5. Sequels
One could say that this next problem is nothing more than another dig at the market being unoriginal, but this is more to do with the individual titles rather than the market as a whole. It seems that developers would rather keep a franchise than try use the brains to create a new one. I know that if a developer has a popular franchise why on earth would they want to risk creating an idea that fans might not even like? But as a gamer this means a lot of the same old characters plodding along the same basic story. For the most part sequels are worse than the first, but we have a new trend of media that everything has to be a trilogy because trilogies are great apparently. Halo 4 is an example because 343 are gearing up for a brand new trilogy. I am aware that fans seem to be happy with 343s Halo, but back in 2010 when Bungie said that Halo: Reach was going to be the last in their Halo series I gave them credit for ending their franchise before it started really bombing downhill, but like always my trust was broken. As for the games itself, I didnt like it because it just seemed to samey to the other Halos. Borderlands 2 had the same problems of not pushing from the original enough to warrant a sequel, but more of an expansion pack. One example of a franchise that has gone beyond a trilogy is Resident Evil 6. RE6 seems like the last ideas of development team struggling for narrative. As the infection is on a global scale, it is going to be rather difficult for Capcom to ramp up the stakes in a sequel. Whats next? Zombies in the flaming Space? Tossing away a concise linear story for several stories that all have to link up with one and another, quick-time events taking control away for some of the really exciting set piece and lastly, not having a lot to do with actual zombies in favour of governmental and political decisions as the President has turned into a sort-of-not-really zombie. Just as a clarification, just because a game is a sequel doesnt mean its necessary bad game, but my problem is developers need to take a long hard look at themselves and ask Does it even need a sequel?