was small compared to the overal population.
Resident Evil 1 came out in the Playstation era, with a much larger number of gamers. The game came at the right time, and it won the mindshare.
There is a difference between who came first and who was able to get "on the map." Invention history has shown that being first does not always get you remembered.
Don't believe me? Check out the EVIL bat: spooky screen shots! (possibly not safe for work, kids or elderly with weak hearts).
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Here is the list of the games ID made (or had made). 1991-1996: 5 years Commander Keen 1-3 Shadow Knights Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion Rescue Rover Hovertank Keen Dreams Rescue Rover II Commander Keen 4-6 Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny DOOM DOOM II Final DOOM (outsourced) Master Levels for DOOM II Quake At this point John Romero leaves. 1996-2004: 8 years Quake II Quake III Quake III:Team Arena Return To Wolfenstein (outsourced) Commander Keen GBA (outsourced) Wolfenstein GBA (outsourced) DOOM GBA (outsourced) DOOM II GBA (outsourced) DOOM III Eight years of nothing but sequels. When will it end?
Simply because they have to be related somehow to the previous version, so by definition they cannot be as innovative and original as the first version in the first place, which--aux de counturiarie--had to be different from anything else that came before. Ergho, if anyone says that the sequel is more crea-/innova-tive than one is lieing, simple as that.
So if somebody creates a 30 hour game that stars the same characters and has the same gameplay the whole way through, that's more creative than a game that lasts 15 hours and has a 15 hour sequel that stars the same characters and has the same gameplay, because "first = creative"? Do I have that right?
Since when is Mercenaries a sequel? The article calls it Pandemic Studios' follow up to "its innovative strategy game Full Spectrum Warrior." Since when is a "follow-up" game a sequel? And what makes this a "follow-up", other than being developed by the same studio? Is Full Spectrum Warrior a follow-up to Pandemic's earlier games like Clone Wars or Triple Play Does that mean Full Spectrum Warrior is a sequel to a baseball title? By that rationale, id's Doom 3 is a sequel to their previous title Quake 3 Arena. Does this seem silly to anybody else?
Star Control 2 was just a very well-done ripoff of Binary Systems' Starflight with the Star Control combat engine slapped into it. It was a fun game, and much better than its predecessor, but it wasn't the least bit innovative.
Metroid Prime is the most radically changed sequel I can think of, except possibly Mario 64.
I like something shiny new just as much as the next guy. But when i really enjoy a game, i don't mind if there's a couple of sequels that are pretty much the same thing.
I guess it's because i play FPS games mostly. UT2004 is cool, but i still enjoy regular UT as well.
Same with music. New music can be refreshing, but when i like some artists' music a lot, i'll probably like the next album as well, even if it doesn't have any shiny new innovative sound/songs
Sample this!
The notion that a game in development may one day spawn a sequel can have a positive effect on development of that game. Knowing that we don't have to fit absolutely everything into that initial game makes it easier to focus on providing a solid product without feeling that we're trashing our great ideas forever.
By way of example, during development of Inago Rage, it was clear to us that players might enjoy a multiplayer mode. This is natural for an FPS, but in Inago, since players also create their own arenas, the idea of collaborative building made it doubly interesting. But it was not something we felt we could do in the time we had. A half-assed multiplayer compontent would disappoint players and diminish the single-player component. So, we didn't add it. What kept this from becoming a disappointment to us (enthusiasm counts for a lot in game development) was the knowledge that we could always add it as part of a sequel, an expansion, or even a version update.
During the development of a game, there always comes a time when you lock down the features and put the pages of brilliant concepts and great player suggestions away. I think that some of the greatest elements in a sequel come about when developers are given the chance to implement ideas they were passionate about in the first game, but had to tuck away for later.
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Inago Rage - A first-person shooter where you build and fly
We're indie. We're working on our 14th game.
Looking back now, and not considering it being overshadowed by it's sequel, I thought the original Dune game on the Amiga was pretty cool for it's time. It was really two games in one. The adventure-type part where you would travel to the sietches in ornithopters, talk to so-and-so, and then the pseudo-strategic part where you would communicate telepathically with the Fremen, manage their spice production, fight the Harkonnen, etc. .. unless I'm confusing it with something else. I would even boot it up just to watch the intro and listen to the music, long after I'd finished playing the game... but then again I'm weird like that.
I'm surprised no one mentioned this game. I assume it's because it was released about the same time as Halo2, GTA:SA, Half-Life 2, WoW.
I expected MGS3 to be a run-of-the-mill sequel. I was wrong. It's excellent. The enemy AI and gameplay have been vastly improved. The final boss battle scene is beautiful, and there's a boss battle that takes place over a huge area.
On top of this, the game story is excellent. Seriously, check this game out.