The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
I have an idea for a game, a great game, a genre that everyone will enjoy. So I write it down on a piece of paper, and go around various developers and software houses to see if there are any takers. Of course there are, it's a great game! It's so good that Konami want the exclusive rights, so I say ok, £10,000 please, but I want to be in control of development.
OK, they say, and we get on with the job of developing the game for the PS2.
Week 1: Too many characters they said, so we cut a few
OK, they say, and we get on with the job of developing the game for the PS2.
Week 1: Too many characters they said, so we cut a few
Week 2: Too complex they said, so we trimmed a few of the features that really helped to make the game special.
Week 3: We've got to get this on the shelves by Easter, they said, so deadlines were drawn up.
Week 4: 3 leading artists walk out, a new director is brought in, he wants a platformer because that's what he's always done before, so the RPG elements are whittled out too.
By Easter, my game is on the shelves, but nothing like it was supposed to be. It sells well, there's not much out there for the PS2 yet, and Konami is a big name. But what happened to my vision, my dream of a game for everyone?
What's he waffling on about? It takes a large team of people to produce a game that is marketable these days. Remember back in the 80's when you could still get good games churned out by the likes of Ian Stewart et al on a cassette tape? Maybe 5000 lines of code and a bit of assembly programing and you had one of the most eagerly anticipated text adventures around. All the graphics and fonts and gameplay were controlled by one person, who could have a vision of something at the start and see it through to the end without distortion. It just can't be done today, too many skills are required, and I feel that is a shame. Look at all the ideas flowing in the New Games Forum. How many of them could become sellers in today's market without being markedly different than their posters have envisioned? Not one, I'd bet.
If I could learn to program the PS2 on my own, and learn how to produce FMV, cut sequences that keep you on the edge of your seats, gameplay that makes you croon with pleasure, and design instructions and casings and advertising, I would. But by then the Z-Box would be out and it would be like me trying to sell you a Spectrum game today. My point is, if you have a vision for a game, and want to see it end up as you started it, get your own development company, your own team of programmers and artists and musicians and film producers etc., and control it from start to finish. Anyone want to lend me a couple of million pounds so I can do this?
Thought not.
Week 3: We've got to get this on the shelves by Easter, they said, so deadlines were drawn up.
Week 4: 3 leading artists walk out, a new director is brought in, he wants a platformer because that's what he's always done before, so the RPG elements are whittled out too.
By Easter, my game is on the shelves, but nothing like it was supposed to be. It sells well, there's not much out there for the PS2 yet, and Konami is a big name. But what happened to my vision, my dream of a game for everyone?
What's he waffling on about? It takes a large team of people to produce a game that is marketable these days. Remember back in the 80's when you could still get good games churned out by the likes of Ian Stewart et al on a cassette tape? Maybe 5000 lines of code and a bit of assembly programing and you had one of the most eagerly anticipated text adventures around. All the graphics and fonts and gameplay were controlled by one person, who could have a vision of something at the start and see it through to the end without distortion. It just can't be done today, too many skills are required, and I feel that is a shame. Look at all the ideas flowing in the New Games Forum. How many of them could become sellers in today's market without being markedly different than their posters have envisioned? Not one, I'd bet.
If I could learn to program the PS2 on my own, and learn how to produce FMV, cut sequences that keep you on the edge of your seats, gameplay that makes you croon with pleasure, and design instructions and casings and advertising, I would. But by then the Z-Box would be out and it would be like me trying to sell you a Spectrum game today. My point is, if you have a vision for a game, and want to see it end up as you started it, get your own development company, your own team of programmers and artists and musicians and film producers etc., and control it from start to finish. Anyone want to lend me a couple of million pounds so I can do this?
Thought not.
I have an idea for a game, a great game, a genre that everyone will enjoy. So I write it down on a piece of paper, and go around various developers and software houses to see if there are any takers. Of course there are, it's a great game! It's so good that Konami want the exclusive rights, so I say ok, £10,000 please, but I want to be in control of development.
OK, they say, and we get on with the job of developing the game for the PS2.
Week 1: Too many characters they said, so we cut a few
OK, they say, and we get on with the job of developing the game for the PS2.
Week 1: Too many characters they said, so we cut a few