Adam Bruno

So, do you like Mario? What about Link? Tony Hawk? I hope the answer to all is “a lot,” because you’re going to be stuck with them for a while.

See, with the economic recession we’re in, game companies don’t want to take risks. They simply can’t eat the cost of a failed game, and they’re willing to stick with tried-and-true methods to turn a profit, even though they know they probably won’t have a smash hit on their hands. I can’t say I blame them, either. People tend to wax nostalgic when times get tough.

This year’s E3 saw the announcement of another Tony Hawk game from Actiblizzard, yet another Madden game from EA, and another Wii game from Nintendo starring Mario and Luigi. And if you read the posts before mine, you’ll see that another Final Fantasy MMORPG was announced. All this rehashing of old material isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

For example, take the old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Crappy English aside, those words hold some truth. A lot of fun can be had by polishing up an old game and re-releasing it with a few extra features, new modes, or a facelift. That being said, innovation is still key, and I’m hoping the developers don’t forget about it in their upcoming games. Surprisingly enough, I’m not too worried about that with most of these developers. I say most, not all; EA’s still going to repackage Madden with a few updated stats, graphics, and other gimmicks, and you suckers are going to buy it.

However, Nintendo has repeatedly shown that they can make old franchises enjoyable. Take the New Super Mario Bros. for the DS: a very old series with a relatively old interface sporting a few new additions, and still loads of fun. While Koei might rehash its Dynasty Warriors franchise (again), I’m relatively certain that Squenix has some new tricks up its hybrid sleeves. Seriously, Square-Enix, I want to playtest that new MMORPG. Ahem.

The moral of this story is that you shouldn’t panic because you see some old faces. As long as there’s at least some innovation and forward progress, we’re in good shape. And besides, the economic slump should be starting to let up soon. Then we’ll see more titles like Prototype and Dante’s Inf–err, Brutal Legend. I meant to say Brutal Legend.

Source: E3