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Marek

Episodic format a good idea?

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Currently games sort of follow the film industry analogy, in that lots of big publishers take big risks on single hits. Some have argued for an analogy closer to broadcasting with episodic gaming like a series or even a miniseries.

This hasn't really been done to any noticable degree in the games industry (and those who want to try chicken out later -- take Vivendi's Fahrenheit). It's discussed often though. How much would you pay for episodes? Do you think it's a good idea at all? How do you get into novel series or TV programs? Are you less likely to jump in the middle of things, e.g. do you watch/read a series only when you've been there since the pilot, or are there some things that could convince you to jump in later?

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Isn't this something Telltale is going to do?

I think "episodes" would be kind of cool, really, but it certainly wouldn't work for all genres. For instance, racing games, MMORPGs, or RTS games probably shouldn't, and really don't need to, be released in that format (but there are exceptions, as always). On the other hand, I can totally see it working for adventure games or RPGs.

Having the episodes would also mean that the game would have an interesting enough plot to keep the player buying each episode. It'd be nice to see more games with as good a story as Grim, BGE, and, yes, even Halo.

How long would each episode be? A few hours' gameplay? I can already name several "full length" games that can be completed in, like, half a day. Which is probably why Adventure games and RPGs would be the best candidates for this format. Those take significantly longer to play than, say, your average FPS. But now I'm just rambling.

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I think it's a bad idea, only because there's no guarantee that any subsequent episodes will be produced unless the first one is a hit...

Unless they're all made and released simulateneously -then it may be interesting.

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That argument sort of shoots the entire concept in the foot and/or head though... In my opinion at least, one of the points of producing a first episode is to test the waters. If it dies right there, you and your development company are only that far in cost wise. You'll frustrate a few fans who did enjoy your first episode, but odds are you'll gain them back with the next project that you're now able to afford because instead of developing a complete game that flopped. Plus you have all the tech from your first game waiting to be put to good use in attempt two...

That said, I see what you're saying. There's few things more frustrating in the entertainment world than seeing something with a good setup for a sequel end up getting shot down.

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small games with less content but with budget prices (think serious sam, think tanks etc...)

Has been said before, but games cost too much for the average consumers to buy more than a few a year.

Episodic games would be cool for some genres, I could perfectly imagine condename gordon as an episode game. Or an action flightsim with new missions every week/month (Origin released the first episodial game I can remember, some stand-alone missions for wing commander: prophecy).

But ... episodial games need a decent service like steam or stardock central. And ofcourse the most important factor, buyers.

Valve will offer a 'steam subscription' where you pay every month, but you can DL every game. If 2 or 3 studios use steam and output small games regulary, I'm sure it would be a viable and lucrative alternative to the ye'old boxed format.

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I am amazed that no one has yet made a really serious game, stuffed it chock-full of comercials and endorsements and sold it at a budget price.

There was this Chupa-Chups game once, just a dandy little Rayman clone, but a huge-ass commercial at the same time.

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There was a McDonald's game for the Amiga, too. I thought it was pretty cool. You played as either a white guy or a black dude, and you jumped around collecting m's.

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Zool? My hippie parents didn't get a TV for the first 14 years of my life, so I never saw the ad campaign for Zool.

Or anything else.

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Yeah, that McDonalds game is great, as is the game for Noid, the domino's pizza guy.

They should bring him back, all Dominos has now are those stupid commercials about how Tuesday is the happiest day of the week. Besides, kids like big stupid looking mascots and pedophiles can use their costumes to attract children.

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During the tech boom when people had money and weren't afraid that people might not understand or accept large format ads in online media, the online "NetShow" version of You Don't Know Jack would cut to commercial break between rounds, showing full screen tv-style ads made in Flash or Director. The ads were really short and they only played one or two per break so it was actually tolerable unlike real TV ads.

If you somehow actually found yourself interested in the ad, you could hit the spacebar and a little sound (possibly of a cash register) would play, and after you quit the game it would take you to that sponsor's site -- a much-delayed "click" of the ad.

I don't know what most people thought of this, but I liked it a lot as an online ad format, even though they were ads for things like "whats a new show on TBS" which I didn't care about one bit.

---

While I didn't much like the Noid game, I did enjoy the Cool Spot 7up NES (or was it SNES?) game alright. Those Virgin Interactive 2D sidescrollers around that time sure had nice animation and artwork. They were also kind of fun (sort of).

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I am amazed that no one has yet made a really serious game, stuffed it chock-full of comercials and endorsements and sold it at a budget price.

I still remember a 'biker mice from mars' game on SNES that was HEAVELY sponsored by snickers. I do mean heavely, not only snicker ads on the side of teh tracks (was a racegame), but also snicker powerups and the end of every race a screen with a protagonist holding a candybar and saying: "winners eat snickers".

HORRID

Product placement would be ok though, like cocacola (or pepsi) vending machines in HL, real adds on football/soccer games etc...

Reality is different, I've heard a developer say that some even have to pay to get a company's ad into their games, to make it more 'realistic'.

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You could have ads on loading screens or billboards inside the games, on jackets of people walking in the streets; maybe something surreal like a coke ad on the full moon, or a vending machine in a mideval castle... to merely have a Drink Pepsi powerup is a cheap copout.

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I was playing Silent Hill at a friend's house and he started going on about horrible product placement because of a coca cola sign on a van, or some truck, that was parked on the road. I say if advertising is necessary, then make it subtle like that. If the product was up to Konami, they should have chosen Pepsi...

http://www.cokewatch.org/

By the way, I just realized my username has a typo in it. It was intended to be Reis Hatton

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Yes, I hear Coke is evil. Also I hear that the Pepsi factory is supervised by God and that everyone there get free lunches.

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Getting back to the original point, I think after developers invest loads of time in the engine, graphics, and voice acting for one episode, they would be afraid of the first 'episode' of the game failing. Because a game's most expensive parts are in the basic game programming, visuals, and sound.

The first episode would then cost more than concurrent releases because of the huge price difference. For them to break even on failure the first episode might cost 25$, and by that point it might make more sense to just go in full-on.

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