I just came across this on Gamespot: LINK Basically its Lego Rock Band ( I dont know, to me that makes no sense). Well we all know publishers want what can sell, which is mainly a franchise with a good record. But is anyone else sick of seeing the same stuff come out over and over? In 20 years are we going to have Rock Band 20, Final Fantasy 40, Mario 812 (who knows how many mario games there are anyway)? It seems like the industry is a little bit more lame than just funding what can sell. It seems a little more over the top now, especially with these music games coming out left and right. But Lego Rock Band? "Hey lets come up with an original IP." "Ok lets use a guitar and a first person shooter that controls it self and when zombies pop up you play riffs to kill them." -> Resident Evil Hero Thoughts about how this will ever change? Is it good or bad? Have you left a job because you did the same game over and over?

In answer to your question, the wiki knows. There are over 200.

I would so play Resident Evil Hero.

You know what I'd like? A StarCraft/Portal cross-over.

I mean, seriously, now. Imagine a Terran Ghost or a Protoss Dark Templar with a portal gun. Or, even better, GLaDOS and Kerrigan teaming up.

I love sequels, except when they're not the sequel to the game I want to play, which is pretty often :P

Seriously, game development is a business, and historically, companies which have tried to be innovative have gone out of business because few people buy their games.

About the best you can do is hope that a company who does innovate leaves an impression on future games.

As Isaac Newton stated: "If I have been able to see farther than others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants."

Let me see if I can run down the list of game series, that have more than 2 titles out and will come out with another. Or games that came out not to long ago and are coming out with a sequel.

Rock Band
Mortal Kombat
Metal Gear Solid
Street Fighter
King of Fighters
Soul Calibur
Virtua Fighter
Guilty Gear
Uncharted
Tomb Raider
Gears of War
Mario
Bioshock
Resistance
Resident Evil
Unreal Tournament
Soldier of Fortune
Red Faction
Lost Planet
Dynasty Warriors
Fallout
Super Smash Brothers
Ninja Gaiden
Onimusha
Tenchu
Grand Theft Auto
Contra
Metroid
Red Steel
Castlevania
Rainbow Six
dont forget crappy movie games
and the list goes on

...I know I left your favorite out but just take a look at any big gaming site, like Gamespot and you'll run into it. I actually like some of these games but this is nuts.

Very lame of the industry indeed. Yeah yeah, I know new IP's are risky, blah...blah..blah, but come on. Can't more companies take risks on something even they know they would buy. All games can be essentially good and people will buy them if they have good mechanics, good graphics and art style, good music, sound effects, voice overs, animations, camera, characters and just plain originality.

There are IP's such as Gears of War where I'm pretty sure I could say every department has quality assurance in it. Haven't played it so I don't really know. This is just based off the reviews it gets, which makes me believe the game is good. Even though I don't like the game because of it's atmosphere, I know it still sells very well.

I don't think the industry will change. It's just money hungry. Sad really, because we don't get to see the kind of creativity that is really out there, in contrast to the "creativity" we're used to. The movie industry seems to be the same with movies like Spiderman, Wolverine, Transformers, old horror remakes...ugh I could go on forever.

If you want the industry to change, then change it. Start purchasing new games. Yes, it seems like nothing but sequels is coming out, but this is far from the truth. There are plenty of new properties out there. Ask yourself, in the 6 months, how many unique titles did you purchase? (Non sequel, non remake, etc).

Can you name some of those properties? Where would you find them? If you are talking about games on consoles (like ps2), a lot of these new games don't meet the criteria of what I listed that needs to be addressed. They get bad reviews too, which is why I don't buy them.

Also which companies are you referring to that have gone out of business from trying to be innovative?

Aw man, you know you're right! Let's all make original games, guys. Games that are totally not like any games that have come before! They'll be all like... uh... you know, original and stuff. With innovation! Yeah! Not like all those other games with titles we've already seen before. They've got nothing to offer with such derivative titles. Our games will have totally new titles! Titles you've never seen before! It's a revolution!

This is the same damn thing that people have been saying every week of every month of every year since I was born and before that, I'm sure. Guess what: it doesn't matter, never has, and never will. Sequels can be original and innovative. New IP can be shit. Good and shitty games can sell or fail regardless. Indie development is booming and if you still get your news from Gamespot it's no surprise you don't have a clue what's going on.

Lego Rock Band is Rock Band with music that appeals to a younger audience and without the metal imagery that some parents are uncomfortable with. Is that franchise whoring or completely sensible? YOU DECIDE! (Hint: You don't actually decide).

Quote: Original post by Swordmaster
I don't think the industry will change. It's just money hungry.

Well, duh.

It's an industry, it needs to make money so it can pay people to make games. The project I was just moved from for example had a team size of 36 people (give or take), is you assume an average wage of £26,000/month then for 6 months dev time you are looking around £2million to keep those people on the project.
edit: Lets try the sums again now I'm awake...

Even before the economy took a dive that is ALOT of money, and doesn't take into account pre-production costs (smaller team) and the rest of the work required as well as obtaining devkits and the like.

So, yeah, companies don't like to take risks when dealing with huge sums of cash like that and if they have something they know sells then they are going to keep on pushing it out until it doesn't sell any more in order to make money, because you know industry after all.

Now, in some cases this money is pushed back in to try to develop new IP (for example, EA who make daft sums of cash on The Sims brought out Mirror's Edge, which was a risky move) but new IP only comes about because people are buying 'old' IP to support it.

So, yes, the industry does want to make money, because thats how industry works and it baffles me as to why people should think the games industry is any different... unless of course I missed the announcement which said game developers didn't have to pay for things any more so it's cool if we work without getting paid; I'm sure my landlord would LOVE that come rent day... as would the supermarket when I go to buy food etc etc..

Quote:
Sad really, because we don't get to see the kind of creativity that is really out there, in contrast to the "creativity" we're used to.

See the Indie scene; alot of creativity going on there these days.

[Edited by - phantom on April 24, 2009 9:10:28 AM]