Genre King vs Innovation
Posted On Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 By Jay
There is a fantastic article here about that covers genre king and innovation. The article’s focus is Nintendo and observations on their strategy.
I’m not going to comment on the article except to state that you should read it. What I will comment on is a question that a co-worker asked of me when flying back from Chicago.
“Given your choice, would you want to make a genre king or highly innovative product.”
This question by itself is relatively huge. Do I want to make a critically acclaimed game? Before this year, outside of a few key developers, the two have been mutually exclusive. 2007 was an excellent year for video game developers, despite all the widely divergent press. The answer isn’t a simple one: *prepares podium*
There are so many frontiers in the gaming industry right now that have yet to be publicly explored. The casual gaming market, party gaming(look out board games!), lifestyle games(Did you know there’s a game out there that teaches girls out to wear make up?) and other areas I haven’t even thought of. Back on topic, its very difficult to ignore the draw to innovating game design in these spaces. I’m unsure of the actual financial numbers behind web portals and casual gaming sites. It appears to be booming. I suspect having a solitaire equivalent in the mobile space would REALLY open that market. This assumes innovation in market space. *leaves podium*
I don’t have an answer. The question isn’t clear cut, much has to do with desire, much to do with luck. Being in the right place at the right time, having the influence and pull to really make a difference in the development are worthy goals for any developer.
