38 Studios Big Huge Games and Curt Schilling what a fellow business owner thinks

38 Studios...seems to be all the talk right now and it's for all the wrong reasons.  No one can shut up about this...not even me and it's for a damned good reason.  I am mad as hell.

Now I'll begin by saying that I am a huge Red Sox fan and I love that Curt Schilling was able to break the curse.  What he couldnt do?  Break even after 75 million was dropped in his lap along with 30 million of his own money.  Now Curt is personally worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 Million or 80 after the investment.  He was loaned 75 Million by the city of Providence.  So he puts in 30 and somehow gets others to put in more than double what he did...when he can damned well cover it all.  Why not cover it all? you pay no one back and if it fails you still have enough to have a nice life with.  That's some amazing bullshit powers.  "Hey buddy I have a great idea and I really believe in this project all I need is lots of your money.  Huh? what? no this idea is SO great and I believe in it so much that my money isn't good enough for it!"  Providence probably swooned over the Red Sox legend who expressed interest in their town.  However when creating a video game one's resume should read more than just "Good baseball player"...you would think anyway.  Even here at my company a good idea alone won't land you the job.

So we have 105 Million to make ONE game with.  Again I will be blunt and tell you that it does not take 105 million to make a game-hell you could nearly invent a new console with that money.  Well that's if you weren't an idiot anyway.  So Curt is a huge WOW fan-okay.  So he wants to create a WOW like game-okay. And he's going to do this even if he doesn't know how-okay...actually that isn't.  He's never made a game before why such a big one why so ambitious?  Hell that's like never shooting a gun before and being sent off to a World War...ok that shit happened bad analogy but you get my point.  No one should take on such a grand ambitious game as their first title.  Even Darksiders was a smaller scope project and largely because of that Vigil games gets to live on.

So anyone who pays at least a little attention knows that WOW makes billions of dollars.  What people forget is that WOW didnt happen over night.  Blizzard put out a bunch of titles and spin offs and sequels and other crap prior to WOW.  When WOW came out Blizzard had a customer and fan base.  It took YEARS of products already to market to allow Blizzard to release WOW.  38 Studios had no previous fan base and no proven track record so let's go huge and try to muscle in on some of that WOW money...what could go wrong?  Surely this won't be a decision that ruins my studio before we even have fans...surely.  WOW's players are notoriously loyal and typically despise competition-Curt had to have known this going in to this.  Why would anyone in their right mind want to go toe-to-toe with a game like WOW as their first project?  Sure someone will de-throne WOW one day but 10-1 says it wont be a company's first project.  Even BioWare with SWTOR couldn't do it and they have an established reputation and a fat war chest worth billions.

I hate to say this about a man I admire but I think there may be some crooked business practices here.  The more I find out about this company the more I feel like this was a snatch and grab.  I'd love to see records of payroll.  Who got paid what to do what because I guarantee that the 400 people who were fired were not making 6 figures.  Let's be honest (because I like to be) Kingdom of Amalur or KOA did not implement new technology meaning they did not have to create technology from scratch.  So we're using existing programming engines linking scripts etc.  Art? Art has to be created so from concepts to final renders we need people on cintiqs and maya or 3DS Max or whatever program the studio chooses.  EVEN IF all 400 employees that were fired were artists we come out to just shy of 1 Million to equip them all. Need to use existing engines and software? ok even with licensing fees and software we again come just shy of a million.  This puts us at 2 million IF all 400 employees have BOTH programming and art software and equipment...KOA took two years to make and at 15 bucks an hour for a 40 hour work week for two years all 400 employees (and you KNOW some got way less than 15 an hour) comes to 13,5 million. 13.5 plus the 2 to equip them we're at 15.5.  Providence wanted a pay back of 1.2 million per month for two years we'll round it off to 38 million...we're at 53 million. Not only that this equation pays people more than what they got AND gave them equipment they didnt need so we're more around 40 something million...That is of course rough math but a discrepancy of roughly 35 million?  I'm gonna have a ball after this tax season after the numbers are released.

Also let us not forget that a man worth 110 (80)Million supposedly did not use any of his personal finance to help his employees-so much so that he fucked his workers for a month.  No one was paid for the month of May before the studio was shut down.  Now not for nothing but personally if I am worth 110 (80) million and my company can't pay the employees for the month I would shell it out of pocket for as long as I felt necessary. These are human beings with lives and responsibilities and they depend on me for their money to survive.  I did the math it costs just over 1 percent of Curt's worth per month to pay all 400 employees at 15 bucks an hour.  Wow dude, I don't know what to say.  And I dont want to hear this crap that he's broke.  if he put in 110 million (all of his money) and RI put in 75 million then we're REALLY messed up on the accounting books.  So yeah I don't think Curt really cared for his actual employees, not as humans anyway. Proof- you need proof?

