Utiow21

I'm completely and utterly stunned. I don't think I've ever been so devastated by the loss of someone I've never met in person. Giantbomb has always been a safe haven for me, and Ryan's voice and unforgettably witty commentary have brought me so much comfort and amusement through some pretty rough times. Through countless quicklooks, bombcasts, TANG episodes and the like, Ryan and the rest of the bomb crew have become an important part of my life and losing him honestly feels like losing a close friend.

Rest in peace, Ryan. You will be sorely missed.

http://www.ology.com/post/253380/exclusive-interview-with-tommy-refenes-of-team-meat-

One of my close friends conducted the interview. I was pretty surprised at how direct and sometimes brutally honest Tommy Refenes' responses were, but I found his opinions on the rise of small independent game studios and the role of education in game design to be pretty thought provoking.

Did I capture the feel of the game? I'd love to know what you guys think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKPh8LyCNw&list=HL1341800558&feature=mh_lolz

Anyone remember Constance Johnson's "masturbation ban"? The whole point was so show how ridiculous some of the bills proposed regarding women are by flipping it and showing how absurd an equivalent bill would sound when directed towards men. And yet so many people thought she was serious...

@Video_Game_King: I agree that originality does not equate quality. FF8 tried to do things very differently from most JRPGS and previous Final Fantasy games with junctioning and drawing, and even the way you got money. And to be honest- I kind of hated it for it. I felt like the developers were trying to change up the mechanics for the sake of it, rather than considering it if made for better gameplay.

I do think originality is important though simply because we all crave stimulation and are easily jaded.

@Phatmatic: My argument is not that the game industry is lacking in innovation, in the same way that movies as an art form are not lacking in creativity. But Hollywood does not make up all of film, just as blockbuster games do not make up the entire game industry. But are you saying that we shouldn't expect more of big budget games simply because smaller titles exist? Because I'd argue that this method of thinking is what allowed Hollywood to become as tired and rote as what you see today.

@believer258: That's a great point. Market saturation is a huge part of where the fatigue comes from and COD has spawned countless copycats, so the fatigue comes not just from the series itself but from the games it inspires as well. Didn't really consider this at the time.

@Spoonman671: Well, yeah that is part of it. You might disagree, but I do feel that critics are surprisingly lenient when it comes to pokemon. But I think you'll find that's hardly the main point of my post if you read it through.

A toss up between Mass Effect 3 and Xenoblade

Bastion's a great place to start. Braid is also pretty short (and a masterpiece in my opinion), but the puzzles ramp up in difficulty pretty quickly and it can get pretty frustrating.

If you step back, it pretty astounding just how far video games have come in terms of gameplay and design in such a short amount of time. However, it seems as the cost of production for A-list games has increased, the desire to take new risks and explore uncharted territory (no pun intended) has diminished. Though I believe the modern gaming market is a far-cry from being truly stale, (especially compared with Hollywood) I still experience sequel fatigue, which I'm sure many of you can relate to.

I love when developers try to take well-worn series in new directions, and I think for many gamers, there is an expectation for innovation with each new iteration. However, I can't help but feel that some franchises seem to get a free pass. After two iterations of Modern Warfare, many series fans felt tired of the formula and demanded change, which led to a pretty serious falling out for many, when MW3 failed to live up to their expectations. I too felt it was time for change, but why then do franchises like Pokemon still receive critical acclaim? Sure there are plenty of new Pokemon and the online features have improved dramatically, but the core mechanics and gameplay systems have remained almost unchanged for 15 years.

Is it because games like Pokemon and Mario Kart are more geared towards younger audiences than Assassin's Creed? (which has also gotten a lot of flack for its yearly iterations, though AC3 looks to be mixing things up) Then what about the fighting game genre? Games like Street Fighter 4 and the Mortal Kombat reboot seem like really good refinements of decade old formulas than real leaps forward. But I guess with competitive games, you start getting into risky territory. An employee at Blizzard (wish I remembered who) equated Starcraft 2 to making "basketball 2" in that the rules of play were already so well ingrained in players, and the competitive space so established (especially in Korea) that they really couldn't change much. Couldn't you argue then that competitive shooters should be able to rest on their laurels for the same reasons?

And what is it about Nintendo that allows them to get away with this in their core franchises? Sure- this isn't always the case (see Mario Galaxy) but games like Mario Kart and Zelda (pre Skyward Sword) have kept their core mechanics through several console generations.

So any thoughts? Do you guys think innovation is especially important, or would you be okay with franchises fine-tuning the existing elements of their design through multiple games? And do you guys think that games like Pokemon really are getting a free pass, or is there more to it that I'm not seeing?