I believe the numbers. I have been watching the ever growing number of people, “helper studios”, increasingly famous voice actors performance capturing costs, and those giant marketing budgets.
And I agree games with all this going on are very impressive. But I think on balance I’d rather have more interesting game designs than those massive production values.
And I agree games with all this going on are very impressive. But I think on balance I’d rather have more interesting game designs than those massive production values.
unfortunately it increasingly reads to me like a vicious cycle: people expect more of games, so costs increase and games become more comprehensive, which in kind makes people expect more of games. it also means we get a more homogeneous experience from AAA games, since they now have to include features they weren’t previously expected to. (open-world stuff in particular feels symptomatic of this)
If I were asked to list my favourite three games, I’d say
1 - To The Moon,
2 - Mario Kart DS,
3 - Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead is an utter work of art, but To The Moon is a beautiful thing put together by one guy with some help for the soundtrack.
As you say, games don’t need an enormous budget to be good, they just need to be interesting. Trouble is, interesting doesn’t sell the power of the latest hardware.–
I believe the numbers. I have been watching the ever growing number of people, “helper studios”, increasingly famous voice actors performance capturing costs, and those giant marketing budgets.
And I agree games with all this going on are very impressive. But I think on balance I’d rather have more interesting game designs than those massive production values.
unfortunately it increasingly reads to me like a vicious cycle: people expect more of games, so costs increase and games become more comprehensive, which in kind makes people expect more of games. it also means we get a more homogeneous experience from AAA games, since they now have to include features they weren’t previously expected to. (open-world stuff in particular feels symptomatic of this)
If I were asked to list my favourite three games, I’d say
1 - To The Moon, 2 - Mario Kart DS, 3 - Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead is an utter work of art, but To The Moon is a beautiful thing put together by one guy with some help for the soundtrack.
As you say, games don’t need an enormous budget to be good, they just need to be interesting. Trouble is, interesting doesn’t sell the power of the latest hardware.–