Jimquisition: Sequel or Slaughter

Jimothy Sterling

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Sequel or Slaughter

Must every new videogame become a sequel-spawning franchise? Is it through necessity, or simple avarice that mainstream game development makes it so?

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karma9308

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Speaking of the Last of Us, I couldn't have asked for a better ending to this video. Bravo.
 

synobal

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Personally I think Studios should not be attached so much of creating squeals but instead creating new games with in the same setting. Unfortunately this means a lot of times they will be tempted to do the same thing again and again rather than explore new aspects of the setting.
 

Canadamus Prime

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Jun 17, 2009
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This is why it irritates me every time the "What games deserve a sequel" thread pops up on this site. We have to accept part of the blame for this.
 

Wilco86

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God how I love Bayonetta, and when I say that I kinda dislike the idea of Bayonetta 2 people usually say that it's because I don't have a Wii U. Well, for me the first Bayonetta ended with a perfect upbeat note and I think the sequel has more to lose than to win;

I prefer coolheaded Jeanne way over Bayonetta as a character, so maybe they do something nasty to Jeanne to force Bayonetta to a new adventure. Is there anything *reasonable* (yeah, right!) to challenge Bayonetta after she demolished friggin' Creator and the Four Virtues?

I did not ask for a sequel, but I understand those who do. It's just that I'm a bit worried for the setting of my favourite PS3 game...

PS: But I'll be getting the Wii U when Bayonetta 2's release date gets closer.
 

Casual Shinji

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Ubisoft already expressed this opinion before the very first Assassin's Creed was even released. And now they seem to be fully embracing this ideal of turning every new IP into a baby factory before it's even conceived. Meaning Watchdogs will already be passé before we've even played it.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I like to see Shadow of the Colossus and ICO cited but I'm not sure they deserve to? Shadow was marketed as a "spiritual prequel" to ICO after all. And Sony's making Last Guardian, the third in a trilogy of similarly-themed games. So why cite them as examples of one-off stand-alone games, Jim?
 

NinjaDeathSlap

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Feb 20, 2011
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Here's a simple, 3-step guide to the questions game publishers/develops should ask themselves when exploring the possibility of turning a stand-alone title into a franchise.

1). Was the game well received enough to warrant a sequel?

2). Are there enough people inside the company who actually WANT to make a sequel, that it can be done to at least the same level of quality as the first game, preferably better?

3). Did the conclusion to the first game leave ample opportunity to expand into a sequel?

NOTE: As should be self-explanatory by questions 1 and 3, such questions should only be asked AFTER the original game has been finished, released, and received by the press and public.

It is a sad state of affairs indeed, when the consumers feel like they have to spell out the fucking obvious to the people who claim to/ be the experts in the field.
 

Lightknight

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Great video. Great response. Massive Franchises have a place and smaller one-offs have their place.

What's more, if a smaller one-off has its place then there's always a chance for a convoluted sequel of some sort. Making smaller new IPs is a way of testing and proding the market for what consumers want. Perhaps these big companies feel threatened by indie games that are becoming much more viable in the market place and are usually one-offs? This could become a form of market specialization in which bigger companies focus on the massive AAA franchize titles and smaller companies without the resources to do that take more risks?

Either way, an open mind = good business. A closed mind will be stagnation.
 

Carnagath

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Ubisoft's stance is so retarded that I'm not even sure it's worth commenting on. Having an overinflated development and marketing budget and treating every single title you fund as a loss leader is going to make you implode. Sooner or later is debatable depending on your luck, but the outcome is certain. If I had invested in Ubisoft, I'd be losing a lot of sleep and preparing to pull out at the right moment.
 

Sehnsucht Engel

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It is ridiculous that the hobbit, a children's book much shorter than LoTR was turned into a freaking trilogy. I don't even care to watch it, because they're overdoing it. Simpsons should have ended long ago too.

So yeah, I agree with most of what you said. I do wish there were more of some things, but not if it means they are worse than the thing I love and drag it into the dirt by simply existing.

I'm still surprised they've managed to make so many AC games. It's not even a decent stealth game.
 

Jman1236

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Say what you will about COD but at least they alternate developers every year so each game gets at least 2 years in development and doesn't feel rushed. I have no problem will sequels but I agree that this is a big problem for the industry.
 

plaxcaster

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Johnny Novgorod said:
I like to see Shadow of the Colossus and ICO cited but I'm not sure they deserve to? Shadow was marketed as a "spiritual prequel" to ICO after all. And Sony's making Last Guardian, the third in a trilogy of similarly-themed games. So why cite them as examples of one-off stand-alone games, Jim?
Heavy Rain is also a spiritual sequel of Fahrenheit, the point is that they're closed stories, with a definitive beggining and ending.
 

Lilani

Sometimes known as CaitieLou
May 27, 2009
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Normally I agree with you Jim, but I have one MAJOR problem with this episode: Back the fuck off the Hobbit. Making it a trilogy was Peter Jackson's idea, not the studio's. The studio approved it of course, but it became pretty evident during production that they weren't going to fit all of their ideas in two movies as originally planned. Because remember--it was originally supposed to be two movies. It was planned that way, and the studio approved it. And there was no doubt in anybody's mind it was going to make money. The halfway point for principle photography was about the same number of days into production as the halfway point for LotR. And the reason it's getting so long even though the Hobbit is such a simple story is because they're bringing in the necromancer story from the Silmarillion, which regales what Gandalf was doing when he wasn't with Thorin and Co. Also, I think he's fleshing out the culture of the elves of Mirkwood a bit, exploring their inner politics more than the original book did. But it's still all from Tolkien.

So that one comparison got a major NOPE from me. Peter Jackson is many things, but a sellout is not one of them. If anything, he had even more creative freedom with the Hobbit. I mean, who else can tell a studio "I want to completely restructure this project in and add a whole other movie to it" in the middle of production and have it approved? That not only requires a ballsy director to make the call, but a lot of trust on the studio's end that he can pull it off and not have the whole thing fall apart like a house of cards.
 

RJ 17

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Nov 27, 2011
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Ohhhhhh GOD! It's dripping! xP

As a fellow lover of Dynasty Warriors, I know exactly where you're coming from Jim. On the other hand, that's kinda a guilty pleasure seeing as how the DW games are almost all exactly the same, therefor failing your "need to be made" test. I like the improved graphics, the new characters, the various tweeks in interpretation to the stories and characters, but in the end if you've played one DW game you've pretty much played them all.

On the whole, though, I fully agree with your overall point. I used to be a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series. First game was fun, 2nd game was perfected, 3rd was pretty sweet and had a really fun multiplayer. And I believe after that is when they officially announced "Alright! Fire up the presses, time for a new game every year!" As such, Revelations was a rushed piece of crap, ACIII was just straight-up crap, and thus I have absolutely no intention of getting Black Flag. Like a piece of warm taffy, they've stretched and stretched and stretched that series until the story continue within it has become so thin and meaningless that it might as well not even be there.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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undeadsuitor said:
If it wasn't for the developer telling us they're related, nobody would have known.
That's the whole point though, isn't it? They tell us.

They tell us they're related, market them as related, sell them as related. The same group of people working under the same developer name for the same production company develop three similarly themed, similarly designed, similarly looking games that are marketed as part of the same franchise and the first two are even sold together nowadays, as halves of one story.
 

Bayushi_Kouya

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Would you rather do four hours worth of work and receive $60, or eleven hours worth of work and receive $200? I know which one my boss would prefer.