Our third Us Versus Them sees another two elements of gaming collide: innovation and sequels. Which yields more fun, better gameplay and more compelling gameplay experiences? Once rivals but now teammates, Michael P teams with Kimberley in favour of innovation. In the opposing corner Michael K makes his Us Versus Them return, teaming up with the inimitable Jahanzeb, arguing for the merits of sequels.
LET'S FIGHT!
Erm, we mean...
LET'S DEBATE PEACEFULLY!
That's more like it.
Innovation or Sequels - Which gives us better games?
We begin with the opening speaker for innovation.
Michael Pincott – PALGN's other Michael
Weighing up the benefits of innovation against sequels is more or less akin to considering the dilemma of whether the chicken came before the egg. In this case, for the sake of argument, let's say that the chicken (innovation) evolved from the dinosaur (old games) and produces eggs (sequels). Sequels come with burdens. Freedom is restricted by expectations. Certain boxes need to be ticked, the right demographics need to be catered for. Films are bogged down by a similar problem, being choked to death by constant remakes and sequels. In the end, both games and films are created to make money for their creators, which means Halo 7: Master Chief Gives The Covenant A Nice Backrub or Twilight 4: Vampire Summer of Love will always be chosen over an unproven alternative.
Game series like Red Faction and Far Cry have been revitalised by sequels that have built up fresh, new gameplay upon familiar universes. They strike a balance that needs to become more prevalent in the games industry. The inherent fear of change and fear of innovation sometimes found in developers and publishers is governed by the wallets of gamers. I would like to think that the hardcore gamers would harbour a healthy appreciation for new ideas. The cult status of innovative titles like Braid, Shadow of the Colossus, and the fervour for an upcoming title like Scribblenauts supports this notion. It is the ever-increasing casual market however, with significantly more people and more cash than the hardcore sector, that threatens innovation. As demographics and the scope for profit grow wider, the margin for creativity and new ideas narrows. What we can hope for is that gamers as a whole will continue to embrace innovation, and developers won't be afraid of doing something new. I just don't want to ever see the videogame equivalent of Not Another Teen Movie (or Twilight 4: Vampire Summer of Love).
Innovation, Exhibit #1.
Next up is the first speaker for sequels.
Michael Kontoudis - PALGN's original Michael
I will never quite understand why the word ‘sequel’ became a pejorative. From my vantage point, a sequel suggests a refined experience which extrapolates on everything good which has come before. Sure, a bad sequel can be a distressing thing, but in videogames, the inferior sequel is a rare beast. Unlike most other media, videogame sequels have a tendency to improve on what has gone before.
Allow me to rebut the arguments of that other Michael with the following list (imagine, if you will, that it is spilling forth from my mouth like a torrent of vomit): Super Metroid, Half Life 2, Grand Theft Auto III, Super Mario Bros. 3, Street Fighter II, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 2, and believe you me, I could go on all day.
Which brave soul would dare dispute the genius of the above titles? What? You would? Heretic. In any case, I believe my position accords with common sense. A good sequel which expands and hones the virtues of its predecessor can be a beautiful thing.
Innovative games on the other hand, well… they can be beautiful too. More often, however, games touted for their ‘innovation’ are usually criticised for being unpolished or underdone, said issues usually being overcome by way of a superior sequel or imitator. For instance, some of the medium’s most innovative titles, from Wolfenstein 3D to Wii Sports, have been good, solid games which have been bettered by their sequels or spiritual successors.
In an ideal world, innovative sequels would dominate store shelves, exciting us with their groundbreaking mechanics while soothing us with their refined familiarity. Realistically, however, a good sequel is hard to beat. Unique, interesting titles get gamers talking, but it’s always the sequel to that game which goes down in history as the timeless classic.
You don't like this? Michael K thinks you're a heretic.
Let's now hear from the second and final speaker for innovation
Kimberley - PALGN's Resident FPS Junkie
While I'm firmly placed on the side of innovation, I must give kudos where they are due, for if not for the plethora of sequels on our shelves, development houses would not be able to fund those niche innovative titles that we all enjoy.
Innovation in itself is a tricky term. Do we only consider titles that come from a completely new perspective? What about if it compiles a refined gameplay mechanic rather than something new? You'll have many people debating this for eternity, but in my opinion, sometimes an innovative spin on a tried and true genre is just as good as something that is well and truly innovative from top to toe. Take Mirror's Edge for instance. Sure, it's another FPS title, but what is so special about it is that it managed to harness the first-person perspective in a whole new light. While FPS gamers were used to seeing their player character's hands and/or arms on screen, Mirror's Edge used the arms, torso, and legs of Faith; making us feel like we were right there, sliding, jumping and disarming cops like we were actually experiencing it in real life.
Another title we can place in this category is Valve's Half-Life 2, a title which gamers can arguably state is one of the most emotionally charged videogames in creation. A game which leaves you feeling empathy for its NPC characters Dog and Alyx. Which poses the question, would this game be as universally praised as it is if it weren't for its emotive characteristics?
When talking innovation, you simply cannot go past the brilliant gaming mind of Hideo Kojima with his now classic title Metal Gear Solid. Sure, it's gone on to spawn three sequels - all of which have sold a squillion copies - but it is this first entry on the PlayStation console that is truly special. The reasons behind the title's success lies in its combination of beautiful graphics, stellar gameplay and its ability to break the 4th wall, a feat rarely accomplished in videogames. The 4th wall is the imaginary boundary that is between the fictional world and the audience. Having gamers switch the controller into the second port in order to beat Psycho Mantis or even discovering the hidden radio frequency number on the back of the game case were all integral parts of what made this classic title so innovative - and so much fun to play!
At the end of the day, both innovation and sequels play a key role in shaping the videogaming medium, but without innovation driving developers to take their craft to a new level of excellence we'll all be unwrapping copies of Twilight 4: Vampire Summer of Love this Christmas.
Here's a sequel that turned out pretty well.
It all comes down to this, the second speaker for sequels.
Jahanzeb - Known only as 'some guy'
Super Mario Bros., Dragon Quest, Street Fighter II Grand Theft Auto are all very innovative and groundbreaking video games that changed the face of gaming, but let’s face a fact. We all would have been very devastated if their respective developers had stopped at the first game. We all would have felt very empty and unfulfilled inside if we hadn’t gotten more of those games.
Alright, so it wouldn't have damaged us emotionally if those games didn’t have sequels, but the point is that we all wanted more, we wanted to see those great ideas and innovations further expand and evolve. The original The Legend of Zelda was innovative in its own time but Ocarina of Time took the same idea and presented it in 3D along with some groundbreaking 3D mechanics, and that game too became an innovative video game. Another recent example is Street Fighter IV, it is essentially the same game as the ground breaking Street Fighter II but it is far more evolved and entertaining.
We have seen developers shamelessly milk a franchise till its dry, such as theMega Man series and the Tomb Raider series. The problem with those games is that they did not evolve significantly with each sequel.
As long as a sequel continues to try new things such as the Metal Gear series and the Mario series, a franchise can never grow stale. No denying that we have seen sequels ruin a franchise completely, the most obvious example that comes to mind is the Sonic series, where each sequel is a lot worse than the previous.
I for one am in favour of sequels as long as they are done right, and as far as innovation is concerned, we can see that happen in sequels and not just in new IPs. Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime are all clear cut examples of fantastic sequels that were also very innovative and fresh.
And that's it! Have our debaters confirmed your deepest suspicions, or have they swung your opinion around?.
It's now time to vote!
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