Games you are looking forward to

[Tale]

Generally, anytime I see the word "sucks" it is part of whining.

[Bokishi]

Well episodic gaming does suck, since you're only getting parts of a game with long ass waits inbetween that keep extending (if there's even a continuation at all)

 

*remembers EP2 of SiN Episodes being cancelled*

[karka]

It worked great with Sam & Max series.

[Tale]

Well episodic gaming does suck, since you're only getting parts of a game with long ass waits inbetween that keep extending (if there's even a continuation at all)

You can always just wait before buying.

[Bokishi]

I don't do waits.

[Hell Kitty]

I understand what you mean, but assuming it's just whining because he used a particular word just misses the point.

 

Two games I recently played that left me hanging were Runaway 2 (which ends right in the middle of the story), and Rainbow Six: Vegas (bad guy gets away, but we'll go after him, end of chapter one type deal) but what separates these two games from so-called episodic games like the HL episodes and (the now dead) Sin Episodes? The latter two games feature less content compared to typical games in the genre (less levels, enemies, & weapons; recycled content), and that's it. Both games failed to live up to the deadlines they set (SE was overdue before it was killed off) which seems to be the point of episodic gaming.

 

A stand alone game might leave itself wide open for a sequel but there's no guarantee when it will come or even if it will be made at all. I think when a developer makes an episodic game, they are offering a kind of guarantee that more will follow (tune in in x amount of time for the next exciting episode). As it is it just feels like a way to make a sequel without needing to meet the audiences expectation of what a sequel is. I don't think this is what Valve planned, I just think it's a failed attempt.

 

So far Sam & Max is the only series that has delivered.

 

You can always just wait before buying.

 

That argument doesn't do episodic gaming any justice at all. I mean why buy one Tomb Raider game in 1996 when you can wait ten years and buy a whole bunch of Tomb Raider games!

Edited April 29, 2007 by Hell Kitty

[Tale]

A stand alone game might leave itself wide open for a sequel but there's no guarantee when it will come or even if it will be made at all. I think when a developer makes an episodic game, they are offering a kind of guarantee that more will follow

And that's where you make a mistake. An "episode" is nothing other than just a game where they would like to create more. You see "full length" episodes. The .Hack games and Xenosaga being examples. The original .Hack was actually completed, Xenosaga not quite. There's no more guarantee that they'll make more than there is a guarantee on non-episodes there will be a sequel. The only thing you have is the early assurance they would like to make more. All it means is they have a bigger plan.

 

You can always just wait before buying.

 

That argument doesn't do episodic gaming any justice at all. I mean why buy one Tomb Raider game in 1996 when you can wait ten years and buy a whole bunch of Tomb Raider games!

If you have a complaint against Tomb Raider games leaving you waiting between releases, why not?

 

 

Episodes like we see in Half-Life 2, Sam & Max, and Sin are nothing more than a business model to attempt to get higher turnaround and feedback to help fund the rest of the game, really. That's all it really is. If you don't agree with the time between them, it's not hard to simply not buy them. It's a business model to try to cope with the rising costs of game development. And it does have consumer benefits, though nobody seems to care about those unless they're not met.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Tale

[Jorian Drake]

Generally, anytime I see the word "sucks" it is part of whining.

Then a lot of people whine in redlight districts

[Hell Kitty]

it's not hard to simply not buy them.

 

That's a terrible argument for, well, anything. "You don't like our faulty product that causes injury, it's not hard to simply not buy it."

 

I don't have a problem with episodic gaming, my issue is as I said before that once enough time has passed a game stops being an episode and becomes another sequel. Except that as an episode the developer doesn't have to deal with what customers expect out of a sequel.

 

Someone (I think it was Kaftan) said in an earlier thread that like tv shows you need to have the episodes ready to air. Airing a single episode then making the audience wait several months while you film the next one is not a good business model.

[Tale]

it's not hard to simply not buy them.

 

That's a terrible argument for, well, anything. "You don't like our faulty product that causes injury, it's not hard to simply not buy it."

It's not a terrible argument. Your example is outlandish and not remotely applicable. It's more like "well, you don't like our product, you can simply not purchase it." Trying to relate it to injury is silly.

 

I don't have a problem with episodic gaming, my issue is as I said before that once enough time has passed a game stops being an episode and becomes another sequel. Except that as an episode the developer doesn't have to deal with what customers expect out of a sequel.

Once again, this is ignoring the benefits of episodic gaming. One being that episodes are indeed released quicker. Before any argument can be made about episode 2 taking a while, it should be openly acknowledged that episode 1 was released. If they used a different model, episode 1 not only would not have been released, it wouldn't be released by the time episode 2 was ready and either by the time all the episodes were completed a single full scale product would either not yet be ready (due to integrating all features into the entire series) or be a distinctively inferior product (due to having no feedback or features that would have been integrated later in the cycle). Another being that even 2 years is often a short time for a game to be properly developed.

 

Someone (I think it was Kaftan) said in an earlier thread that like tv shows you need to have the episodes ready to air. Airing a single episode then making the audience wait several months while you film the next one is not a good business model.

Television is a lot more stable an industry than gaming. The majority of games do not make a profit.

 

 

Personally, I think the biggest thing I have to disagree with you is your seeming perceptions of what is expected of a sequal. By such reasoning, KOTOR II wasn't a sequel (or maybe just a poor sequel). One of the big reasons gaming is in such a poor state is because of expectations like that. The thinking that everything has to be completely rebuilt from scratch. If you want to use TV analogies, they reuse actors, props, and sets across the entire length of a series and not just seasons. Movies will reuse actors, props, and sets from entire other movies.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Tale

[Hell Kitty]

That's a terrible argument for, well, anything.

