HW i generally respect you but as a pretty serious nerd I take offense to some of what your saying here.
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Originally Posted by Hip-Hop Homework
the development price tag taking the hike is due to buying air time for advertisement on network television and also buying star power to anchor the voice casts...kevin spacey and the like.
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Yes and no. Games are generally far more expansive and complex than before.
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Look at Gears of War, man...to me that game embodied the standard for not only innovation but story was pretty original, it developed the characters in balance enough to be riveting, and the graphics? Unreal engines have been and will continue to remain king! The Gears series is still unique to this day, over 9 years later and people are still playing. They took their time to develop it...keeping their following on the edge of their seats instead of buying into the annual-release model.
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Cliff Blizenki took the over the shoulder viewpoint from shinji-mikami lead resident evil 4 game. The cover system was already made in kill.switch a game for the previous gen.
Unreal engine has real issues with texture pop in but otherwise yes, it's prety astounding.
Gears of war has off shoots made by other developers. They release sequels bi-annually instead of annually, usually in response to not wanting to compete with halo franchise.`
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Their games were really polished but the cost of development $5 mil over a period of 3 years...versus a game that might cost $5 mil to develop over a year and that be a recurring, annual cost. Then it doesn't seem that justifiable to vacuum up the last two pennies and lint in my pockets.
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Could you rephrase what you mean here? Your saying you want developers to invest in more complete products? It's not a recurring annual cost because most of the engine has already been made/optimised so its roughly speaking about changing the content. For example, this is why the first AC games are poor and get better with sequel.s
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The Epic studio was self-made with the overnight success of Gears and were able to maintain not only creative control but quality control, etc. All possible due to their innovation...
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Epic success stems largely from the unreal tournament franchise. Most independent studios get creative control but end up not lasting long without a hit.
Cliffy B left epic studios, always exist internal conflicts.
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So if companies tried to follow in their footsteps as far as bringing an innovative product. Gamers would be treated to what now seems like the golden era of gaming from 2001-2011 (give or take) Most games from our childhoods wouldn't really hold a candle to today's standards and the bulk of their value lies in nostalgia. So I pretty much only consider the last two generations and the current. We wouldn't be confined to expecting to break our sisters' piggy banks just to get a full game.
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Zelda, Mario, Sports titles, platformers(rayman legends, etc)n fighting games etc are nearly identical to how they were upon their inception. No such thing as golden age, purely subjective. Epic is fairly unoriginal company, I get the point your trying to make but bad example.
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Did you ever play Vanquish? That game was sick...it was like a futuristic Eye of the Colossus or whatever.
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That was shinji mikamis "F U" to all the proponents of gears of war. He deliberately made that game to outdo cliffy b and the gears franchise.
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The Castlevania Lords of Shadow game was one of the best platformers I've ever played, awesome graphics, fantastic story line, and outstanding game play.
Games like that are few and far between these days...maybe 'cause of development cost???
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Not because of development cost, just market trends. FPS games are the new platformers; only thing people really play. There are so many good castlevania games already people don't really need anymore. You have the decline of the Japanese game market etc
There are so many good original games today that I don't feel like bothering to mention (but will if necessary). I don't get the stance you guys are taking at all.