If you weren’t aware, these fair United States are in a bit of an economic crunch at the moment. Heck, the whole world is, really. As a result, we’re seeing news of lay-offs and downsizing happening in nearly every industry, and unfortunately, video games have suffered their own casualties.
However, both Microsoft and EA have officially declared that they will continue to push forward on new, original IPs despite the recession. Both companies feel that they can take risks due to their currently strong brands (Gears of War, Halo and Madden can do that for you, I guess). Hopefully this means more Dead Space and Mirror’s Edge.
To me this is certainly welcome news. Lately, I’ve felt that some of the only developers out there pushing new IP were coming from Microsoft Game Studios, joined last year by EA. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see some more innovation, instead of all the studios falling back on even more sequels than we’re already getting.
Source- Shacknews
I’m not really sure how to respond to this. Whether I get a Sequel to a decent game, or a brand new decent game doesnt effect how I think about the game… Aslong as either ( or all ) of the companyies continue to publish decent games, I’ll keep playing.
I think making “Madden 2010” is less of a ‘risk’ than “Madden UNLEASHED” involving tanks, politicians and prostitutes, hoping to encompass the largest audience possible…
ah well, CS will always be there for me <3.
Yeah, I agree with you to some extent. I think I’m just getting tired of all the sequels. Last year we had Call of Duty 5, Gears of War 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Rock Band 2, etc. I’m just getting tired of the same old franchises, which is why I was really excited about the XBox 360 originally, though some of those new IPs didn’t quite take off the way some of us hoped (ie: Too Human).
Also, Madden Unleashed sounds incredible.
I’m thrilled for new IPs, but during this economic downturn, I hope that they give the new IPs the priorities they deserve – I’d hate to see an original game with great potential shoved out the door just for the sake of having something new to make a sequel of. Dead Space worked really well, though, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what they’ve got in store for us.
I think companies need both. Sequels pay the bills and allow new IPs to be created.
Same with blockbuster films and independent movies.
Microsoft will die. I hate halo. I hate windows. Linux will be the superior.
If EA won’t make stuff for people like me, both that has compatibility and style, it can follow microsoft.
What’s nice about the video game industry is that it for some reason, it never falters as much as other industries. I suppose because video games are necessary to one’s survival.
I’ve no problem with either. I enjoyed last years new IPs (LBP, Mirror’s Edge) and sequels (MGS4, Resistance 2, Fallout 3) so as long as sequels do a good job of keeping the series alive and kicking, and new IPs pave the way for MORE good sequels and fund the devs for more IPs (you can see what I’m getting at).
I wonder if EA will EVER re-work out their MMO position. They own Ultima Online, the FIRST MMO ever, yet its basically dead. They did a half ass ‘upping’ if you will in graphics when they made it into shit 3D. With the money they have I honestly think they could make something to rival WoW.