Well, at this point everyone is aware that the United States has seen better days. Everywhere you go you see companies folding, and the ones which are still alive are cutting back on the paychecks just to last another few months. During economic struggle, taking risks seems harder than usual... especially for the gaming industry.
If you are one of the few people on this website that knows me on a personal basis then you already know my idea of a relaxing afternoon. After I get home I like to forget about my stressful everyday life and enjoy some Headquarters or even Search and Destroy(Call of Duty 4). Honestly, I probably would not have even pulled out my Xbox from the attic if my PC didn't crash, so I did what any sensible human being would do; trade one addiction for another. Although Call of Duty 4 isn't as diverse as World of Warcraft, it still keeps one entertained. Why is it that hundreds of thousands of people still play a somewhat old game two years after its' release? From the exterior, Call of Duty 4 seems like an average First Person Shooter. There is no one thing that makes this game successful, but a combination of little details which create an atmosphere that keeps the gamer coming back for more.This atmospherealonegives Call of Duty 4 a unique identity, and feels like you are playing something entirely new.Infinity Ward gambled with their popular title, since all of its predecessorshave focusedon World War II (and were quite successful).
It seems that some of these "big" games that turned out to be flops have scared the developersfrom thinking outside the box. A perfect example of a game that flopped is Hellgate: London. The messiah of Diablo fans supposedly failed them. In reality, asjagged the game is(with the online servers done for), it introduced some brilliant ideas that were in fact "copied" by games which turned out to be hits. Without games like Hellgate: London, other games would not have been as successful, or diverse. The industry has its stepping stones, and what separates a stepping stone from ahigh quality game is the effort and execution.
Hype has a large role to play in how new forms of games are viewed. The first thing a game trailer will want to focus is what makes their game different from the Pacman and Mario games of the world. Back when the "current-gen" first started, the Xbox 360 had a clear head start, ranking in front of the PS3 and Wii. At the timeSony had no exclusive games that would make an individual want to buy the PS3. Sony went all in on a game called Lair. There was much talk aboutit being an AAA game. Everyone knows how that turned out... hard to have a successful game if the players can't control their units. With that, there was no more risk taking for quite a bit of time. All of the major corporations played it safe, mainly releasingsequels which couldn't be identified from the original games.
What is the objective of failing course in school? It isn't supposed to degrade you, it should show you that you need to put in more effort and inspire you. Going back to Hellgate London; after mediocre results Blizzard said "Screw it guys, were going back to the plan... Diablo 3." Very few sequels actually change the gameplay mechanics and atmosphere. The focus is on creating a new story wrapped in the same old gameplay with slightly improved graphics. It can be seen as tricking the public from a point of view, but the problem is the public wants the same old, generic garbage. We have had a gaming console for three years that is controlled by preforming actions in real life (Wii), and we have yet to come up witha gametruly amazing for it, unless your definition of amazing is doing yoga on a plastic board.
The sad truth is that the companies are scared to be creative, due to the increased chance of failure. Failure results in less money, and at this pointeveryone is trying to get as much money as they possibly can. I wouldn't blame them. The reviewers have gone after them like crazed dogs, emphasizing bad gameplay and other problems instead of focusing on the positives. With economic recession comes gaming recession as well.
By no means am I saying that there is no creativity in the business. Hell, look at Fallout 3.... that game is an experience which I will remember for quite a long time due to its unique mix of the roleplaying and first person shooter genres. The purpose of this blog was to remind people that you are playing the exact same game, just with different characters and settings.Maybe if we show a little more support towards the efforts for unique game layouts thenmaybe,just maybe we will restore some lost confidence to our beloved friends.