06.03.09 haven’t been on this particular soapbox for a while…
Yahtzee excels at eloquently expressing my thoughts.
…basically I’m just so fucking bored of shit like this. The improbably Warhammer 40k-esque power armour. The automatic healing. The overcompensating macho beefcakes with voices like they’ve had their lips clamped around exhaust pipes their whole lives. The schizophrenic design-by-committee flitting between whiny drama and goofy wisecracks. The obligatory female support character with the no-nonsense attitude and permanently cocked hips. The monstrous, dehumanised, unequivocally evil baddies. The inevitable betrayal from the jaded authority figure. I’ve gone through the same banal motions so many times it’s increasingly hard to talk about them in any meaningful or interesting way.
To be honest, I’m not even really that tired of playing these games when they’re done well, I’m just really sick of seeing only these kinds of projects get real funding and attention. Of course, the cost of game development is such that publishers can’t afford to take many chances and have to guarantee hits for themselves, so it’s not a simple problem to solve.
But still, when you think of the talent, intelligence and passion that this industry has, it’s a huge shame.
Maybe you’ll be the one to change all of that?
And design-by-committee? Yeah, not good. Never produces anything with vision, character, personality, originality…the list goes on.
Mais ce constat est tellement vrai! Reste à savoir ce qui est possible de faire pour changer les choses tout en restant “rentable”…
The problem is that despite the fact that the average gamer is 33 and wants more, I suspect that this number is going to drop. Younger players may not have seen these things too much, and therefore they won’t mind seeing more of them. As you say, this formula is a surefire hit. Further, currently it is not a simple thing to fully flesh out a character within the confines of a video game (at least without the cutscenes, which can negatively impact the experience when not handled properly). Right now, when people want narrative and unique characters, they watch movies. When they want to shoot stuff and “just have fun”, they play games. Games aren’t there to make them think, or care. If these things happen, then it’s either secondary, tertiary, quaternary, or completely by accident.
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