Think of your favorite game. Go on, take a minute. Stop reading this and think.
...
...
Got it? Good. Now, how many times have you played through it? Over how many years? Could you pick it up again, right now, and still have fun with it?
Chances are that your answers were something like, "So many times I've lost count," "Several" and "Hell yeah, I love that game."
For me, it doesn't get much better than The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I could pick it up right now and play through it without thinking twice about where everything was or what to do next. I've played though it so many times I've got most of it memorized. I've played the same game over and over again, and even though nothing was new or surprising, I've enjoyed it every time.
This is the mark of a game with replay value. These are the games that are worth revisiting months or years later simply because you miss them. Maybe there's a secret area you never discovered the first time or fun sidequests you never finished. Maybe you want to see the story play out again. Maybe you just want to five star every level. Whatever the reason, you are a loyal fan. Not necessarily of an entire series, but definitely of this game.
A lot of games these days don't have much replay value. You can finish them in an afternoon and they're utterly forgettable once you do. Despite that, game companies often pump out sequels in the hopes that your first afternoon with their product is worth another $60 of your money and few hours of your time.
And do you know why? Because we buy them. We buy them because we didn't know any better or they looked cool in the trailers or they came with a key for the beta of the game we really wanted. We buy them because of what we're promised, not what we get. The reason companies can get away with making mediocre games year after year is because we allow it. We don't even know what we're getting ourselves into half the time. This is how games like Crackdown 2 get made. Is that what we want? Of course it isn't.
To combat this crap-in-crap-out cycle, gamers need to approach the issue like consumers, not fanboys. Yes, your favorite series might have new installment out, and I know you really liked that one game six years ago, but you have to judge each game by its own merits.
Objectively, would you enjoy playing this game for more than a few hours? Would you ever play it again afterward? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to any of those is "No," you probably shouldn't part with the cash for it. Not only because you won't get your money's worth, but because you'd be funding the idea that making crap games is a good, profitable idea.
How do you know before putting down the money? Shake off that fanboy need to play a new game as soon as humanly possible and wait for reviews, use services like GameFly, borrow a friend's copy - whatever you need to do to avoid falling into the mediocrity trap. To borrow a phrase from a famous author's famous character, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
...
...
Got it? Good. Now, how many times have you played through it? Over how many years? Could you pick it up again, right now, and still have fun with it?
Chances are that your answers were something like, "So many times I've lost count," "Several" and "Hell yeah, I love that game."
For me, it doesn't get much better than The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I could pick it up right now and play through it without thinking twice about where everything was or what to do next. I've played though it so many times I've got most of it memorized. I've played the same game over and over again, and even though nothing was new or surprising, I've enjoyed it every time.
This is the mark of a game with replay value. These are the games that are worth revisiting months or years later simply because you miss them. Maybe there's a secret area you never discovered the first time or fun sidequests you never finished. Maybe you want to see the story play out again. Maybe you just want to five star every level. Whatever the reason, you are a loyal fan. Not necessarily of an entire series, but definitely of this game.
A lot of games these days don't have much replay value. You can finish them in an afternoon and they're utterly forgettable once you do. Despite that, game companies often pump out sequels in the hopes that your first afternoon with their product is worth another $60 of your money and few hours of your time.
To combat this crap-in-crap-out cycle, gamers need to approach the issue like consumers, not fanboys. Yes, your favorite series might have new installment out, and I know you really liked that one game six years ago, but you have to judge each game by its own merits.
Objectively, would you enjoy playing this game for more than a few hours? Would you ever play it again afterward? Would you recommend it to others? If the answer to any of those is "No," you probably shouldn't part with the cash for it. Not only because you won't get your money's worth, but because you'd be funding the idea that making crap games is a good, profitable idea.
How do you know before putting down the money? Shake off that fanboy need to play a new game as soon as humanly possible and wait for reviews, use services like GameFly, borrow a friend's copy - whatever you need to do to avoid falling into the mediocrity trap. To borrow a phrase from a famous author's famous character, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
There's no "like" button :)
ReplyDelete