Comments on: What I want to see at GDC

The Game Developers Conference is in full swing. Don Reisinger has some ideas about what developers should be discussing for the future--and the good--of the industry.

[Daniel_Levine]

I'd like to see the introduction of head-tracking as the next Wii frontier. It's not an original idea but it could be extremely fun for things like sports or shooters on the Wii. Imagine playing the new Wii Grand Slam Tennis game with the motion plus and head tracking. With a little bit of scaling you could move your character on the court by moving around the living room. Even simple games like dodgeball and basic shooters would be a lot more interactive. Eventually I'd love to see some kind of suit with the capabilities of head tracking but sensors all over your body so that you could control all aspects of a character. Imagine playing simple baseball games like that. Pitching and hitting would be incredible. I think that's where we're going eventually.

[berg0011]

Dead on with #3 Don, innovation is where the industry needs to go. I remember playing Shadows of the Colossus for the first time and just being amazed. It wasn't just the beauty, but primarily by not playing something I've played a thousand times with better graphics. A few games have come close, Little Big Planet, Spore and Super Paper Mario all come to mind, but nothing has given me that jaw dropping awe on the new systems that Shadows gave me the first time through it. Developers, designers, executives, writers, please bring back innovation.

[G_Slade]

Completely agree don, although I dont think we need to see fewer first person shooters, just more variation and innovation. I think mirrors edge was innovative and different to the norm. left 4 dead is certainly unique in its style of multiplayer. i think what it all boils down to (like you said don) is that developers need to take more risks and break away from the well trodden FPS path like mirrors edge and left 4 dead. definately bring back the old classics as well.

[pancakeshow]

Don,

#1 Publishers will stop making shooters when you stop buying them.
#2 You want more Wii support, start buying more 3rd party Wii titles. Buying the latest Nintendo title isn't an incentive to 3rd party publishers to support Wii. The Wii tie ratio is poor.
#3 If you want innovation what are you asking "to bring back old favorites"? Either you want new and fresh or old. Either way, it seems like you want more Mario and Zelda, which are first party titles, and now we are back to #2.
#4 See above.
#5 Point taken.

Keep in mind, that this is a business. Publishers react to trends, try to meet expectations, and try to maximize each investment dollar. With royalties, cost of goods, and 1st party protectionism to contend with, it's not an easy business.

[MajorSlax]

I completely agree with points 1, 3, and 5. For point 4 I see a potential risk to ruin the concerned old favorites, so I would tread lightly in those grounds, nevertheless I overall agree.

For point 2 however, I strongly disagree. The arguments you state in favor of the Wii (cheap and easy development, nearly everybody having one) are the cause of the ****loads of crapware that this otherwise good system is flooded with. The way I see it, the general quality of games is going down, and I blame it partially on those third-party developers that make quick bad games for the Wii that non-gamers rush to (and end up either not playing or disappointed). Don't get me wrong, I have a Wii and love it, but guess what ? Only for those Nintendo branded games which are undeniably good (let me check... yes, all of them). Aside for those (Zelda, Mario, Super Smash, Metroid...) and a handful of third-party games on there (No More Heroes and the like), Wii games suck for the huge majority of them.

Therefore, I strongly believe it wouldn't hurt to have LESS Wii support. Gaming for casual gamers ? Yes, but that doesn't mean the games have to be bad. And there ARE good ones (rabid rabbits, at least the first ones...) And guess what ? That's where we are today, a large majority of casual games are just plain bad. Some people buy them either for a name (a TV show, a celebrity...) or because they don't know/care what they're getting their hands on, and end up disappointed (or not caring much because they don't play mich anyway).

Nintendo, instead of caring only about your profits (granted, that's pretty legit...), please have a little more control over what games are running on your console, I'd much rather have less than 20 new crap games a month with 1 good game every 6 months than 5 new games a month with 1 good game every 2 or 3 months.

[MajorSlax]

Woops, sorry about the end of my post, that's rather confusing. Here's the last statement, clarified :

I'd much rather have less than 20 new crap games a month with 1 good game every 6 months. Instead, something like 5 new games a month with 1 good game every 2 or 3 months, that's better IMO.

Sorry about that.

[TaxmanCDN]

The reason that there is little third-party support for the Wii is that no one buys games for the Wii that aren't made by Nintendo. Most Wii owners play Wii Sports and maybe one or two other games. The attach rate is very poor. As a third-party developer, why would I sink a bunch of money into a Wii-only project that likely won't sell? Sure there are allot of Wii's out there, but the attach rate for the XBox is much higher, largely due to the nature of the person playing those consoles.

[Inconnux]

#1 FPS are just a 'style' of gaming. Innovation is not tied to the style of game. Your statement is equal to saying 'more innovative rock music' or 'more innovative impressionist art'. I would give Left4Dead as an example of an innovative FPS... completely changed the way an FPS game is played online.

#2 Wii support.. agreed. I believe we will see more Wii support as 3rd party developers see that over 50% of the console market is the Wii. They have ignored it (or produced shovelware) and their bottom line is hurting because of it.

#3 see #1...

#4 Wii does the 'classics' better than most other platforms... They are constantly adding new titles.

#5 I would go even further. Fancy graphics != fun gameplay. This is the major problem with most games designed today. I believe it was Peter Molyneux or perhaps it was Sid Meier that said he designed his games using simple block graphics... If the concept wasn't fun at this level, no amount of fancy graphics would make it fun and he scrapped the idea. Today developers make the fancy bleeding edge graphics engine first and then 'adapt' a game to it...

[d--keller]

LOL!! I want more innovation and all my old favorites too!

[pithenumber]

I still like fps's
the good ones are hard to sort out from the bad though

I want hl3! I'm tired of hl2 sequels

[John_Johnson]

Episodes 1, 2 and (if it ever comes out) 3 are considered to be HL 3

[sting7k]

All good points Don.

1. Problem is too many people just buy up every new shooter that comes out or ever CoD release and Tom Clancy game, until people stop buying them they won't stop making them.

2. Sorry, there may be more Wii's out there than anything else but gamers aren't scooping up Wii titles for a pretty big reason; the motion controls are terrible for any game not made by Nintendo. Even those I tend to give up and pull out my Wavebird and go back to what I know best, old school gamers that I know just aren't into the motion controls. They are the ones who buy and spend the most money, too many Wii games are just rehashes and the motion controls don't allow for the tight and precise game play we have come to expect over the years. I am nearly done with my Wii, it just isn't very fun anymore unless I have a party of people over to play Smash Bros or Mario Kart. Top it off with every night I have many friend's on Xbox LIVE wanting to play something online, and the Wii is a joke for online play.

3. Couldn't agree more, Bioshock was the first game in a long time that I thought showed some real innovation and I was totally hooked the entire way through. I'm tired of the same old same old.

4. Meh, they charge to much for these. Playing Doom on my Xbox is fun the first time, then you realize you could be playing better games.

5. Another point totally agree with, can't tell you how many games I try out only to find the game play or controls are horrid and I am done in 10 minutes. It seriously kills me every time I get a game and there are no legacy controls for the dual analog sticks and there are only one or 2 control scemes.

[thurmster]

Fellas,

The whole FPS thing is definately getting old, very old these days. Its all one see's when walking into their favorite game store. I love games that play well just like anybody but lets not forget graphics are important too. Playing a game that is as life like as possible and looks real is much better than the cartoon looking stuff in my opinion.

Lastly whatever happened to air combat games? All the war games are ground based for the most part and that is getting old as well. Warhawk on the PS3 at least provides ground and air combat and I am very exited to play Tom Clancys HAWKS. What I really miss are good, factual WWII or even WWI dogfight games that re-create real battles that took place in the skies. Anyone ever play Janes WWII fighters, a PC game from 1998? Still the best campaign dogfighting game every made.....its so time for an update with cutting edge graphics and all the bells and whistles.

Cmon who doesnt like shooting down airplanes, its a lot more manly and takes a lot more skill than blowing someones head off with a shotgun.

[brokensummer]

I really like to see my real-life "fantasies" played out in games, like cooking, word play, shooting down enemy pilots from my howitzer, filling an alien/mutant/zombie/buddy with lead and waiting for the next spawn, taking a sign post and shoving it in my neighbor's head, trying to save the princess all the while getting lesions on my hands, etc...

Personally, I think the new ideas people are seeking after will primarily happen if we have teens and adolescents pitching ideas.