Team Fremont.com-Viva La Revolution Baby Review

Viva La Revolution Baby

It’s funny, I’d never thought I’d become bored of games, an interest I’ve had from early childhood, yet here I am writing an article about become jaded with games just days before what could turn out to be the most exciting E3 show yet. So what gives? When did this happen and more importantly is it just me? Over the last 10 years or so we’ve seen staggering leaps in technology from the transition from great 2D games such as Super Mario World to full 3D powerhouses like Resident Evil 4. We’ve seen the creation of several new genres like “Survival Horror” and Dance/Rhythm. Genres such as FPS have grown up and saturated the market, online gaming is becoming common-place and graphics are getting really good. The market has been flooded with so many great games across all platforms and for the first time in years I’m struggling to keep up with all the AAA releases.

The thing is in spite of all the great things going on with games nowadays, I’m still finding myself jaded and worried for the future of the industry. Unfortunately, I’m not alone in this; look at Japan for proof. Whilst the US and European markets are still heavily expanding Japan is really struggling with many gamers simply turning away from games altogether. The arcades are dying out even there and the only way for many companies to keep up is with mergers. There are some shining examples about, Square-Enix, Sega and Sammy, Namco and Bandai… we of course can’t forget that Capcom is struggling to stay afloat with recent radical restructures. The biggest worry though is Sony being around $61billion in debt. The simple fact of the matter is that gaming is becoming stagnant.

If we look at the history of games there is a distinct generational pattern of Evolution and Revolution. What I mean by this is that the Revolution is something new something innovative; the Evolution however is merely an improvement to the existing model. To show this a little easier let’s take a look at Nintendo’s console cycle:

NES => Revolution
SNES => Evolution
N64 => Revolution
Gamecube => Evolution

The NES was a revolution which totally reinvented gaming as the World knew it at the time. The SNES simply expanded on the existing concepts and technology, which isn’t a bad thing at all. Then the N64 came along and gave us decent 3D with analog control which was a complete revolution offering totally new types of game – just remember the first time you played or saw Mario64 the whole thing was just so fresh. The Gamecube took what made the N64 great refining the experience and again improving the technology. What we now need is another Revolution to keep things interesting, to help create new ways of playing and to reignite jaded gamers interest.

The thing I want to stress at this point is that the evolution stage isn’t a bad thing as long as the cycle is maintained which keeps things interesting. The way I see it is that the revolution cycle pioneers new technology and innovation and then the following evolution simply refines and perfects it. This isn’t a bad thing but to have two evolutions in a row could be catastrophic for gaming as players become bored with the same games looking slightly better. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not really that excited for Tekken 6 which would most likely differ very little to Tekken 2 or 3. When you strip a new game of its graphics what is left underneath? The Tekken series may have a few new characters and moves but at its heart the core game remains the same each time round and players become gradually bored with a saturated game. On the other hand we could take a look at the Resident Evil series, which by the time the graphically nice Zero came out was already boring the hell out of people. Each and every game to that point was pretty much the same at it’s core and I bet that a huge chunk of the few people that actually picked that title up got bored halfway through and never finished it – I know that’s certainly how I feel with that title. Then along comes Resident Evil 4, Capcom decided to “reinvent” the game’s engine, controls and focus and the game was absolutely stunning. Overall I’m finding that franchises that reinvent themselves constantly l tend to be seen as the best ever.

As it stands now we are in a market flooded by sequels and “me-too” games. I’d struggle to count how many Tom Clancy games were released this generation or to even guess at which prefix Tony Hawk game we’re currently at. Ironically these are often the biggest selling games for a long time until there is just simply so many that the whole thing becomes boring. And that my friends is where I see gaming at right now, at the eve of a new generation. I’m hearing comments around that the New Xbox is going to be less of an evolution than the last generation was, with people uttering the words Xbox 1.5 everywhere I turn. Now I will admit that I’ll be lining up first day to play the thing and the prospect of finally getting my hands on Perfect Dark Zero is great, but I’m just wanting something… well “different”. As this E3 looms I keep reflecting on the following thought: “Nintendo your Revolution had better be bloody amazing because if it’s not I may not be playing games half as much in 5 years time”.
Article By: Philthy