If there's one criticism I hear a lot from gamers, it's that there are never any original or unique games out there, and that publishers spend too much time on sequels and rehashes. I would have agreed with such notions before Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was announced for XBLA and PSN. As I saw pretty much the majority of the gaming community flip its lid with glee and delight over playing a ten-year-old game that they probably already own, I began to pay attention to what gamers themselves pay attention to.
I came to conclusion that the lack of original games is entirely our fault.
Sequels and remakes are what capture our imaginations, not imagination itself. We want to be fed the same thing over and over again. That's why we're going nuts over what is essentially Capcom's exploitation of our mindless nostalgia, and why fresh IP is left by the wayside in order to pursue a quick rehash.
Don't believe me? Look no further than Destructoid itself for evidence.
Comments aren't a perfect indicator of pageviews, but they're certainly a good indicator of community interest, and looking at the 123 comments that came with our Marvel vs. Capcom 2 announcement, there is a lot of interest indeed. That's all well and good. I could question the intense excitement for a decade-old game that anybody could be playing right now if they really wanted to, but whatever. The point here is Capcom is re-releasing a sequel, and it's apparently the greatest thing anybody could have done for humanity.
Now let's compare this to something else that is coming to XBLA, and looks really good. Raskulls is a brand new IP from developer Halfbrick, and from what I've seen, it'll be incredibly hot. It's a fusion of Mr. Driller-style block breaking, sidescrolling platforming and multiplayer racing. It's original, it's adorable and I'm expecting it to be one of the best XBLA games of the year.
Six comments.
That's how much people care about a new and great looking game. One could argue of course that it was just a name and a picture at that point, that nobody really knew enough about the game to comment. Let's fast forward to a more recent post, then, when Raskulls finally got its first gameplay trailer. The video looked great and really impressed everyone who commented ... but it struggled to reach 18 comments, some of which even stated that they hadn't given a shit about the game beforehand. So far, the game has been met with more apathy than intrigue, despite the cool concept and great art style.
It's not just Raskulls, either. In fact, I make a habit of discovering new games and then giving them more coverage than any other outlet. I do this because any game could become the next breakout success and I want to support them, and help these fresh games get through the glass ceiling. You'll notice that I cover games such as Edge of Twilight, Venetica and Hellion more than just about any other writer in the industry. Unfortunately, it's difficult to keep doing so when you feel that nobody actually gives a shit.
Hellion: Mystery of the Inquisition should have excited people with its ambitious concept. Set in 13th Century Europe, it's a shooter on a console that isn't about space marines for once, instead revolving around themes of Catholic religion, exorcism and heresy. It's the kind of concept you just don't see in a modern FPS game, in an age when people whine and complain about "too many space marine games." However, if people truly think there are too many space marine games, why do they barely raise an eyebrow at a game like Hellion, then go right back to talking about Halo?
Venetica is an obscure RPG from German developer Deck 13 which has similarly failed to capture the minds of gamers, despite looking incredibly promising. I was very lucky to find the developer at E3, hidden in a small alcove, and wrote a preview of the game. As you can see from this link, excitement levels were not exactly high. That is to say nothing of the fact that only seven people on Destructoid gave a crap. A grind-style RPG set in Venice and starring Death's daughter? You can sign me up, but apparently I'm one of only a handful paying attention.
Edge of Twilight has been a struggle, but with the help of a world exclusive, absolutely amazing E3 trailer, the Destructoid community finally took notice. Again, this is a game that is original and unique, a fresh IP set in a steampunk world where everybody is a hero in their own mind and villains only exist in relative terms. I can only hope the momentum that the new trailer started continues when next we talk about the game.
I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Jim is whining about not getting comments." It's very hard to write this article without inadvertently sending out such a message. However, this isn't a personal thing. If this was all about pageviews and comments, I'd simply write more criticisms of PS3-exclusive games and let the Sony fanboys print money for me. If all I cared about was the hits, I'd have stopped writing about new games ages ago, since I've already learned that they don't generate traffic.
This isn't about that, though. This is about a passionate gamer who sees these amazing looking, intensely promising new games get brushed aside in favor of a rehash or a sequel, and it makes me very sad. It's disheartening to see a fresh new game that nobody's ever heard of, then shouting about it to an audience of mostly deaf ears. There are some hot games out there that just need a spotlight. It's horrible that even when such a light is shining on them and they're given a stage, the auditorium is all but empty.
A big part of this is human nature. We like to be comfortable, and comfort comes with familiarity. We know where we are with a sequel to a popular game, and can easily assess whether or not that's something we want to invest in. It's obvious that Halo 4 or Gears of War 3 will get attention, and I don't begrudge those games the interest they deserve. It's just a wretched shame that we can't be bold enough to invest our time in something that might not be a guaranteed hit as well. Sure, it's a risk. Some new games could become the next Castle Crashers, but some could become the next X-Blades. It's worth paying attention and getting in on the ground floor with these games either way, though. You just don't know what could turn out brilliantly.
I'm not saying that we should never excited for sequels and re-releases, by the way. I am just as guilty as anybody of wanting games I've already played on a new platform. I'm very excited to see Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII coming to PSN. I've been tapping my foot impatiently while waiting for Doom II to appear on XBLA. It's incredibly stupid to get excited for old games on new systems, especially if you could get those games for cheap or free elsewhere. Still, I am just as much a whore for it as anybody else.
However, it's gotten to the point where we, the audience, do nothing but justify the "greed" of the publisher. On one hand, we mock Capcom for constantly re-releasing Resident Evil on every platform under the Sun. On the other, we praise the very same company for putting MvC2 out there. It's pretty hypocritical, and only encourages Capcom to keep doing it, especially when its more original games tend to sell poorly.
Obviously, we should not get overly hyped for every new game that comes out, or that indeed any fresh IP should automatically be deemed good. However, it seems that the only way for a new game to get any mindshare is for a major publisher to pick it up, regardless of how good it looks, and that's just wrong. There are lots of games out there, either with small publishers or currently without publishers at all, that could really do with a little more consideration sent their way.
All I ask is this: Next time you start masturbating over the announcement of a ten-year-old game, please save at least a little semen for something more original. There's plenty of spunk to go around, after all.
Contest:
12:00 PM on 06.13.2009
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But I'm going to continue enjoying some nostalgia over in the cozy capcom corner.
It's a joint fault of the industry and gamers themselves.
While I'm more than aware of your excitement towards these games, and I hope they turn out well, they're just not up my alley, so I won't necessarily comment.
Also I have to commend you on perhaps the greatest article closing line EVER.
This is a very fair point. I already mention in the article that Dtoid gives these games more coverage than any other outlet, but a paragraph could indeed have been dedicated to the ignorance of other sites when it comes to games that aren't backed by huge publishers.
It was actually that mention that got me thinking about it to be fair, but it's certainly an interesting debate point.
Hell I still want to play NinjaTown for example, and it looks completely different to anything I have tried.
I suppose I should, but I show my enthusiasm later on, when I regurgitate the exact same information to my friends.
Gamers flock to sequels because they know what they are getting. Gamers flock to MvC2 because the added online aspect makes it a huge seller for former owners and new owners get to experience the hype. FF7 on the PS3 I don't really understand...but if it runs smoother then that is something to think about in the purchase.
This was covered in the article, where I said nobody cares unless the game is backed by a major publisher. Bayonetta is published by Sega, and made by Platinum, who have already become darlings among the gamer community.
Brutal Legend was made by Schafer, and again, that generates interest.
I'm not saying new games are *never* picked up, it just takes a ridiculous amount of coverage and effort and luck for gamers to care about them.
The game was also went out of print after a while (copyright issues with Marvel).
Of course people are going to be excited when that announcement happened, everyone knows Marvel Comics as much as they know Capcom. Re-releasing these games (FFVII included) gives people an opportunity to own a legal copy without shelling out a fortune on eBay.
At least rehashes and rereleases and ports and crap expose people to games they missed. Just that they also drown out new games that people will probably never catch unless they too get the rerelease treatment.
That said, I will be purchasing Raskulls and probably skipping MvC2 (I have it for Dreamcast). I don't often comment on many posts these days, but I do enjoy reading your coverage of lesser-known original IPs and I hope you keep it up.
Those people were probably busy still snuggling up to games that came out ten years prior to THEN. Again with the familiarity = comfort. People miss out.
