Why Bother With Episodic Games? 125
Gamasutra is running a piece today entitled Why Bother With Episodic Games? Author Rick Sanchez ponders the rationale behind this business model, and offers up a few reasons why 'the next big thing' is actually a good idea for both gamers and game developers. From the article: "Traditional game development does have a feedback loop, but with years between results. Betting the studio that the design decisions made for a sequel were the right ones can be disastrous if you were wrong. With short iteration cycles, gameplay mechanics that an audience responds to can be used to turn a moderate performer into a hit. This model still needs to be vetted out in the video game world, but it works in every other form of media that we consume, so there's no reason to think it won't work for games."
Games are hardly standalone as a result (Score:5, Insightful)
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It's exactly like the season finale of episodic work - TV show, webcomic, movie series, etc...
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I don't want to spoil anything for folks who haven't seen it but my whole point was I found it *highly disappointing* for a number of reasons as a result. For one, the movie isn't standalone at all, and there is merit in having something not make you feel like you paid for, literally, half of a product and are now committed to buying the other half in order to justify the first.
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I really have to disagree in that I thought the movie was just as standalone as, say, The Two Towers. If anything, it reminded me
Note the common aspect: (Score:3, Interesting)
In all of these movies -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Back to the Future II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix Reloaded, etc. -- the cliffhanger is always the second movie. Why? Because when they made the first one, they weren't sure if it would make enough money to justify a sequel, so they had to wrap up the story. With these second movies, they already know they're going to make a third, so they let it be a cliffhanger.
Incidentally, the "to be continued..." at the end of Bac
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Back to the Future was never designed to have a sequel, the "To Be Continued..." caption was added after the film was released to video (or translated in some cases). Robert Zemeckis stated that had sequels been planed, BTTF 1 would not have ended with Marty girlfriend entering the DeLorean with him and Doc, which was a huge plot writing annoy
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Hmm... I guess that's what happens when you're trying to talk intelligently about a movie that came out when you were a toddler -- oh well. I wonder, is the "to be continued" included when it gets played on TV?
Re:Note a different aspect... (Score:2)
In all of these movies -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Back to the Future II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix Reloaded, etc.
The common aspect I see is all of those movies were lackluster sequels to solid 'First efforts'.
Re: Different Tastes I suppose... (Score:2)
Interesting, I was tempted to walk out of Pirates 2 (really, I was bored), despite adoring the first one. I also felt Empire was unfullfilling and essentially 'Return of the Jedi Part 1' as it couldn't stand on its own merit. Try to imagine Jedi never happened, many people would have been pissed that's how Star Wars ended. To each their own, I suppose.
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It's called "trilogy". (Score:4, Insightful)
After all, the ending of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was pretty unsatisfying, and deliberately so. Then we get Return of the Jedi, and a real ending.
Lord of the Rings. First movie was pretty good -- not much closure, but it was still pretty good. Second movie was lots of fighting, actually somewhat of a grind, but still some good elements. And the third movie made it all worthwhile.
The Matrix: Reloaded. Ends with the main character passed out, possibly dead, and a couple of other things. I'm not saying Revolutions answered everything I wanted it to, but again, it did provide closure.
I don't like episodes that run on forever, certainly not if I have to pay for them. But episodic doesn't mean never-ending. Consider: The first 50 episodes or so of Naruto were actually pretty decent, and closed some very good storylines. But, now they're up to some 220 episodes, and it's definitely getting old. Last I checked, they still really hadn't done much about Sasuke or Orochimaru.
And, compare that to, say, Fullmetal Alchemist. Ended after 50 episodes. Or Trigun, or Cowboy Bebop, or Outlaw Star, or Noir -- many good animes end after a season of 25 episodes or so.
By that token, I'm really appreciating the Half-Life 2 episodes, because I know there will be exactly three of them. It helps to know that there's an ending coming, but that we don't have to buy anymore episodes if the first one sucked. It also helps to be able to provide feedback -- and that, combined with the nature of game development, means subsequent episodes can keep getting better. Or Halo 2 -- we know Halo 3 will finish it.
