Hail all,
There's been some change of late. THQ shuttered, and there's actually a pretty good look at why right here on GB.
Surely as a corporate they made misteps, threw money at dead projects and kept making kids games even when the kids started playing in browsers and mobiles. Suddenly Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds was eating into their bottom line, and in the last few years there were less original games coming out.
But that wasn't always the case. They made heaps of great games, and even started some franchises in the sixth and early seventh generation. Games like Red Faction changed for the better, there was the brilliance of Company of Heroes, and weirdness in Saints Row and Destroy All Humans.
After THQ was no more, quite a few of their games found new homes - and I'm happy to see that South Park: The Stick of Truth and Company of Heroes 2 are safe. But the loss of Darksiders doesn't bode well for the industry - and that's something that a champion of the industry should be promoting, rather than degrading.
Yet I'm hearing from multiple developers, with the loudest voice being CliffyB's that Saints Row would be a better title if it got rid of it's "signature" weapon, the giant purple dildo bat.
I don't think so. Get rid of that, get rid of the gimps and hos... and what you have is another GTA clone. Perhaps a great clone, but one reeking of "me too" and devoid of any real identity. Koch Media paid a pretty penny for Saints Row (as well as the developer Volition and franchise Metro) for the very reason that it's unique.
Calling it immature - I turn it around on him by questioning Bulletstorm, a game called out by the NRA for all the wrong reasons.
Surely our games do need to grow up, we're still seeing drek like Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 and Duke Nukem Forever, (mind you, these are big name releases from big name studios that also failed commercially), but the point being that games, especially on consoles and whenever I wander into a games store, are seen as a masochistic, masculine, boys club activities with a strict "look, but don't touch" attitude towards the girls.
Perhaps that's why they're seen as sex objects in so many games, and hey lets not forget the way the internet acted like a dick to Anita Sarkeesian, who was only trying to explore this.
The industry needs to be known for Journey and Heavy Rain and Saints Row The Third equally. It shouldn't have to explain for Saint's Row because it's an equal opportunity offender.
And it's a riot to play.
And that's the attitude that Koch Media is apparently taking towards the series - it's original, fun and over the top, but it's not pretentious or seedy.
And it's that originality that the game industry needs, lest we all be inundated with GTA and Call of Duty clones.
The games industry needs to show that it can have it's flight of fancy - and bank on a game which isn't hard-set by what game-testing is saying is the next big thing.
It can have it's cake (mmmm, cake) and eat it too. A great idea shouldn't be ignored if market research is pointing towards a tried and tested concept. Even if it's immature, is it any more immature by ignoring their own sense of creativity?
But that's not to say that there isn't a responsibility to be shared. For surely if the games industry is to be seen on the same platform as other entertainment media then it needs to shed it's image as a place only for the boys.
Cheers,
Senno.
All media has their "immature" and "mature" content, this does not only pertain to video games. Immature people play games, there need to be and are games that entertain them. This also goes for "mature" gamers. Their are lots of outlets for both groups. And the industry is know for games like Mario, Portal, and Halo, not the "drek" like DoA or Duke Nukem, in fact those games are ridiculed by all but the people who enjoy them. Games like Journey and The Walking dead cleaned house when it game to Game of the Year selections.
You're claiming the industry needs to fix an image that it has been fixing for years now. Bold.
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