Gaming companies like Ubisoft and EA have essentially built their reputations upon their franchises that promise annual releases. Ubisoft took an unexpected break between Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (2015) and Assassin's Creed: Origins (2017) to reexamine the franchise, to "evolve the game mechanics," and to ensure that they were delivering the promised "gameplay experiences that make history everyone's playground."
In other rumored news, EA may forego the annual releases of their sports games, like FIFA and Madden NFL, in exchange for an online "subscription" service that requires an annual fee to update rosters and stats ((link)
The writer should examine if Ubisoft delivered on its promise with AC: Origins by investigating Ubisoft’s reported sales in comparison to its other AC games, critic reviews, and notable bugs or technical issues. Did Ubisoft indeed improve the newest game by taking a short break, or has anything really changed?
The writer should also assess how, or if, EA’s rumored subscription service will benefit players. Contingent upon price, how would a subscription service be better (or possibly worse) than re-purchasing a slightly updated version of the same game year after year?
Lastly, the writer should examine the bigger issue at hand: Do we still care about annual release games? What do they offer that non-annual release games do not, and vice-versa? Can the methods employed above by EA and Ubisoft work in their favor and possibly revive their franchises, or are the franchises past the point of revival?
Annual release games should definitely be broken down into the genres of games they are referring to. For sporting games, like FIFA and Madden, the premise of an annual release is simply to update the rosters for each respective team. The game of football has not fundamentally changed in that one-year time span, and besides any minor control updates, the game-play mechanics are relatively absolute for each edition. More story-driven franchises are a different case however, as many of those releases not only have improved or altered game mechanics and controls, but another installment into the story for the franchise. The standard of quality for those kinds of games should be higher than that of sporting games, which may influence any arguments regarding the relevance of annual releases. – Gliese436B7 years ago
It might be useful for the writer to consider what triple A companies employ annual releases outside of sports titles, and what those annual releases are. A number of such developers, such as FromSoftware and Sucker Punch, release their flagship series at a much slower rate -- writer should compare these nonannual franchises to annual ones, and compare their respective costs and benefits. – PersistentCrane7 years ago
Really interesting and relevant topic to gamers today! – Sean Gadus5 years ago
Annual releases are increasingly a touchy landscape to navigate as developers feel an obligation to produce an experience that is refreshing, but not drastically separate from a previous entry, say, in an established franchise; therefore, developers instigate crunch into the workplace and such is the case that it does not always promote a healthy working environment. – jaredstewart5 years ago
Electronic Arts' handling of the Star Wars franchise has been notoriously troubled. With controversies ranging from loot boxes for both Star Wars Battlefront games to the closure of Visceral games (working on a first person adventure game with Uncharted writer Amy Hennig), the corporations have been criticized for its mishandling of one of the world's most prolific brands. The recently revealed Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, a first person action adventure game set in the years after Revenge of the Sith, has brought excitement to many Star Wars and video game fans. With this in mind, will this be the Star Wars game fans have been waiting for? The article could analyze gameplay/demos released so far, information discussed by the developer, and the listed influences for the game to help explain why Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has so many fans excited about Star Wars video games once more.
Interesting topic. Since footage from trailers and demos rarely reflect actual gameplay seen upon release, I think it might be interesting to see whether the game's hype stems more from the footage we've received or whether it's more rooted in the Star Wars brand and not the specifics of the game itself (i.e., are Star Wars fans just excited for ANY quality Star Wars game at this point that they're willing to overlook possible red flags like early access or special additions that cost more, usually for superfluous content like cosmetics). That being said, it might also be worth noting that while the initial release of EA's biggest Star Wars game to date, "Battlefront II," was dampened by complaints about the game's initial lack of content and its lootbox controversy, "Battlefront II" is now considered a successful game and liked by the majority of the gaming community. This has only come after over a year of updates and patches, so it might also be worthwhile to discuss whether Fallen Order will strive to be ready on launch day (a rarity in contemporary game publishing), and how not being ready at release will affect its reception. – CulturallyOpinionated5 years ago
Why the trend in independent games of 8-bit graphics and music? What started it, and why has it continued for so long? Why would game makers and game players want to regress to a time when video games were stripped down and basic? Is it just pure nostalgia? It is a reflection on the decline of clever game design in AAA video games over time? Look at games such as Shovel Knight, Hotline Miami, Gunpoint.
It's a good topic but it would be better to also put focus on some the indie games that popularized the shift back to 8-bit to the mainstream such as Braid. It would also be interesting to consider the financial reasons for using 8-bit and how that limit can force them to be more creative when developing the game mechanics. – Matt Hatjoulis5 years ago
Though 8-bit games are often easier for low-budget indie projects to animate, narratologically, traditionally 8-bit genres like platformers offer an interesting challenge for game developers. The trick is to make a game that is fun to play (like "Crawl") and/or has an interesting story (like "Gods Will be Watching") without relying on cheesy effects and graphics to wow players. In any case, I expect the nostalgia for 80s graphics will cease once the 30-year cycle shifts to a fascination with the 90s. As far as 80s games go, they tend to be a bit more reliant on gameplay than narrative, at least among American releases. So, I hope we'll see more of a 90s ideological optimism in storytelling as in titles like Final Fantasy VII or Chrono Trigger. – Samir M Soni5 years ago
Why the trend in independent games of 8-bit graphics and music? What started it, and why has it continued for so long? Why would game makers and game players want to regress to a time when video games were stripped down and basic? Is it just pure nostalgia? It is a reflection on the decline of clever game design in AAA video games over time?
