A Few Words About: Franchises
Anybody who has read Wii Rally long enough or happens to know me in person knows that there is one thing in this world that I hate more than clowns, spiders, those costumed guys at theme parks and waiting in line all rolled into one. That one thing is Final Fantasy.
Now in all honesty I have no gripe with any particular game in the series or one of it’s many many many spin offs. My problem is with Final Fantasy itself. Pretty much anything with the name Final Fantasy on it draws my loathsome ire despite what positive points any sort of product bearing the name would have. I’ll tell you why, to put it simply Final Fantasy is indicative of exactly what is wrong with the video game industry. Reports have started to surface about Square-Enix’s list of titles to be published in 2007 among this list are ten yes I said TEN games bearing the Final Fantasy name . I’m sorry but to me this does not project an image of the innovation and progress that has made this industry great. All I see is a bunch of SquEnix COs literally beating a dead horse till brains leak about the sides and it looks more like a deformed llama than the epic tale of the Heroes of Light that saved this once great company from a terrible end.
Just because a game is a success doesn’t mean that there is a reason to create a sequel, spin off or remake. Not since the cheesy slasher flicks of the eighties has series numeration risen to such absurd levels. In this age of Tony Hawk 8 Final Fantasy 13s Dynasty Warriors 8 and Test Drive Unlimited (the one that got so high they lost count). I lament that even new ideas and IPs are being subjected to what I call the “trilogy treatment” this can be seen with the Halo series and even though nothing has been officially announced Gears of War.
Now games that have dropped the enumeration are no better. Sure you’ve got your Madden’s and your NHL/MLB/FIFA/NBA/NCAA/MLS/XYJ ‘0whatever but those are sports titles and it’s part of the simulation to have the most up to date rosters even though any real fan would tell you that the games are always a season behind. But do we really need 6 Burnout titles and over 15 entries in the Need for Speed series?
What has happened to the innovation and the desire to create new and fantastic worlds, monsters and characters the likes of which nobody has ever seen. I know that it is unfair to take out my frustration on a particular series like I often do with Final Fantasy but the name in itself inspires great rage due to a childhood incident involving the Never Ending Story. In my humble yet serious opinion this needs to stop and soon or games will lose much of their magic and credibility as a medium.
I’m sorry for writing an entire post without mentioning the Nintendo Wii but what good is soapbox like this if you can’t use it shout from the rooftops every once in awhile.
March 27th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Well Tim I personally love the Final Fantasy series but I’m an RPG fan. Theres only a few things I can tell you about using a title over and over again is this. First, if I go into Blockbuster or Wall-Mart or EB to buy/rent a game, I don’t really intend to buy something I’ve never heard of. If I see that a title has 3 or more next to it I tend to give it a look because it had to have some kind of fan bases to keep from dieing at 1 or 2. Granted it’s not always true. But most companies wont keep makinga certain game if it doesn’t sell a certain amount. And Final Fantasy in particular has an enormous fan base. It’s like when a new Star Wars comes out…the people lined up around the theatre…twice! Ya when Final Fantasy comes it…it’s line up blockes away nights before. Final Fantasy Fans trust Square to produce (yes Square in general because it started it :P) Secondly, you know this reason probably pretty well being in Video Games Design…NAMING CONVENTIONS. Anyone on a Final Fantasy team knows what the Fire magic is called, and the Curing magic is called. From one game to another it changes and can get confusing, Heal is one thing in one game and something else in another. But when I play Final Fantasy I know what the magics and some of the skills are just by the name. Oh and finally, I’ve already mentioned it. If you have a fan base, why lose it? No company is going to just let go of a certain fan base, certain games like Halo 2 for example don’t rent well because they are always just bought out because people know they’ll be buying it anyway, why spend the extra 6 bucks you don’t have to on a rental. So there Tim, those are my reasons for why companies keep titles alive. And remember it’s not always a bad thing. Halo 2, God of War 2, c’mon you know those games are good and get better with the technology. Hits like that can be hard to come by, but when the hit, damn do they hit.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Am I a Final Fantasy fan? Yes (have all but XI, the MMORPG). Do I agree that the series should die? Yes!
Reason being is because a lot of the games bearing the name Final Fantasy could even be its own IP, but instead of risking bad sales, they just slap the FF name on it and let the name rake in the cash. While it is a good business practice to make money (pretty big I hear), I do think that the reusing of IPs for different games is something that should be avoided. Sure, direct sequels are OK, as long as they keep the same idea and themes of the previous games (God of War 2 comes to mind), but when a sequel has a character with the same name, then you’re just reaching.
It’s a touchy subject, but I do think that IPs that offer very little that is new should be ended. Even the sports games that are just roster updates. With a lot of the games using downloadable content, make a game that’s really strong and deep, then just allow downloads of new players, teams in case of expansion, and new models for those players to make them look different from the others, but similar to the rest of the game. Less money I know, but it will make a much more solid game IMO…
Of course, this is simply my opinion.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:38 am
As much as I agree with you Brill, the companies making the games wont put up the cash if they wont get as much back as possible. Sure the people making the games would probably love to make the best Madden ever and just update it. Or a new RPG that should blow FF out of the water. But the big corporations backing these studios don’t want the best games, they want the most money. Plane and simple, that’s what the problem is, they want to much money.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
[...] Original post by Tim and software by Elliott Back [...]
March 31st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
I adore the Final Fantasy games, and own all from 4 upwards BUT I do take your point that Square particularly are ripping the guts out of the franchise by over saturating the market. EA are the worst offenders though, because their sequels aren’t even innovative and different, they’re just a rehash to make money!
April 5th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Wow…I wish this post got some more attention. Sure it’s not about the Wii but it’s a great post i think. Could have many different opinions and arguements….to bad i suppose lol. But I stick with the fact that companies that back the game makers are in it for the money, i bet 99% of them don’t even play games and think they’re for their kids and that’s all.