If you don't like it, wait till the conclusion is made, then buy the whole thing -- earlier episodes (or games) will be cheaper by then.
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There are four episodes planned [wikipedia.org].
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And yet, my mother only saw the second one -- she missed the first, and after the long, brutal, tiresome battles of the second, she didn't want to see the third.
If everyone had taken that attitude, then there wouldn't have been a third, even if that's how the books go. And we all know they differ from the books anyway (where's Tom
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As long as it's nothing like Drag-on Ball Z in terms of 'content', then I'd be happy. It's like my mothers soap operas... Watch once every couple of weeks and you'll know all you need to know.
Cheers,
Fozzy
Not an excuse (Score:5, Insightful)
This may be all well-and-good for a $5-$10 game. But if you're going to release a $50-$60 game, you'd better make DAMN sure it delivers more than just promises of FUTURE content and FUTURE fixes.
-Eric
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Patch problem has nothing to do with Episodic game (Score:1, Interesting)
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as for bugs? well, that is standard for most companies now (Release THEN patch)
And for half assed games? If the episode sucks, the peisode sucks and people will not buy it or the next one.
What holds true for full retail games almost always holds true for episodic games. You need to release a good game that works or people will be turned off from yuor future products (be it yourGame 2 or yourGame Ep2).
the perfect exampl
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As for HL2: Episode 2, Valve are bundling Team Fortress 2 and Portal with it, and I suspect this is because they're aware of the lack of content in an episodic game so they're gonna try to bump up the value this time round.
You really thought the ori
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I never played all of the original SiN but I did play the demo back then and I liked it. I liked Shogo more though.
But... this raises a question. What if Episode 1 of SiN had never been released? The game would've been scrapped and the developers and publishers would not have been paid. Everyone loses. What we have now is that everyone still loses... we just lose less.
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Is it simply that no one is willing to test the watters with a no name game?
Are the developers figguring on cashign in in brand name recognition (stupid idea with SiN as the orig was rather bad)?
That's just because the lesser-known titles aren't getting the same amount of press. I have the honor of being the recording engineer on all of Telltale's games (except their first title
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Time to do more research!
Been around for a long time (Score:5, Insightful)
- Doom was released - shortly later, there was Doom II and Final Doom.
- Quake was released - it received two expansion packs. (As a side note, a bug involving firing the thunderbolt underwater regressed back into the expansions.)
- Quake 2 was released, and it also received two expansions.
- The Sims is known for a large set of expansion packs - while not technically episodic, it's the exact same system used in episodic development.
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Could you really enjoy The Empire Strikes back without seeing A New Hope before and Jedi after? Same idea.
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Well, you could be like my dad and take your son to Return of the Jedi without ever having seen the first two. All is knew is that the lightsaber thing was cool and that there were spaceships. I was lost beyond that. I suspect he was watching Leia on the barge more than anything.
episodes vs expansion (Score:1, Insightful)
With things like Halo 2 and Half Life 2 both games felt too short and didn't feel satisfying, they certainly didn't resolve anything. I bet the people who bought Sin episodes are glad it was episodic with it now stuck in development hell.
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HL2 made you want to play further games in the series because at the end of it you felt that the HL universe had more to offer, not because the story was incomplete. Freeman was awoken for a
The reason Doom, Q1 and Q2 were popular.. (Score:1)
That is the sort of episodic content that I like. Okay, there maybe quality control issues but until you've tasted sour, you won't know how sweet the good stuff is.
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That kind of stuff as AWESOME. I do
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Huge difference between then and now, the "Episodic content" was a FREE demo most of the time where as they encouraged you to purchase the FULL GAME.
If they are going to release "episodes" the first episode should be FREE.
Short + Fun = More Life (Score:3, Insightful)
When I here about how long Final Fantasy 12 is or Zelda Twilight Princess, I involuntarily cringe. It's not that I don't think it would be fun, it's just that I don't have time for that much fun in my life.
