Innovatating the Future One Generic Game at a Time!
Type of Gamer? Bullshit.
Innovatating the Future One Generic Game at a Time!
Submitted by Veko.
Today I ask, what is innovation? Can you eat it? Does it go good on rye? Can you wipe your butt with it? Clean the snow off your windows?
No, no, no, no. Its not useful for any of that. Its use has nothing to do with actual actions then can help you.
What innovation is is an one way road to very poor sell figures.
Take any innovative game and multiply its sales figures by 10. There, you've now found the least amount of sales any Grand Theft Auto clone, World War 2 game, or any other repetative and over used concept obtained.
What's the trouble? Why won't people buy the 'good stuff'?
Fear.
We all fear, that is those of us with a finite disposable income, paying $50 for a bad game. What we do know is, though, that we enjoyed Age of the Empires 1 and 2, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, Halo 1, Halflife 1, Sims 1, Call of Duty 1, Civilization 3, all the Resident Evil games, and many other games.
Now I'm not bashing any of the above games. In fact most of them spawned sequels I like.
The sequel phenominon is nothing new, though. Think back, way back to when gaming was younger. Through the generations I can't think of a single good game that sold well without selling many many sequels, besides license titles. Innovation occurs in two instances. First and most often, to attempt to start a new franchise that might hit gold. Second, to get your name out as a good company. The second often is also used to get the first as well though.
Money. It makes the world go round and its what they want from us. Sure they'll get a bit of it from us with Psychonauts and Katamari Damancy but, if they aim to make us empty our pockets completely, the best bet is World War 2 games, sports games and sequels.
Type of Gamer? Bullshit.
Submitted by Veko
Gaming has gone through alot in the last decade and I've been here for it all. I hate to do so, but I think I will tell you the truth, I blame it on Sony.
Back in the "Golden Age" of gaming; when it was Nintendo and Sega, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, battling...everything was good. Graphics were peaked for 2D, Mario and Sonic were Superstars, Controllers were good, and, most importantly of all, I wasn't embarrased to be a gamer.
That was then this is now.
Gaming has changed alot and some gamers, such as myself, have failed to change with it. I still spend sleepless nights wondering why in the whole wide world the N64 controller was built so most 2 armed humans couldn't used all the buttons at once. Why didn't they just build it with that top left missing? I know, symmetry is why.
Another thing I wonder is well, I wonder alot of things about Nintendo. They've done many things that stand as stupid yet they continue to make mistakes. I am not here to tear apart Nintendo. I still love them dearly, as my ancient fanboyism demands, but I just wish that perhaps, just once, they could stop fighting the flow of change and understand that to succeed they must either follow or leave.
And here we stand. I will be unsuprised if you all think I'm now self contridicting now. I am only providing the fact that I must do the same. I have to ask myself, am I going to continue gaming, even with the embarrasement it gives me, or give up and realize that I will have to be my own gamer.
I am not teenbopper Techster, the guy who plays games on the weekends
I am not dorkmaster Raver, the RPG gamer.
I am not importgamer Alswrong, the only imported games idiot.
I am not oldman Frank, the gamer in his 20s who drinks MD while eating cold pizza.
What am I then?
I am Veko, the gamer who is not a certian gamer. I don't play games because they are games, I play them because they're fun. I didn't play games because it was the cool thing to do 10 years ago, and I don't plan to make that my reason for gaming any time soon.
Past Issue Reviews.
Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddlers' Green.
Super Mario Strikers.
Review: Katamari Damacy
Review: Time Splitters - Future Perfect
Bargain Bucket
E3 Remains