It's tough to say what's exactly preventing it from happening. It's possible most developers just don't want to sink time/energy into creating a gamer-friendly toolset when they've got a publisher breathing down their neck.
That's the thing - Braid cost Jonathan Blow (was that the creator's name?) several hundred thousand dollars. I mean most people just can't front that sort of money. That's why it's such a big deal for developers to release level editors (preferably for free) to gamers.
Yeah, user-generated content has paid off really well for Valve because it's created so many new game opportunities from them. Plus it enables them to continue their slower-than-average development schedule because players always find some new mod to keep old Valve games entertaining.
@austere:
True. I guess there is the chance someone will come up with something amazing (a la Counter-Strike). I'd be surprised to see a console game allow for such extensive modding, though.
What kinds of user-generated content CAN you make money off, though?
Here comes a flame war about which console tastes better.
This is as genuine as Kanye and 50 Cent's beef.
Fallout 3 might not be exactly what every fan of the original wanted but it was still regarded by many as a good or great game. Some differences are inevitable when a license changes hands and there's ten years worth of new technology but a lot of people - including people who played and replayed the first two ad nauseum like myself - still think Fallout 3 was a faithful sequel and overall solid role-playing game.
Basically, the point is this: until Bethesda releases a Wii game ...
Yeah, Tomb Raider is a viable candidate for the list. It started out as a repetitive, frustrating platformer with a bad camera that skated by on its main character's sex appeal and that hasn't changed in a decade.
I was always curious about where people put their first base. I suspect most, like me, just placed it as close to their hometown as possible. Gotta protect my favorite bar from the alien invasion.
It's sort of covered under the Star Wars entry but yeah. I'm not sure LucasArts has even expressed the slightest bit of interest in making another one.
Just because you liked a new game more than a game that's two decades old, that doesn't make the old game "bad." Back then, plenty of people enjoyed it.
Speaking of rainbows, the conservative group's report also bashed "Bully" for having "gay Achievements."
Whenever I hear the term "interactive movie," I think of Sega CD :(
At least Left 4 Dead had the good sense to include a woman in the quartet. Ya know, for appearance's sake.
It seems like most games these days do everything to ensure that the gamer doesn't need to ever consult the manual (button prompts, in-game tutorials, etc.). The only time I really read manuals these days is if it's a PC game and I need something to do while it's installing.
I thought this was a joke when I first heard about it. Rick Astley didn't pop up when I visited the consumer report though so it's apparently legit.
I always thought of Solid Snake as being the Playstation mascot, honestly. Better than Sony coming up with some cutesy crap like Zippy the Orange Groundhog.
A sequel for a high-selling game? Well, now I've seen everything!
"What is video game journalism becoming?" - An interesting question to pose on an aggregator where "top 10 video game asses" ends up on the top bar every day without fail. I don't think the problem is that, as some suggest, these publications have become fanatics of one console or another - it's the fact that posting news/editorials that participate in these flame wars always get such good traffic. Websites aren't going to suddenly become sources of sober, intelligent news...