TW
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This is one of the reasons I stick with FPS. I was into Guild Wars for a while, but with a new born at home (he's 14 months now), I didn't always have time to spend an hour or more running through a quest. With FPS, I can sit down, play for 15 minutes or a few hours without worrying about not being able to save where I am, or find a new party to quest with.
I'm a big HL2 fan (well, DoD and CS:S) though I haven't bought episode 1. More than likely I will, probably about the same time episode 2 comes out.
Re:Short + Fun = More Life (Score:4, Insightful)
Cringe? Really?
No one is forcing you... and besides, you are thinking of this in a limited scope. Episodic content can be as simple as more songs for Guitar Hero.
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If you can afford it, more power to you. I hope you love it. But I'm going to have to keep looking for something less expensive.
TW
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I beat Gears of War's single player/coop game in 10 hours... and then was left wondering what in the world I had just paid for. It wasn't nearly long enough for how expensive the game is, and it just sort of ends without explaining anything, really.
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TW
Expandable = good, Episodic = bad (Score:2, Interesting)
Developers should stop... (Score:5, Insightful)
I honestly do not see a future for episodic content. Like microtransactions, the thought of the idea becoming an industry standard makes me sick to my stomach. But hey, I'm waiting for someone to prove me wrong. That's the problem. For all the talk, no one has done it.
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This isn't intended as a flame, but it seems apparent from your post that you think that there are some fairly large drawbacks to episodic gaming, though you didn't actually mention what they were (any more than the developers did). Having a discussion is more than saying "I don't see a future i
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Why does anyone want this then? Money.
The seductive argument is that since the cost of making an episode would be smaller than a whole game, smaller development teams would get revenue streams earlier and allow mo
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The summary describes the benefits, but in reality they are potential benefits. There are also potential downsides (for players). It is plain to see which have been more likely to manifest themselves.
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Not only has no one done it, but they have in fact done the opposite. Bethesda and Sony I'm looking at you.
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(Episode One is really good, btw).
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As for your costs, Episode One is $20. Half Life 2 was $60 when it was released, I believe.
Sam & Max (Score:2)
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For episodic games to work, there needs to be a greater focus on the GAMES r
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A great deal of focus went into improving the NPC relationship (Alyx) with the player, and how they specifically crafted the experience to try
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And, yes, I looked it up, and yes, I will download Episode 2 the day after tomorrow. Looking forward to it, in fact.
Out on Gametap (Score:2)
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Sam and Max (Score:2, Informative)
About episodic gaming (Score:3, Insightful)
Most of the costs for any episodic series would be for the first episode - 3D modeling, bitmapping, fine-tuning the graphics, developing the game engine, and so forth. After that, the rest if just using what tools have already been made available plus additional characters and graphics, possibly some engine tweaks as well. Plus is gives the company a bit of capital to work with to produce additional episodes.
It also gives the gamers the ability to say, "Hey, this is where we think you got it wrong" and let the company make the changes for the next episode - if they feel that the changes are apporpriate, of course. And since episodes are almost always cheaper than a full-blown game, more people would be willing to plunk own the dollars to see if they're interested enough to continue the season.
The only problem that I see with episodic games is the length of the game. It's a very delicate balance between providing enough material that the customer feels that he got his money's worth and not so much material that the release is not cost effective. It's a bit of a gamble, but the feedback for Bone, Sam and Max, and Half-Life 2: Episode One would seem to suggest that episodic gaming is being accepted as a viable alternative for certain genres. I'm sure that gamers would not appreciate an episodic Unreal Tournament 2007.
In fact, the second episode of Sam and Max is out on Friday. I've got to buy the season -- and this is coming from someone who originally was not in favor of episodic gaming but now supports it as long as the game is one that can benefit from it.
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Do you excuse the other game vendors to push a product out before it really should be done and then tell us to wait for the next patch? That makes us nothing more than beta testers as well.
At least with episodic gaming we're getting a subset of the game that might be affected by a bug instead of a complete game that could be affected by a bug. A smaller game also has fewer things that can go wrong. That by its very nature also can provide a more complete testing p
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For mainstream games the bulk of development costs are in the content, not the tech. It's been this way for years. Sure, you've got an engine, the models and textures for the protagoni
If (Score:3, Interesting)
If it's more of the same with monotonous plot turns and poor storylines, I won't be.
