The end of weird: why boring games dominate

I've mentioned the excellent Wii game Zack and Wiki here before. The game got fantastic reviews and was a bold departure in style from most of the other current releases, but it hasn't been selling well in the shops. I think this is partly due to big name games coming out and people are voting with their cash for the tried-and-tested titles rather than purchasing something different. This is going to end up leaving us with a games industry that follows the tragic path the movie industry has taken: terrible remakes of classic films and numerous sequels rather than original and risky movies.

Sonic is a classic example of a once-great title that just trades on it's name to produce shoddy titles. If we don't buy the games that are a little more unusual then games that have the potential to reinvent genres simply won't get made. There are already way too many Brain Training clones on the Wii and far too many bad first-person shooters on the Xbox, and unless we start supporting the more unusual, that's all we are going to be left with. There are games that try to do something different and fail miserably with bad execution and poorly thought-out plots, but when the reviews are great we need to buy these titles. The problem is that most of us can't buy numerous titles on a whim so picking and choosing does end up a conservative business.

The latest title with potential in the weird game stakes is My Beautiful Katamari. You get to roll a ball around a landscape picking up elements from the environment by rolling over them until you get big enough to move on to the next level. It's out on the Xbox, and although it’s a sequel to the PlayStation 2 game it’s easily strange enough to qualify for the "something different" category. There was a PS3 version being developed but this was apparently dropped due to porting issues and the resources have been put towards working on a Wii version.

There is also a game out now for the Wii and the DS called Jenga, which is a video game version of the popular wooden blocks game. I know. Exactly who thought this would be a good idea is unclear, but I think it's safe to say you should probably steer clear when looking for your next unusual game. It also costs four times as much as the real game. Surely somebody should have put a stop to this at the ideas stage?

Comments

[Egbert the Great]

I'm hoping there is going to be a version of Pikmin on the Wii. Picking up little aliens by the head and throwing them has never been so much fun. The white ones were creepy though.

[Eric]

Zack and Wiki isn't a 'bold departure' it's just going back to the old school Lucas Arts games like Monkey Island and Full Throttle from the 90's. What's next a bold new game style based on Jet Set Willy?

[mukimuki]

@Eric
well go and play jet set willy then.
i'm sorry, but what is the point in making a comment like that? oh, eric remembers jet set willy! oh, let me bow down and worship.
if JSW is so great (and don't get me wrong; i enjoyed it as a kid too), why not go and play it instead?
and since when was monkey island original? it's just a text adventure with a nice gui.
and text adventures are just spin offs from D&D.
which is just ripping off books.
and so on.

not to defend the author of this post (after all, it is just another 'game industry will become all sequels & rehashes' diatribe. something which has been in the process of happening for a long time), but when they said 'bold departure' they were comparing Z&W to madden 2016, CoD27, FF17, etc. it is a bold departure from the usual 'tried & tested' games that dominate the market place.
not that Eric would know as he's too busy sat in front of his rubber keyoard in front of his 6" colour TV waiting for JSW to load via tape.

[Andrew Moss]

I have recently been going back to my old skool systems such as the Amiga. The graphics are dated, yes...but the gameplay and fun elements are way ahead of many of todays inferior multi million titles. Problem is a guy could write a game all on his own back then, music an all. Today it takes a large teams many man years to develop re-hashed ideas and the money behind it simply will not take risks.

[Stevie]

I think Andrew has hit upon the big problem innovate gaming is facing. With the big budget film costs of producing a game it's become impossible for an idea that is from the left field to get in on the action as they can't get the millions it takes to properly compete. The home grown stuff on Xbox Live is a good thing but a lot of these titles are doing the same as Flash games do online. Nice 5 minute plays but that's about it. I do love a lot of the big budget games but I want to have the choice of more than FPS and sport games.

[Rob Mortimer]

Stevie is mostly right.
Xbox Live Arcade is producing some good stuff, look at the new version of Ikaruga, finally given a lease of life it deserves.

The issue is twofold:

1. People who aren't hardcore gamers buy what they recognise or what their friends buy. This is inevitably sequels or well hyped games.

