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Let's face it - the majority of games made in today's world either come from Japan, America or Britain. Sure, there are plenty of French, Czech and Australian games, but the sheer quantity of developers in the East and West mean that very few games come from other countries. Some gems do come from other countries - Operation Flashpoint came from the Czech Republic for example. No no, my sudden idea is that game ideas are local. If you get my meaning. And we could be missing out on some crazy Russian, Inuit or Fijian idea on the basis that games aren't developed in those countries.
Admit it - 99% of the games made in America invovle cars or rockets. It's a rare occasion to find a genuinely innovative title, and it's becoming more and more apparent that the stereotypical 'fat lazy American' middle aged man is coming through in videogames as well. I'm not saying America is a bad place for development, because there have been tonnes of great games come from the States, what I'm saying is that perhaps America has dried up of ideas.
Japan is a quirky place, and don't we know it. Less than half of the games released in Japan make it outside of Asia, on the basis that they wouldn't do well selling to the mainstream consumer. Let's face it - would a 'window shopper' buy a dieting game, or 'Lets kill animals with mines VII'? An question I find easy to answer. The thing is, these games will never make it to PAL format, or to our shores. So where do we look for innovation? Since developers in well-known game-making countries, innovation is running short. Well, I think we should make perhaps a niche in the market for more foreign games, made by new, foreign companies.
If all British, Japanese and American innovation has dried up, who's to say that gaming's dead? All that's dead is the imaginations of the developers in these countries. I'm adamant that there are people in Kenya, India and Bulgaria who would have great ideas for video games, and if only they were given the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. Think about it - If there was a game like Halo from every country in the world, we'd be left with 130+ masterpieces to wallow in. It's a glorious prospect. Whether it's a Russian wood-chopping sim, or a Chinese game based around the great wall; I don't mind.
The thing is I don't want to have a go, but it's due to numb-mindedness that great games don't surface. Very few people bought games such as Mr. Driller, Mad Maestro and Gitaroo Man, because they broke free of the driving/shooting mould. That's the problem. If games like this were given a chance, more developers would decide to take the plunge and develop a 'quirky' game. And this is another problem, in that foreign developers have to make a profit, so they make a stereotypical game which will at least sell to fairly 'casual' gamers.
The main thing which I think should come through, is that innovation isn't dead - it's just not prospering at the moment. I think that in the future, the source of our games aren't necessarily going to be the UK, America or Japan. Like oil, it may come from Africa, the middle of the Atlantic ocean or indeed, Asia and South America. Gaming is traditionally restricted to the three countries I mentioned, but I think that if gaming does survive and innovation prevails, developers from other countries will have to surface and show us their talents.
So just say to yourself, "Innovation isn't dying, we're just having a shortage".
Admit it - 99% of the games made in America invovle cars or rockets. It's a rare occasion to find a genuinely innovative title, and it's becoming more and more apparent that the stereotypical 'fat lazy American' middle aged man is coming through in videogames as well. I'm not saying America is a bad place for development, because there have been tonnes of great games come from the States, what I'm saying is that perhaps America has dried up of ideas.
Japan is a quirky place, and don't we know it. Less than half of the games released in Japan make it outside of Asia, on the basis that they wouldn't do well selling to the mainstream consumer. Let's face it - would a 'window shopper' buy a dieting game, or 'Lets kill animals with mines VII'? An question I find easy to answer. The thing is, these games will never make it to PAL format, or to our shores. So where do we look for innovation? Since developers in well-known game-making countries, innovation is running short. Well, I think we should make perhaps a niche in the market for more foreign games, made by new, foreign companies.
If all British, Japanese and American innovation has dried up, who's to say that gaming's dead? All that's dead is the imaginations of the developers in these countries. I'm adamant that there are people in Kenya, India and Bulgaria who would have great ideas for video games, and if only they were given the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. Think about it - If there was a game like Halo from every country in the world, we'd be left with 130+ masterpieces to wallow in. It's a glorious prospect. Whether it's a Russian wood-chopping sim, or a Chinese game based around the great wall; I don't mind.
The thing is I don't want to have a go, but it's due to numb-mindedness that great games don't surface. Very few people bought games such as Mr. Driller, Mad Maestro and Gitaroo Man, because they broke free of the driving/shooting mould. That's the problem. If games like this were given a chance, more developers would decide to take the plunge and develop a 'quirky' game. And this is another problem, in that foreign developers have to make a profit, so they make a stereotypical game which will at least sell to fairly 'casual' gamers.
The main thing which I think should come through, is that innovation isn't dead - it's just not prospering at the moment. I think that in the future, the source of our games aren't necessarily going to be the UK, America or Japan. Like oil, it may come from Africa, the middle of the Atlantic ocean or indeed, Asia and South America. Gaming is traditionally restricted to the three countries I mentioned, but I think that if gaming does survive and innovation prevails, developers from other countries will have to surface and show us their talents.
So just say to yourself, "Innovation isn't dying, we're just having a shortage".
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Let's face it - the majority of games made in today's world either come from Japan, America or Britain. Sure, there are plenty of French, Czech and Australian games, but the sheer quantity of developers in the East and West mean that very few games come from other countries. Some gems do come from other countries - Operation Flashpoint came from the Czech Republic for example. No no, my sudden idea is that game ideas are local. If you get my meaning. And we could be missing out on some crazy Russian, Inuit or Fijian idea on the basis that games aren't developed in those countries.
Admit it - 99% of the games made in America invovle cars or rockets. It's a rare occasion to find a genuinely innovative title, and it's becoming more and more apparent that the stereotypical 'fat lazy American' middle aged man is coming through in videogames as well. I'm not saying America is a bad place for development, because there have been tonnes of great games come from the States, what I'm saying is that perhaps America has dried up of ideas.
Japan is a quirky place, and don't we know it. Less than half of the games released in Japan make it outside of Asia, on the basis that they wouldn't do well selling to the mainstream consumer. Let's face it - would a 'window shopper' buy a dieting game, or 'Lets kill animals with mines VII'? An question I find easy to answer. The thing is, these games will never make it to PAL format, or to our shores. So where do we look for innovation? Since developers in well-known game-making countries, innovation is running short. Well, I think we should make perhaps a niche in the market for more foreign games, made by new, foreign companies.
If all British, Japanese and American innovation has dried up, who's to say that gaming's dead? All that's dead is the imaginations of the developers in these countries. I'm adamant that there are people in Kenya, India and Bulgaria who would have great ideas for video games, and if only they were given the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. Think about it - If there was a game like Halo from every country in the world, we'd be left with 130+ masterpieces to wallow in. It's a glorious prospect. Whether it's a Russian wood-chopping sim, or a Chinese game based around the great wall; I don't mind.
The thing is I don't want to have a go, but it's due to numb-mindedness that great games don't surface. Very few people bought games such as Mr. Driller, Mad Maestro and Gitaroo Man, because they broke free of the driving/shooting mould. That's the problem. If games like this were given a chance, more developers would decide to take the plunge and develop a 'quirky' game. And this is another problem, in that foreign developers have to make a profit, so they make a stereotypical game which will at least sell to fairly 'casual' gamers.
The main thing which I think should come through, is that innovation isn't dead - it's just not prospering at the moment. I think that in the future, the source of our games aren't necessarily going to be the UK, America or Japan. Like oil, it may come from Africa, the middle of the Atlantic ocean or indeed, Asia and South America. Gaming is traditionally restricted to the three countries I mentioned, but I think that if gaming does survive and innovation prevails, developers from other countries will have to surface and show us their talents.
So just say to yourself, "Innovation isn't dying, we're just having a shortage".
Admit it - 99% of the games made in America invovle cars or rockets. It's a rare occasion to find a genuinely innovative title, and it's becoming more and more apparent that the stereotypical 'fat lazy American' middle aged man is coming through in videogames as well. I'm not saying America is a bad place for development, because there have been tonnes of great games come from the States, what I'm saying is that perhaps America has dried up of ideas.
Japan is a quirky place, and don't we know it. Less than half of the games released in Japan make it outside of Asia, on the basis that they wouldn't do well selling to the mainstream consumer. Let's face it - would a 'window shopper' buy a dieting game, or 'Lets kill animals with mines VII'? An question I find easy to answer. The thing is, these games will never make it to PAL format, or to our shores. So where do we look for innovation? Since developers in well-known game-making countries, innovation is running short. Well, I think we should make perhaps a niche in the market for more foreign games, made by new, foreign companies.
If all British, Japanese and American innovation has dried up, who's to say that gaming's dead? All that's dead is the imaginations of the developers in these countries. I'm adamant that there are people in Kenya, India and Bulgaria who would have great ideas for video games, and if only they were given the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. Think about it - If there was a game like Halo from every country in the world, we'd be left with 130+ masterpieces to wallow in. It's a glorious prospect. Whether it's a Russian wood-chopping sim, or a Chinese game based around the great wall; I don't mind.
The thing is I don't want to have a go, but it's due to numb-mindedness that great games don't surface. Very few people bought games such as Mr. Driller, Mad Maestro and Gitaroo Man, because they broke free of the driving/shooting mould. That's the problem. If games like this were given a chance, more developers would decide to take the plunge and develop a 'quirky' game. And this is another problem, in that foreign developers have to make a profit, so they make a stereotypical game which will at least sell to fairly 'casual' gamers.
The main thing which I think should come through, is that innovation isn't dead - it's just not prospering at the moment. I think that in the future, the source of our games aren't necessarily going to be the UK, America or Japan. Like oil, it may come from Africa, the middle of the Atlantic ocean or indeed, Asia and South America. Gaming is traditionally restricted to the three countries I mentioned, but I think that if gaming does survive and innovation prevails, developers from other countries will have to surface and show us their talents.
So just say to yourself, "Innovation isn't dying, we're just having a shortage".