Games EuroGamer Expo

[Chronictank]

Eurogamer Expo 2008 | Welcome

Anyone going?

 

[Overdriven]

Oh ffs Yet another reason why I should've stayed down south.

Red Faction 3 = WIN. Loved the originals... Guess not.. 3rd person =<.. Guess so.. More destruction

 

[Raven]

got excited when i saw red faction 3 was coming out too. saw that it was third person and will give it a very large miss.

 

[kirennia]

The sheer number of sequels on that list details perfectly what is wrong with the gaming industry today...sad really

 

[old.Tohtori]

The sheer number of sequels on that list details perfectly what is wrong with the gaming industry today...sad really

Gamers are the people who buy Craptastic Shooter 2 in masses and then complain that there's no Original Adventure of Mister Bob out there, and when there is, they don't buy it 'cause it's not as pretty as Craptastic Shooter 3

Well, in more or less that content.

 

[Raven]

Nothing wrong with a decent sequel, so long as it builds on its predecessor and doesn't just cash in.

 

[kirennia]

Gamers are the people who buy Craptastic Shooter 2 in masses and then complain that there's no Original Adventure of Mister Bob out there, and when there is, they don't buy it 'cause it's not as pretty as Craptastic Shooter 3

Well, in more or less that content.

There lies the problem; there is next to no originality in games anymore and lets face it, take games coming out these days and compare them to 5 years ago, what's changed apart from the sparkleys? Where are the original concepts born? From small time companies who think outside of the box then just as they're about to release a game, they'll get bought out because their manager has been offered a huge paycheck from a larger company. Hardly any managers of these small gaming companies have a spine anymore...

There have been so few new releases I've been looking forward to recently and even when a new concept is to be produced, something stupid is always there to destroy it. Take spore as an example. Fantastic ideas, awfully executed and I'd put money on the fact it was EA who rushed them into finishing it then at the last minute added the stupid DRM destroying the sales for maxis.

There are of course exceptions to the rule but it's harsh to think this is an industry I'm aiming towards joining at the end of this year and it's staler then a dead hookers drawers...

 

[kirennia]

Nothing wrong with a decent sequel, so long as it builds on its predecessor and doesn't just cash in.

How many games are released with the premise of a sequel though. Very few because all that happens is a game does better then expected so sequels are produced in order to accomodate and they for the most part do a poor job.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all sequels are the work of the devil, just that not everything needs a money making follow up as it often does nothing but tars the name of a good, original product.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Earlier games were made by gamers, in basements, with a floppy drive and a porn-mag, for the gamers.

Now, you need a 40+ team of people, and monye becomes an issue.

If it ain't pretty, it won't sell.

It it won't sell, it won't get a publisher.

Games are sold by graphics, not by ideas.

If someone asked you 50 quid for a crappy, real crappy, looking game that has amazing new innovative gameplay..well...we know how 9/10 gamers would answer. And that 1/10 gamer ain't enough to make those games.

Innovative gaming is still out there, but it's being made by modders, flash-gamers and such. Just like old days. But the industry needs to make money still, it's just a fact, 'cause even if innvoative games and new stuff is what EVERY developer wants, they can't afford to lose their company over it.

Baseline; industry is so big and competitive, that there's little room in it for innovation(not "no", little), and the gamers buying everything they churn out is the reason sequels come out.

Everyone to blame.

Also would like to add that casual gaming kills the indutry (cough)

 

[ECA]

Disagree with tardtori.

The production cost of games makes developers and publishers become very risk averse - similar to film production.

The smaller indy stuff innovates and then gets stolen/developer gets monies and makes sequel with monies.

Anything successful will get churned out into sequel land.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Disagree with tardtori.

The production cost of games makes developers and publishers become very risk averse - similar to film production.

The smaller indy stuff innovates and then gets stolen/developer gets monies and makes sequel with monies.

Anything successful will get churned out into sequel land.

So you disagree with that everything i said was right?

Because while i agree that the game industry should take more chances, if you ask gamers what ey're going to buy, 9/10 will say FIFA, football manager, halo, fallout etc and maybe 1/10 will mention stuff like peggle, psychonauts or killer 7.

