Angry Gaming 09.18.06: Get Back In The Box
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 09.18.2006
The good old days weren’t THAT good…
Welcome to Angry Gaming. None of us have ever been molested by Yuji Naka, but we might as well have been. I'm your hate master Damian Sarcuni and in the rain or in the snow, I got the got the funky flow. Let's bring it on back now.
Get Back In the Box
With this being the 10th Angry Gaming article here on 411, my pride has swelled enough to the point where I'll actually go back and look over my old articles. I was doing just that when I realized that my list of articles looks awfully similar to a list of included games in any one of Capcom's anniversary collections. Ah, now there is a torn issue if ever I've seen one. Retro gaming bothers the hell out of me. On one hand, I love revisiting old series I enjoyed in the past and checking out the cool little extras game companies package in with their refurbished product. On the other hand, been there done that…many, many times.
We currently stand on the cusp of a brave new world. With the three major console companies of the world fighting fiercely for gamer dollars this holiday season, backwards compatibility and retro gaming has become a significant selling point for everyone involved. Gamers don't have as many high profile sequels to look forward to on each console. These days, the "in" thing is the ability to play long forgotten games on next-gen systems, and for the life of me I can't figure out why.
It isn't uncommon to hear gamers from the golden age of Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis go on about the console titles of yesteryear and just how much they meant to everyone. I do agree somewhat, it is nice to revisit the past every now and then. But the good old days weren't THAT good. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and I can no longer stand idly by and watch the impending retro wave crash down upon the shores of the game industry. Next-gen retro is going to be a bad thing, and despite how excited some of you ol' geezers are, it's time to acknowledge that.
On Pain of 3D
When Super Mario 64 was released, the gaming world was essentially lit on fire. Here was a game that featured incredible free roaming, detailed textures, and game mechanics the likes of which had never really been seen before. Sure, there were other pretender's to the 3D throne in the past, but Mario's animation style, roaming cameras, and analog manipulation put Super Mario 64 right into gaming history, further cementing the pudgy little plumber's legendary status in game and human history.
The problem is, when Mario hit new heights of success, the rest of the game industry wanted a piece of the action. Mario was a household name series, but other game series were pretty popular in their day too, so developers logically inferred that incorporating 3D in each series would yield similar profits. The results, however, were often pretty horrible. Games like Castlevania 64 and Mega Man Legends began to flood the game markets and it wasn't long before a 3-D playing system and few hundred unlockable extras weren't enough to make a good game. The gamers of the world didn't just want 3D engines; they wanted good games created on the engines. Thus, when the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox were released, a new wave of innovation hit and game sales went through the roof. Powered by proper 3D graphics and nominal gameplay, video games hit an all time social high, being viewed as "not just for kids anymore".
Now it's time for yet another transitional phase in the gaming world, and it seems as if game makers haven't learned their lesson completely. Bringing back classic game after classic game and marking them down in price seems like a novel idea, at first, but now the game market is suffering the exact same saturation that it did back in the initial 3D age. Bandwagons and trends just don't last that long in video games, and this particular one is even worse because it actually affects how we look at our own game history. It's as if developers are wiping their asses with their own first 3D games, and telling the public "Yeah, we didn't like those games either! We like the stuff that came before better too!" but they are still just throwing more of the same franchises at us. They don't seem to realize that 2D graphics did become nearly extinct for a reason, overfeeding the gamer populous with them will yield just as bad results as 3D graphics did.
It's only a matter of time before developers start to run out of 1st and 2nd gen games to bring back, then there is a chance they will start to consider bringing back the 3rd generation. We've already seen Super Mario DS, but how long will it be before those god awful Tomb Raider sequels get re-released onto portable consoles?
Crossing the line, missing the point
Its one thing to bring back an occasional collection now and then, but quite another for a game like Super Street Fighter II Turbo to be a selling point for a game console like the Xbox 360. Before, when retro games were brought back as add-ons for sequel packages and part of series collections, it was all good. I enjoyed playing Pocket Fighter on the Street Fighter Alpha Collection, and I even have a friend who bought Fight Night round 2 on the GameCube just because it included Super Punch Out. In this way, game developers are like archaeologists, digging up the masterpieces of their past and putting them on display in their current game exhibits. Again, however, moderation is key. Too many archaeologists become nothing more than grave robbers, bringing back games that have barely had time to leave our memories (do we really need a King of Fighters collection every year?) or games that we never cared about in the first place.
