Despite what one might assume, the general view amongst the gaming populace is that the more original a game is, the better it is. But anyone who didn’t know this wouldn’t be able to tell by what some of the best-selling game titles are. For the most part, the only games that do remarkably well in retail are sequels to, or remakes of, old, successful games that weren’t particularly unique to begin with. In understanding this fact, one couldn’t ask a better question than "how come?" and providing an answer is rather tricky; but I’ve thought up some reasons that you’re likely to agree with.
Let's use a relatively creative game that was recently released as our basis. Scribblenauts, developed by 5th Cell (who previously made a game called Drawn to Life, which worked on similar principles), was arguably the most highly anticipated game of September -- or at least it was amongst game journalists. Despite that, Halo 3: ODST still ended up selling enough copies that Bungie’s employees could’ve used the money earned as wallpaper, and still had some left over.
Probably the most easily discernible reason for Scribblenauts’s commercial failure is its lack of any sort of mainstream appeal. It had a childish template and a kid-friendly soundtrack, but the core content of the game was anything but accessible, or at least for the average child, who can only be so productive when given no boundaries. Mechanics aside, it was also a game that let players pit God, armed with a spear and overcoat, against Satan, who might be riding Pegasus. Needless to say, in terms of marketability Scribblenauts was a total nightmare. Its only target audience was core gamers, and its sales faithfully reflected as much.
But it’s not like Scribblenauts could’ve pulled in the casual crowd, anyway. Its ad campaign was laughably shallow, and 5th Cell’s only true methods of showcasing their game’s potential were the short hands-off gameplay videos that only covered two or three of its 220 levels. It’s quite hard to sell yourself any shorter than that. But let’s move away from Scribblenauts to another recently-released new Intellectual Property—WET.
WET was a game that had a lot of potential, style, and talent being put into it. Its main character, Rubi Malone, was a spunky antithesis to the average female protagonist, such as the wrestlers of Rumble Roses or, more accurately, Laura Croft. Rubi’s adventures were an interactive exploration of the kind of world pioneered by imaginative men like Quentin Tarantino, as well as the key component to a prototypical game for any players looking to diversify their collection.
So obviously I should explain why WET failed at all, having led you this far. Well, WET just ... wasn’t a very good game. Unfortunately, some titles try to capitalize on the gaming culture’s love for all things new by creating an engrossing universe, but padding out the gameplay with subpar action sequences. This is especially the case with games like WET, Psychonauts, Mirror’s Edge and, arguably, even Brutal Legend.
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Though many acknowledge that some video games may build themselves entirely upon the shoulders of their eccentric themes and interesting plots, a game has got to play well the way a book has got to read well. Whether or not that means the game absolutely has to be fun is completely up to personal preference, but the fact still remains that each player must, for whatever reason they may find, enjoy experiencing a game a majority of the time. If not, it doesn’t matter how cool and exciting the environments and cutscenes are; the game just won’t be worth finishing.
So maybe that’s the chief reason popular new IP’s rarely ever get off the ground; maybe their creative premises just too often fail to overshadow their shallow gameplay. Or maybe it really is, as some would suggest, that the world’s economic predicament has become a new device for the extinction of new ideas, which will instead keep established franchises floating in money they have generally only earned by being around for so long.
Creativity just doesn’t pay.
Tags:
video games,
games