With the release of the first half life 2 episode I keep hearing about episodic games. People seem to be happy about the half life episode. I don't really want to see this take off because I think it will be bad long term.
I see these games ending up like TV were they won't end anything and just drive it into the ground. Like with Samurai Jack (i'm probably the only one that watches cartoons) they should have let him defeat Aku and return to his own time after so many episodes. Instead they just kept making more until they canceled it with no conculsion to the series.
What does everyone think about episodic games.
That is a great question. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but I guess my feeling are similar to what I think about digital distribution. It is great for the publishers, and I think it is good for gamers looking for a quick fix. But, I don't like the fact that there will never be a retro market for these types of titles. They are just transient experiences, to be forgotten at some point in the future.
However, I would say that I don't mind it as much for P.C. gaming. It bothers me more when they talk about it for the console platforms. To me, it really limits your audience and complicates the console gaming experience. Also, since consoles are proprietary in their architecture (unlike P.C.s) it would be difficult to play them at some time in the future once the console becomes defunct and no longer supported by its maker and/or publishers.
With that said, I am enjoying the first episode of Half-Life 2. I don't really see how what I am playing is different from a standard expansion pack though. I guess the length of time between episodes is shortened, so that is cool. But, from what I understand the game is only like 4 to 6 hours which is pretty short. I will probably finish episode 1 this weekend and really haven't put much effort into it.
I think for episodic gaming to work, they have to create hooks that differentiate these games from simply a mini-expansion pack. Not sure what that is yet....
--Raz.
However, I would say that I don't mind it as much for P.C. gaming. It bothers me more when they talk about it for the console platforms. To me, it really limits your audience and complicates the console gaming experience. Also, since consoles are proprietary in their architecture (unlike P.C.s) it would be difficult to play them at some time in the future once the console becomes defunct and no longer supported by its maker and/or publishers.
With that said, I am enjoying the first episode of Half-Life 2. I don't really see how what I am playing is different from a standard expansion pack though. I guess the length of time between episodes is shortened, so that is cool. But, from what I understand the game is only like 4 to 6 hours which is pretty short. I will probably finish episode 1 this weekend and really haven't put much effort into it.
I think for episodic gaming to work, they have to create hooks that differentiate these games from simply a mini-expansion pack. Not sure what that is yet....
--Raz.
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PristineSteam
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