But... Dead Space 2 wasn't very good. Why are people saying this is the death knell for the franchise? We all knew it was heading this way when that Dead Space Ignition was released...
Not wanting to play devils advocate here (because EA really don't need an advocate, right?) but as batshit crazy as this "we need to sell five million copies" sounds, there is actually some element of truth in that. As much as I don't like making statements without being able to back them up with citations, i remember about five years ago I was reading something about Hollywood blockbusters, and how they essentially need to make twice their budget back just to break even, when you take into consideration all the marketing, the production and distributions costs and so fourth, and I think the same is happening now with video games.
Do I agree with it? Fuck no. There is one word in my last paragraph which sums up the entire problem.
Marketing.
How much marketing do you fucking need? When games start getting really fucking expensive live action trailers, then you know that things have gone too far. Do I need to see about a minutes worth of live action footage filled with ridiculously expensive cgi of a city getting trashed by a Reaper to tell me that Mass Effect 3 is coming out? No, I don't. I know its coming out. I've known its coming out for almost two years. I don't need to be reminded of the fact by this juggernaught marketing department that is burning more cash than the entirely of the games production did.
I know I'm not the first person to say this on this forum, but god damn it EA, if you want to keep the franchise viable without having to sell unrealistic numbers of copies of the game, stop with all the fucking advertising!!! Haven't we gotten to the point now where advertising is actually becoming detrimental to games? You only need to look at that whole *whisper it* Mass Effect 3 fiasco to see that. The same thing is happening with the Tomb Raider reboot. The same thing is happening with Dead Space 3 (though if anyone truely held up hope of it being any good after the last one...)
This is a very uncertain time for the industry. I personally feel that gaming, as a platform for premier entertainment is - or at least has the potential to - coming into its own, and stand alongside literature or cinema. Better writing, better stories (they are out there, amongst all the FPSes). But with spiralling production costs, ridiculous amounts of hype, and a trio of next gen platforms fast approaching, its all going to be set back. Production costs for games are bad enough right now, when the next gen platforms appear, costs are going to go up even more, probably at the sacrifice of game length or potential for player involvement.
I think the companies are getting too caught up in the technological innovations to see what they really need to be focusing on. Look at the GamePad of the Wii-U, and how badly integrated it seems to be in most games. Ditto the Kinect, which is still struggling to find legitimacy, aside from copy-pasted dancing games that you need a motion capture studio sized space to play effectively. I find it all very distracting, and less immersive.
What I want from games - and I hope I'm not alone here - is interesting, well plotted stories, worlds, characters. I want to be able to play a game, check my watch, and realise I've lost hours because I'm so engrossed. And I cant see that happening much longer, considering the way the industry is going.
Drifted a little off point there, but hey...
