The Video Game Sequel Cycle
Hello motion controls! Weve witnessed bucket loads of tried innovation, and its been two years since the Kinects and the PlayStation Moves release and were still experiencing the cringe worthy growing pains there, okay yes, there are genuine breakthroughs in the dancing arena, but was that really surprising? Yet, although we all dread that day when we play Assassins Creed Kinect, there will be a time when the developers crack it and find the perfect formula for that imaginative, all welcoming Kinect game. Nintendo had been living the high life with the Wii for a long time and pleasing the commercial triangle of developer, producer and consumer, but now thats dying down could they crack it again in finding a middle ground audience with the Wii U? Thats something well have to wait and see with, too. But before new gizmos and technology saves the day theres still opportunity for creativity and profitability to live hand in hand now, even within the constraints of a sequel, how? Well, weve already experienced it. Remember the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare, it wasnt a sequel within a traditional sense, but thats why it fulfills the criteria of both profitability and creativity. Call of Duty Modern Warfare was relatable to previous Call of Duty games in that its a FPS, squad following, multiple-character based game, but changed the setting, the era and added a redefining multiplayer mode and so it became a sequel that was truly creative. Assassins Creed Brotherhood introduced creativity with the inclusion of an unexpectedly, tense multiplayer mode of assassin upon assassin. Grand Theft Auto IV introduced realism, Uncharted 2s perfected cinematic action, Super Mario Galaxy and its clever play with dimensions, and the list goes on. Its also worth mentioning that all these games had been successful as well. The important point to remember for developers is that they may be currently constrained by the sequel link, but that does not confine them not to be creative within that franchise and make those games worthy of that sequels number and a customers hard earned money. Previous failures were risky because they were completely new franchises and/or wrongly marketed, some companies arent fortunate to have a franchise that has a solid fanbase and so cleverly utilising already existing ideas is an alternative - Darksiders seems like a comical example here. Its likely we have a couple of years left of the current consoles, therefore lets cross our fingers and toes for some interesting sequels so we can finish off this generation with a prosperous and innovative bang.