First of all, let me apologize for the length of this post, I find it a very interesting and fascinating idea. After this one hopefully my submissions will tone down a bit in length and fervor. But on the other hand, perhaps this will get a little bit more discussion going than just the latest screen shots.
The video game industry has grown substantially since I first joined it in the early 90’s. And what we loved about video games then, may not hold true to today. As technology advances we demand more and more of our video games, then we must decide what exactly we want them to be. There will always be niches of kids games, sports, etc. But much like movies, the industry as a whole has to decide what level of product it wants to put out and what we as consumers will buy.
Right now it seems as though we are stuck in the summer blockbuster action movie stage. While I have nothing against a good shooter game, not every game needs to be this monument to WWII or the middle east conflicts (pick one at this point). Just as every movie I go see is not directed by Michael Bay or some of his contemporaries, the games I want to play are going to be varied. Maybe I’m in the mood for a comedy, which some games do well but then forget gameplay, which is like forgetting plot.
I know not every game can be a completely new experience, then the ones that are wouldn’t matter. But even a generic action flick or comedy can be good just on the fact that it copies the formula well. Point in fact, the new Dante’s Inferno game, I’ve played the demo and all I could think of was, “I’m playing a cheap ‘God of War’ knockoff”. The gameplay felt exactly the same but lacked the fluidity of its precursor. Now I might be being a little hard on this game just because when I heard they were making a game about Dante’s Inferno, I jumped for joy. I enjoy, no I love, religious history/mythology whatever you want to call it. So I immediately put the game perhaps higher than I should have.
But why shouldn’t I expect more of my games? I expect more of movies, (see the theme here?) especially when they are pulling from great subject matter. The movie “Troy” was a monumental let-down because I loved the books by Homer. Greek mythology is fascinating to me and in this day and age I would think we would be able to do the subject matter justice. So when the aforementioned “God of War” came out, I was psyched, and surprisingly enough it surpassed every hope I had for it. Now like I said I don’t expect every game to do this but I’d at least like some effort. In the Dante’s Inferno demo there was more gratuitous “boob-age” than I thought possible in a game let alone a demo. Now don’t get me wrong, I love breasts, whatever you call them I am as fascinated as a newborn child, but if I want to see them I don’t play a game based on religion!
But I digress, my original point was that the campy dialogue and cheesy voice acting that had been passable before cannot be if we, as gamers and an industry, want to be taken seriously. Even “Darksiders” with Mr. Luke Skywalker made me groan more than is polite in mixed company. I believe once we let games evolve in the way that every other art form has, yes I said art form, then we can truly get games that are worth our sixty dollars. In order to have a truly immersive experience then we need game play as well as a good plot. Modern Warfare 2 does this very well, if only a little short, and why shouldn’t all games be held to this standard? If a company wants to put out a game that isn’t quite up to par, then don’t charge the same amount. Sounds fair to me but what do I know, I’m just a guy who got the chance to rant on the web.
I don’t believe in order for a game to have a plot that it has to be dramatic and dark. Quite the contrary, am I the only one who remembers how horribly amazing “Conker’s Bad Fur Day” was on the N64? Sophmoric yes, but I nearly died with every cut scene. And at the same time the game play was a good solid platformer. If you haven’t played the game think of it as “Banjo-Kazooie” but with a lot more swear words and nazi teddy bears. Think of Conker’s as a “Wedding Crashers”, not going to win any awards but you’ll piss yourself every time.
I do see hope, “The Dark Knight” came out and took something that had been very campy as of late and made it good again. And then they made “Arkham Asylum” and once again made a better game with a well known character. Who knows, someday we might even get a playable Mega-Man again.
So lets get some conversation going, not the standard, “You’re stupid” but if you disagree with the points I’ve made, tell me why. Perhaps if enough of us demand more we just might get it.
P.S. After reading through this I thought I should say something, I’m really not a grumpy bastard, this particular topic just got a little rant going.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Man, I seriously could not agree more. I am continually horrified by the tripe that is released and gobbled up.
However, I think it is more an issue with our culture in general. Avatar is a prime example. It is currently the highest grossing movie of ALL. TIME. As far as I’ve heard (I refuse to see that shit), it’s Pocahontas in CGI. Someone, please tell me how the plot differs. Please. Sure, it’s gorgeous, but it is utterly devoid of any originality or meaning. While gamers are more concerned with visual effects than plot and gameplay, my friend, you and I are going to continue to see a decline in the social and philosophical relevance of gaming. Anyone who denies that gaming in any of its forms has social relevance really needs to take a basic history course.
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments you’ve expressed. To slightly focus the theme, I think the worst part of the terrible games that are being released is that they are often what we are judged against. To an outsider, crappy movie tie-in game looks the same as a game of the year recipient. This translates to lowest common denominator representations of video games outside of the gaming industry. Anytime you see someone playing a video game on TV or in a movie, the actor is always furiously mashing the buttons like a maniac and the sound has been dubbed over with a plethora of bleeps, bloops, and laser sounds. Why is that? Because if you showed someone really playing a game with calculated and precise movements, immersed in the surround sound and beautiful score/soundtrack, your average NCIS/CSI fan wouldn’t buy it as real. They have an image in their mind of what video games should be, and that image is of what most of us would refer to as the crap that the dude working the counter at Gamestop tries to get me to roll over my preorder money from BioShock 2 onto. Hell, just look at the movie Gamer …
Remember, also, that the game often considered to be the worst of all time, E.T., was released for the Atari 2600 back in December of ’82. Making horribly uninspired and unfun games is nothing new. However, there was also a lot less of a risk making games back in the 2D days. Today, if a game doesn’t do well, it means millions of dollars and years of manpower flushed down the toilet. This forces many developers into a “middle of the road” production mentality. How many times have we heard the dreaded lines “it will appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers” or “it will be accessible to both newcomers and die-hard fans of the series”? The problem with taking risks is that failure is far too expensive these days. Sure, there is hope with the bevy of download services that allow independent developers to produce great games (Xbox Arcade, PSN Store, Wii Store, App Store). But taking the themes of the great games found there and turning them into bigger budget games just wouldn’t work. Imagine Braid by EA. It just wouldn’t fly because that game was so successful because it was entirely Jonathan Blow’s vision from start to finish.
The true problem lies in the necessity for big corporations to make games (because they sit around all day, and they’re corporationy). However, because games are so expensive to make, the corporate structure, backing, and resources are necessary to produce any kind of game, quality or otherwise. The farther the game is taken away from the gamers developing it, the more likely it is to be filth. That’s why the few big companies that are run by people who give a damn about the games over the bottom line are so successful. Blizzard comes to mind as a great example. They’re run by the guys who come up with the games. Their board members are the creators of their IPs and thus have more invested in their titles than just money. That’s why they can get away with releasing one game every two years and still be filthy stinkin’ rich, because we all know that when we buy a Blizzard game, it will deliver.
And that is an appropriately long response to a long article, lol.
the legnth of this article did strike fear in my eyes, and i was hesitant to begin reading….but Boy O Boy, am I glad I Did! I too would like a greater variety of games instead of this typical processed garbage produced by pod people. Id like a great greek mythology game too. That mixed wit ur aforementioned “Boob-age”, Medusa wit some double D’s, even my snake would wanna come out and play.
Just stumbled on this gem of an article. I agree that video games should be as varied as movie genres! I am not sure what would work in terms of comedy for gaming, but I would LOVE a comedy. Any ideas on how one might work? Is this a Leisure Suit Larry kind of thing, or just a wacky plot line?