Motorstorm 3 dev: "Racing genre is stuck in a rut"
- Thread starter green.pixel
- Start date
There's no evolution to the racing genre, other than realism, which is lost on most people. Otherwise it's exactly the same games we've played for a decade with tarted up visuals, whereas every other genre is undergoing advances (or did with the case of FPS/TPSes, which have now exhausted their progression and are becoming very samey).
I think it's a dying genre, like classic platforming (Sonic and Mario), and scrolling shooters that had their hey-day in the 16 bit era, and which will come back after a prolonged absence when gamers want a change from the current fashions.
I think it's a dying genre, like classic platforming (Sonic and Mario), and scrolling shooters that had their hey-day in the 16 bit era, and which will come back after a prolonged absence when gamers want a change from the current fashions.
The stagnation in gameplay is the main cause for me. Flight game is the same too.
It's one of the reasons I suggested adding more sophisticated triggers and building blocks to Modnation Racer. That way we may be able to layer other types of gameplay over the racing mechanics. I am personally very interested in a traffic violation test to avoid paying a higher insurance premium. Those web-based tests are very very boring and time consuming.
I thinking add more spectacles and set pieces may not be a sufficient draw.
It's one of the reasons I suggested adding more sophisticated triggers and building blocks to Modnation Racer. That way we may be able to layer other types of gameplay over the racing mechanics. I am personally very interested in a traffic violation test to avoid paying a higher insurance premium. Those web-based tests are very very boring and time consuming.
I thinking add more spectacles and set pieces may not be a sufficient draw.
There was a point when racing games were very popular. Back in the PS1/PS2 days. I recally everyone waiting around for the next Need 4 Speed or GT title like they do for next Halo/Modern Warfare these days. He's right that the audience has shifted.
Established franchises such as Need 4 Speed and GT (and to a lesser extent Forza) will still sell well but new comers might as well not even start, as evident by sales of Motorstorm 2, Split Second, Blur, PGR4 and a host of others.
Established franchises such as Need 4 Speed and GT (and to a lesser extent Forza) will still sell well but new comers might as well not even start, as evident by sales of Motorstorm 2, Split Second, Blur, PGR4 and a host of others.
corduroygt
Banned
Motorstorm 2 sold 1 million copies in a month on a single platform with the lowest install base back in 2008, so it's not in the same league as Split Second or Blur. I don't know how much PGR4 sold, but being released a week after Halo 3 can't be good...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/motorstorm-2-sales-hit-1-million-mark
And it reviewed well also but that's not the point. The key here is that the mass market simply doesn't have an anticipation or purchase intent for racing games like they do with shooters. Especially for newcomers.
We enjoy MotorStorm and Modnation Racers every time we play them. But afterwards, I always have this lingering thought that they could do more.
I imagine the feeling may be worse for people who are blind to racers to begin with. At least you and I bought a racing game. So we are not that "bad".
EDIT: Ah, RobertR1 says pretty much the same thing.
I'm not sure where they sold so many as the US sales were poor and clearly the UK sales figures aren't favoring them. Was it bundled in EU?
Here's the NPD numbers for Oct 2008. http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/NPD_October_2008 It didn't chart the top 20 in Oct and never after either.
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corduroygt
Banned
Well there are other countries in the world besides US and UK where there are PS3's. Motorstorm 1 was the one with the bundles, there was no official bundle with MS2 from Sony but some retailers bundled it themselves. It was also discounted aggressively a month after launch.
We'll have to see GT5's sales to see if that is indeed true. It may just be that racing games with fake cars just aren't as appealing anymore. I admit that it's significantly less cool when a game lets me drive a car that looks sort of like a '69 Charger compared to a game that actually lets me drive a '69 Charger. Maybe that's the problem affecting games like Blur, Split Second, Motorstorm, etc. I imagine sports games would be the same, like if Madden had fake teams instead of the real teams, I presume sales would be dramatically less even if the games were identical.
Yeah, and I have a feeling people buy GT* because it's the "in" club for car enthusiasts.
For outsiders like me, I am more paying for Kazunori's bottled sweat and blood over 5 years. I'd like to experience his dedicated work. Even if it's a Hannah Montana game, I may still buy it.
For outsiders like me, I am more paying for Kazunori's bottled sweat and blood over 5 years. I'd like to experience his dedicated work. Even if it's a Hannah Montana game, I may still buy it.
Having played this game 20-30 hours or so, even if the game sold 1 million on its own strength I feel that is a failure and stupid for a game of this quality. Sales were definitely a disappointment, even if they managed to sell a respectable number of copies in the end. I think too many people were disappointed to some extent by Motorstorm 1, and the racing genre losing ground to first person shooters, many probably felt that one Motorstorm was enough in their collection (seeing as the average gamer has just under 8 games or so, it's understandable). Hopefully there's enough time between 1 and 3 to reach a bigger, better audience.
corduroygt
Banned
GT5 can live as a car encyclopedia and a portal as much as it can live as a game, so I have no doubt it'll sell. It's crazy that a game like GT5 is $60 just like Split/Second is $60. That's like getting a Ford Fiesta and a Lamborghini for the same price.
corduroygt
Banned
Need for Speed was a great middle ground between mario kart and Gran Turismo, but they riced it up over the years. NFS Porsche is still the best game in that series and I love it.
Also, I presume Burnout Paradise did well too.
Also, I presume Burnout Paradise did well too.
Sigfried1977
Legend
First person shooters haven't made any giant leaps either. The best selling game in the genre right now is basically a visually intense version of Duck Hunt.