It is no secret that it is easier and more cost effective to keep an existing customer than it is to create a new one. Well this old adage translates into the world of video games quite easily.  As video games have become a bigger and bigger business the companies making them have become titans in their industry with a mix of horrible and amazing results.  What does this mean for the common gamer you may ask… come find out.

In the days of the NES and even the SNES & Genesis on average there were more games that were unique than sequels by far.  Most of these sequels revolved either around a famous plumber with no tools at hand or a blue rodent with a serious addiction to shiny rings.  Instead you had companies competing with each other trying to release something that no one had ever seen before, something that would generate a following providing revenue to create the next big thing, not simply create a sequel. These times were great for the consumer because there was a myriad of choices and an air of mystery due to the face there wasn’t a big fat 2 after the title.

Fast forward to more recent times where the titans of the industry like Activision and EA churn out many video games each a year.  These companies have one thing on their mind, making money.  Now this isn’t to say that they never create a new product but in their eyes there is much more risk to put out ‘Generic Shooter with Improved Graphics’ than it is to put out a game with no background and no exact idea of how it will succeed.  For me this has personally ruined first person shooters for me.  I grew up on the id Software games from Wolfenstein to DOOM to Quake, each time the technology of the game got better generating excitement for me about what the next game was going to introduce.  Now the majority of FPS games have adopted the style of play where if you simply hide your health will regenerate and you can go on your merry way committing genocide to save the day.  For me that single mechanic has ruined most excitement for any FPS game.

So creativity gets pushed to the side in the pursuit of the all mighty dollar but there is hope.  Some sequels are actually worth playing believe it or not.  Games like Uncharted 2 show how to do a sequel correctly.  Slightly updated technology but a fast improvement in story and graphic design are a must for any sequel.  I found myself immersed in Uncharted 2 from the very beginning and quickly finished my first play through with satisfaction.  What made this game so special to be considered a worthy sequel? It was the fact that even more attention was spent on the details and the play experience without adding huge amounts of gimmicky additions to make the game seem worth purchasing.

While there may always be exceptions to the rules I want to urge game developers out there to stop trying to clone something or make a sequel to a widely popular game in hopes of scraping the bottom of the barrel for a few more dollars.  Instead if you know you cannot make a great sequel that will blow the minds of the consumer spend the extra time and effort to create a new game, one that people will be exited to see because it has something new that they have to try.  Not only will it attract new customers, current customers will have a respect for the company that didn’t exist before.  This respect  can easily help mitigate the risk of not doing a sequel.