By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
makingmusic476 on 17 October 2009
Edit Thread
Onyxmeth said:
makingmusic476 said:
And to reiterate what I said in the comments of the news article on this, Malstrom is completely missing the point of UGC. He's looking at the failures of UGC and missing the successes, like LBP or Warcraft III, and he's completely overlooking why the latter succeed. To copy & paste my comment from before (I'm a lazy son of a bitch, what can I say):

People need to understand that what makes LBP a success is the ability to SHARE content. You don't simply create content. You can easily play other peoples content, so the few people that truly enjoy creating content (and are good at it) keep guys like me supplied with a never ending stream of fun levels to play. A majority of LBP's players aren't there to create content. They're there to enjoy the plethora of created content floating around.

This is the key to UGC. Not everyone wants to create stuff. In fact, it's probably a minority that do. However, having this UGC made available to the masses in an easy to access manner is what keeps people coming back time and time again, and it is why LBP and Youtube are so successful. Much like how the custom maps in Age of Mythology and Warcraft III (DotA, Mythodea, Cat & Mouse) are often the most played maps, and they are what keep people coming back to these games for years and years and years.

Why would LBP be the success? Isn't it relatively on par with Wii Music saleswise? The way Malstrom thinks is that the large evergreen titles that go on to sell countless millions are the successes. This is where he thinks UGC centered titles don't belong. Is a UGC title going to anchor a fall lineup for Nintendo or Sony? Wii Music and LBP didn't do a good job of it. I think Malstrom's always on the big picture, and I'm sure if some third parties were making games like Wii Music and LBP and getting some moderate success on them, he wouldn't care. His attention is on the decisions of the big three and to be honest Miyamoto does seem to have his head wrapped around the idea of UGC a little more than is comfortable if you're someone that is against the idea, like Malstrom is.

Edit: I missed your point.  From Sony and Microsoft's perspective, and game like LBP sold just fine, and I don't see why it wouldn't be enough to anchor a holiday line up in the future.  Just look at Uncharted 2's first week.  Will it be a system seller?  Unless it's making its first appearance on the ps4, likely not.  But it'll keep console owners happy, to be sure.

The successes you're describing are few and far between.  And I don't see why UGC might inhibit such titles, provided it is primarily an additional feature.  It is the gameplay that makes Super Mario sell like it does.  Adding an editor and levels accessible via the internet would only add to the normal story mode.

 

@avinashi: Comparing anything to Super Mario is unfair.