On top of this, game resurrection services like GameTap are also starting to pop up, which means we now have multiple ways to pay for games that we have already bought, beat, and sold years ago. Even Valve's Steam service is getting into the re-release trend, shilling out Majesco titles such as Advent Rising and Bloodrayne 2 for $18 to $20 (these titles go for under $10 used at your local Gamestop bargain bin). Re-releases are allowing game companies to literally spit the same crap at us for total profit. In the case of downloadable games, there isn't even a software production cost. Hmm, on second thought, I take it back. Maybe Tecmo DOES know what they're doing…
Next-Gen Déjà vu
Here's a riddle for you. Once upon a time, I walked into a video game store. I looked around and saw that Sony had a tight grip on the video game industry. Playstation was the #1 selling console. Gran Turismo was the top selling race game. Tekken was the latest fighter. I shook my head and walked out of the store in disgust. Riddle me this: what year did I walk into that game store? If you said 1998, you're wrong.
The answer is 2005. The Playstation had a 2 in front of it. Gran Turismo had a 4 in front of it. Tekken had a 5 in front of it. In 2005 gaming history literally repeated itself as the sequels of all top selling video game software and hardware from seven years prior was literally remade and sold out to the public all over again. Now, with all next generation portable systems released, and new consoles soon to follow, game series are not only rehashing in the form of retro resurrections but also in the form of sequels. Yes, Gran Turismo 4 has far more to offer than the first release of the popular racing series, but the basic mechanics remain unchanged. The same goes for Tekken.
I am beginning to wonder if any truly new games will be made for the Playstation 3 at all. Right now, some of the biggest selling points are the latest from the Metal Gear and Final Fantasy series. While I'm sure both of these games will be just fine, they probably won't surprise or shock those that play them. Why should they? If game designers don't have to go back to the drawing board to make their money, they won't. If consumers eat up the retro wave, what's to stop top developers from sitting back and collecting their pay while throwing out the same old ideas into the market? I predict innovation will be a diamond in the rough this holiday season (With the possible exception of the Wii. Playing Zelda over and over again is one thing, playing it with a remote control version of the Power Glove might be another).
Coming Full Circle
One of the major reasons that I miss my 3DO so much is that it was a console that had no franchises. (This is probably also why it died.) Every game on that console was a new experience, albeit a linear one. Its one thing to have a franchise but it's another to have nothing new to do with it. Rather than try to branch out with their series, many companies would rather go with what works, and they are draining their own ideas dry.
One of the reasons Mario has survived so long is because Nintendo goes out of their way to throw him in all sorts of whacky situations. Sure, Mario 64 was all about basic adventure, but Super Mario Sunshine swapped most of that action to become a 3D shooter. Add in the fact that Mario has apparently played every major sport known to man (Super Mario Vale Tudo anyone?) and you can safely say that Mario will be around for a long time to come.
Look again at Tomb Raider. This series relied mostly on the concept of its character instead of the actual gameplay, which quickly becomes repetitive. The only thing you can really do with the Tomb Raider franchise is make more Tomb Raider sequels. After awhile, people start to get sick of it. Although Eidos has been working on expanding their gameplay engine, they haven't been able to capitalize on their most popular series as they did in the past, because they haven't really given it the injection of imagination it so desperately needs. Can you think of any other series or even cloned games that also need a booster shot? I bet you can.
The Anger
I am absolutely sick of hearing how Nintendo is going under. Anyone who feels that Nintendo is losing control in the video game industry does not realize who made Pokemon. If there is any hope for innovation in the future of gaming, it lies with Nintendo. We are already seeing that the little punk kids who were lured in by the attitude of the Xbox and the PS2 are more interested in the DS touch screen than the PSP's online capabilities, so let's hope next-gen consoles follow suit.
It's just so rare that an all new game idea truly gets to shine. I long for another Parappa the Rappa, another Katamari Damacy, or even another Tetris. I don't want another sequel to these games, I want another game that is so far out of the box it has the same impact that these games did. As is always with the game industry, it's a trial by fire before we get what we want, and more profits will be lost before company executives really understand what we're saying. Sigh…oh well, more articles for me. Until next time my personal Mishima Corporation, embrace the hatred.