 

Nope, it's still a terrible argument, because it misses the point completely. I actually enjoyed HL2E1, more than HL2 and I'm not a big enough fan to care when HL2E2 is released. The issue isn't how much time goes by between playing episodes, it's the difference between a sequel and an episode.

 

One being that episodes are indeed released quicker.

 

Gah, that's just my point, episodes should be released quicker, and if the episodes can't be delivered in a timely manner then it defeats the purpose.

 

One of the big reasons gaming is in such a poor state is because of expectations like that.

 

Rubbish, sequels have always been criticised when they don't offer enough "new stuff" compared to the original. Besides, it's not just the reuse of assets, it's the limited content and story. RPGs like KOTOR2 (and the BG & IWD series) focus more on characters and story and less on flashy graphics so the reuse of assets isn't as noticeable compared to an FPS.

[Calax]

It'd be nice if episodic content was... episodic. You know, tune in in exactly six months and you'll get a full story that fills in on the ultimate meta arc? rather than

 

Here's act one of 3 wait 2 years before act two.

[Tale]

Rubbish, sequels have always been criticised when they don't offer enough "new stuff" compared to the original. Besides, it's not just the reuse of assets, it's the limited content and story. RPGs like KOTOR2 (and the BG & IWD series) focus more on characters and story and less on flashy graphics so the reuse of assets isn't as noticeable compared to an FPS.

I see your rubbish and raise you rubbish again. FPS games are about action. Something just as accomplish able with old assets as story. The proof that flashy graphics aren't as needed is still readily evidenced by the fact that the most popular online FPS is an 8 year old game.

[Hell Kitty]

It'd be nice if episodic content was... episodic. You know, tune in in exactly six months and you'll get a full story that fills in on the ultimate meta arc? rather than

 

Here's act one of 3 wait 2 years before act two.

 

Exactly. There have been sequels delivered in less time than so-called episodic games.

 

I see your rubbish and raise you rubbish again.

 

No, it's true. Sequels have always been criticised when they don't offer enough "new stuff" compared to the original. The popularity of old games is irrelevant.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Hell Kitty

[Wistrik]

Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

A warning to those who haven't played Episode One yet, as this preview contains spoilers to major events.

Hmm, I think I'll wait on this one and read reviews first. The mention of getting somethign done "in time" raises a red flag for me because I have come to despise games that impose time limits on the player. Invariably there isn't enough time for me to do what's necessary, and I end up getting rid of the game.

 

Aside from that disappointment, I'm still looking forward to HL2:EP2, and Dragon Age, and NWN2's expansion. I'll wait to read several reviews on all of them first. Not previews, but reviews of the final shipped product.

 

I don't mind the wait because I do a lot of programming and game modding inbetween releases, so I'm always busy no matter what.

 

Edit: oh, and I hope the hotrod in HL2:EP2 is easier to control; the buggy and boat in HL2 tend to be too sensitive to keypresses and will constantly oversteer. Also I don't understand the remark about the buggy not having much power; I wonder if either of the guys bothered to to use the nitrous the buggy comes with. Sure it's not as fast as pod racing, but it's faster than any of the Combine equipment.

Edited April 30, 2007 by Wistrik

[Humodour]

HL2 ep 1 was grand. I was adventuring the whole way instead of running around feeling like it was a chore (see HL2) and when I hit the end boss I was like "ooooh cool... that's what HL2 should have been like".

 

HL1, Opp Force and HL2: Ep 1 are my favourites in the series thus far.

 

Hmm just read Wikipedia and it said Episde 2 is developed by a different team. I'll probably be dissapointed Ep 2, since the Episode one team actually managed to capture the old HL.

Edited May 1, 2007 by Krezack

[mkreku]

Ok, not exactly looking forward to this, but it was so weird that I had to add it anyhow:

 

Winterheart's Guild, a post apocalyptic action-RPG

 

"The game is set an unknown number of years in the future, in an unnamed location that resembles a wintery post-apocolyptic Finland, but is not set in a specific real-world location."

 

W.T.F?!?

 

http://www.winterheartsguild.com/wg/index.htm

[Jora]

Not only that, but the development team is named after a band and the game features its musicians as characters.

[Xard]

Yeah, Winterheart's Guild is album by finnish power metal group, Sonata Arctica

 

I remember reading about this from somewhere. Lame

[Musopticon?]

That's the freacking epitome of lame. Not only did they choose a band to make a mod about, they chose the suckiest possible power group in Finland. Blergh.

[ghosta]

I'm waiting for an unknown game called Spore. It's a real time strategy game were you create a creature and evolve it over millions of years. The game is planed to allow sharing of user made creatures online so your creatures have something to interact with.

 

link to spore site

[Jorian Drake]

I'm waiting for an unknown game called Spore. It's a real time strategy game were you create a creature and evolve it over millions of years. The game is planed to allow sharing of user made creatures online so your creatures have something to interact with.

 

link to spore site

it seems it lacks the ability to create sexy humanoid girls like 'orion girls' or 'vulcanians' or 'twi'leks'

[metadigital]

... Because that is how an epic-scale RTS strategy game should be judged ...

[ghosta]

I'm waiting for an unknown game called Spore. It's a real time strategy game were you create a creature and evolve it over millions of years. The game is planed to allow sharing of user made creatures online so your creatures have something to interact with.

 

link to spore site

it seems it lacks the ability to create sexy humanoid girls like 'orion girls' or 'vulcanians' or 'twi'leks'

 

I think that's because they are humanoid meaning that they evolved from humans or share a comon ansestor with humans. That means your basically creating the humans species over again.

Sinse the idea is to create a new species, creating an exsisting species is not fullfiling the games goal.

[Bokishi]

Yeah well I want sexy humanoid girls as well