Beta gaming and early access play have become a mainstream ploy within the video games industry that is used to generate publicity and garner public opinion before a game is 'fully released'. However, as recently exampled by the Anthem debacle beta gaming and early access play present a host of problems for games designers and indeed the gaming public. These issues are heightened and compounded by marketing campaigns that present early access video games as a mostly finished product and foster an expectation that early access offers an advantage over other players who opt to purchase after the official release date. This article examines why beta gaming has become prevalent in modern gaming and why the abuse of DLC has led to some games being released that otherwise would be considered incomplete.
Apathy is a common emotion experienced with games that follow a “choose your own adventure” focus. Usually these game feature branching storylines, character deaths and the impacts of the player’s choices. Notable games in this genre include TellTale Games’ The Walking Dead Game and Square Enix’s Life is Strange.
Discuss, perhaps from a personal view, how the player may experience apathy after playing a choose-your-own-adventure. Is apathy a foregone conclusion after playing one of these games or does it vary on the player? As well, what are some of the other reasons a player may experience apathy? Could it be from the writing, disjointed plot, lack of character importance?
I believe this can be an interesting topic. When a person plays these forms of games, they are making drastic story-altering decisions in a limited amount of time. While people may make thousands of decisions a day, for the most part they are subconsciously thought about where the decisions we make are almost instinctual or based on personal bias. With these Choose Your Own Adventure Games, while being fictional, you are making these split second choices not for yourself but another person, even more so these games often give gravity to the weight of your decisions. Now from a writing perspective, these stories are very hard to properly cultivate because there are so many variables that making choices right from the first episodes already limits the possible paths you can take. Because of that, these games can be a completionist nightmare purely because each decision could impact just a scene or the entire feel of the story and having to go back over multiple times could feel like a mute point unless the story was worth re-watching.
– Kevin Mohammed5 years ago
The original God of War trilogy saw Kratos as a shallow killing machine, while the latest one gives a lot more depth to the famous character. The game revolves around Kratos and his son Atreus trekking the dangerous realms of Norse Mythology so they can reach the highest point and spread the ashes of his past love. How has Kratos changed and has he changed for the better with a son around? Is this game an accurate portrayal of a father and son?
Please explain why they want to reach the highest point and spread the ashes of his past love. It's helpful to add the reasons behind the stories. – Yvonne T.5 years ago
Another interesting contrast can be drawn between the stories told by Mimir about the father-son relationships between the Vanir gods and the evolution of Kratos throughout their journey. A comparison between the Greek and Viking philosophies of fatherhood can be examined as well to gain a deeper understanding behind the choices of the characters.
A different approach could highlight the role of parenthood as a whole with reference to Freya and Baldur, Thor and Magnus & Modi, etc. This topic seems really interesting and would make for a wonderful read. – simonmalik5 years ago
I think this topic is even more interesting since the release of the Raising Kratos documentary on YouTube because Cory Barlog is very transparent about his influence and motivation in making the father-son dynamic so integral to the new tone, narrative, and atmospheric direction. The central crew from Santa Monica are all quick to point out how their own experiences with raising children lent more emotion to the new direction, for better and worse, and they seem to be happy with the final depiction of fatherhood. From a personal perspective, I think the new direction is great because it slows the pace of the game to concentrate on the more poignant aspects of being a father while still acknowledging Kratos' quick-temper by having Atreus take on the role of "father" during some points of their journey. This is especially prominent in the scenes in which Atreus has to read anything for Kratos, and seeing the power structure flip in those moments complicates the depiction of fatherhood more by highlighting how parents must continue learning from their children even as they are tasked with teaching and raising them. Overall, Kratos seems to learn to embrace humanity and empathy more fully by the end of the journey while maintaining the strength that is needed to live in a world of Gods. – Aaron5 years ago
An exploration of the prominence of teasers in modern entertainment. Many movies, including Star Wars franchise and The Avengers franchise release teasers for trailers. A more recent and relevant example is Persona 5: The Royal. There was a teaser in December that hinted at something in March. The March announcement ended up being another teaser for something on April 24, still unclear whether this will be an announcement or a trailer or another teaser.
Knowing this, it's worth investigating what these teasers accomplish. They definitely generate attention and "hype," but is there a sweet spot? When is it too much? How is this discussion on teasers affected when Apex Legends is considered? Apex Legends released with no general public knowledge and was very well received. No teasers, no trailers, no prior announcement the game was even in development.
I like your writing, but I think teasers for trailers is a way to get the audience ready for the real deal. It builds up anticipation and is a marketing tatic used to get people to see these movies – tcokinis5 years ago
I think that the teaser trailer has grown with the internet. It gives the film an additional video for twitter and other social media. It builds an extended hype cycle that big budget movies want to maintain up till their release. Allows studios to market movies months and years in advance. – Sean Gadus5 years ago
Teasers for motion posters, character reveals, song teasers, trailers. In the South Indian movie industry, pre release marketing hype right from creating special tribute images to organising special screenings is turning out to be a separate revenue generating industry in itself. – Dr. Vishnu Unnithan4 years ago
