On Innovation

[christian]

http://www.nodontdie.com/anonymous/

The thing is, nobody wants innovation and creativity. Look at the sales of games that are genuinely interesting and innovative. Very few people buy them. Certainly not enough to fund an industry.

So something's wrong here. Someone's not telling the truth about what they really like or what they really want.

[christian]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10 ... -nostalgia

When interviewing Charles Cecil about his Kickstarter for Broken Sword 5, I interrupted him at one point to ask about a claim I’ve heard many making during this recent crowd-funding surge: that publishers prevent innovation. Perhaps they do, perhaps they don’t, but what exactly does that have to do with remaking games people liked in the 90s? I think perhaps this theme reaches its parodic zenith with the title of the proposed project from Brathwaite and Hall: Old School Role-Playing Game.

Kickstarter success stories have so far been firmly rooted in nostalgia, not innnovation. We’re seeing some of the biggest talent in the industry openly abandoning the ambition of innovation, and we’re paying them to do it.

Just look at the big success stories. Beginning with Schafer and Double Fine’s bid to make an adventure like they used to in the old days, to Fargo’s relaunching the Wasteland saga, to Obsidian’s promising an RPG like Planescape, to The Banner Saga’s tile-based combat, to Planetary Annihilation’s pledge to be like RTS games you remember.

Even at more modest levels, it’s been about bringing back card trading games, old-school platforming franchises being revived or imitated, a thousand SNES-style RPGs, and so many pixel-styled graphics that the 80s looks sparse in hindsight. Developers have been stating in their own pitch videos, and subsequent interviews, that Kickstarter has often been about finally escaping the clutches of the publishers, able to spread their wings and be creative where the evil money-men would crush them, able to innovate, innovate, INNOVATE! But almost no one is.

[christian]

Game Theory: Are Gamers Killing Video Games? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxhs-GLE29Q

[christian]

What is Innovation? - https://www.facebook.com/notes/tomonobu ... cation=ufi

To all gamers,

There're many people who worry about the criticism against Devil's Third excessively. So, I will tell my thought to you. You have to know the truth.

"Heralds or forerunners are always criticized from an old viewpoint."

Certainly, it's necessary to listen to criticism, but we aren't supposed to be subordinated to criticism. I will show a concrete instance.

Many people underestimated DEAD OR ALIVE in 1996.

"This game is DEAD OR DEAD, right?" They laughed.

"DOA means Dead On Arrival." Different person said.

But I, my team, and my fans didn't care about such noise. For the last time, as you know, we had gotten a great victory.

Remember how many new features DOA produced. Remember how many games borrowed originality of DOA. The same can be said of 3D Ninja Gaiden. Besides, the same may be said of Devil’s Third.

So, don't worry at all. I will say again. You're a forerunner. Forerunners are always criticized from an old point of view. So you must not to waste your time.

If you have a free time to worry, first of all, turn on your game machine.
Secondly, enjoy Devil's Third.
Rock out!

Sincerely.

Tomonobu Itagaki

[christian]

tumblr_o0cq2wRM0k1r54ixco1_1280.jpg (62.79 KiB) Viewed 11200 times

[christian]

CoD: Infinite Warfare's debut trailer gets savaged on YouTube, Activision responds - http://www.allgamesdelta.net/2016/05/co ... ailer.html

Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg response during an earnings call today

First of all, you gotta love the passion of gamers. This is an industry like no other and a fan base like no other. We love that our fans treat this franchise like their own and have such strong points of view about it. There just aren't many entertainment franchises on earth that can generate the kind of passion that Call of Duty can... and that's a good thing.

Secondly, of course, we know there are people in our community who are nostalgic for the boots on the ground-style gameplay; that's why we made Modern Warfare Remastered. But we also have millions of people in our community who want to have new innovative experiences in the game each year and Infinite Warfare is going to deliver that.

The good news is this year we found a way to deliver both in one package while keeping our community together. While of course we see the passionate opinions on line, we also look at other measurements and the fact is — while it's very early — pre-orders are off to a very strong start. Views of the reveal trailer ... are up and, in fact, the number of likes per view on the Infinite Warfare trailer are the highest we've ever seen.

We've seen this in the franchise before. The reveal trailer for Black Ops 2, which took the franchise into the future for the first time, had the most dislikes of any reveal trailer we had ever made at that time. And that went on to become our most successful game ever.

Right now, the franchise has never been stronger. We have more people playing Black Ops 3, a game that takes place in the future, with boost jumps and fictitious weapons, than any game in our history.

What we know for sure is that if we always just did what worked in the past and never took any creative risks, we wouldn't have a franchise. The day to worry is the day we stop trying new things.

[christian]

http://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-disease ... 1778147458

In a refreshingly frank talk with Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada on Japanese site 4Gamer, Tabata mentions what he calls “FF byou” (FF病) or “Final Fantasy disease.”

The interview is several pages long, but things get very interesting when Harada asks Tabata if there was backlash during the reorganization that occurred when he took over.

“Oh yeah, there was,” Tabata said. “It wasn’t only from inside the team, but outside as well. The reason was that if my way of doing it ended up working, there are those whose circumstances will worsen.” (4Gamer noted that Tabata laughed after saying this.)

According to Tabata, there’s been negative feedback for Final Fantasy XV, such as, for example, folks not being happy with the character choices and whatnot. Of course, Tabata knew that Final Fantasy was a series with a lot of history, but felt it was important to make changes.

“Around that time, I realized that among fans as well, there are people who’ve caught FF disease,” Tabata said.

4Gamer asked what exactly Final Fantasy disease was, and Tabata replied, “It refers to people within the company who can’t imagine anything other than their own view of Final Fantasy. Since the root is a strong self-affirmation, one’s own view of Final Fantasy takes more priority than the team’s success. If that view of Final Fantasy isn’t fulfilled, then they’re convinced that it’s bad for Final Fantasy. They think, ‘Since Final Fantasy is a special team, then we are also special because we are making it. When the new Final Fantasy comes out, everybody is going to be so into it.’ But that’s not the reality of the situation, is it?”

Damn. Real talk from Tabata.

Continuing, he said, “Because of that, there was a time I told off the team, saying, ‘We’re not special. Wake Up.’ Yet, I realized that when Final Fantasy XV news was made public, this wasn’t only inside the company. Everyone has FF disease.”

Harada pointed out that, to a smaller degree, he’s faced pushback when big changes are made to Tekken’s game system or character line up.

The voices of those wanting to maintain the status quo, Tabata explained, are certainly the loudest. But, according to him, Final Fantasy has become stronger, bringing it back from the edge of crisis because of the changes. “At this point,” Tabata said, “if the series didn’t modernize, I think it could’ve been done for.”