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[The_Flying_Dove]

Ken Levine, you call yourself a game designer? And changing your studio's name to Irrational Games isn't enough to have others think highly of you. In fact, I definitely could see Bioshock 1 & Infinite as "irrational" games because they are certainly not rational choices, except for marketing purposes. Irrational Games is in no way creative with its game design.

[deathtotheweird]

Ken Levine, you call yourself a game designer? And changing your studio's name to Irrational Games isn't enough to have others think highly of you. In fact, I definitely could see Bioshock 1 & Infinite as "irrational" games because they are certainly not rational choices, except for marketing purposes. Irrational Games is in no way creative with its game design.

thanks for that incredibly intelligent comment

[Melly]

That's enough Dove.

[s0]

I like Bioshock. Should I be ashamed of myself?

On a related note, Irrational should make another Freedom Force game.

[Rob Lach]

Man, flying_dove is really penetrating into the heart of the AAA games industry. They should be scared running with his deep cutting analysis.

[Amon26]

[PGGB]

I have to say, if Bioshock Infinite does not deliver on its promises, Ken Levine might become the second Peter Molyneux.
Both Bioshock and Fable were not necessarily bad games per se, but they fell short of the incredibly high expactations. Ken promised an open, living and unscripted (!) world for Bioshock prior to release and while the world was really immersive it was also heavily scripted.

That disappointed me a whole whole lot, so I'm a little bit more wary about getting excited now.

[starsrift]

On a related note, Irrational should make another Freedom Force game.

<3 Yes, they should.

[Iamthejuggler]

The setting looks awesome. But i couldn't get past the gameplay of bioshock (never tried 2), the setting atmosphere was great but i just hated the gameplay. I've tried going back to it two or three times and always get a few hours in and accept i just can't like it. Shame.

[Renton]

The setting looks awesome. But i couldn't get past the gameplay of bioshock (never tried 2), the setting atmosphere was great but i just hated the gameplay. I've tried going back to it two or three times and always get a few hours in and accept i just can't like it. Shame.

This.

As a shooter it just felt very weak.

Definitely looking forward to seeing the new setting, though.

[The_Flying_Dove]

Man, flying_dove is really penetrating into the heart of the AAA games industry. They should be scared running with his deep cutting analysis.

Yeah, I sure am. And do you have a problem with that? Well, too bad. All we ever do is pat this industry on the back for its work, but these days, it is mostly about profit. I'm willing to be as critical and as dismissive of the many games out there as Chris Crawford is. I don't care whether or not others' feelings are hurt as a result. The truth must be heard, even if it is not pleasant.

I guess that we're drawing closer and closer to another Dark Age, or we may already be in it.
After all, games, movies, and books have very little innovation to offer these days, in spite of way more people being involved with them. It may be a long time before we once again start having lots of innovation pouring into these mediums. And I'm probably not the only one who thinks this way. Nor am I the only one on these forums that is unhappy with much of the gaming industry.

[Christian223]

I agree that game companies just want to make money, so they make sure all types of people can play a game, to do this the game must be very simple because that makes money. Which is really sad, Stystem Shock got dumbed down into Bioshock, XCOM got dumbed down into an FPS, Deus Ex i'm sure is going the same route...

But you know what is even more sad?, indies are making platformer after platformer after platformer... except some rare exceptions, indies are not really contributing for innovation, and they have a huge oportunity...

 

[Hangedman]

The doomsaying in this thread is most amusing.

I can't wait to find out what happens in the next episode of GAME INDUSTRY BALL Z

EDIT: Also...

The "truth" must be heard, even if it is not pleasant.

 

[The_Flying_Dove]

But you know what is even more sad?, indies are making platformer after platformer after platformer... except some rare exceptions, indies are not really contributing for innovation, and they have a huge oportunity...

I feel the same way about most indie games, Christian223. And I find it interesting that the most meaningful ones usually consist of nothing but platformer gameplay. Braid, Limbo, and others follow this route. Why is it so hard to make a meaningful artistic game that fits into a different genre?

[Rob Lach]

Platformers haven't been fully explored. We should keep hacking at them until they are fully mastered.

[Landshark RAWR]

I like the pretty floating buildings

[s0]

After all, games, movies, and books have very little innovation to offer these days

It's always been like this though. The innovative works have always been few and far between. The whole notion that "games (or any other medium) were so much more innovative back then" is an illusion created by the simple fact that both we as people and history at large tends to forget the non-innovative, unimportant ones.

[The_Flying_Dove]

I suppose that you're right, C.A. Sinclair, but it's still pretty frustrating to see so little creativity. Sometimes, I feel like I should be off doing other things, spending little time with games, and coming back to them every few months or so, just so that I can witness something new. Even then, it's hard for me to keep my mind off the media, no matter how derivative most of its works may be.

[Melly]

You're doing a great job preaching to the choir Dove.

[Renton]

Hey Dove: