Think Smaller

It seems like several key players in the industry are saying the same thing lately.
The the hyper expensive triple A title project model needs to go, or at least need not be focused as much as it has in the past, and that the industry as a whole needs to focus on smaller projects.

I think most peoples initial response is “Fuck that! and Farmvile too!”
I know mine was.
But theyre right...



Currently the industry just doesn't have a middle ground.
You're either developing a triple A title or you're casual one, with no in between.

I remember saying that myself a few years back in the rise of the casual gamer and the apparent industry focus to attract and focus on them.

When the casual gamer was 'created'...
Yes created, essentially because Microsoft and Nintendo wanted to pimp the online offering, using retro games as their 'bottom bitch.' (and who can blame them)
anyway...
When the casual model and focus came along, It really polarized the industry in terms of development, with accessibility in tow.

As a gamer, my complaint at the time was that I didn't consider myself a hardcore gamer, according to the new definition, (a gamestop grinder) and I was hardly a casual gamer...so I didn't have many options, and their were millions of other gamers just like me who were being grossly overlooked.

I even remember bringing that to the bosses attention and saying that “we should try and develop for those guys.” …. I never got the chance.

So here we are, and the industry is apparently nearly in trouble over it now, and nobody seems to know what to do, or how to fix it.

I think the fix is easy fix actually....
Get that middle ground gamer back, and do it by doing what the fuck we said we were gonna do YEARS AGO.

$60+ for a game has always been pretty rough, and risky as hell for the consumer.
Any title worth putting at that price point has been pretty risky for the developer, because of development costs. Not to mention 2nd hand stores make it even harder to see returns.

On the other hand, lots of casual games are really cheap. Not risky for the consumer or the developer.
But its such a 1 and done deal, and the games themselves are likely not even attractive to the mid level gamer, and If you're like me, you just passionately hate most of them.

What do we do? Isn't it obvious?

Go episodic.

I cant think of a single game in recent history that actually does this thing right, and I cant think of any legitimate reasons why.

But lets look at a few offerings that have come close, and then look at where they fail.

Fable II.
The “episodes” offered no beginnings or ends. They weren't really even episodes.
It was just divided chunks of a Triple A title...and you can tell.

But I think they did pricing and delivery perfectly. Its just unfortunate the the episodic content wasn't very episodic at all.

Now lets look at Half-Life2
This is very disappointing because everything about their model for this is SO RIGHT.
The games were, the right length, the right price, had solid scenarios making them actually episodic...

But their was just a serious failure to execute, and the time between episodes was pretty ridiculous.

I love valve, but its pretty obvious that their either wasn't very much planning ahead, or that their was an inability to stick to that plan if it did exist.
We're still waiting for episode 3, and then if it ever comes out....we'll then be waiting on episode 4.
However, by now its taken so damn long, that any release will feel dated. They almost just need to make a whole new game altogether.
Was anyone ever even working on episode 3?

Industry...lets do this right.

The initial episode I imagine would take some time to develop.
But once its done....Once the functionality is there... It should be smooth sailing for the rest of the series run. Because by then its should less development and more design.

Remember the old games like...
wolf3d
commander keen

Those games had it right.
They even called it right. Using the term “episodes”

Their was nothing fundamentally differently about the game play in each episode.
Just the scenarios, which included clear beginnings and ends, and you could buy only the episodes you wanted.

The only failings with those games was that they didn't have the distribution method at the time.
Because of that. Similar games stopped being episodic. I think the last one was Duke3d, but you got all the episodes at once, in a single bundle...so it was more a 'parody' of being episodic. Maybe the one parody about the game that was unintentional.