More Sequels


I complained about mainstream press coverage of our business. I complained about publishers banking on sequels. Now it is time to bitch about gaming press and their obsession with sequels. You could say they have to because there is nothing else coming out. Thankfully, this is not the case.

I was on my way home from presenting an original IP to a slew of publishers. Some talked about the problems of launching a new IP, but all are interested in following up. As I entered the airport I started to think it may not be as bad as I thought. Maybe the industry was looking for new IP after all. Then I got to the newsstand. I picked up the latest issue of Gamepro. The cover featured all of the great games for "08, every title was followed by a number. Rainbow Six 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Gears of War 2, Bioshock 2, GTA IV, GT 5, God of War 3, Resistance 2 and probably a few others. I bought the magazine, something no one outside the business or not already inclined to buy a game would do, and checked to see how piss poor the state of the industry must be to merit a cover full of sequels.

Inside were some new screenshots from The Bourne Conspiracy - which the magazine actually said was good, Patapon, which the magazine drooled all over as something they could not put down and introduced a completely novel game play and a few other new franchises they were pretty excited about. None were strong enough to earn a cover. On the other hand, I found statements full of nothing about God of War 3, Gears of War 2, Bioshock 2, Resistance 2, Lost Planet 2 and just about every other title featured on the cover. There was nothing new, but they all earned a cover.

If our own media does not respect us enough to support new properties, how will anyone else? Gamepro guys, don't you want to see something new? There is a lot of great new stuff out there. Some are even squeezed into the sidebars of some of your pages. How about showing a little more love? You may just find the love you get is equal to the love you give.




Comments

Joel said…
I think a decent amount of the blame needs to go to the consumers. Sure, our desires are in part fueled by the enthusiast media, as you are pointing out, but consumers need to buy original IP. I think EA Sports and Guitar Hero are examples of games that would benefit greatly from increased DLC, so they are more like platforms which can be updated with new engines every few years, and use the DLC to fill the gaps with new rosters and tracklists. The problem is that I'm sure that isn't as profitable, but it goes a long way to cutting Gamestop out of the equation.
March 17, 2008 at 5:27 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Media is Reporting the Game Industry is Over: Why are They Such Babies Edition

Image
My posting continues to move at a glacial pace. For a while, there was nothing new to say. Then, all of sudden, the world exploded with new ideas and I had no time to write. I attribute the plethora of new ideas - things other than marketing gaffes, publishers' hosing of developers, the need for independent finance and the folks who are saying they have it or xBox becoming cable - as a reflection of increased sensitivity attributable to too much travel and too little sleep. But bubbles are growing, companies are reacting, and CEOs seem to be turning into either Chicken Little or ostriches with heads in the sand. Some of the new stuff floating around in my head is: - The abandonment of seasoned game designers in favor of metric driven design - catering to metrics let you keep more players, but are those players worth keeping? - The complete lack of game sales data for XBL and PSN - Do the platforms really think they are helping us by cloaking sales in a shroud of mystery? - Th
Read more

The Game Business Is A Year From Irrelevance:Where are Our Easy Riders and Raging Bulls Edition

Image
Every time I told people in suits and ties - or my parents - I was in the game business, they started to talk about kids. They viewed our business as the toy business. Games are for children. This was when I pulled out my silver bullet. I had The ESA's (then IDSA) latest report showing the average age of gamers. I started when it was 27. The "average age" went up a year each year, but was still a neat statistic when I could say 30 or 31. Whether it was directed at a school parent or an audience at a conference, It inevitably led to a dropped jaw and a "wow, I didn't know that." The industry instantly became relevant to their business. I haven't really paid much attention to this number because my proselytizing for the business was taken over by outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and USA Today, which all have a larger reach than this blog or my speaking engagements. But this past week I saw some slides for an ESA speech indicatin
Read more

Game Marketing: The Proctologists are Doing Brain Surgery Edition

Image
[ Let me apologize in advance for the length of the large gaseous stream of consciousness belch which follows, it's been a while since I wrote anything and I guess some pent up stuff started flow .] Another Q4 is behind us and the publishers are locked down in the deep, dark, musty bowels of their fortress like edifices surveying the seasonal lucre. The piles are not quite as high as year’s past and when they reemerge into the sunlight from their Morlock existence in the counting and analysis rooms, they will not be happy. Contrary to the mainstream media reports, sales for most publishers were less than stellar. Gamasutra’s story highlighting what they characterized as low numbers for Mirror's Edge and Dead Space (for the sake of argument let's not mention they did not apply the NPD multiplier to determine real US sales, nor did they add in PC sales or sales in foreign territories which are not reflected in NPD) reflects the norm rather than the exception. The point
Read more