Peter Molyneux's New Game

[Arseface]

"We don't want new stuff, we want more of the old stuff."

Personally, I want the gaming industry (and the creative arts world in general) to constantly move forward, not to keep rehashing old ideas because they were popular. We would never have had Fable 1 if everyone had decided to rehash Super Mario. We never would have had the White Album, if the Beatles had decided to keep doing the pop covers from their first album. True artists are always moving forward with their ideas, and don't care about pleasing anyone else by regurgitating their popular stuff.

Molyneux is enthusiastic and creative. I actually love this idea. He's not creating a game, he's creating a psychological experiment. Would someone actually pay 50,000 just to satisfy their curiosity?

 

[Dark Drakan]

"We don't want new stuff, we want more of the old stuff."

Personally, I want the gaming industry (and the creative arts world in general) to constantly move forward, not to keep rehashing old ideas because they were popular. We would never have had Fable 1 if everyone had decided to rehash Super Mario. We never would have had the White Album, if the Beatles had decided to keep doing the pop covers from their first album. True artists are always moving forward with their ideas, and don't care about pleasing anyone else by regurgitating their popular stuff.

Molyneux is enthusiastic and creative. I actually love this idea. He's not creating a game, he's creating a psychological experiment. Would someone actually pay 50,000 just to satisfy their curiosity?

But if most 'new' ideas you have had have seemed to have flopped or fell short as you have gone on why not try and revisit a classic and remake it for the modern generation? Not so much repeating what has already been done but taking something that was a success and pushing for it to be even better.

I mean im all for new ideas and pushing the industry forward if the ideas are decent ones. However I think he should maybe revive an older series that had buckets of potential (Black & White for example) then embrace the modding community with it too and extend its shelf life then move onto an ambitious new project. That way he has kept fans happy with a new title and hopefully improved it too, and they can have fun creating mods while he develops something else and works on some expansions for it from time to time. Sales would also help fund these crazy new projects hes working on.

 

[Arseface]

But if most 'new' ideas you have had have seemed to have flopped or fell short as you have gone on why not try and revisit a classic and remake it for the modern generation? Not so much repeating what has already been done but taking something that was a success and pushing for it to be even better.

Because true artists aren't driven by the success of their art. They're driven by their own passion and inspiration.

I mean im all for new ideas and pushing the industry forward if the ideas are decent ones. However I think he should maybe revive an older series that had buckets of potential (Black & White for example) then embrace the modding community with it too and extend its shelf life then move onto an ambitious new project. That way he has kept fans happy with a new title and hopefully improved it too, and they can have fun creating mods while he develops something else and works on some expansions for it from time to time. Sales would also help fund these crazy new projects hes working on.

Well now that he's not a part of Lionhead anymore, they might think of doing something like that, and I'm all for it. I just don't like all the criticism Molyneux gets for just putting himself and his ideas out there. He's not here to please anyone except himself.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Because true artists aren't driven by the success of their art. They're driven by their own passion and inspiration.

Well now that he's not a part of Lionhead anymore, they might think of doing something like that, and I'm all for it. I just don't like all the criticism Molyneux gets for just putting himself and his ideas out there. He's not here to please anyone except himself.

Ive got a lot of respect for the man and his passion for the industry but id rather he was remembered for all of his good titles rather than for his passion but always falling short after his early successes.

 

[Arseface]

Ive got a lot of respect for the man and his passion for the industry but id rather he was remembered for all of his good titles rather than for his passion but always falling short after his early successes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't those shortfalls mostly after Microsoft bought Lionhead?

 

[Dark Drakan]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't those shortfalls mostly after Microsoft bought Lionhead?

I dont know if Fable would have made it to 3 without Microsoft's funding to be brutally honest only 2 games were released after Microsoft acquired them in 2006 and they were Fable 2 and Fable 3. Sales had started to falter before Microsoft came in with The Movies and Black and White 2 not having great sales.

 

[Arseface]

I dont know if Fable would have made it to 3 without Microsoft's funding to be brutally honest only 2 games were released after Microsoft acquired them in 2006 and they were Fable 2 and Fable 3. Sales had started to falter before Microsoft came in with The Movies and Black and White 2 not having great sales.

Yeah fair enough. I hadn't really followed Lionhead before Fable, and even then not closely. But thats my assessment of the situation. PM is more out to please himself than his fans, and thats how it should be.

We will have to see how Lionhead will go now.

I'm willing to bet they will be more consumer driven.

 

[Gikoku]

PM is more out to please himself than his fans, and thats how it should be.

When it comes to the art direction (soundtrack, visuals, story, etc.) I agree. But when it comes to gameplay, I have to disagree as that is most beneficial from open feedback to help improve upon the bad & the good. If a developer fails to deliver on that, how can they expect many people to continue putting up with their game? It's not good for business.

 

[Arseface]

When it comes to the art direction (soundtrack, visuals, story, etc.) I agree. But when it comes to gameplay, I have to disagree as that is most beneficial from open feedback to help improve upon the bad & the good. If a developer fails to deliver on that, how can they expect many people to continue putting up with their game? It's not good for business.

But we'd never come up with the ridiculously amazing games if there weren't devs out there experimenting with new ideas. I'm sure even Einstein had a few bad ideas at some point before he thought of General Relativity. My point essentially is: who gives a hoot about business? He's almost constantly been breaking new ground.

And in the context of this thread, I absolutely love this cube experiment. Its completely different, and pretty outrageous.

 

[Tsuyu]

And plenty stupid.

 

[Gikoku]

But we'd never come up with the ridiculously amazing games if there weren't devs out there experimenting with new ideas. I'm sure even Einstein had a few bad ideas at some point before he thought of General Relativity. My point essentially is: who gives a hoot about business? He's almost constantly been breaking new ground.

Who gives a hoot about business? Every single one of the developers do and should if they wish to keep making a living doing what they love. Love it or hate it video games may be an art form, but they are also a business. If you don't care about having a good business, then how can you hope to succeed financially thus allowing the studio to continue making games?

I'm not saying one shouldn't experiment, but that one shouldn't be opposed to taking in feedback/criticism to help improve their games.

 

[SelfAppointedGunslinger]

Chiseling away at a cube sounds like a waste of time, what ever is in the middle is most likely not going to be worth the effort unless they're tickets to Venice or something. Just sayin...

 

[Angel]

Unless you happen to live in Venice, in which case the middle bit will suck.

I find this intriguing and I reckon there will be a group of people out there somewhere who pool their cash together just to get the diamond chisel, be the first to get in and then sell the rights to the first look to someone who can pay enough. Cash back, curiosity satisfied.

Makes me wonder what the final game will be after all these experiments are over with.

And as for the knighthood thing? Well, don't forget that in her infinite wisdom the Queen knighted Mugabe. Just goes to show that not everyone has as much foresight as you would expect...

 

[Arseface]

And plenty stupid.

Why do you think it's stupid?

Who gives a hoot about business? Every single one of the developers do and should if they wish to keep making a living doing what they love. Love it or hate it video games may be an art form, but they are also a business. If you don't care about having a good business, then how can you hope to succeed financially thus allowing the studio to continue making games?

I'm not saying one shouldn't experiment, but that one shouldn't be opposed to taking in feedback/criticism to help improve their games.

But you can absolutely make money without sacrificing your art. They just don't get supported but the big guys and waved in peoples faces to produce the sales. You can always have enough money if your dev team is good and you market your wares creatively. And especially with everything being online these days.