...What happens next?So in the economic climate that the industry finds itself in, companies only want to release games that will sell, and sell big. This is all fair, as, after all it is a buisness. But when you think about this generation compared to the previous generation you can't help but notice that there's alot more replication of popular games this time around. Call of Duty has had competitors up the arse since Call of Duty took the multiplayer crown from Halo 4 years ago, and there's no signs of that franchise, or any franchise's that have been born from the competition slowing down any time soon because there are big bucks involved.
However, I digress, back in 2003 Ubisofts Michael Ancel, the creator of the spectacular Rayman franchise brought us Beyond Good and Evil, a game I admit I never played, but nevertheless, it gained a cult classic status within the video game community because of it's character driven narrative and inventive gameplay mechanics. Build up for it's sequel has been gaining momentum over the past few years, since early 2008 when a teaser for the sequel was revealed. Sadly, since then no other information has come our way with the exception of some unclaimed in game style footage that looks like Jade, the series protagonist, running through the streets of a town being chased by some police. The short and sweet minute long piece of footage is undoubtedly stunning, but nobody has claimed it as their work, and as such, this footage could be fake. The key point is, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was announced 3 years ago, and we have heard nothing since. Yet, 3 years later, Ubisoft have released the original in HD on the XBLA service, as is the trend recently. There is no doubt in anybodies mind in this stage that the games sales will be the decider on whether or not Ubisoft goes forward with the franchise or not.
When I look around at the games we have gotten over the past few years, very few inventive titles come to mind that haven't been released on an internet service. Where are our imaginative and frivolous games? Apart from cash in's from films and terrible wii games that don't meet up to any sort of standards, i can see original IP's like Mini Ninja's for example that have tried to create a game that does not try to be a massive blockbuster, and is just doused in fun, mario as always helps with the imagination, but i can't help but feel i've had enough of him. Back in the last generation we had games like Under the Skin, where the protagonist would be an alien running around stealing people's bodies to try and achieve some sort of random objective, simillar to Stacking, but it got a retail release. What this generation needs is a sudden influx of inventive and creative games that get enough attention to get a retail release, I'm looking forward to Dragon Age II, Pokemon Black, White and L.A.Noire in the near future as much as anyone else, but i think Beyond Good and Evil 2 could be the game that brings back the trend of whimzical worlds for us to run around in, without God of War combat or a first person view. I'll be playing through the HD remake this week, and so far, i'm loving it. Good luck to the franchise, and look forward to my review!-Serde
image credit: seanbajuice.com, enjoywiigames.com
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