Sequels aren't just for movies anymore

Whenever a genre of entertainment becomes extremely profitable there is always a tendency to "stick with the winning formula".

TV shows have spin-offs
Books have squels
Music has radio (ha!)
Movies have sequels, prequels and spin-offs and anything else to kick a dead horse...

Well, for those living in a cave, you can add video games to your list. Video games are big time these days, grossing more than box office receipts in 2004. Games have to get bigger and better, and therefore, more expensive. This leads to companies taking the safe road and rehashing sucessful titles that didn't differ that much from the last game they made anyways.

Take, for example, Electronic Arts. EA is the world's largest producer/distributer of video games. They are what Microsoft is to computers. They took in over $3 Billion in profits last year. Yes, I said billion (that's a lot of quarters!). Of the 35 titles they plan to release in the next year, only 1 is a new intelectual property. 34 releases will be sequels. I guess we shouldn't really be suprised though, with all the children glued to video game consoles these days, that EA woudl simply try to maximize profit at the expense of creativity, art, or interest.

Funny thing though, some of the largest selling games of all time (and this is from my days as a writer for a game site) have ALWAYS been the ones to try something different. King's Quest, KOTOR, The Sims, Myst, Medal of Honour, Age of Empires, etc. These games have taken a new look at gaming, or maybe even their genres, and given it a swift kick in the arse. So, one may ask, where have all the originals gone? Is there no new blood left in these industries?

The answer, of course, is they are still here, you just can't see them. I don't know how it works in the publishing industry or movies, but in music, as in the gaming world, the big boys hold all the cards. You'll never see a bright, new, exciting idea in a game when the costs of creating a game is running around 20-30 million per AAA title (and taking on average 3-4 years to complete) - the big studios just won't risk that much on anything but a sure bet. That why you end of with everything this year ending in a number...

But maybe someday the gaming industry will take a cue from the music business, hopefully before they run into the same problems. Yes it's quiet easy to download games from the internet, but the problem is nowhere near what music companies are facing now. Young people's fundamental perceptions of music are changing - how they hear it and how they aquire it. The the old models can't keep up. There have been some innovations in recent years, but a lot more has to change in order to stay alive...

I'm sorry, I have no idea why I am going off on this stuff. Just read this article and let me know if you agree. The old models are crumbling and whether they like or not they have to change or die.