fetgalningen on 10/1/2007 at 19:24
Why doesn´t game developers continue the truly good titles, instead of making worthless games so to speak :eww:
Anyone else hoping for Arx Fatalis 2? :cheeky:
Digital Nightfall on 11/1/2007 at 04:48
Because there's bills to pay and food to be eaten.
Gingerbread Man on 11/1/2007 at 18:00
That's as may be, but it's still a shocking commentary on the world of entertainment that we must endure mediocrity and pap simply because the creators and developers of entertainment are railroaded into the old "make mass-market mainstream crap now in order to have enough cash / security / industry cred to be allowed to make good stuff that you want to make and probably only a few thousand discerning consumers will enjoy" -- which is especially galling when the reality of it is that with all your time spent making mainstream mass-market crap you have no time to make anything good AND (which is worse) if and when you actually do get an opportunity to develop something with a bit more integrity and personal relevance, you quickly find that years of "Lame Clone-Game Sequel #3" have actually eroded your credibility with the consumer base and they don't even give your headlines a second look.
Sucks for the developers, sucks for the consumers. Who are these games being made for again? The suits with the clipboards? Because they're the only ones it doesn't ultimately suck for.
elkston on 11/1/2007 at 18:55
I wouldn't hold my breath for Arx Fatalis 2. Latest word is that Arkane sold out and is making a more modern day FPS game.
The faint traces of "Arx" you can find buried in Dark Messiah..of MM may have to do for a long while ....
Gingerbread Man on 11/1/2007 at 20:01
The problem is that there's a very fine line between "sold out" and "behaving like a business that you'd ideally like to see survive and produce more"
Selling out is obvious when it happens. I don't think Arkane's sold out, I don't believe for a second that anyone at Arkane has any intention of "selling out" -- I don't believe 99% of people who create consumable media intend to sell out.
But it's a grim reality that compromises and lower-integrity product creation is all part of the hateful machine. The only way to stop or slow that down is from the consumer side, and that'll never happen because -- as you may have guessed from the name -- mainstream stuff actually does appeal to the majority of consumers.
The only real thing to blame (other than the hyena-like psychopathy of the guys in suits who jump on anything and everything that smells like it could possibly even make a penny in profit -- and remember that they have to make a couple of thousand pennies in profit before the creators of things get even one penny to share amongst them) is the staggering apathy and low standards of the consumers. But since we all live on the Internet and know for a fact that 99% of people are happy with their soma, this is not a huge revelation. :(
Qooper on 11/1/2007 at 20:22
GBM if you had a rocket booster you could reach the stars of the game industry in no time and pound some backbone and sense into them, but since you don't, why don't you dress in your cape and take me, WonderBoyo3000 with you on a mission to change the 99% of humanity that needs changing (of whatever) and together we can make this planet worthy of remembrance by its Golden Games.
Well don't just stand there, gimme a cookie so we can be on our way. I'm serious! :weird:
EDIT: Fine! Be that way. I'm going alone. :tsktsk:
fetgalningen on 11/1/2007 at 20:24
I guess the core developers are not to blame, in most of the cases. Of course, i don´t know exactly how things work at most bigger game publishers, but i can only assume the worst judging from the games nowdays.
But can it be, that im just spoiled when it comes to games :confused: And the big group of game consumers grew up with these mediocre games that keeps appearing. Just watch the gamespot reviews, thou i mostly won´t jugde games from others opinion, but sometimes watching screens makes me detest most of them.
Qooper on 11/1/2007 at 20:31
Quote Posted by fetgalningen
I guess the core developers are not to blame, in most of the cases.. And the big group of game consumers grew up with these mediocre games that keeps appearing.
Right.. Trust me, GBM knows what he's talking about. Them big game companies make games that sell, and games that sell are simple without any deeper mechanics. They also have nice graphics. That's what counts to most people who buy games.
So in a way you are correct in saying that "the core developers are not to blame", since it's really the people who buy the games that decide what sort of games are being made.
Digital Nightfall on 11/1/2007 at 22:58
Thank you, GBM.
And I know Raf and Arkane. Doing The Crossing is the opposite of selling out. This is actually a hugely innovating experimental noone-wants-to-try-it-because-it's-so-hard-to-do-and-will-probably-suck type game. This is the game that Valve had to become mind-bogglingly rich in order to take a crack at, and who do they nab to help them? Arkane.
This is not them selling out, this is them being very lucky and having a huge opportunity.
elkston on 11/1/2007 at 23:34
Quote Posted by Digital Nightfall
Thank you, GBM.
And I know Raf and Arkane. Doing The Crossing is the opposite of selling out. This is actually a hugely innovating experimental noone-wants-to-try-it-because-it's-so-hard-to-do-and-will-probably-suck type game. This is the game that Valve had to become mind-bogglingly rich in order to take a crack at, and who do they nab to help them? Arkane.
This is not them selling out, this is them being very lucky and having a huge opportunity.
Well, as long as its not just a straight-up shooter and has open levels + an "RPG" feel, I think I will like it.
But if it turns out to be just another super-polished, but linear romp that takes you through one scripted sequence to the next, then I will pass.