Can original IPs bring something to the table that sequels don't?
To me, original IPs bring two things. A new story to tell and new gameplay mechanics. But the problem is these things can already be provided by sequels. The MGS series is a wonderful example of how a story can be kept fresh whilst still maintaining the same universe and how different ideas can be expressed from game to game. Mario Galaxy is a great example of how a sequel brings new gameplay mechanics to the forefront of the experience that it provides.
I don't demand OIPs not because they can't be good but because they don't provide anything that sequels don't already. If a sequel is safer in a business sense for a company I like, then I'm happier with getting a sequel than I am an OIP because I want that company to stay in business and do well for itself.
Well said. I've been paying attention to several of the games Jim cited, but simply haven't formed a solid enough opinion about them to make the coverage "worth commenting on" if you will.
That's probably part of the issue as well. It's simply hard to get a lot of information out of a relatively obscure, new IP compared to one backed by one of the majors. These IPs simply don't have the kind of marketing resources necessary to force themselves into the mindspace like a Red Soul into my Demon's Souls session.
Which is, of course, where Dtoid and Jim and Anthony and Colette and Dale and everyone else looking at these great-looking titles come into play. They cover these potentially great games regardless of pageviews and comments, and without a doubt SOME people will pay attention, play them, love them, spread the word, and earn the privilege of feeling smug about how they loved those great unnoticed games before they (or their sequels lol) got popular.
There are some developers that I don't really want any new stuff from. Nintendo is a perfect example. Their new stuff these days are things like Wii Fit and Wii Music. Even going back to the Gamecube, I never really got into Pikmin or Animal Crossing. I don't really think that Nintendo has had a new IP that's interested me since Smash Bros. on the N64(and even that was just a compilation of existing IPs). So Nintendo's new IPs pretty much suck. But why should that stop me from buying their old IPs when I still enjoy them? I'm still not tired of Smash Bros. or Mario Kart. Should I just not buy them because they're just sequels? That's like saying that Pepsi hasn't come out with a good soda in 10 years, and even the new ones they do make are just different colored Mountain Dews, so I'm going to stop drinking existing Pepsi products that I still like. That's completely stupid. I'd rather drink the same Pepsi I've been drinking all my life then Josta, and I'd rather keep playing the same Mario games then Wii Music.
Expecting companies like Nintendo and Capcom to come up with original ideas is like expecting Metallica to invent new genres of music. Metallica got to be Metallica by playing the kind of music they play, and Nintendo and Capcom got to where they are by making the kinds of games they make. Let the newer devolopers who are trying to get their foot in the door be the ones to come up with new ideas, and let Capcom make Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and Mega Man 10.
Most developers don't have the cash to spend on massive advertising campaigns pre release, I wouldn't be able to flog a product in a Tescos with no cross media advertising. These games usually excel post release: word of mouth is the best publicity you can get.Personally I find all other forms of advertising inherently soulless.
Excellent article. I agree 90ish%. I hadn't heard of Edge of Twilight, but that's their fault for choosing such a fucking awful name. All the others I know about, and urge you to keep following them - particularly Raskulls. I want to be kept up with these.
Also, I vote to have videos back on the front page, or at the very least, some kind of icon to denote a post-jump video. In fact, posts could have a series of icons to tell at a glance whether they are contests, previews or whatever. But that's besides the point. I generally pay more attention to game footage because screenshots, details and promises are unreliable. But then I'm the same with all video games that aren't by Michel Ancel or Tim Schafer.
Give me gameplay footage or give me death.
I agree. It's like sitting down at a resturaunt and looking at the menu. Sure, you could just get a cheese burger againg; you know that it will be good a juicy, as always. But then you see that newfangled spanish dish that your curious about, but you are not so sure what you will be getting. Most of the tim we go for our tired and true cheese burger of comfort, only to wonder what the spanish dish might have been like.
I have also noticed that gamers pay more attention to the reviews for new games and usually just go out and by sequals without any prior knoledge. They let critics decide if the game is good or not by what other people say, rather then play it themselves.
But I can't condem them, because I do that all the time myself. It's just human nature to be scared of the unknown.
