Are We Losing Originality In Our Games?

Over the past 30 years we have been treated to some of the greatest stories known to man. Ranging from time travellers saving the very fabric of time itself, down to a fat plumber who is saving his princess. How he actually caught her in the first place is questionable though. What made each memorable story of the past stand out? It had it's own originality, either in the actual narrative or the mechanics of the actual game itself. Yes we have had talented writers and developers over the years, and even to this day we still do if we take a quick glimpse at the indie scene. Why then are games either being rehashed for full price or franchises being run into the ground with sequels and trilogy's that really aren't needed.

Take Bungee's immensely popular “Halo” series on the Xbox/360/PC for instance. The original game was built up to be one of the most influential and commercial hits of the past 10 years. Lauded world wide for its innovation, the series is now a staple for Microsoft and a major weapon in the console wars. This is evident with the franchise now having a new trilogy announced at the latest E3. Not a new game in the series though, oh no, a trilogy as well as a high-definition remake of the original. Surely this is going a bit far, truly this is the definition of running a series into the ground for the blood-money of millions. Oh and just so you know, Bungee have left the series and palmed off this new trilogy to the lesser known “343 Industries”.

It seems like any game which does well commercially is going to have a sequel, which is understandable. What really irks me though is the lack of creativity from many mainstream publishing studios. Many of the games which are on the radar for this year are sequels such as Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Assassins Creed: Revelations, you get the point. Each of these series rightly deserves these sequels, don't get me wrong, but why can't the developers take a chance?

The only reason many of these series even have sequels is because they took a chance on a previously unknown game idea. While not a direct comparison if we take a gander at the Apple store we can see millions of games, some bad yet some bursting with creativity. Would it be that much of an ask for the corporations to give these indie developers a platform from which to metaphorically spread their wings from? Apple have done it and I'm sure they would never look back upon that chance.

I can name many a series which should have ended at the first or second game, but were rehashed until they were effectively put into the category of “for fans only”. It is these games where the studios are wasting their time, talent and resources in creating, simply relying on the game name to sell. With so many talented writers and developers around the tools for creation must be unleashed upon the world. If this is done and corporations and even smaller companies take notice of the results, the gaming community as a whole can and will benefit. This will create more opportunities and this will create much higher quality games in general.