RPG Vault Soapbox: Taking Games Seriously

RPG Vault’s latest “Soapbox” feature has Near Death Studios’ Brian Green talking about what needs to happen for the video game industry to be taken seriously.

If you read gaming sites like RPG Vault, you’ve probably noticed a repeating theme, originality. Many players are tired of seeing endless clones and sequels to games they previously enjoyed. “Where’s the innovation?” people write in articles similar to this one. “Why won’t anyone try something new for a change?”

This problem can be defined in terms of legitimacy. I’ve stated that computer games do enjoy one level, financial. Essentially, provided you make money, everything is forgiven. Unfortunately, there’s a flip side; a project that loses money is to be shunned. In other media, some critical and/or financial failures have later found their audiences and cultural acceptance. A classic example for cinema fans is Blade Runner, not a box office success, but now a beloved science fiction classic.

If a game fails to make money on its first release, it will most likely fall into oblivion and be ignored. There’s very little chance for a culturally significant game to survive poor initial performance and still have lasting artistic or cultural value. Since we don’t preserve our history in the industry, this is an even larger problem.