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Evening Reading: Two Too Many

by Garnett Lee, Feb 12, 2010 5:00pm PST

Several games made a strong showing at Microsoft's X10 showcase yesterday. The production value of what I saw around the room drove home how the baseline standards bar has risen this generation. We hear from publishers that the investment it takes to achieve these results has likewise increased and that's why they're so much more likely to greenlight a sequel to a successful game than a new project. The lineup bore that out. Fable 3, Crackdown 2, Lost Planet 2, another Splinter Cell, and another Halo; only Alan Wake braved the waters with a new original game.

A recurring undercurrent in the responses I've heard to Bioshock 2, though, is that it's "more of the same," said as a knock. Setting aside whatever bias we have based on who was or was not involved in its design, that sentiment leaves me wondering whether we could finally be tiring of the overly heavy dose of sequels being served. As much as I loved the atmosphere of Bioshock, more of the same sounds like a good thing. If anything it implies that they got it right, my biggest concern.

As the industry continues to mature, publishers need to develop an eye for recognizing when their lineups run the risk of falling into doldrums from a lack of anything new. I don't remotely expect them to not make a sequel to a successful game. Every sequel, though, doesn't have to get banged out right away like a manufacturing plant.

The Shacknews assembly line stayed busy today producing these stories and more:


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