God of War director says Galaxy has ‘vapid story’

[DeguelloNWR]

I'll see GotchayeX's post and raise that the "storylines" for Mario and Smash Bros, Guitar Hero and Madden are told by the players themselves.

I had an interesting argument with my brother over what exactly made an RPG different from Madden. You had your party (adventurers here, Football team there), your stats (Attack there, depth chart here) and your similar game mechanics (turn-based here, setting Madden to only pick plays there). What made it fundamentally different? Is fighting the Gorgon with Swords different than beating the Patriots in overtime?

My brother countered with storylines. But then I say "What about Blitz the League?" IF you will recall, Midway lost their NFL license and decided to go ahead with a football game with entirely fictional teams and players, and... a championship-grabbing storyline! the lines have been blurred! In all seriousness, what does make a stat-based sports game like Madden different from an RPG?

What modern games can do well to remember is that "less is more." Look you all to the DS vs. the PSP in these terms. The PSP offers complex games with complex movie like storylines and intrigue. And yet the whole experience seems tired and used. It's like they are simply changing the names of the people inside and nothing else. The DS offered fresh gameplay with some games totally devoid of storyline and some with minimal efforts as well as some with good efforts, if simpler than the usual. The gamers spoke. They chose new over old, even if that new had familiar faces (like Mario.)