“Urgh, oh tis a friendly face I see.
“I am Jack Boyles, and I am losing my… my humanity, I am Turning Hollow.
“At what point doth stop? Doth stop when there are not enough souls to be had? Doth stop when there is not enough originality? At what point doth stop?
“The endless amounts of sequels, spin off’s and franchises that occupy the gaming landscape is getting absurd. As the years go by we see less new IPs, instead we see the annual franchise, unnecessary sequels, remasters or remakes. Originality has been loss in the well of greed and like I, these publishers are Turning Hollow. Loosing their purpose from devouring too many souls… Tis all our fault.
“The annual franchises play on our subconsciousness. In age of instant gratification and entitlement, we must hath the new thing despite us knowing in our hearts, tis a reskin, and nothing much has changed we’ll still go and purchase it. ‘But why?’ thou may be thinking. Why are we compelled to purchase this game that’s no different from last year’s edition? Why are we drawn to the same game when we complain that we bored of that experience? The fear of Isolation. Ugh. The fear that thy companion will hath that game and ye missing out, the fear of everyone talking about it and thee being left out, that fear, that fear of thee, not belonging, that fear of isolation; that’s what compels thee.
“So, thou buy the game, everyone else has it, and because thou now feel thee belong, ye are happy, are all together and connecting. Tis that fear of isolation that brought thee all to that place and the sense of belonging feeds the dopamine thy brain needs to keep thou playing and keeps thou buying.
“Success drives industry, I understand that, but success doesn’t mean it needs to produce more. Stories are best left as they are, they are complete and tackle their themes with a satisfying conclusion, therefore no need to hath a sequel. Ohh, ugh. This is taking a level of maturity that most publishers or developers hath not yet understood from the barrage of sequels. For example, The Last of Us released to critical and commercial success, a singular story that deals with it’s theme of parenthood and children developing their independence. But that’s not enough, that’s not enough for publisher, tis not enough for the developer and not enough for those people who just want another one, all because the first one was good and instead of holding on to the original they risk that original being perverted; look at the Matrix.
“I am not saying all Franchises are bad, and there should never be a Franchise again. I am a Nintendo fan and they doth nothing but Franchises but what Nintendo typically doth is add a new mechanic or change the game so tis familiar but fresh. Ahh, haha. The issue is more and more franchises are just churning out what is essentially the same game… tis becoming expectable for that to happen.
“Many other practitioners in other creative industries know when one is enough, they… they know there is no need for a sequel, they close the lid and allow that one piece of art to speak for itself and in the process makes the piece timeless. So why can’t the videogame industry do the same? Is it possible for a game to be a blockbuster and just end there?
“Uh oh, what was I saying, oh yes…
“But tis our fault, we allow these hollow forms to protest for more and more. We doth not say why doth thou want another? What purpose will it serve? Thou should ask one’s self these questions next time they enjoy a new IP and if thou doth not hath a substantial answer to this, ask thou self again; does it need a sequel? Then maybe once great games will not erode in quality by the passing of time.
“Chosen Undead, remember when Halo meant something, I do. Haha.”
