There are all kinds of controversial questions out there regarding the video game industry. Each and every Wednesday we will ask each member to give their opinion on one of them. Every once in a while we will have simpler questions that are more of a “Get to know your editor” type question. This will give you a chance to see that we are not all like minded and have a wide range of opinions. Also: You the readers can submit questions for us to answer here. So feel free to submit them to this story or emailing them to mong.podcast@gmail.com.
Week 3: How do you feel about sequels? Should developers give up on sequels and start making more new IPs?
Courtney Osborn, Founder & Editor in Chief:
This is a tricky question. I love games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag because it gives developers a chance to learn from all of the previous entries in their series. They perfect a lot of the things they put in the early entries to make an awesome games later on. But at the same time, I really enjoy new IPs. If anything, I think it would be cool for developers to go on a every other year or every other game cycle where they try out new IPs and then continue making sequels to their popular series.
Chad Waller, Editor:
From a monetary standpoint, sequels and franchises need to stay or the AAA industry will collapse [Citation Needed]. Ubisoft needs its mandatory Assassin’s Creed money to help fund its other projects, and Activision needs its Call of Duty money for hookers and blow. Without these things, both of those publishing companies would fail and have to go back to being vampires on the streets, and the world isn’t ready for that. We do not have a Van Hellsing of the 21st century.
And that’s a scary thought, because the world is filled with hidden monsters.
Shawn Richards, Editor:
I like seeing new IP more than sequels. In my experience, there is rarely a game that is great after the third installment. Truthfully, it is exceedingly rare for a game franchise to last beyond the fifth game because fans will cry out against it. Assassin’s Creed and Resident Evil may be exceptions to the rule, but they concentrated on something that was completely different than their originals. The original Assassin’s Creed focused on stealth and history, while AC4 was more of a pirate simulator with history taking a backseat. Resident Evil was originally a horror game with zombies. RE4 took the franchise into the action-shooter focus that is has now.
New IP are exciting because they are full of mystery and potential if they weren’t so damn overhyped with 15 trailers. I’m looking at you, Watch_Dogs. However, I am still excited about that game than whatever Mario has next in his 1000th game. There are just some franchises that need to die, but that is a question for another day.
Brett Medlock, Editor:
Noooo! I love sequels! They’re an expansion of what we already love! Although, I think there is always room for new IPs. I personally would like to see a more new IPs because sequels are currently flooding game industry. Why? Because they make developers much more money! Devs will surely go where the money is, that is the goal of course! I think as were heading into a new generation of gaming, we are already seeing some stellar new IPs. (Watch Dogs, Wonderful 101, The Order)
New IPs should come, sequels should stay.
Jonathan Smith, Editor:
Let’s be real here: Sequels are going to happen. There is not a single person who has played a game they loved and haven’t thought that they’d love to have more. Sequels can be lots of fun, and can let players head back into a world that they have an attachment to. This is not always the rule though; because sequels are all about timing.
You need to give each iteration it’s own breathing lest you drive the series into the ground. It’s the danger of the annualized release. At some point, your fans will stop caring about picking up the game each and every single year, and your return on investment will start to drop. Taking time between each game in the series builds audience anticipation, and a desire for the release.That’s sequel-ing done right.
The flipside of the coin is that new IP (intellectual properties, e.g. new games) are a scary business. Nothing is guaranteed and so from a business standpoint, it’s the far riskier proposition. Long story short, they are a hard sell to the guys in the suits. Nonetheless, they are what keeps the medium fresh. An influx of new ideas is always beneficial to the industry and constantly moves things forward.
To be more succinct, it’s a symbiotic relationship. Companies need sequels to help fund the new ideas, which if they succeed, turn into sequels, which will pay for the new ideas, etc. etc. etc. so and and so forth.
It’s all about making fun experiences….and making money…
I personally like both….if anyone cares.
Steven Shearer, Editor:
Yes and no. The majority of the games that I play that are a new IP I want a sequel for after completing it. For example, after playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, I needed to get a sequel, I wanted to experience that gameplay but with a different story.
However, I also would like to see more new IP’s but if I was a fan of those new IP’s I would definitely want a sequel of that IP!
Ryan Latuso, Editor:
The funny thing about this is that I see a requests for sequels all the time on the internet, but people get outraged about sequels they don’t care about. From a financial perspective, companies need sequels. It is much cheaper to make a sequel instead of a new IP. Personally, the market needs both. I just want the developers making whatever they can and feel they have content for. I play Assassin’s Creed every year and I plan to play Watch Dogs.
Dustin LaRoe, Editor:
I am of two minds on this issue. On the one hand, there are a ton of games that I look forward to see what the developers do next. There are games that need to be revisited and expanded upon. Some games only scratch the surface in gameplay or story. I would love a sequel to Blast Corps or Chromehounds. But I’m afraid we won’t see them.