Though I care for new IP's, and am sick of sequel. The fact is, a lot of new IP's Just don't look interesting to me. A lot do look interesting, Like Scribblenauts and Raskulls (Wish i had a 360 for this kind of shit), but a lot of stuff, like say, Infamous, Venetica and Edge of Twilight are just not my jam.
I myself feel that more new IP's have to be "cute" for me to be interested. On the other hand Jim, a lot of 'once upon a time' new IP's have done really well, like God of war, No More Heroes, Ico and so forth. So what would be more interesting is to find out why in particular these title do better. But then again, it goes back to the Media surrounding them.
"Metallica got to be Metallica by playing the kind of music they play, and Nintendo and Capcom got to where they are by making the kinds of games they make."
No, Metallica got to be Metallica by doing things other people weren't doing at that time. They were fresh and new. In fact, Metallica began to take a dive right around when they were releasing a turd I like to call "Unforgiven II".
My point is that Destructoid has always been there like the dog in Fable 2 to point our everything great and useful in the sand like a pretty necklace or a condom. And I thank you for that.
I also blame the current economy, no one wants to take risks with a new IP that might only sell 500k, when they can release a sequel for a game that already has had successful sales.
Thank for showing that Raskulls game, it looks really interesting, and I will definitely download the demo when it's out on the XBLA.
A case in point is Nintendo. At E3 they saved what was a pretty horrendous conference by announcing sequels/rehashes to their major titles....again. Every year we let them off with not releasing anything new - fitness crap aside - because they appeal to the nostalgia in us.
Thing is just when I get really annoyed about it, I realize I'm exited too because I want to play new Mario Galaxy - not Mario wii -, Metroid and Zelda. It doesn't stop there, I get excited about new Call of Duty, Pro Evo/Fifa, Half Life, FF as well as XBLA remakes and playing my emulators. At the same time I've played The Witcher this year, downloaded Braid and Blueberry Garden plus I'll be buying Prototype and Batman:Arkham Asylum too.
It's not just nostalgia, it's because it's what I enjoy playing. And that's it, I wish I could be idealistic, I just can't help playing what I like.
So it goes, round and round, being a constant hypocrite with myself. I have only so much money to spend on games and I just buy what I like to play. Pointless comment really but I agree it's our own fault.
Sometimes it's also just terrible marketing.
As I said in the article, I am as guilty as anybody.
I had actually not really heard of it until you just pointed it out. The name looked familiar but I'm sure I glazed over it like I do with 90% of 360/PS3 games.
I'll try to pick this one up on my PC if my system meets requirements...or convince my house mates with the 360 and PS3 to go buy this mofo.
Yeah, no kidding genius. Nintendo got to be Nintendo by doing what nobody else was doing at the time too. But now they've already established themselves. It's up to new developers to come up with new things, not the developers who have already made a name for themselves.
Metallica doesn't have to do anything different in 2009 because they're already famous. They don't have to try to win over new fans as long as they keep pleasing the old ones. Let the new bands come up with new things.
Nintendo is already famous too. They aren't some indy company trying to make a name for themselves. All I'm saying is all I want from Nintendo is more of the same. I don't want any of there new things because there new things suck.
Metallica could probably win over new fans if they started playing country music or something, but that probably wouldn't go over too well with their old fans. That's exactly how I feel about Nintendo right now. Nintendo is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
Nintendo is giving us new stuff. They probably come out with more new IPs then Microsoft and Sony combined. It's just that all of their new IPs are terrible. When a company has been around as long as Nintendo, eventually they've done everything they can do with what they do. So the only way to do something new is to do something so different that it has to be marketed at an entirely new audience.
So if you want these old companies to make new games you're going to have to accept the reality that they aren't going to be games you like. If you want Metallica to play new types of music you have to deal with the fact that it's not going to be the music that made you like them in the first place.
So I wish everybody would just let the old companies keep making the remakes and the sequels, because that's why we like them to begin with. Let the new companies be the ones to come up with original IPs.
Also, as for the crux of your article:
I'll be getting MVSCapcom 2 for the online play, but I really don't get why people are fucking flipping out over it. Just wait, you newcomers, until you get online, and realize everyone is going to infinite combo you with Sentinel/Magneto/Storm. You'll start feeling like you made a $15 mistake in a few days, maximum, unless you have people to play it with locally.