It's everywhere. It's in our game publishers, our game developers, and even our games. It's the all-enveloping blob-like fad that is sucking up and destroying what a video game is supposed to be, all in the name of cutting costs and time.
Homogenization: the silent killer.
Let's start on a large scale. Take Electronic Arts. Looking back only a few years you can't even count the number of smaller game companies they've absorbed on one hand! Take Origin for example. A great little developer that brought about the phenomenon of Ultima. Once EA snapped them up everything went to you-know-where in a hand basket, and the last two Ultima titles produced under the direction of EA were nowhere near as polished and successful as the previous ones. Just one of the examples that lead many to call EA the Evil Empire. (Some people still dare to call them this, but only do so in dark corners or long-forgotten woodland groves; EA will hunt you down and deal with you if caught. You've been warned!)
As for game developers, they're losing their ability to work within their own time constraints and creative vision. This problem is mostly due to those huge game publishers like EA, but lately it seems more than a few developers just want to get their product on the shelves as quickly as possible, no matter the sacrifices they have to make. We've all been seeing more and more DLC lately (downloadable content), but what ever happened to taking the time to release that content with the game in the first place? On top of that, we don't have nearly as many independent game developers out there anymore. Most people have been bought out or even put out of business, further narrowing the field concerning who makes our video games. Hence, last variety in the games we end up seeing on our end of the pipe.
Finally, we have homogenization within the games themselves! No where is this more evident than in many MMOs. They start out strong, with races and classes that are truly different and make you feel like an individual playing a character that you created using your imagination. Lately, classes and character models are becoming more and more like the next, just to save time and money on the other end. This is happening in many games, though the most obvious is World of Warcraft. Need a tank? No problem, almost half of the current classes can now tank! How about a healer? Again, almost half the classes can fill that role as well. There's nothing wrong with having a couple classes able to do the same thing (it cuts out the necessity of having specific classes present for grouping), but when they all do the same exact thing in the same exact way it's just laziness on the part of the game developer. And how about those new armor models for the next tier sets? For those of you who don't know or don't play, just picture the same exact armor but in slightly different shades of color depending on which class you are. Homogenization racks up another kill!
All this ranting is making me tired. My plea to the world is to stop cutting corners. Game development is tough, so give developers a break and let them program what they want and with the passion they have. Yes, people may complain about slower release dates, but when quality games do come out they pack an experience that is unique and dynamic, and will hold your attention for months to come. Have you seen this happening in any of your games lately or am I just a sour grape? And have you heard anyone aside from myself say "sour grape" in the last decade?
Comments (4)
This is so true. the game industry is turning into an interactive Hollywood where the goal is to crank out a hyped up game that will turn a profit, rather than putting out something innovative and polished that games to really get out there and enjoy.
There is this book called JPod by Douglas Coupland that touches on this a bit. It's a satire about a bunch of progammers who work at a company called Neotronic Arts, which is what seems to be a purposely flimsy attempt at covering up the fact that it is actually EA Games. Basically, the company kills any good ideas the programmers have and forces them to replace their original game program with a cheesy game involving a trite elements because the company thinks a game like that will bring in more profit.
I do agree that larger companies buying out smaller independent gaming studios often results in poor quality games. There are some exceptions though. Maxis is under the EA umbrella, but I still think their games are pretty good, however I think EA gives them a wide berth. The same goes for Microsoft and Bungie, I think Microsoft pretty much gives them free reign.
@pax_intus@xanga - I agree it's hard enough keeping sequel-itis out of any series without the big companies butting in to the design process excessively... Unfortunately Bungie is letting go of the Halo series. After they finish Reach, they're gonna be done with the Halo series and anything else we see will be a product of Microsoft's 343 Industries. :(
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