Sequel Generation

[Originally published in Forge Press: Issue 1] By James Cook

The gaming industry has changed irreparably with the current generation of consoles. Development costs for the Xbox 360 and PS3 are so high that many games are not managing to sell enough copies to break even, and to counter this problem several publishers are focusing mainly on sequels. It seems to make sense for everyone, allowing developers to make big budget games for a reduced sales risk and giving the fans more of what they like. However, it seems now that the number of original games coming out has decreased substantially, as shown by a quick look at some major exclusives for this Christmas season for each console.

Wii – Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Music, Rayman Raving Rabbids: TV Party
Xbox 360 – Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts
PS3 – Little Big Planet, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2

Of these ten games, Wii Music and Little Big Planet are original, and the rest are sequels, of which five are in series which only began in the current generation. This shows a trend with the console lifecycle, in which a new system launches with some new, innovative titles designed to show off the console, and these games often become exclusive franchises which the console relies upon.

Take, for example, the launch of the PS3. Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm were the big hitters from Sony, and both were very successful. Now, both development teams are making sequels to these rather than more original games. The list is expanding all the time: Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect, Wii Sports, Too Human, Saints Row, Rock Band, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, My Sims, Red Steel, Boogie, and even Bioshock have new instalments planned or already out.

Some of these, such as Mass Effect and Assassin’s Creed, were planned as trilogies, so the sequels are necessary to experience the full storyline of the game. However, Bioshock was a game with a complete story, which left almost no scope for a sequel, and this looks like a franchise being built simply to make money.

However, there are some positives. Games like Mirrors Edge, Dead Space, MadWorld, Brutal Legend and Braid show that there is still plenty of originality left in the gaming industry, and that it is up to players to buy titles like these or risk losing them completely.