2010-02-18, 12:09 AM
This kind of question has come up for me many times, although I've never had the chance to actually apply it for real. Would it be better to pour out all my heart, soul, and passion into a kickass, well-polished game that's going to be respected by gamer fans? Or would it be better to just make a casual game where things are quite easy because you're given the tools to do it?
Personally I'd like to go with "kickass game" production, because then it'd be something you'd be proud of, and you'd get all these fancy accolades and whatnot. However, the economical choice would be the casual way. No matter how you look at it, if the goal for the consumers is to have fun, by all means let them. There's way more people that can and will feel proud over getting 90% or higher over a simple trivia test than those who will take on an onslaught of hardcore trivia like that found on *insert gameshow here*.
Then there's the problem of titles. Classic titles: everyone knows them, everyone knows what to expect (mostly), and they're proven games. New titles (read: MANY PC and 360 games) on the other hand suffer because they seem a whole lot like anything else without having to actually play 30% through the game or reading up a chunky review on it. Who wants to do that? And my personal favorite problem: not enough time or will not devote the time.
Personally I'd like to go with "kickass game" production, because then it'd be something you'd be proud of, and you'd get all these fancy accolades and whatnot. However, the economical choice would be the casual way. No matter how you look at it, if the goal for the consumers is to have fun, by all means let them. There's way more people that can and will feel proud over getting 90% or higher over a simple trivia test than those who will take on an onslaught of hardcore trivia like that found on *insert gameshow here*.
Then there's the problem of titles. Classic titles: everyone knows them, everyone knows what to expect (mostly), and they're proven games. New titles (read: MANY PC and 360 games) on the other hand suffer because they seem a whole lot like anything else without having to actually play 30% through the game or reading up a chunky review on it. Who wants to do that? And my personal favorite problem: not enough time or will not devote the time.