Is Retro Really Better?

My last entry was touting the wonders of days long passed. There is something to say for a nostalgic look into the past. However, one should not remain there and dwell upon what has happened. However, this seems to be a more and more popular trend among movie studios and video game developers.

I can understand that it is a very expensive undertaking to make new games. Ideas, designs, engines, marketing, etc. In a shaky economy with a fickle market, not every game is a sure bet.

This in mind, not taking risks can also be a bad proposition. Sticking to the safe bet can also lead your fan base to rise against you for desecrating something sacred. What brings me here today is the new Punch-Out trailer that was released. You can check it out here. Not only is Nintendo re-selling you your gaming past, but they are repackaging old ideas in new boxes. Along with this revelation, we also hear that they plan to release Pikmin and Metroid on the Wii. From what it sounds, they will be Wii ports of the original games. ( Wii consoles let you play Game Cube games) On the Xbox 360 we have an example of this. Bionic Comando: Rearmed. A 2D game made with 3D graphics in a 2D perspective. Sigh. I guess the same could be said for my baby TF2, but somehow I don't think it fits well into this paradigm. Not to unfairly pick on nintendo, but the 300 Mario Games. Paper Mario series, Pokemon, only to name a few.

I think what is happening is that developers, probably more so publishers want to have every game hit it bigtime. So, inorder to have success, they have to bank on ideas that were successful before. I think if this trend continues, devs are going to have to start giving us something else to chew on. Spice up the same-old same-old with new gameplay elements, I don't just mean adding RPG elements to shooters. I think the EA Sports franchises suffer from this quite a bit. But then again, how do you make the yearly purchase of Madden worthwhile? I sure as heck don't want to spend another 60 dollars to see Bret Farve on the Jets instead of the Packers. Then again, I'm not a crazy fantasy football jock either. (Go Niners)

Use your brains, think of some creative ways to incorporate neat little minigames or quirks into the old gameplay. Paper Mario on the gamecube had retarded turnbased action, where in Super Paper Mario they added a 3D sidescrolling (if you can call it that) platforming element. Better yet, do what Valve does and really critically look at what game you want to make, and move to a cycle of constant improvement. This is where strong business leaders can make a difference. Implement kaisen or the like philosphy into your teams, let them try and try again. If it worked for Honda and Toyota, I'm pretty sure it can work for game developers.

We like our old games, but we also like new and interesting ideas. I think as the majority of gamers grow older, they are looking for more visceral games. Gone are the days of the mindless shoot-em-up. Shooters today have stories, characters, and (to me) some emotional attachment (HL2). You can only use gimmicks so many times before the vail of pretty graphics is lifted. I think story telling will be the next big leap for video games in the next 3-5 years. If devs and publishers spent more time thinking about what they want to make and how to innovate rather than just pushing out garbage as fast as possible; people would buy your new ideas, and quite possibly, like them.