Are games getting too “Hollywood”? [BLOG 2]
I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Irrational Games. They are a game studio based out of Boston and are responsible for games like Bioshock and System Shock 2. They have a weekly podcast called Irrational Behavior (http://irrationalgames.com/insider/irrational-behavior-episode-2/) and in the latest episode they had many developers recalling their development memories. I was surprised to find out that many of the older developers had stories about them doing the voice work and playing the characters that were included in the game. This got me thinking: are developers and publishers trying to imitate the movie industry (Hollywood) by spending too much money and time on famous names to sell their games?
I think that the video game industry works completely different than the movie industry. In the movie industry you see a trailer and you immediately label it “That new George Clooney movie” or “That new Bruce Willis flick.” While in the game industry you see a trailer and you say “Isn’t that the new Infinity Ward shooter?” or “That’s that new Blizzard game, right?” I believe that the game developers are the superstars of the video game industry, and that they do not need Hollywood stars to sell their games.