WhiteDespair
Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2012
- Messages
- 157
- Reaction score
- 39
There used to be a point in the past where any new videogame was a wonder to behold. We lived in a time where the industry was infantile and big name companies like Bungie, Valve, and Bioware were just getting their legs underneath them. Games like Half Life, Mario Brothers, and Sonic were brand new and the mystique shrouding their development was as thick as it was interesting. We no longer live in those times. Sequels run the industry and the emphasis has shifted towards serving the masses rather than being innovative or forward thinking about new IPs, because, let's be honest, that isn't where the money is at anymore. The money is in a new type of business model, one that the industries main publishers Electronic Arts and Activision and Blizzard have cemented into the minds of old and new developers alike: the Call of Duty model.
Lets look for a moment at the film industry that currently exists in Hollywood (and to an even greater extent in Hollywood). We have a system in which directors and producers are rewarded for timeliness and mass appeal. Quality isn't, and can't possibly be the focus of their films. This is the reason we get a new Alien vs. Predators movie every year, regardless of how much the last filmed flopped. It doesn't stop there though, look at Nicholas Cage movies. They come out every year, but they are always bad and always a disappointment, but they always make enough money to fund the next. The correlation I'm trying drawing to draw here is that Call of Duty (and of course any series that follow their business model) is the Nicholas Cage of the videogame industry.
The point here is not to try and discount the influence of the Call of Duty business model, but to bring awareness of the damage it is doing to the industry. A good way to show just how bad this business model can be is to look at the current state of the Sonic Team and their mangled and filthy child Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic Team opted to release as many Sonic games as they possible could in the hope that sacrificing development time and polishing for sheer numbers would turn around a higher profit, and in most cases it did. The question is of course, when was the last time a Sonic game was ever game of the year, or even remembered for having any effect on the forward movement of the industry? This is at the core of the problem with the business model that Call of Duty has created; it isn't a breeding ground for innovation or creativity, but of financial success.
I do realize the overwhelming innovation and creativity that went into creating Call of Duty 4, but this is about what Call of Duty 4 bred, and that is an environment in which innovation is not conducive to success.
We find ourselves now in a situation that is increasingly paradoxical. On one side we have the majority of gamers calling for videogames to be recognized for artistic expression and creativity, to become a medium that is truly capable of making its consumers think and feel. Then on the other hand we have this exact same group of people turning around and consuming, year after year, what is essentially mindless, visceral thrills. We sing the praises of games like Half-life 2 and Flower and Braid, but then spend most of our time staring blankly at the screen watching our kill/death spreads fluctuate with little to no emotional or mental attachment to what is happening.
By buying and heavily focusing on these kinds of year by year games that have little to no change from iteration to iteration, we are stabbing our own argument for creativity in the foot. The industry will continue to SKU towards annual iterations instead of spending serious time and thought on new and innovative IPs if we allow them to. Less time to create means less time to be creative, and as long as we continue to allow this to happen year to year, we will eventually have nothing left but to give in and drool our way to the future.
Lets look for a moment at the film industry that currently exists in Hollywood (and to an even greater extent in Hollywood). We have a system in which directors and producers are rewarded for timeliness and mass appeal. Quality isn't, and can't possibly be the focus of their films. This is the reason we get a new Alien vs. Predators movie every year, regardless of how much the last filmed flopped. It doesn't stop there though, look at Nicholas Cage movies. They come out every year, but they are always bad and always a disappointment, but they always make enough money to fund the next. The correlation I'm trying drawing to draw here is that Call of Duty (and of course any series that follow their business model) is the Nicholas Cage of the videogame industry.
The point here is not to try and discount the influence of the Call of Duty business model, but to bring awareness of the damage it is doing to the industry. A good way to show just how bad this business model can be is to look at the current state of the Sonic Team and their mangled and filthy child Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic Team opted to release as many Sonic games as they possible could in the hope that sacrificing development time and polishing for sheer numbers would turn around a higher profit, and in most cases it did. The question is of course, when was the last time a Sonic game was ever game of the year, or even remembered for having any effect on the forward movement of the industry? This is at the core of the problem with the business model that Call of Duty has created; it isn't a breeding ground for innovation or creativity, but of financial success.
I do realize the overwhelming innovation and creativity that went into creating Call of Duty 4, but this is about what Call of Duty 4 bred, and that is an environment in which innovation is not conducive to success.
We find ourselves now in a situation that is increasingly paradoxical. On one side we have the majority of gamers calling for videogames to be recognized for artistic expression and creativity, to become a medium that is truly capable of making its consumers think and feel. Then on the other hand we have this exact same group of people turning around and consuming, year after year, what is essentially mindless, visceral thrills. We sing the praises of games like Half-life 2 and Flower and Braid, but then spend most of our time staring blankly at the screen watching our kill/death spreads fluctuate with little to no emotional or mental attachment to what is happening.
By buying and heavily focusing on these kinds of year by year games that have little to no change from iteration to iteration, we are stabbing our own argument for creativity in the foot. The industry will continue to SKU towards annual iterations instead of spending serious time and thought on new and innovative IPs if we allow them to. Less time to create means less time to be creative, and as long as we continue to allow this to happen year to year, we will eventually have nothing left but to give in and drool our way to the future.
Last edited:
