One that could actually work?

by dkpatriarch

© 2010 David Hilton

Games are getting more expensive, and times are tough, and it’s getting harder to purchase every game you want.  So how can we keep people playing and offer them more, but not have to make them break the bank to do it?

Jason DeLong, Senior Producer, EA Canada

The future for gamers’ games, games that are not motion-controlled or aimed at the casual market, seems bumpy.  The reason so many sequels are being made is a sort of insurance for publishers that minimal risk will pay better and fund the occasional new IP that will hopefully spawn its own sequels.

Making games for this generation is expensive.  If you don’t have a big crew and and a big publicity machine you are going to struggle.  Many smaller developers have abandoned traditional game-making and are instead looking at portable gaming consoles,  the Wii, downloadable arcade games, or iPhone apps (soon the iPad) as their way to make creative games that don’t need an army to make and ultimately will be profitable.

In a recent article in Australia’s excellent Game Informer magazine about the future of gaming in a section on pricing, Jason DeLong of EA Canada, predicts that eventually there will be smaller up-front experiences with lower prices, with the ability to add episodic material to extend the game.

How it could work

My vision of this is making games more like television, a bit like where the Tales of Monkey Island series of games on PC have gone, or perhaps like the recent Assassin’s Creed Lineage movies, where you download ‘episodes’ that are not only easier on the budget and shorter, but have the possibility of extending as long as there is interest from gamers and game-makers.  Most importantly, the gamers themselves through forums, polls and discussion may be able to influence the future episodes of their games.

Much like my recent articles and poll pondering where Assassin’s Creed 3 will take place, gamers and the gaming media might offer suggestions for the narrative and gameplay that can be acted on by game developers for future episodes.  In essence we become part of the development team of a game.

To continue using Assassin’s Creed as my example, the recent ‘missing sequences’ in Assassin’s Creed 2 were made into two downloadable packs on Xbox Live and PSN after the game was released- the latest being Bonfire of the Vanities just this week.

These were ‘inserted’ extra chapters in the story, but what if this was the norm for games, where you start with an introductory ‘extended-episode’ that grabs your attention and leaves you wanting more at a low price, followed by future episodes released every few months or so. These would again be released at an affordable rate but continuing a strong narrative and leaving you wanting more.

Ironically, the next Assassin’s Creed title to be released late this year or early next year has the working title Assassin’s Creed Episodes and continues from the previous game with Ezio heading back to Rome- you can see how the “to be continued” could easily work in smaller segments that continue on.  This title may be a full retail game, but in the future it need not be.

Yes, many would be impatient, as we are with our favourite television shows that are on once a week and follow a story arc, but there is also less chance of game fatigue where we play one game all at once and feel gameplay gets repetitive.

There could be series 1, series 2, etc. instead of these trilogies we get now or reworked sequel games that are much like the originals, except have new storylines and locations.  Narrative can be affected by player reactions and suggestions giving valuable feedback to the game-makers who can make minor or major adjustments, depending on time and tech constraints.

Publishers and developers would have teams that know their series and not do a “Call of Duty” where each year a different studio puts a different game out with the same label.

As with television, the publisher and studio will see how the game is performing in the market and be able to adjust, not losing as much if a game idea doesn’t take off.

They won’t feel the pressure to make a game a certain length and use artificial boring methods like spawning troops, rows of bosses to fight, and difficult platforming so that gamers don’t complain about value for money.

The fact is that most gamers are either growing up, having families, and working in careers becoming more time poor than ever, meaning that they have less time for too many games, or are still young but without a lot of finances and can’t afford too many games at full price.  Apple iTouch and iPhone with the apps system of good quality, but bite-sized games, with low prices, works.  It’s not just about portability.

Problems with this Brave New Gaming

This new system I’m describing has many advantages, but several disadvantages too.

Who will risk it first?  In this conservative ‘let’s not do anything radical’ gaming environment, which publisher will take the plunge?

It largely means abandoning the hard-copy or disc for games, except perhaps if released later as a “full season” like with TV shows. Many gamers still like their tangible version and while the cost saving for publishers should be high, gaming retail stores like EB Games and GAME would become retro-console used game shops.  Already EB Games in Australia refuses to support Sony’s PSPGO!, which is digital distribution only.

Still, digital distribution, largely thanks to the music industry, DLC on consoles, and Apple’s iTouch and iPhone, have made downloading media much more accepted in recent times.  The big problem that faces gamers in countries like Australia is if our slow internet service and pathetic download limits for most plans can allow us to participate as much as we want in getting digitally distributed games.

The poor internet infrastructure of many places in the world would also be the problem if game publishers opt for game streaming instead (which to me is even less palatable). Will Australia’s National Broadband Network be up in time and up to scratch?

Besides the issue of how to get the games to the world-wide markets there are other concerns.

What if an early introductory segment of a game with great potential and a lot of hard work and money put into it fails to attract enough attention right away?

It would be like TV…there would presumably be several episodes already produced and if ratings (sales) didn’t pick up it would get dumped early, possibly before a conclusion is even reached. Yes they can cut their losses and move on, but those losses might end up being worse than if they released a full length full priced game as now.

Initially there would have to be a lot of work to make a new game. Again like in a new television series where there are sets (digital or real) to construct and actors to pay, games have physics engines, environments, and gameplay to develop.

Often in TV a show starts low budget and with its success it gets more funding.  That wouldn’t work for games: the hard work has to be done first and subsequent episodes use the same tools and models of the initial game, as we see with extra DLC now.

If gamers lose interest early in a game now, they simply let the game stagnate on their shelf or sell it.  The publisher has got the money, no matter if the gamer finishes it or not.  In the episodic future, if a gamer lost interest it could finish the profitability of future sequences.  Still this risk would be offset somewhat by the fact that most the hard expensive work has already been done.

Which leads me to another possible negative: stagnation.  If a game is successful and keeps running like a popular television show does, how much effort will go into innovation for future segments?  At the moment we usually see each game sequel getting better graphics and gameplay with each new title.  Would this happen if games were released in episodes, or would the existing tools and engines continue to be relied on for future episodes?

Not perhaps if they treated the game like a TV series and had seasons, where season 2 gets an upgrade or new focus.

What do I think?

I agree that these days there are too many quality games at too high a full retail price, often being released at once.  I also agree that my time has shrunk so much that I don’t nearly have the time to play as many games anymore.

Time was with my N64 I was begging for a new release as they were so rare but now it’s hard to look forward to a new game….it’s become a case of which one do I buy as they all look good and I don’t have the time or cash!

Yet I don’t want to be stuck just playing apps or short Wii-like motion controlled mini-games.

If traditional gaming is going to survive, it perhaps does need to find a new model of distribution: be it shorter experiences with lower prices on disc or download or something else.

I’m one of the old guard who likes his games tangible on disc, preferably with collector’s edition, but I have to admit these days I’m more careful with my cash.  If I can get slower smaller doses cheaper by download, I might go that way.

If I can actually participate with ideas for upcoming episodes of my favourite games, like the Assassin’s Creed series say, then I could see this keeping the buzz and excitement for the next episodes fresh.  And if a Collector’s Edition version on disc was released at a reasonable price at the end of a ‘series’ as with some TV show packs, I’d probably like that too.

What do you think?

Have you save, vote here in our poll, and or comment in the comments section, then if you like, choose to be updated when others comment on this topic via the “Opt-in” in the comment box. Developers read these comments across the net and your comments are taken seriously by many of them, so let them know how you feel (in a civil manner please) and perhaps things may change – for the better.

© 2010 David Hilton

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