Wii Curling for $5, anyone?
Re:If, or why Wii like Curling (Score:1)
Well, making it episodic is fairly easy. You just have to add a story line based on great curling events, like the Olympics, but start people off at the home games, work up to the regional tryoffs, and then the nationals.
A friend of mine once did very well and got to the national tryoffs, but failed to get on the Olympic team. Back when I lived in Canada.
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Simple answer: (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't reward publishers for getting even lazier about creating games. Just sit on your cash while they realize there wasn't anything wrong with releasing a complete product in the first go around (Not that EA was doing this in the first place), and that paying $60 or more for the length of one $40 game you'll play through once before moving on the multiplayer aspects isn't going to fly.
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Depends on the game. Some games (Mario Kart, Bomberman, Gears of War) I buy specifically for the multiplayer. The 'Narrative' is actually bonus material in my eyes, and if I can beat it in a week I'm not disapointed since I will still get my value out of it. What concerns me is paying $40 - $60 for a game that is short and has no multiplayer. Those are for Gamef
Not a simple answer (Score:2)
Sam and Max - Tall Tale Games
- $8.95 per episode when bought individually, totalling $53.70
- $5.83 per episode when bought as a 6-episode season with CD for cost of shipping after 6th episode is released, totalling $34.95
Granted, that's only one example and it's up to each developer to price as they feel appropriate, but the ones who overprice will quickly lose customers.
Re: Sam & Max pricing. (Score:2)
If I bought the first one and liked it, could I buy the 'season pack' and have the $8.95 deducted from the $34.95? Just wondering.
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Well, duh... (Score:1)
BTW, A six month wait is killing me.
Remember Shenmue (Score:2)
Never . . . Again.
Given the nature of game developement... (Score:1)
I think of the GTA3 series as episodic. The engine is basically the same, but the story changes. Much remains the
But they've already proved themselves lame... (Score:1)
Rick Sanchez is special (Score:3, Insightful)
In the world of television, my favorite example of this is a show like "Malcolm in the Middle." I loved the early episodes, but my wife hated them. As the show evolved, the writers and actors developed a better sense of what the show was about, what jokes made sense and what you could do with the characters. That evolution won my wife over. Episodic games have this same opportunity.
This is a seriously bogus comparison. Apples and oranges. Broadcast TV shows are free to consumers. Maybe you pay a monthly fee for cable access, but at the end of the day nobody is paying $8.99 for an episode of Malcolm. If people don't like the first episode of a video game they had to pay for, are they really going to buy the next episode to "give it a chance"? Not for my dollar. Not the same thing, not the same opportunity.
For another example, check out the third page of his article where the author provides numbers to show that there are nearly twice as many PCs as there are consoles in american homes. He then states that "the PC is, bar none, the most pervasive system on which to play games." Then he goes on to say how "odd" it is that console revenues are more than four times that of PC game revenues. Does it not occur to the author that maybe a lot of these PCs are ancient and most people don't feel like paying Pong or Zork anymore? Or that a more fair comparison might be to compare the number of PCs and consoles sold to families only in the past year or three?
The author goes on to slam the Wii by claiming that "at the end of the day, Nintendo is still selling $40 dollar-plus software that requires a fairly expensive piece of consumer electronics to run it." Riiiight, like anyone is buying a Wii just to play Wii sports. The deeper implication being "why by an expensive Wii when you can already play games on your PC?" Like everyone already magically owns a PC at no cost. Yet if the author made even a little effort to be objective, he might notice that game consoles are a lot cheaper than most PCs. The Wii especially, retailing for only $250.
I hope Gamasutra felt they got their $5 worth (or whatever they paid) for that article.