Sure well 38 Studios opened in Massachusetts and was lured to Rhode Island by the money.  The employees were told there would be a relocation program.  If you owned a house in Mass then dont worry just buy one in providence and 38 studios will take on the task of selling your old home in Massachusetts.  Well no, they didnt.  Many employees are being slapped with double mortgages turns out 38 didn't sell their old homes for them like they promised.

So what? need more proof? Ok well in addition to not paying people that work for you i.e. slaves we had a lay off policy that looks like it was hatched in a coward's ass.  An email was used to lay off 400 people.   What follows is the actual email-no joke.  So you know you come into work, get your coffee, shoot the breeze a bit, sit down at your station open your email and read:

“The Company is experiencing an economic downturn. To avoid further losses and possibility of retrenchment, the Company has decided that a companywide lay off is absolutely necessary. These layoffs are non-voluntary and non-disciplinary. This is your official notice of lay off, effective today, Thursday, May 24th, 2012.

Or maybe you're like me when I was at a major video game publisher and don't read your emails. (I am different now) so you don't know this is going on and you see all of the people down the hall with their personal items and maybe tearing up or something and you think "Whoa shit! they're fired!" so you go out there to find out what's going on and you ask them why they're fired.  They tell you that you are fired too.  Shit!  Where was the leadership here?  Nothing like treating your employees like people.  Would have been nice if at the beginning of the month someone of power rounded everyone up and said something like "Hey it isn't going so well here.  We're not sure how long we can keep at this.  It might be a good idea to put your resume out there-list me as a reference."  But no.  No the ship is sinking so you chain everyone to it?  What happened to the captain goes down with the ship?  Nice move Curt.


Who cares about fallout and bad publicity if employees go home and talk about the company dying?  What does it matter?  Nothing can be hidden forever obviously so you might as well be honest.  I'm sorry I am angry at this type of thing.  As a business owner myself and after being treated like garbage most of my working life I can't imagine how or why someone could do this to their workforce.  If you can think of excuses please by all means start a video game company since this looks to be par for the course.

I mean it.  Although we are small and fledgling I mean it-we treat all employees with dignity and respect.  We see them as humans first and workers second.  I swear and I have sworn numerous times that I will not follow this model.  Hold me to it-be hard on me, do whatever you want I'll never surrender this promise.

Profits go up Challenge goes down

Why are video games today not as hard as the ones I had as a kid?  I mean yeah sure shitty controls and half baked programming was a big time culprit making games harder than they should be back then but no-no.  Games, great games like Megaman and Contra were hard as shit and they had fluid controls and solid programming for the day.  Ninja Gaiden II and III? yeah-add those too.  It seems like games today can be beaten in my sleep.  Most rely on cheap shots to kill you and once you figure out how they set them up the game becomes predictable.  OG's like myself have relatively no problem cruising through popular titles-why is this?  I think well rather I know that it boils down to one factor: Consumerism.

When I was a kid gaming was nothing like today-you had to wait for a game worth buying to come out.  There were only a handful of major labels and once in a while you found a nice small development sleeper hit.  It wasnt like today where there is a plethora of developers and choices and a new game comes out every week...whether you have heard of it or not.

So I'm a kid I get bored easily and the next installment of double dragon wont be out for a while...so...make the game hard.  Make it so that I have to soak days worth of time hell weeks even.  Make it so that I have no choice but to play unfair levels and ridiculously tough enemies in late stages.  Bullshit timers that run out way too early.  One life and no continues?  yeah I suffered that shit.  By time you beat it you felt satisfied and wanted to tear a hole into the next game...you would still have to wait but you remember that challenge and you counted the days-you checked up in Nintendo Power as to when you might expect the new game you wanted.  You were gonna make the next game pay-oh yeah.

Nowadays?  Pfh who cares?  Add some multiplayer and we're done.  Let them play against hackers and people who memorized the gameplay.  So let me get this straight...You as a developer are supposed to provide fun and challenge to your gamer yes? Yes.  Ok and you do this by allowing me to duck behind cover and wait for my health to replenish in a game that focuses on and sells the "realistic combat feel"?  Yeah ok.  So your fun and challenge doesnt really come from the game itself but rather the PLAYERS you play against or with?  Hmmm doesnt sound like any real care went into level design and balance.

