Game Gimmicks That Need to Go
Nov 19, 2006 2:27:33 GMT -5
Post by jameseightbitstar on Nov 19, 2006 2:27:33 GMT -5
1. Different Versions (AKA the Pokemon Syndrome
You know the deal: Company releases two versions of one game (normally a red and blue version), with differences between them. The idea of this in Pokemon was that the players would be forced to trade to get all the Pokemon. Other games have used it less meaningfully.
The MegaMaster once did an excellent article[1] on this problem, which I think sums up the issue quite well.
2. Plot Spread Out Over Multiple Games
Here's a history lesson: In the 1940s, Tolkien began writing a sequel to his popular book The Hobbit. In the 1950s, a book called The Fellowship of the Ring was published, being both the sequel to The Hobbit as well as the first book of Tolkien's new Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now, here's the rub: Tolkien never intended Lord of the Rings to be a trilogy, but rather he thought of it as just one book. The thing was, it was a large book, which Tolkien's publishers thought would jack up the price so much as to make it unaffordable, which is why this book suddenly became a trilogy.
Today, you could fit The Lord of the Rings on a Gameboy Advance cartridge, and with enough room left over to include The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Tolkien's translation of classic poetry in the bargain. And a CD-ROM can hold almost 1000 Gameboy Advance cartridges' worth of data. And with this known, it is rather lame that many game designers insist on telling "stories" that intentionally leave everything open for a sequel. Please, I don't care what story you have to tell, it is not so amazingly good that it actually takes three games to tell. In fact, most video game storylines actually suck, despite what RPG fanboys say--any storyline you've heard in an RPG before has probably also been used in a manga that ran in Shonen Jump sometime in the late 1980s.
3. Cross-Medium Storytelling
Your story is also not sooo special that it should be spread across different mediums! By this I mean, games that introduce intentionally vague plot points for the purpose of having them covered in a novel or movie. I don't give a rat's behind about all the stupid intracacies of your shlock universe, I play your games for the gameplay. You can keep your blasted novels and movies!
4. Games That Require a Special Controller
Not all of us live in mansions. I don't know where some people get their space, but when a game needs a special controller or device that isn't already included with the original system, that's an instant turnoff. I simply don't have the room to store all these specialized controllers!
Feel free to add more.
[1] www.mmhp.net/Commentaries/Musing44.html
You know the deal: Company releases two versions of one game (normally a red and blue version), with differences between them. The idea of this in Pokemon was that the players would be forced to trade to get all the Pokemon. Other games have used it less meaningfully.
The MegaMaster once did an excellent article[1] on this problem, which I think sums up the issue quite well.
2. Plot Spread Out Over Multiple Games
Here's a history lesson: In the 1940s, Tolkien began writing a sequel to his popular book The Hobbit. In the 1950s, a book called The Fellowship of the Ring was published, being both the sequel to The Hobbit as well as the first book of Tolkien's new Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now, here's the rub: Tolkien never intended Lord of the Rings to be a trilogy, but rather he thought of it as just one book. The thing was, it was a large book, which Tolkien's publishers thought would jack up the price so much as to make it unaffordable, which is why this book suddenly became a trilogy.
Today, you could fit The Lord of the Rings on a Gameboy Advance cartridge, and with enough room left over to include The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and Tolkien's translation of classic poetry in the bargain. And a CD-ROM can hold almost 1000 Gameboy Advance cartridges' worth of data. And with this known, it is rather lame that many game designers insist on telling "stories" that intentionally leave everything open for a sequel. Please, I don't care what story you have to tell, it is not so amazingly good that it actually takes three games to tell. In fact, most video game storylines actually suck, despite what RPG fanboys say--any storyline you've heard in an RPG before has probably also been used in a manga that ran in Shonen Jump sometime in the late 1980s.
3. Cross-Medium Storytelling
Your story is also not sooo special that it should be spread across different mediums! By this I mean, games that introduce intentionally vague plot points for the purpose of having them covered in a novel or movie. I don't give a rat's behind about all the stupid intracacies of your shlock universe, I play your games for the gameplay. You can keep your blasted novels and movies!
4. Games That Require a Special Controller
Not all of us live in mansions. I don't know where some people get their space, but when a game needs a special controller or device that isn't already included with the original system, that's an instant turnoff. I simply don't have the room to store all these specialized controllers!
Feel free to add more.
[1] www.mmhp.net/Commentaries/Musing44.html