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archbrix on 14 February 2012
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Jay520 said:
archbrix said:
Jay520 said:

I would agree with you, but games like Uncharted & God of War aren't exactly unique and they've seen big success (relative to other Sony IPs).

Personally, I would say that those game are unique, and, most importantly, the epitome of their respective genres.  It's things like Resistance, Killzone and Ratchet and Clank that seem generic to me.  Not to say that they're bad from a technical level, but from an "appealing" level.  When people want a game like Uncharted or GOW, they turn to Uncharted and GOW.  When people want a FPS on PS3, they turn to COD, not Resistance or Killzone.

This is why I really like LBP as an IP.  I'm not as crazy about the games as I'd like to be; I think they still need some work (particularly in the control department), but I feel the IP really has the potential to do great things in the way of an exclusive platformer for Playstation... far more than R&C.  Sackboy is a very lovable character and I'm really glad to hear that they're making a kart racing game themed with LBP as opposed to another Mod Nation game.


I really don't see how those games are unique. They're really just doing what other games already did (Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, etc) but do it better. Of course, there are unique components of both (both having unmatched cinematics for example) but the core of both games are pretty generic. I think you're over-associating quality with uniqueness. Uncharted & GoW are no more unique than Killzone or R&C imo, they're just of higher quality & appeal.

I'm not really sure what your main idea is, whether your trying to prove uniqueness as an important factor for sales, or if your just questioning my statement about Uncharted/GoW not being unique. If it's the former, then I will reply to that here. Your own example, LBP, is unique but sees low sales, while fairly generic games like CoD & Battlefield see super high sales. But then again, there are unique games that do sell really well, so I don't think we can really say if uniqueness is an important factor for sales.

I wouldn't exactly say the core of Uncharted or GOW is generic, but I agree that it's not unique either.  However, it's the overall experience of the games that I find unique; like the end result being greater than the sum of its parts.  When I first played Uncharted, for example, any thoughts of Tomb Raider I may have had going in quickly faded.  In fact, the action is more similar to Gears of War (due to the cover system) than Tomb Raider.  And the platforming, storytelling, etc are so much better, that it really is in a league of its own.

I guess my point being that they are standout games, whether you attribute that to their individuality or their great quality.  Games like Resistance and Killzone don't have that standout appeal, IMO.  

And you're right, just because something is unique doesn't mean it's appealing or that it'll sell well.  Uncharted and GOW, as you said, may not be the biggest innovators when broken down, but put everything together and they become an experience that people right away associate with their names.  It's these kinds of memorable games that Sony needs more of.