Heavy Rain director David Cage reckons that an overdose of shooters may kill the industry.
“I think this industry needs more games like Journey because it’s a breath of fresh air; this is necessary in any medium,” Quantic Dream founder David Cage told GameIndustry International. “How many first person shooters can we create per year? How many can we play per year? How many of them will be successful? Even from a business point of view, does it make any sense? I’m not sure.”
Amongst the AAA industry that Quantic Dream is trying desperately to be a part of, the shooter, in both its first and third person varieties, has become the go-to genre. Cage isn’t suggesting that all games need to be po-faced and introspective, but he does believe that the industry’s obsession with shallow violence will be the death of it.
“I mean this industry will die if it doesn’t try more to be innovative and to come up with new ideas and to talk a bit more – not necessarily serious, but deeper things at some point,” he said. “It’s great that you can shoot at monsters, and that’s great and it will always be there and it will always be successful, but at the same time, what about giving the choice to people? Give them different options. So if they like that they find it, but if they want something deeper and interactive, they can find that too.”
Cage also suggests that “most” videogames don’t focus on narrative, and developers often view a game’s story as “just a way to tie levels together.” He then argues that many games lack a strong authorial voice, due to the fact creative decisions are often made by committee.
“Actually, this is not the way things are done at Quantic Dream. I work pretty much like an author in many ways. I write very personal things, totally subjective. I think it gives a special tone to the games we make.”
Source: Gameindustry.biz
