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May 31, 2004
The Safer Bet
Sadly, we're at the point, as an industry, where we have to place "safe bets". Whatever happened to the wild and crazy days of innovation and experimentation?***
Ironically enough, two different articles covering the exact same issue of licenses dominating the game industry came out last week. One was at the <a href="http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tech_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000521976">Hollywood Reporter</a> and the other at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/technology/circuits/27play.html">New York Times</a>. Both end with quotes by publisher reps on taking a balanced approach... If only...
This is such a huge topic/issue, nice to see the coverage. A quote from the NYTime piece nails one of the core problems:
<em>"...making a game based on a prominent book or movie is essentially a safer bet: the title probably won't become a blockbuster, but it is also less likely to fail outright."</em>
That is, a safe bet. I was quoted in the Hollywood piece about a lack of confidence on the part of publishers, with many just trying to ensure they don't screw up badly enough to lose their job. Certainly a gross oversimplification of the challenges in publishing games, but not far from the truth.
There is such a lack of understanding of what will make a great game that essentially every game becomes a gamble, with the odds further stacked against new IP...
Further to the point, <a href="http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/05/the_warner_revo.html">Scott Miller comments</a> that turning to movies for content is a folly as movies are simply not well suited to the interactivity of games. And, this was spawned from the crazy notion that <a href="http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/tech_reporter_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000517289">Warner Brothers is going to start penalizing</a> publishers for poor quality games.
Oh my, I feel safe in betting that that will never fly!
*** (It's <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20040505/hall_01.shtml">cooped up in a barn</a> once a year!)
Posted by della at May 31, 2004 03:42 PM
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