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I paint a bright picture, because as has been pointed out, it's the dream. It was mine in the third grade. I had decided at that young age that I had spent so m

I paint a bright picture, because as has been pointed out, it's the dream. It was mine in the third grade. I had decided at that young age that I had spent so much time already playing games, that I should work toward that industry. I should give something back. I paint a bright picture because despite it all, I still have heart. I pick on EA for their sequels specifically, because I can smell the stink on the disc. I'm a fan of Need for Speed. But I know I'm taking a gamble on each one I buy, because I don't know what corners EA decided to cut this time. It's not simply a case of the same thing being boring the second time around, the game is literally weaker than the predecessor. Skate is another example of an awesome game that shook up the skateboarding genre, and put Tony Hawk on the ropes. But sequels should improve in some way, not just better graphics, but better features, tighter gameplay. Skate and Need for Speed go backwards in their sequels. You can play the games side by side, and watch the gameplay get worse. Things that worked in the last game are now mysteriously broken, because the new dev team wasn't there the first time around. They don't understand or own the product in the way the original team did. By the time (if) they make it to the third game, it's a copy of a copy. Games can be a lot like television shows, in that they may have an over arching story that spans across the series. And much like a television show can lag in the ratings and get cancelled, games with a story to tell wind up never getting a proper ending. That is the case with Dead Space, a deeply engrossing world that just kinda... ends. No real resolutions to tie up the plot. As a fan, over time you may become worried to invest in EA titles, because you know they're eventually going to be left to die, with no real ending. Why engross yourself in a world that you know is just going to disappear? Why watch a drama that is just going to end on a cliffhanger, and never get a 4th season to wrap it up? Would you read a book that just stopped in the middle of the page, paragraph, or sentence?

ekianjo 12y ago
> Why engross yourself in a world that you know is just going to disappear? Why watch a drama that is just going to end on a cliffhanger, and never get a 4th season to wrap it up? Would you read a book that just stopped in the middle of the page, paragraph, or sentence? Yeah, that's certainly a problem, even though it's far from being the worst problem of the Game Industry. I still wish I'll see the end of ShenMue one day (even thought it will probably never happen, and if it ever does, it won't be by Suzuki) - the way I react to that is that I just don't purchase games which cannot stand in their own right anymore. Games purposely made to be in episodes have become big red flags for me, no matter if the first one is good or not. Hell, EA games and Ubi games in general have red flags all over these days, I don't even consider them anymore. > But sequels should improve in some way, not just better graphics, but better features, tighter gameplay. Not necessarily, and especially not if you want to sell millions of units. The more you make a game complex, the more you cater to a niche audience who has seen the ropes of all the previous titles and you incur the risk of not having wide appeal. If Need for Speed had improved more and more from the first episode it would be a very serious simulation game by now (the first game on 3DO was very close to being a no fun, serious simulation) and nothing "arcady" like it has become. It probably would never have made it past a few episodes then, as you can see most serious simulation games completely died in the 90s (this is where you see that educated folks did not constitute the majority of gamers anymore). > They don't understand or own the product in the way the original team did. By the time (if) they make it to the third game, it's a copy of a copy. Yeah, but it's natural. Most people of the original game team don't want to do the same game for 10 years of their life. That's hitting you hard over the years. And when you have teams of 100-200 people on major games, of course MOST people are going to move from one version to another, just like in every other industry out there. Nobody's married to a series of games. > It's not simply a case of the same thing being boring the second time around, the game is literally weaker than the predecessor. It's not about being boring, even when people have full creative freedom and almost unlimited money they just sometimes FAIL completely to make something good the second time around. Or even later. Take Richard Garriott, he peaked at Ultima 7 The Black Gate and this was probably one of the (if not the greatest) RPG ever made, and the follow-up, Ultima 8, was a massive disappointment, inferior in all aspects to its predecessor - a massive setback. If even the best game designers out there fail miserably from time to time, you cannot just expect average game designers to hit the right button more often than not.

ekianjo 12y ago

> Why engross yourself in a world that you know is just going to disappear? Why watch a drama that is just going to end on a cliffhanger, and never get a 4th season to wrap it up? Would you read a book that just stopped in the middle of the page, paragraph, or sentence? Yeah, that's certainly a problem, even though it's far from being the worst problem of the Game Industry. I still wish I'll see the end of ShenMue one day (even thought it will probably never happen, and if it ever does, it won't be by Suzuki) - the way I react to that is that I just don't purchase games which cannot stand in their own right anymore. Games purposely made to be in episodes have become big red flags for me, no matter if the first one is good or not. Hell, EA games and Ubi games in general have red flags all over these days, I don't even consider them anymore. > But sequels should improve in some way, not just better graphics, but better features, tighter gameplay. Not necessarily, and especially not if you want to sell millions of units. The more you make a game complex, the more you cater to a niche audience who has seen the ropes of all the previous titles and you incur the risk of not having wide appeal. If Need for Speed had improved more and more from the first episode it would be a very serious simulation game by now (the first game on 3DO was very close to being a no fun, serious simulation) and nothing "arcady" like it has become. It probably would never have made it past a few episodes then, as you can see most serious simulation games completely died in the 90s (this is where you see that educated folks did not constitute the majority of gamers anymore). > They don't understand or own the product in the way the original team did. By the time (if) they make it to the third game, it's a copy of a copy. Yeah, but it's natural. Most people of the original game team don't want to do the same game for 10 years of their life. That's hitting you hard over the years. And when you have teams of 100-200 people on major games, of course MOST people are going to move from one version to another, just like in every other industry out there. Nobody's married to a series of games. > It's not simply a case of the same thing being boring the second time around, the game is literally weaker than the predecessor. It's not about being boring, even when people have full creative freedom and almost unlimited money they just sometimes FAIL completely to make something good the second time around. Or even later. Take Richard Garriott, he peaked at Ultima 7 The Black Gate and this was probably one of the (if not the greatest) RPG ever made, and the follow-up, Ultima 8, was a massive disappointment, inferior in all aspects to its predecessor - a massive setback. If even the best game designers out there fail miserably from time to time, you cannot just expect average game designers to hit the right button more often than not.