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Forums - Gaming - 'There simply aren't enough new IPs these days'

 

Are there not enough new IPs these days?

Yes, there is not enough. 18 52.94%
 
No, there is enough. 16 47.06%
 
Total:34
man-bear-pig on 12 February 2012

Steve Wood says we need more new IP to be considered mainstream

This week we've got Steve Wright (we've got all the Steves), who echosTim Schafer's sentiments from earlier this week by saying publishers are scared of new IPs.

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Over to Steve...

 

There simply aren't enough new IPs these days. Why? Because developers are too scared. But look at the new IPs that have succeeded. Heavy Rain, L.A. Noire, and Catherine. Many were upset when they heard David Cage wasn't making Heavy Rain 2. I was excited.

Another thing that makes me mad is HD remakes: "We've already made sequels, let's remake our first game!" Devs are too scared, and it's ruining our games. We see new films all the time, so if games want to be mainstream, they have to try harder.

PSM3 says: We're increasingly seeing film remakes: Straw Dogs and The Thing at the end of 2011, The Warriors, Escape From New York, Poltergeist and (many) more in 2012. Surely chasing big, safe sales is mainstream? Essentially, as long as people buy sequels, someone will make them - but as you point out, that doesn't stop new 'IPs' such as Heavy Rain succeeding. Don't blame the devs, blame the money men.

CVG says: PSM3 is right, it's not the fault of devs, it's the publishers, or more specifically the aforementioned money men. Developers still want to make unique games, Tim Schafer's latest venture is proof of that.

Www.computerandvideogames.com



My prediction threads:

Wii U will sell under 40m units (made on 14th September 2012)

PS Vita will sell under 20m units (made on 30th September 2012)

Wii U will sell under 7m in 2013 - I was right

Halo 4 first 9 weeks sales prediction

PS4 to be down YOY in 2015

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Mr Khan on 12 February 2012

If developers really want to make more new IPs, they know what they must do: swallow their pride, decrease their technical ambitions, and build something leaner

Why can't a great, "serious" (though by god do i hate to use that term) game be made for something less than bleeding-edge tech levels?



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

sethnintendo on 12 February 2012
Mr Khan said:
If developers really want to make more new IPs, they know what they must do: swallow their pride, decrease their technical ambitions, and build something leaner

Why can't a great, "serious" (though by god do i hate to use that term) game be made for something less than bleeding-edge tech levels?


I suppose that is where WW, XBL, and PSN games come into play.  They focus more on gameplay than graphics usually.



Mr Khan on 12 February 2012
sethnintendo said:
Mr Khan said:
If developers really want to make more new IPs, they know what they must do: swallow their pride, decrease their technical ambitions, and build something leaner

Why can't a great, "serious" (though by god do i hate to use that term) game be made for something less than bleeding-edge tech levels?


I suppose that is where WW, XBL, and PSN games come into play.  They focus more on gameplay than graphics usually.

Not even that. I'm not even saying leave the PS3 or the 360 (despite my apathy for both devices), but rather that you can simply make a game that isn't meant to compete with the blockbusters, just focus on making something that is good and original, but can also turn a profit

The comparisons to the movie industry are easiest. It is clear in the film industry that not everything is meant to win an oscar, nor is it meant to be a box-office smash. The problem with the games industry is that you often see developers trying to get both, and that limits them in what they can do (genres that generally afford greater prestige, and genres in which games are known to sell better, which leans immediately in the direction of established brands)

Work outside the pale, but swallow your artistic pride and cut budgets to do it.



Monster Hunter: pissing me off since 2010.

miz1q2w3e on 12 February 2012

I thought there were plenty of new IPs this generation, many of them turned out great and I hope they continue into later gens

...If anything, many great series didn't get enough games this gen imo



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sethnintendo on 12 February 2012
Mr Khan said:
sethnintendo said:
Mr Khan said:
If developers really want to make more new IPs, they know what they must do: swallow their pride, decrease their technical ambitions, and build something leaner

Why can't a great, "serious" (though by god do i hate to use that term) game be made for something less than bleeding-edge tech levels?


I suppose that is where WW, XBL, and PSN games come into play.  They focus more on gameplay than graphics usually.

Not even that. I'm not even saying leave the PS3 or the 360 (despite my apathy for both devices), but rather that you can simply make a game that isn't meant to compete with the blockbusters, just focus on making something that is good and original, but can also turn a profit

The comparisons to the movie industry are easiest. It is clear in the film industry that not everything is meant to win an oscar, nor is it meant to be a box-office smash. The problem with the games industry is that you often see developers trying to get both, and that limits them in what they can do (genres that generally afford greater prestige, and genres in which games are known to sell better, which leans immediately in the direction of established brands)

Work outside the pale, but swallow your artistic pride and cut budgets to do it.

Like World of Goo, right?



MrT-Tar on 12 February 2012

The thing is that new IPs are amongst the most mainstream of all games. The likes of Wii Sports, Nintendogs and Brain Training/Age opened up gaming to vast new demographics and are the best selling games of all time.

As for the point concerning publishers being scared of new IPs, I agree. In an age of very high development costs, one can't really blame many developers for playing it safe and creating new entries in existing series.




Zim on 12 February 2012

Urg I never understand when people make this statement. This generation there have been a truly ridiculous amount of new IPs. The problem is that the second a new IP gets a second game people start freaking out. When the next generation comes around I'm sure we will get another fresh wave of new IPs. Then people in the industry will start to moan the millisecond that one of them get's a sequel.



Turkish says and I'm allowed to quote that: Uncharted 3 and God Of War 3 look better than Unreal Engine 4 games will or the tech demo does. Also the Naughty Dog PS3 ENGINE PLAYS better than the UE4 ENGINE.

Millenium on 12 February 2012
miz1q2w3e said:
I thought there were plenty of new IPs this generation, many of them turned out great and I hope they continue into later gens

...If anything, many great series didn't get enough games this gen imo

I have to agree with this!

I'm currently more interested in contiuing playing several franchises/IP's than seeing new ones created.



Panama on 12 February 2012

There are shitloads of new IPs each year if not each month, if they want a new IP out each day that would only be to the detriment of the industry with sales thinly distributed across all these games.

As for movies, when you have amazing films like Hugo sinking harder than the Titanic it doesn't surprise me that they would want to play it safe with remakes.

Also that complaint about HD remakes was absolutely asinine for obvious reasons.