Poll: Episodic Gaming, does that work for you as a gamer?
- Thread starter B.U.C.K
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I will add this. Even if I do not personally buy episodic games until they're released, I do see a lot of value in them. They allow developers to dip their toes into the water in a way that's a lot less risky than developing the whole game up-front. If it's a good idea, people will buy it and essentially fund the future installments. That is something that needs to exist for riskier titles like the Walking Dead to be made. I mean, really, who would have thought an adventure game like surrounding an arguably overused IP would make such headlines? It was a legitimate risk they were taking by going into it and good for them for even trying.
This is a safer method than kickstarter for the consumers.
This is a safer method than kickstarter for the consumers.
No, it does not. Episodic gaming tends to butcher the flow of the game and resources need to be dedicated to wrapping up each episode and starting the next one. I loved the Walking Dead, but it would have been even better as a single continuous game...
Nope not really since I liked the idea of the Back to the Future game but as soon as I gathered it was in episodes I gave up on that along with not really caring for TWD game.
Except the TV series which was good enough for me.
Except the TV series which was good enough for me.
I think there are three important differences between TV and gaming.
1) With an episode of a game, your decision is whether you want to pay for it. With an episode of a TV show, your decision is merely whether you want to watch it.
2) Games are distributed at the players' convenience, while TV shows are distributed at the networks' convenience.
3) For a TV show, the network can experiment with one pilot episode. Games have a ton of work to do before you start making levels and writing story, such figuring out basic gameplay mechanics.
These facts make episodes work a lot better for TV than for gaming. With games, you end up waiting until the whole season is 75% off on Steam, which subverts the whole concept.
1) With an episode of a game, your decision is whether you want to pay for it. With an episode of a TV show, your decision is merely whether you want to watch it.
2) Games are distributed at the players' convenience, while TV shows are distributed at the networks' convenience.
3) For a TV show, the network can experiment with one pilot episode. Games have a ton of work to do before you start making levels and writing story, such figuring out basic gameplay mechanics.
These facts make episodes work a lot better for TV than for gaming. With games, you end up waiting until the whole season is 75% off on Steam, which subverts the whole concept.
It depends on the genre. If it's something like the Walking Dead, where you can have a clearly self-contained plot that still manages to advance the overall story, sure. Games aren't usually very good at stuff like this, usually because their stories are so short they don't really need sub-plots outside of optional quests or challenges. While I can see it working for more story-oriented games, such as perhaps Dear Esther or arguably Bioshock, ones that really just have a plot so there's a reason to shepherd you from explosion to explosion probably wouldn't benefit from the continual stops in explosiontime.
Not for me, personally. I loved the walking dead, but I had less than no interest in it until long after every single episode was finished and released.
I read my manga one chapter a week, my comics one issue a month, my shows are watched one episode at a time... after every single other facet of recreation forces me to endure cliffhanger after cliffhanger, I like that gaming, at least, lets me have my gratification as soon as I need it. XD
I'm not opposed to games taking that direction, though. as a console gamer, I probably won't see much change.
I read my manga one chapter a week, my comics one issue a month, my shows are watched one episode at a time... after every single other facet of recreation forces me to endure cliffhanger after cliffhanger, I like that gaming, at least, lets me have my gratification as soon as I need it. XD
I'm not opposed to games taking that direction, though. as a console gamer, I probably won't see much change.
I think there's a bit of a misconception about the idea (or understanding) behind the term 'episodic'. All it really means is creating several products that are thematically connected where each podocut is a shorter experience and thus produced in shorter periods. There's no reason to think that when you play an 'Episode 1' game or watch an 'Episode 1', eh, well, episode, you're buying into a grand story that might never be finished and leaves you wasted, spent and depressed by the wayside. A lot of shows, books, comics etc. have episodes which are not part of an arc yet still deliver interesting stories about a set of characters that we know (or might know).
Personally, being 33 and having 2 kids I much rather spend 5 dollars on a shorter (5 hours) game that's still fun and has an interesting world than on a massive grand 80 hour festival for 60$ which I doubt I'd ever have time to finish. And if said game (5 hours) has another game set in the same world with the same characters that is made a month or two down the line, why the hell not?
How many people here watched Firefly?
Did you all wait for Mass Effect 3 before buying Mass Effect 1 and 2?
Do you not buy comic books AT ALL? (after all they very rarely finish do they).
How many people here haven't watched any Game of Thrones episodes? (other than me since I find the books utterly boring but that's another topic and don't flame me, please
)
I would say that most people watch episodes and consume episodes as they come because it's easier for most of us (at least those with jobs, kids and wives - though I don't know how anyone can handle more than one of those )...
Personally, being 33 and having 2 kids I much rather spend 5 dollars on a shorter (5 hours) game that's still fun and has an interesting world than on a massive grand 80 hour festival for 60$ which I doubt I'd ever have time to finish. And if said game (5 hours) has another game set in the same world with the same characters that is made a month or two down the line, why the hell not?
How many people here watched Firefly?
Did you all wait for Mass Effect 3 before buying Mass Effect 1 and 2?
Do you not buy comic books AT ALL? (after all they very rarely finish do they).
How many people here haven't watched any Game of Thrones episodes? (other than me since I find the books utterly boring but that's another topic and don't flame me, please
)I would say that most people watch episodes and consume episodes as they come because it's easier for most of us (at least those with jobs, kids and wives - though I don't know how anyone can handle more than one of those
)...