March 06, 2005

FA Gaming Rant: Where has all the Innovation Gone? by Rendition

Before Games Domain got bought out by Yahoo, there was an excellent gaming column called GD Rant that cynically roasted the state of gaming and the industry. I decided I would like to do the same with this semi-regular column called FA Gaming Rant. Don't expect grammatical perfection, as I will just rant off stream of conscious thoughts to my own delight. The first topic I'm going to tackle is the lack of innovation in the industry.

Let's look at the big games in the past 12 months. Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-life 2, Tony Hawk Underground 2, and Rachet and Clank etc. Don't get me wrong, all these are good games, but frankly aren't they the same games we've been playing for years with better graphics and a few tweaks on gameplay? Can you sit there and tell me GTA:SA and GT4 are leaps and beyond what we played before?

The lack of true innovation is appalling. As the videogame business has grown, it's becoming more and more like the movie business with its sequel-itis. I guess it has to be expected with today's $400 million revenue franchises, the advent of big business, the $5-50 million development budgets per title, and the quest to make quarterly numbers as public companies. It's obvious publishers have grown risk-averse and have decided to go back the same well over and over again.

Electronic Arts is a good example, they have even resorted to copying other company's games. I mean isn't Need for Speed Underground a rip-off of Midnight Club? Isn't NBA Street and NFL Street a rip-off of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz? This is from a company that acquired some of the most innovative talent in the world with Origin, Bullfrog, and Maxis. Where is the next Sims? Where is the next Wing Commander? Where is the next Populous?

I long for the glory days of Commodore Amiga, where it seemed every month there was an amazing new gameplay innovation. The days of Speedball 2, Turrican, Lemmings, Pirates, and Another World? Now we are stuck playing Sims expansion packs and the same game over and over again.

In the past year, the only game that knocked my socks off in doing something truly different is Katami Damacy. Everyone should buy this game that just puts a smile on your face, rolling around picking up anything in its path. Let's encourage developers to take risks and do something different. Or we'll be stuck playing Tomb Raider 15 and its ilk for some time to come. Please let me know what you think on the discussion forum, let's make this column and its ideas as interactive as possible. [Discuss]