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If you were expecting a hilarious joke, then sorry. The lightbulb I am talking about isn't a physical lightbulb, more a metaphorical lightbulb, like in cartoons where the 'lightbulb over the head' thing represents an idea.
Well, I'm talking about switching ideas. The current ideas used in gaming are growing stale- unoriginal first person shooter sequels are all over the shop, Mario 64 wannabes are still out there, yet years on nothing has topped it, and the next Fifa update is always ruling the gaming charts. So is there any hope at all?
I believe so. Although there has been some pessimism here over whether originality is long gone, I don't believe it is. One game in particular, Eternal Darkness, gives me hope. Many see it as a Resident Evil wannabe, but it isn't really. Resident Evil had that B-movie kind of feel, while they are trying to create a psychological horror with Eternal Darkness. And if they pull that off, it could be one of the greatest games of this generation.
Another game, Pikmin that was said to be one of the most original games, doesn't seem to me to be all that original. All credit to Nintendo for trying something new, but it still looks to me like a bit of a cross between Lemmings, and a RTS game. Yes, it was a risk making the game, and I'm glad Nintendo are still taking risks, but to me it doesn't seem quite as original as it is hyped to be.
And then we come to Halo. I haven't played it but it does look great. But I'm still not sure it will revolutionise first person shooters. Half-Life recieved critical acclaim as one of the best first person shooters ever, but years down the line and we still weren't seeing any other first person shooters that even attempted to beat it. Shooters seemed to go the way of ultra realism, where a couple of shots kills anything (including you). And that's why even though Halo looks to be an awesome game, I'm still not convinced it is actually pushing the formula that much, and as Half-Life showed us, even when the formula is pushed to some extent, it doesn't necessarily mean that other developers will follow.
So, anyway, back to my question. How many games designers does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, as many as it takes to create an original genre pushing and formula pushing game. This could be just one designer with a great idea, who tells his boss, and then gets a team to work on it with him, or it could be a whole team developing their brainchild into a fully fledged game. This is why there is hope. In theory one game could spark off a revolution where games designers have to be more original to sell games. In theory. In practice maybe not. But there is hope.
Well, I'm talking about switching ideas. The current ideas used in gaming are growing stale- unoriginal first person shooter sequels are all over the shop, Mario 64 wannabes are still out there, yet years on nothing has topped it, and the next Fifa update is always ruling the gaming charts. So is there any hope at all?
I believe so. Although there has been some pessimism here over whether originality is long gone, I don't believe it is. One game in particular, Eternal Darkness, gives me hope. Many see it as a Resident Evil wannabe, but it isn't really. Resident Evil had that B-movie kind of feel, while they are trying to create a psychological horror with Eternal Darkness. And if they pull that off, it could be one of the greatest games of this generation.
Another game, Pikmin that was said to be one of the most original games, doesn't seem to me to be all that original. All credit to Nintendo for trying something new, but it still looks to me like a bit of a cross between Lemmings, and a RTS game. Yes, it was a risk making the game, and I'm glad Nintendo are still taking risks, but to me it doesn't seem quite as original as it is hyped to be.
And then we come to Halo. I haven't played it but it does look great. But I'm still not sure it will revolutionise first person shooters. Half-Life recieved critical acclaim as one of the best first person shooters ever, but years down the line and we still weren't seeing any other first person shooters that even attempted to beat it. Shooters seemed to go the way of ultra realism, where a couple of shots kills anything (including you). And that's why even though Halo looks to be an awesome game, I'm still not convinced it is actually pushing the formula that much, and as Half-Life showed us, even when the formula is pushed to some extent, it doesn't necessarily mean that other developers will follow.
So, anyway, back to my question. How many games designers does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, as many as it takes to create an original genre pushing and formula pushing game. This could be just one designer with a great idea, who tells his boss, and then gets a team to work on it with him, or it could be a whole team developing their brainchild into a fully fledged game. This is why there is hope. In theory one game could spark off a revolution where games designers have to be more original to sell games. In theory. In practice maybe not. But there is hope.
hmm... two whole replys!!!
Boblin Brown wrote:
> I agree. Totally.
Me too.
> I agree. Totally.
Me too.
Boblin Brown wrote:
> I agree. Totally.
Anyone else agree...
Or disagree for that matter?
> I agree. Totally.
Anyone else agree...
Or disagree for that matter?
If you were expecting a hilarious joke, then sorry. The lightbulb I am talking about isn't a physical lightbulb, more a metaphorical lightbulb, like in cartoons where the 'lightbulb over the head' thing represents an idea.
Well, I'm talking about switching ideas. The current ideas used in gaming are growing stale- unoriginal first person shooter sequels are all over the shop, Mario 64 wannabes are still out there, yet years on nothing has topped it, and the next Fifa update is always ruling the gaming charts. So is there any hope at all?
I believe so. Although there has been some pessimism here over whether originality is long gone, I don't believe it is. One game in particular, Eternal Darkness, gives me hope. Many see it as a Resident Evil wannabe, but it isn't really. Resident Evil had that B-movie kind of feel, while they are trying to create a psychological horror with Eternal Darkness. And if they pull that off, it could be one of the greatest games of this generation.
Another game, Pikmin that was said to be one of the most original games, doesn't seem to me to be all that original. All credit to Nintendo for trying something new, but it still looks to me like a bit of a cross between Lemmings, and a RTS game. Yes, it was a risk making the game, and I'm glad Nintendo are still taking risks, but to me it doesn't seem quite as original as it is hyped to be.
And then we come to Halo. I haven't played it but it does look great. But I'm still not sure it will revolutionise first person shooters. Half-Life recieved critical acclaim as one of the best first person shooters ever, but years down the line and we still weren't seeing any other first person shooters that even attempted to beat it. Shooters seemed to go the way of ultra realism, where a couple of shots kills anything (including you). And that's why even though Halo looks to be an awesome game, I'm still not convinced it is actually pushing the formula that much, and as Half-Life showed us, even when the formula is pushed to some extent, it doesn't necessarily mean that other developers will follow.
So, anyway, back to my question. How many games designers does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, as many as it takes to create an original genre pushing and formula pushing game. This could be just one designer with a great idea, who tells his boss, and then gets a team to work on it with him, or it could be a whole team developing their brainchild into a fully fledged game. This is why there is hope. In theory one game could spark off a revolution where games designers have to be more original to sell games. In theory. In practice maybe not. But there is hope.
Well, I'm talking about switching ideas. The current ideas used in gaming are growing stale- unoriginal first person shooter sequels are all over the shop, Mario 64 wannabes are still out there, yet years on nothing has topped it, and the next Fifa update is always ruling the gaming charts. So is there any hope at all?
I believe so. Although there has been some pessimism here over whether originality is long gone, I don't believe it is. One game in particular, Eternal Darkness, gives me hope. Many see it as a Resident Evil wannabe, but it isn't really. Resident Evil had that B-movie kind of feel, while they are trying to create a psychological horror with Eternal Darkness. And if they pull that off, it could be one of the greatest games of this generation.
Another game, Pikmin that was said to be one of the most original games, doesn't seem to me to be all that original. All credit to Nintendo for trying something new, but it still looks to me like a bit of a cross between Lemmings, and a RTS game. Yes, it was a risk making the game, and I'm glad Nintendo are still taking risks, but to me it doesn't seem quite as original as it is hyped to be.
And then we come to Halo. I haven't played it but it does look great. But I'm still not sure it will revolutionise first person shooters. Half-Life recieved critical acclaim as one of the best first person shooters ever, but years down the line and we still weren't seeing any other first person shooters that even attempted to beat it. Shooters seemed to go the way of ultra realism, where a couple of shots kills anything (including you). And that's why even though Halo looks to be an awesome game, I'm still not convinced it is actually pushing the formula that much, and as Half-Life showed us, even when the formula is pushed to some extent, it doesn't necessarily mean that other developers will follow.
So, anyway, back to my question. How many games designers does it take to change a lightbulb? Well, as many as it takes to create an original genre pushing and formula pushing game. This could be just one designer with a great idea, who tells his boss, and then gets a team to work on it with him, or it could be a whole team developing their brainchild into a fully fledged game. This is why there is hope. In theory one game could spark off a revolution where games designers have to be more original to sell games. In theory. In practice maybe not. But there is hope.