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Is there nothing like originality is todays games? Think about how many games have numbers greater than, say, 4, in their title. Final Fantasy 9, Settlers 4, Age of Empires 2, Tomb Raider 5, Monkey Island 4! It seems to be getting ridiculous! Even those games which are not just sequels are very often games that are stupidly similar to games already around. The original theme park was one of the most original games ever, but now Theme Park Inc yet again adds absolutely nothing new.
I have recently played a game called America. I think they ought to rename it to "Age of Empires but not as good and set in America". Seriously, the graphics, fonts, sounds, and especially gameplay are almost identical to AOE, and the game is not half as good. Some manufacturers are capable of adding new things, but today there are so many C&C clones and so on, that any originality is buried beneath piles of (identical) rubbish. Without anything new, the games market seems to be disintegrating into piles of games which are all the same as each other with slightly different graphics (I could compare it to American TV; there is loads of it, but it's all the same, and it's all boring)
I have recently played a game called America. I think they ought to rename it to "Age of Empires but not as good and set in America". Seriously, the graphics, fonts, sounds, and especially gameplay are almost identical to AOE, and the game is not half as good. Some manufacturers are capable of adding new things, but today there are so many C&C clones and so on, that any originality is buried beneath piles of (identical) rubbish. Without anything new, the games market seems to be disintegrating into piles of games which are all the same as each other with slightly different graphics (I could compare it to American TV; there is loads of it, but it's all the same, and it's all boring)
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Is there nothing like originality is todays games? Think about how many games have numbers greater than, say, 4, in their title. Final Fantasy 9, Settlers 4, Age of Empires 2, Tomb Raider 5, Monkey Island 4! It seems to be getting ridiculous! Even those games which are not just sequels are very often games that are stupidly similar to games already around. The original theme park was one of the most original games ever, but now Theme Park Inc yet again adds absolutely nothing new.
I have recently played a game called America. I think they ought to rename it to "Age of Empires but not as good and set in America". Seriously, the graphics, fonts, sounds, and especially gameplay are almost identical to AOE, and the game is not half as good. Some manufacturers are capable of adding new things, but today there are so many C&C clones and so on, that any originality is buried beneath piles of (identical) rubbish. Without anything new, the games market seems to be disintegrating into piles of games which are all the same as each other with slightly different graphics (I could compare it to American TV; there is loads of it, but it's all the same, and it's all boring)
I have recently played a game called America. I think they ought to rename it to "Age of Empires but not as good and set in America". Seriously, the graphics, fonts, sounds, and especially gameplay are almost identical to AOE, and the game is not half as good. Some manufacturers are capable of adding new things, but today there are so many C&C clones and so on, that any originality is buried beneath piles of (identical) rubbish. Without anything new, the games market seems to be disintegrating into piles of games which are all the same as each other with slightly different graphics (I could compare it to American TV; there is loads of it, but it's all the same, and it's all boring)
There are very few original games in this world!
I suppose the originals would have to be:
Tennis (Pong)
Donkey Kong
Space Invaders
All other games have links/relations to these!
I suppose the originals would have to be:
Tennis (Pong)
Donkey Kong
Space Invaders
All other games have links/relations to these!
Tetris
Pole Position
Pole Position
Yie Ar Kung Fu
Pac Man
Yep, afraid so. Nothing changes in this world! Since then, we've had graphical updates like mad, and we have 100s of times as much RAM as we had in the times of space invaders, but gameplay? What's that? It certainly hasn't changed much recently!
Even some of these could be traced back to non-computer backgrounds, though that is being a bit picky! Every game has to be based on something...I suppose
Spacewar!
PinkPig wrote:
> Yep, afraid so. Nothing changes in this world! Since then, we've
> had graphical updates like mad, and we have 100s of times as much
> RAM as we had in the times of space invaders, but gameplay? What's
> that? It certainly hasn't changed much recently!
Everything is always changing in this world... which might be why we like the things that stay the same so much? :)
> Yep, afraid so. Nothing changes in this world! Since then, we've
> had graphical updates like mad, and we have 100s of times as much
> RAM as we had in the times of space invaders, but gameplay? What's
> that? It certainly hasn't changed much recently!
Everything is always changing in this world... which might be why we like the things that stay the same so much? :)
So the world of gaming is over sequelled but I see an end to it.
Basically, if a game sells well and people want more of the same, companies realise the demand and release hundreds of clones/sequels in order to make easy cash.
It started of lightly but over the last couple of years, the games market has been over flooded with them.
And the reason it still goes on?
The business tactic still works. Fifa's and Tombraiders sell like hot cakes thanks to sucessful franchise.
HOWEVER...
Many casual gamers have started to get fed up with the lack of originality now. After all Sony hyped up about the PS2, to find that there isn't all that much difference from the old a machine in the way of new idea's, most casual gamers don't like the PS2 because it's somply more of the same.
This is marks the begining of the end to the sequel era.
Not only is the console "Sequel" starting to fall flat on it's face but the public now want something new and original. Games companies will soon see that simply churning out more of the same won't bring home the money anymore.
And here's another incentive.
If you make an original game a sucess, YOU own the money making franchise.
By being the first ones to come up with truly excelent platform games, Sega got the franchise of Sonic and Nintendo got a hundred different franchises from Mario to Zelda.
Capcom got Resident Evil and Streetfighter franchises, while Core got Tombraider.
All these franchises have been sequelled to a several time but they all started with ORIGINAL ideas.
Apart from Resident Evil which shamelessly ripped of "Alone In the Dark"!...
Basically, if a game sells well and people want more of the same, companies realise the demand and release hundreds of clones/sequels in order to make easy cash.
It started of lightly but over the last couple of years, the games market has been over flooded with them.
And the reason it still goes on?
The business tactic still works. Fifa's and Tombraiders sell like hot cakes thanks to sucessful franchise.
HOWEVER...
Many casual gamers have started to get fed up with the lack of originality now. After all Sony hyped up about the PS2, to find that there isn't all that much difference from the old a machine in the way of new idea's, most casual gamers don't like the PS2 because it's somply more of the same.
This is marks the begining of the end to the sequel era.
Not only is the console "Sequel" starting to fall flat on it's face but the public now want something new and original. Games companies will soon see that simply churning out more of the same won't bring home the money anymore.
And here's another incentive.
If you make an original game a sucess, YOU own the money making franchise.
By being the first ones to come up with truly excelent platform games, Sega got the franchise of Sonic and Nintendo got a hundred different franchises from Mario to Zelda.
Capcom got Resident Evil and Streetfighter franchises, while Core got Tombraider.
All these franchises have been sequelled to a several time but they all started with ORIGINAL ideas.
Apart from Resident Evil which shamelessly ripped of "Alone In the Dark"!...
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