On the other hand, getting a Madden or Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed every year gets tiresome. Some games do not need annual releases. I imagine that one day a studio will stumble into the magic formula of full sized game releases vs DLC and roster updates. I think Madden could be awesome if it was given a full five year treatment between releases. They could do patches and updates and DLC at the start of every season. It doesn’t have to be a new release every year. I buy a copy every ten years. I’d pay for DLC roster updates every year, though.
I am suffering from brand fatigue on Assassin’s Creed pretty bad. I really liked AC1 and AC2, but that was the last one I bought. I never looked at Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood or Revelations, or even Assassin’sCreed 3. I heard that AC4 was awesome, so I rented it on Xbox 360, but I couldn’t get into it at all. I even tried it again on Xbox One, but I felt like AC4 didn’t have an artistic vision or a reason to exist besides the fact that Ubisoft needed to pump out a tenth Assassin’s Creed game.
I don’t even know where to start on Call of Duty. The last CoD game I bought was Modern Warfare 3. Ionly played it for an hour and then I turned it off. I’m just done with Call of Duty. There’s simply too many games. I can’t get onboard anymore. There are so many other games that I enjoy more.
Benjamin Luthi, Editor:
There are a lot of factors to this question, so I can’t really say yes or no. Some developers are really good at what they do, so they always manage to keep sequels fresh and exciting. So far, every Smash Bros. game has been amazing, and the new one looks good, too. As long as the same people (or same type of people) keep making those games, I will continue to play them. The same goes for many Nintendo IPs, especially F-Zero. Seriously, Nintendo. Let’s have a new F-Zero already.
That being said, some games deserve sequels, but only every so often. Guitar Hero comes to mind. It was a fun game, but they made so many of them so quickly, that people became tired of it. I suppose the series was a fad and was doomed to fail anyway, but the fact remains that Activision milked it too hard. Even executives admitted as much once the series died.
When it all comes down to it, video gaming is a business, and companies will (sometimes) make games that make business sense. Nintendo is going to make Mario games and Microsoft is going to make Halo games. The best we can do is hope that they continue to make sure these are good games (and so far, I haven’t been too disappointed with either).
Myles Farrington, Editor:
This question is hard to answer. Some games need sequels, such as games that focus on really pulling the player into a story. It makes sense for those titles to be made into trilogies or hexologies. However a game like Resogun, it doesn’t really need a sequel. There was very little story so why would it need another installment? However at the same time I know that everyone wants more of a series that they enjoy. No one wants to find themselves getting really into a game only for it to never have a sequel.
When it comes to new IPs I do think that it’s a great thing that developers have been putting more focus on them in the recent years. With titles like Destiny, The Crew, and whatever Blizzard has going on behind closed doors it’s clear that developers value, and want, to make something new. I know that I love seeing new titles on the horizon. I love to see games that I haven’t gotten to play with yet, jumping into new worlds excites me.
When it really comes down to business and money sequels and new IPs need one another. Companies are squeamish when it comes to taking chances and risks these days. New IPs need sequels because sequels are what companies can say “We’ll recover when X game 3 comes out, so we can take a chance with X new IP.” At the same time sequels need new IPs because gaming is a very nebulous hobby. People won’t always play the same thing forever, so new advances and stories need to be hitting the scene rather frequently.
Colin Conroy, Editor:
Like many people, I find myself in a love/hate relationship with sequels. Of course, I’m always excited to hear about exciting new IPs, but I also want to see more of the franchises I know and love. For example, one of my favorite games of all time is the first Alan Wake. I love everything about that game: the story, the unique gameplay, even the graphical style. I was really happy when Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake: American Nightmare too. However, I’m pleased that they decided to go in a new direction on Xbox One with Quantum Break. I can only hope that they’ll give Alan Wake another look when the time is right though.
Aaron Dobbe, Editor:
For the most part, this doesn’t really matter to me. As long as the games are fun, I don’t mind if it’s in the skin of a previous game or something entirely new. Though of course, if I really enjoyed a game, I’ll be excited for another iteration that builds on the gameplay mechanics.
As a gamer, I’m not a huge fan of when a series starts pumping out games in rapid, regular succession. Again, it’s not that I dislike sequels, it’s that I’d rather see a little more time spent on making the game more interesting rather than just getting another title out there to rake in the big bucks. On the other hand, I’m aware that these provide the big publishers with the money they need to take risks on new IPs, so I’m not going to advocate the discontinuation of the practice – I just won’t be playing every installment of said series.
Jess Guilbeaux, Editor:
I love sequels to games like AC or the Fable series, but there has to be a line. Series can quickly get run into the ground like the COD series. I would love to see new IP but not if it were at the expense of creating sequels to great games. I would love for a new game to be created that I love as much as Assassin’s Creed. If such a great game were created, I would expect a sequel. And thus, the vicious cycle continues.
Middle Of Nowhere Gaming 