Ian - Everybody loves a sequel?
If you were to ask me about games I’m getting excited about, games I’ve played and enjoyed recently, chances are the decent majority of them have a number at the end of the title (Excluding any N64 titles). Even if you were to ask me about games I haven’t played and have little desire to play, they will still have a number at the end.
I make this post in anticipation for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 that is coming out in 4 days or something mental. I can’t wait. But extending this idea to the rest of my game collection, It dawned on me that there’s nothing I haven’t played the predecessor of. Ridge Racer 6. Call of Duty 4. Virtua Tennis 3. Project Gotham Racing 4. Guitar Hero 3.
Looking on my hard drive, I still have the Devil May Cry 4 demo on there. I was reading gamesTM and I noticed the immintent release of Dynasty Warriors 6. Even the Orange Box (which admittedly only has 3 new games in it) has Half Life 2, Half Life 2:Episode One, Half Life 2:Episode Two, and Team Fortress 2, and I’m all fairly certain you can’t wait for the release of Episode 3 so Valve can ditch that saga and start work on Half Life 3. Also, (as I’m sure Joe is blissfully aware) Manhunt 2 has finally been given a certification in the UK. I’m swimming in numbers. (I also noted the review of Omega Five but that doesn’t count since it’s not a sequel, that’s just what it’s called anyway)
I’m getting a little concerned that the videogame industry is running out of ideas. In a sense, it’s a very pragmatic way to run a business, which is what Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all are. If they can make the same amount of money by taking an existing game, rejigging it a bit, put in some new weapons, cars, levels, charachters or features, than by making a whole new IP*, they will.
That said… Gears of War 2 is based upon a really good IP that was from not so long ago, so the fact that there *are* new IPs about is surely a good thing. The mixed reactions for Assassin’s Creed, the not so mixed reactions given to Bioshock, at least there are new stories, new charachters, new weapons, at least to the extent that they can be considered “new”, as I am forced to accept the fact that we’ve explored most of the genres possible for games. It would just be nice if we didn’t have Ridge Racer 10 coming out any time soon.
It’s argueable the extent to which this could be considered a sequel, even if it doesn’t have a number in the title, even though it’s basically sega rally but jazzed up:
*IP - “Intellectual Property, like music, poems, movies or other abstract property.” - Original Thought, basically.
I think we could all afford to feel a little proud last summer, as the deluge of blockbusters Hollywood put out amounted to nothing more than cash-ins on previous franchises or existing IPs, while the gaming world got Bioshock, Mass Effect, bla bla bla.
But in the greater scheme of things, sequels are suited to games more than movies. Movies hinge on plot, games on mechanics. If a mechanic is a hit, people will want more of it in much the same form; but a story told is a story spent.
At least having sequels better than the original is something fairly exclusive to games, and something that movies can’t often mimic.