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Anyone who thinks (Score:2)
Has never played Wii. Or is one of the few who have and don't like it. I am a hardcore PC gamer but I will completely admit that the Wii offers a different style of play than is available on any other system. You can call it gimmicky if you like, but I think the Wii controller is way more intuitive than any other console controller and is perfect for multiplayer games in front of one TV set. This is an area that PCs do not excel at. I'll k
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This is a seriously bogus comparison. Apples and oranges.
Did you bother to read the whole article? Keep going. Several pa
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In truth I do already own one. But I don't really subscribe to the model of thought that supposes that I purchased my computer for non-gaming reasons and any gaming ability can be considered a free bonus. My machine exists for a lot a reasons, including gaming. Yes, it has a lot of functionality above and beyond that which a console offers, but that functionality comes with a price tag. A big one. It's an expensive piece of hardware, MUCH more
"Next Big Thing?" (Score:2)
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Don't forget Dune was originally serialized in Analog.
Depends on the genre (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, with Half-Life 2, you needed the awesome base of HL1 (graphics/physics engine etc) to make it work. You couldn't have sold HL2 itself as an episode for $15, because the revenue needed to meet the initial cost of development. Also, I'm still in the middle of "Episode 1" (HL2ep1) but thus far it's not really anything new. Some new enemies (zombine soldiers) and a little more plot, but nothing substantial. For $15 it's not bad, but no new weapons (so far at least) and nothing really differentiates it from the base HL2. However, HL2 itself is a great improvement in terms of graphics/sound/physics from HL1, although the plot from HL1 was supposed to be better.
Next, take - for example - something that is entirely plot-based such as Sam and Max. This is more reminiscient of the old Sierra games. In particular, the concept reminds me of "Space Quest" series, wherein the same style of plot and base character(s) prevailed between games. There were definately some jumps in graphics between various time periods, but overall the best part was the plot/humour, which made the games more episode in the Roger Wilco universe. Others such as King's Quest varied in plot greatly, but Police Quest and some others were similarly episodic (new story, same general universe).
I think this is what makes games such as Sam 'n' Max such as treat for us long-time gamers, and what may lead to the episodic model being quite nice within them. There's no need to spend tons of money on new game engines, bigass meshes for alien baddies, or weird and wonderful weaponry... just keep cranking out quality, engaging plotlines.
Being Episodic includes a strict time schedule (Score:1)
Episodic gaming is no different. If you release a new episode on time every time you build anticipation
WoW is episodic (?) (Score:2)
Actually the whole way WoW unveils new quests to you as you level up is almost episodic from the players point of view. They play, they experience content, then with
Author semiliterate? (Score:2)
I agree (Score:1)
Until then I'll hold onto my cash.
Cheaper and shorter- yes, episodic... (Score:2)
I'd also look forward to initial episodes being released for free or bundled with magazines or other kinds of promotions. Longer, semi-self-contained demos in other words, like
Not for me (Score:2)
Episodic gaming is just not the sort of thing I want in a game. What I really like is to have a game that is one complete experience. I want the whole enchilada, so that I can savor it from start to finish. Then I want to put the game away and move on to something different, not play reiterations of it over and over again.
Granted, my description of the way I feel seems pretty lame, so I'll throw in an analogy about literature. Episodic gaming is like reading a magazine. I don't subscribe to any magazi
Hmmm... (Score:2)
My guess is that there are plenty of Just-Sometimes-Players who will appreciate paying quite a bit less for a game, and who don't mind receiving less play-time in the process.
Personally, I don't think I'll be interested in episodic gaming; but I bet that it'll create a niche of its own.
I also bet that there are going to be some very massive failures
Studio/Publisher goes ooops in the middle (Score:1)
Besides all the technical/content details discussed already, my main concern about episodic games would be that the publisher or studio goes out of business "in the middle" of the story, leaving me with an unfinished game.
Take Neverwinter Nights 1 for example. You could have split it up in three parts. Let's say the first part ends after you accumulated all incredients for the curing potion, Desther steal the potion and disappears...(to be continued)
Now you eagerly wait for part two to chase down Desthe
I think his logic is flawed... (Score:2, Insightful)
Todays games to complicated for episodic content (Score:2)