Or, ‘knowing when to stop’.
Developers like a good sequel; it's usually seen as a safe return and is quite understandably less risky than putting your neck out and on the line with an unknown quantity. Gamers love them, too; after all, there's nothing that makes our day more than glimpsing news of a glammed up follow-on to our favourite title.
However, sometimes it's better to keep things short and sweet.
Just ask the producers of the Tony Hawk series, Perfect Dark, or the Prince of Persia I.P if you want proof; these ailing franchises admirably show that sometimes, less really is more. Why did they fall flat? Because - to be blunt - they were thoroughly ridden into the ground (hook, line and sinker), only wrung completely dry at the end of it.
Annoyingly this seems only too common these days, even outside of the gaming world; and with the powers that be largely unwilling to listen to - or completely oblivious of - the risks of overdoing it, I fear that only more will be added to the above list before the year is out. The Call of Duty franchise, for instance, is being utterly raped to within an inch of its’ life, milked for all it's worth because of it’s immense popularity; I dread to think how long it will last under such strain, as there's only so much the public can take and - realistically - there's only so far a single team can run with an idea. “Too many sequels diminish the original,” Dean Koontz - an American author - once said, and he is quite right.
As a result, it's hardly surprising that many franchises seem to be losing steam after a few years under the heavy spotlight; soon, they become all too familiar and repetitive beneath that heady glare. If titles are wheeled out only to cash in on a previous instalment’s success then this frequently diminishes general creative input and artistic licence from the team behind them, and can often suck the heart and soul out of a project as a result; the series that work usually do so because they refuse to rest on any laurels they may have earned in the past, and remain determined to push the boundaries when and where they can. The team behind LittleBig Planet are the perfect role-models, for they refused to make a sequel until they were happy that they could top the first and bring something drastically new to the table.
There's a lot developers could learn from this, and I really hope that they listen up; otherwise, they run the risk of destroying our favourite franchises for just a few extra bucks. Why can’t they see a game for what it is and not a nice, new and crisp dollar bill? It shouldn't be about making a profit, but about making a damn good title first and foremost.
Developers like a good sequel; it's usually seen as a safe return and is quite understandably less risky than putting your neck out and on the line with an unknown quantity. Gamers love them, too; after all, there's nothing that makes our day more than glimpsing news of a glammed up follow-on to our favourite title.
However, sometimes it's better to keep things short and sweet.
Just ask the producers of the Tony Hawk series, Perfect Dark, or the Prince of Persia I.P if you want proof; these ailing franchises admirably show that sometimes, less really is more. Why did they fall flat? Because - to be blunt - they were thoroughly ridden into the ground (hook, line and sinker), only wrung completely dry at the end of it.
Annoyingly this seems only too common these days, even outside of the gaming world; and with the powers that be largely unwilling to listen to - or completely oblivious of - the risks of overdoing it, I fear that only more will be added to the above list before the year is out. The Call of Duty franchise, for instance, is being utterly raped to within an inch of its’ life, milked for all it's worth because of it’s immense popularity; I dread to think how long it will last under such strain, as there's only so much the public can take and - realistically - there's only so far a single team can run with an idea. “Too many sequels diminish the original,” Dean Koontz - an American author - once said, and he is quite right.
As a result, it's hardly surprising that many franchises seem to be losing steam after a few years under the heavy spotlight; soon, they become all too familiar and repetitive beneath that heady glare. If titles are wheeled out only to cash in on a previous instalment’s success then this frequently diminishes general creative input and artistic licence from the team behind them, and can often suck the heart and soul out of a project as a result; the series that work usually do so because they refuse to rest on any laurels they may have earned in the past, and remain determined to push the boundaries when and where they can. The team behind LittleBig Planet are the perfect role-models, for they refused to make a sequel until they were happy that they could top the first and bring something drastically new to the table.
There's a lot developers could learn from this, and I really hope that they listen up; otherwise, they run the risk of destroying our favourite franchises for just a few extra bucks. Why can’t they see a game for what it is and not a nice, new and crisp dollar bill? It shouldn't be about making a profit, but about making a damn good title first and foremost.
Naturally, all game image rights go to their respective owners.
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