The point is, it's silly to blame the industry when us gamers are still buying the games that "are a problem".

 

[Lethul]

Earlier games were made by gamers, in basements, with a floppy drive and a porn-mag, for the gamers.

Now, you need a 40+ team of people, and monye becomes an issue.

If it ain't pretty, it won't sell.

It it won't sell, it won't get a publisher.

Games are sold by graphics, not by ideas.

If someone asked you 50 quid for a crappy, real crappy, looking game that has amazing new innovative gameplay..well...we know how 9/10 gamers would answer. And that 1/10 gamer ain't enough to make those games.

Innovative gaming is still out there, but it's being made by modders, flash-gamers and such. Just like old days. But the industry needs to make money still, it's just a fact, 'cause even if innvoative games and new stuff is what EVERY developer wants, they can't afford to lose their company over it.

Baseline; industry is so big and competitive, that there's little room in it for innovation(not "no", little), and the gamers buying everything they churn out is the reason sequels come out.

Everyone to blame.

Also would like to add that casual gaming kills the indutry (cough)

I disagree to some extent, there is still new innovative games out there. Just look further than EA (i know you already know this tho). But the russian/polish game producers makes lots of gems each year imo. King's Bounty is a perfect example (altho sequel) and still didn't make it big cause they don't have the money to advertise the games like the big western companies. Excellent reviews ain't enough to ensure good sales anymore

 

[old.Tohtori]

I disagree to some extent, there is still new innovative games out there. Just look further than EA (i know you already know this tho). But the russian/polish game producers makes lots of gems each year imo. King's Bounty is a perfect example (altho sequel) and still didn't make it big cause they don't have the money to advertise the games like the big western companies. Excellent reviews ain't enough to ensure good sales anymore

Yeah, there are innovtive games but the lack of cash does hinder it. And there's a problem. There are innovative games, but like said 9/10 gamers don't care/buy and if they do, they won't buy something at full price(download mostly).

Shame really.

 

[Helme]

I think the main problem is that niche gaming is pretty dead. Before developers could pretty much do the game they wanted, and they would still go around economically by the purchases of the people who enjoy that certain niche. Now games have to be as generic as possible to get the same finanical success they used to, because the teams and the risks are way, way higher.

A good example of this is how the adventure genre died out completly, up until last year when a few comics/other e-culture things started making a few more action oriented ones - and Sam & Max returned.

There's really no reason for a developer to do 'Really unique shooter' when they can just make Halo 4 instead.


Still tho, indie gaming is alive and kicking. Two of my most recent favourite games are made by 2, respectively 1 person(Mount&Blade + Dwarf Fortress) and they are crazily unique and trying lots of different ideas - or in the case of Dwarf Fortress, taking an old game idea, smoking a lot of weed and coming up with something thats just mindboggingly detailed and complex while at the same time not removing any of the base ideas gameplay fun.

 

[kirennia]

Sorry by the way Chronic, I didn't mean to derail the topic but still...

I agree, money has to be an issue. If games don't sell, that's the end of the company and then, it doesn't matter how good an idea you have if you have no money to back it.

The point still stands though. Simple things like the lack of AI in any recent game. Even if there is a small sacrifice in graphics to make a game more detailed, why shouldn't it happen for something which could hook a lot more people in the first place. Just look at diablo; while Blizzard are no longer the shining example of innovation (if they ever were anyway), having maps pre-render randomly doesn't detract from the graphical feel of the game. Imagine if the diablo series had the exact same dungeons over and over with nothing different in them. The game itself was nothing marvelous but the different experience everytime is what sold it.

They're able to do this because they're playing off of an already big name but I just don't see why ideas like this aren't done because it'd add an extra few weeks to the work schedule. How many racing games for example have randomly generated maps... it's not a hugely difficult thing to do, it's just that companies would rather mass produce the same thing they did before...

 

[fettoken]

Games will look prettier and prettier until my eyes will bleed from all the prettiness and fluff, and eventually i will go blind. Fck sake!

 

[Chronictank]

Sorry by the way Chronic, I didn't mean to derail the topic but still...

hehe np, thread would have died anyway

 

[Lethul]

hehe np, thread would have died anyway

Ontopic: i would loved to have been able to go!