Wednesday, May 9, 2012

I was thinking about this earlier today, what ever happened to the imagination?  Now I know I don't pre-date the video game industry, I grew up with it.  Home gaming consoles were just starting out in their 2nd generation when I was a child, I remember fondly the Atari 2600 and games like Space Invaders etc.  I can also remember Tabletop games being popular, sure there are still people and lots of them playing D&D but what about other games?  Rifts, Star Wars: The Role Playing Game, TMNT, Shadow Run, and even the short lived The Wheel of Time role playing game?  These games required much more of the player in my opinion, interaction was a must, but so was imagination.  You simply could not become immersed in the game without imagination. 

In a day when there are so many "WoW Clones", which I find ironic since WoW borrowed heavily from Everquest, I have to wonder if there is a connection between lack of originality in new games hitting the market and the lack of interest in Table Top games in younger generations.  I kind of get it though, the companies putting out product want to go for the sure money, after all they are in the business of making money, but are we all suffering from their awful habits of pumping out clones?  When was the last time any game came out with a spark of originality?  Something you haven't seen before.  It's not a trend limited to gaming, it's happening in the film industry as well.  Re-boots are rampant, and pointless squeals that never live up to the original installment.  The Spiderman series of films is and example with the upcoming reboot, how about the re-make of True Grit, the Hulk films, Tron: Legacy?  Should I continue.

There are rumors of long dead franchises in gaming getting a fresh title, take the Legacy of Kain series.  You know Blood Omen, Soul Reaver , Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2, and  Defiance, there are rumors of a new Legacy of Kain game in the works.  While I'd love to see it, I just don't know why a series without an installment for almost a decade is getting picked back up.  The Tomb Raider series of games is getting a reboot this year, and of all the titles Kid Icarus rose from a 20 year slumber this year. 

If the game studios out there want a list of more or less defunct or degraded franchises to be "Rebooted" I could easily generate one for them.

  1. Lost Vikings     -  Very Underrated title, loved the puzzles.
  2. Battle Toads      -  Bring back the Bike Stage Nightmares.
  3. Suikoden           -  108 Stars of Destiny = 108 possible party members (6 at time though).
  4. Altered Beast    -  I'd love to Rise from the grave and rescue Zeus' daughter again, with modern graphics
  5. Star Fox            -  Everyone wants to see more of Fox and company, well until Slippy gets mouthy.
  6. Final Fantasy    -  Sorry but the newer titles Blow, starting with VII, I'd love to see a reboot to it's roots.
  7. Chrono Trigger -  Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross great games worthy of an update.
  8. Contra               -   I'd want this as long as we still get to use the Konami Code!
  9. The Neverhood Chronicles -   A reboot of The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys! Yes Please.
  10. Ultima               -   Sure there is Ultima Online (which I still subscribe to), but a reboot of the franchise would be great.
Seriously that's my list, I mean if they are going to rehash old titles, at least make it a rehash of great titles. 

I'm not out to encourage the reboot mentality, but if I can't fight it, at least I can throw my suggestions into the hat.  I don't have to like it, but with a little luck it may be tolerable.

So what titles or series would you like to see get a reboot?  Stick it in the comments below.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to RSS Feed Follow me on Twitter!