2. This means that the bean counters only ok sequels and predictable games.

That said, just buy a Nintendo DS and a Wii and remember that Nintendo do fun, weird, and interesting games better than anyone (as long as you don't mind half of them starring Mario).

[Rayne]

Nope. Nintendo are the most responsible for creating and distributing shovelware. Bland shameless copies of other more successful games attempting to cash in on their success.

Zack & Wiki is NOT a 'blod departure' from normal games, give me 5 ways in which it re-invents the genre ¬_¬

What's seen as talent now is to be able to create a game along the lines of the tried, tested and totally fun generes of games, but to also add a sense of individuality, FPS's and RPG's are never going to go away, and in fact, they are the best form of videogame, hence the success.

Nintendo is not innovative (I own all three consoles) Its a gimick, a motion controller is fun for about three minutes, then what do you have? Smash Brother's 3? Mario Kart? Again? Mario Baseball? Mario Football? Get bent, if you're over the age of about 5 and want an entertaining experience that will last, get a different console

[John Stevens]

I find one of the bug downsides of buying the smaller budget games is that, my friends don't buy them, and as most of the games i play, i play online with friends, which can only be really done on more common place expensive games such as call of duty and halo.

[smaxon1]

Yeah, I bought an old NeoGeo off of ebay. And have spent most of my time playing that, instead of my 360.

[josh]

Game makers need to lower their prices... by a LOT. New XBox 360 games typically cost about $60. That's about 6 times what they should cost, considering that mass produced copies cost the manufacturer a dollar or less each. At that price point, I won't even consider buying a game that I won't absolutely love (and results in me purchasing about 1 or 2 games a year). If games costs what they should cost, I'd buy new games all the time, and be more willing to take chances on innovative games.

[kathryn ford]

The best game I have played recently is Pixel Junk Monsters on PS3- and it is all down to gameplay - it's just simple to pick up and fun - all for a fiver.

Superb

[Jason]

I really enjoy playing "Flow in Games", which is currently web based. You play a microbiotic life form that eats other life forms - when you deplete each level (or before, if you want too), you can go deeper and deeper. The deeper you go, the darker the background gets and the nastier the microbes get. I have seen info where they are trying to emulate it for a PS release (either PS3 or PSP), but so far you can only get to it through google.

[Ol't Skool]

How about a classic board game disk.
You know play Monopoly, scrabble, chess, ect

But be able to play with 8 different friends and family members from around the country.

[James]

Jason - flOw is already available for Playstation 3 on the Playstation Network. It costs a couple of quid, but it is well worth it for the graphical enhancements over the web-based version, and being able to ply it on your sofa with big TV. Which isn't necessarily to say it's better. It uses the PS3 controller's tilt technology, and I find myself wishing they'd just implemented the analogue sticks. It's a little awkward compared to the mouse control of the web version.

For anyone who wants to try the free web-based version of flOw, you can find it here:
http://intihuatani.usc.edu/cloud/flowing/

...and you didn't even have to use Google.

Incidentally, the Playstation Network is showing signs of being a good place to foster conceptually interesting games, just as XBox Live Arcade has. Everyday Shooter is a great example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Shooter

[Danielle]

What about the Ace Attorney series? Excellent visual novel and by far the only lawyer-sim I've seen (until Harvey Birdman came along and parodied it, that is). Also, Trauma Center for the DS and Wii--surgery sim. And Elite Beat Agents. The list goes on, you've just gotta look for the oddball games.

Also, Rayne: please look at the comment right above yours. :) Nintendo's still got it!

[Will]

For every interesting game theres always going to be ten times the rehashed rubbish. This is true in music and films as well, but as long as people keep overlooking games like shadow of the colossus or psychonauts it will keep happening, and for christs sake will people please stop buying Fifa/Madden etc. they release the same tawdry game with a graphical update every year.
This is entirely to do with the commercial success of games and the hegemony companies such as EA, busy trying to take over every small company that achieves any success.

[Geedavey]

I've been playing Doom II for the past 6 months, using a patch to make it play in Windows XP. I got a CD full of free user-created maps and it's fun, challenging and entertaining. I don't think any of the first-person shooters that have followed it have improved on it--far from it.