Now when I say level design I dont mean "It looks realistic with the trucks by the house" and bla bla bla.  No I mean like designing the level in such a way to either trick the player into a trap or making them solve a problem either with force or smarts you know something like that...it allowed us to play in a way that was unique to oneself.  Nowadays you just kinda wander the map looking for a guy to shoot-boring.  Major snooze.  In the unlikely event that I do get hit it is nearly impossible to die in Single player these days.  Just duck and wait.

We don't have to go back very far where the standard was health pick ups.  And you couldnt grab that health when you were at 100% to save for later.  No you had to leave that crap there and hope to be able to get back to it should you need it.  A lot of times I would survive a bad ass fight and on my way to the health previously in the level I would be fragged.  This was aggravating but part of the game.  I had the PATIENCE to play the game as designed.

I say patience because a lot of us arent.  So to regenerate health just sit there...you are now a bad ass gamer with great tactical mindset.

And before I forget about balance and design...typically in these shooters you take five maybe six bullets and within a seven second window and you die.  Ok so the 9mm handgun is noticeably weaker than the shotgun...Part of what a game is supposed to do is frustrate and scare you.  Where is the health bar?  When I was younger and you saw a bad ass enemy for the first time you would gasp in horror as you saw your health bar drop by 80% in one hit.  Hell sometimes you took the hit just because you were curious.  And when that health was gone it was gone baby.  Nowadays-no health bar no way to really gauge how much fight you have left...just lay somewhere quiet until your sight straightens out.

 My original point is that these games are designed like cotton candy.  It's sweet goes down easy and there is always more of it.  Franchises launch titles sometimes twice a year you can't tell me that isnt catering to people's impatience.  There is also fear.  There is so much competition out there that if you take too long to put out a game the fans may find a new favorite and your sequel will meet bitter middle fingers.  Back then it wasnt so.  There was competition yes but not like today where literally dozens of major labels are slugging it out.

Because of this we are left with milktoast games that most of us veterans can clobber with one hand.  I know some people that will not play a hard game since they have become too spoiled.  They dont see the challenge as a reward.  They'd rather play some easy crap and feel that they are a bad ass gamer.  Developers also cater to this mindset as well.  Back then games were fun and if you played them you werent judged on your skill but rather HOW you played them.  The wannabe badasses who stomp easy games?  back in my day you'd be reserved to Sesame St on NES...in my opinion you're doing that anyway with these hold your hand easy to beat games so...say hey to Oscar on the way to pick up your uh "Plasma Rifle".

Do you appreciate your games?

Your PS3 X360 games will never be appreciated.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog online gaming while fun will at the same time destroy any possible nostalgia attached to the game when the servers shut down.  I have vivid and fond memories of playing contra with my brother on the NES specific bosses and levels we had trouble with etc.  It seems to me that games today just arent built that way.  They arent built to become a permanent spot in your memory but rather "Just get you to buy them".

How can you forever remember being fragged in multiplayer?  It never happens the same way twice and unless you're an idiot not even by the same person twice.  That in and of itself is cool that the game is always different...yet the same.  It was the repetition that created the vivid memories for me.  Single player in these newer games is usually an after thought.

It's funny the MMORPG and FPS multi player crowds for the most part shun and bag on facebook games but essentially you are doing the same thing.  You are playing online games with friends and people you don't know.  The scope and visual dynamics of the game don't really matter it is still essentially the same thing.

So because of the introduction of online aspects gaming will never be the same.  But because it is a temporary means of gaming (meaning that one day the servers go bye bye) it in effect creates a shallowness of the art.  Yeah Making a game is an art believe me anyone who hasnt tried it has no idea.  Art to me will always have some sort of permanence.  The Nike of Samothrace is as beautiful to me today as it was when I first saw it.  Megaman is not the same QUALITY as that Nike but again Megaman is as beautiful to me today as it was back then.

Games today simply will not have the lasting power of games of yesteryear.  Since there are a lot of clones and sameness it is hard to have one really stand out to last two decades from now.  Just think about that young gamers...two decades from now.  Your generic FPS games and hack and slashes won't stand out for worth a darn.  In fact in this throw away society that we are living in most of you young gamers won't even give a flying turtle's ass that those games you played so much are now retro.

I won't lecture any of you on "keeping it real" or having respect or bla bla bla.nah that aint me.  Some of you will appreciate the art of gaming and keep a retro PS3/X360 collection but most of you wont.  Most of you will have plenty of games downloaded from Steam onto your hard drive and either delete or uninstall them whatever.  There isnt a hard copy to keep anyway so how do you collect THAT?

The funny part? some of you are all like WHOA I LOVE GAMES I THINK THEYRE AWESOME I'LL FRAG YOUR NOOB ASS!!! WAAAAHHHH!!!!  usually you are the throw away type.  Usually you will also say "THAT GAME IS GAY! IT CAME OUT LIKE FIVE YEARS AGO THE GRAPHICS SUCK!!!!"  so no this type of person doesnt love games but only loves games that they love.  I love games my collection spans from pong consoles to current stuff.  I have great games that created a new standard in the industry and I also have titles that were so God awful that they were rounded up by its own developer and buried in the desert.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_video_game_burial  But If you love something you love all of it-forever.

I think you mean to say that you love PLAYING games and yes that is fine.  My brother loved playing games and doesnt retro collect.  However he also doesnt adhere to the modern epidemic of what I call "I'm online so now it's time to be a douchebag" I'll explain what I mean a little later.

This game is nothing like call of duty!

"This game is nothing like call of duty!" I am sure we have all heard this at the very least once.  People even say it about puzzle games and RPGs.  Such is humanity I suppose.  When your game is considered the measuring stick for all other games something either really awesome or terribly wrong is going on.

I remember my friend was buying the first Sniper Elite and I kid you not the guy at Shamestop is almost yelling "I don't even want to sell you this game! Dude it is nothing like call of duty!"  My buddy is like "...yeah that's exactly why I am buying it."
"Dude you dont even know this game is SOOO hard-it's nothing like Call of Duty."  Then he goes on to explain how the game incorporates Coriolis effect and bla bla bla.  I thought it funny then...I think of it as hilarious now.
Basically he was saying "You dont want this game because in some ways it is better than the most popular one running"

That's a funny thing to have happen in the marketplace.  A game that is in some ways better than the pop standard is smacked down because it isnt the pop standard.  Damn the gaming market is fickle. but in all honesty when was the last time you heard "this game sucks! it's nothing like Myst!" or "this game is bullcrap-why isn't it like smash bros?" both popular games but never used in ridiculous comparisons.

It's no secret that COD has come to be a dominant if not the dominant player in the FPS market.  It isn't because the game is built amazingly well...even the hardcore fans bitch about certain things.  Usually the bitching is about minor stuff which gets blown out of proportion into "it is unplayable" when they play it everyday.  Hey side note: you want an unplayable game junior?  You wanna know what a REAL bad game is?  How bout one that isnt even designed so that you can beat the first level? It's called squeezebox for atari 2600 and you have to shoot the walls that are closing in on you...problem?  you can't crouch so you cant shoot the bricks at your feet they will close in on you and kill you and you cannot stop it...you cannot beat level one.  Before 5 minutes the game is over.

THAT'S an unplayable game.  This is what I had to bitch about and I had reason to.  But I digress as usual.  When you're popular things will be said both good and bad about you.  Popular does not translate into good though.  I think COD in its early days was pretty damned amazing but now it's impossible to die in single player if you're not an idiot and not only that single player is a way distant fourth thought and the focus is online and how to get you to buy the new map packs.  Which isnt new by the way.  I remember my brother and I playing COD 2 on PC and they were selling maps for online use.  

But I do raise the question when did EVERYTHING become compared to COD?  Is it because it's the only game people know/play or do they really think it's that good?  When I was growing into mature gaming FPS was one of those genres that was unbelievably creative and fun.  Doom-a "super human" trooper slaughters everything and shoots his way out of hell and all the demons in it in order to fight a mechanical spider.  Quake Monsters and secrets a go-go no shortage of badasses to kill with weird weapons like the super nail gun.  You get the point.  So personally to me running around with "realistic" weapons shooting at nothing but human targets is pretty boring.  The fact that you can just regenerate health by hiding is ridiculous in a game that focuses on visual realism a better yet still unrealistic option is health pick ups.

But I want to be clear and say that our experiences shape our likes and dislikes.  I have a dislike for COD because I am used to imagination and surrealism in games.  The fact that it is the measuring stick for anything that comes out or anything that is already out is rather silly and anyone making this comparison probably only has extensive COD play to judge other games with.  I suppose that makes sense but if that's true how come no one is making comparisons that I noted earlier i.e. smash bros. and myst?

Great games Shouldn't be bought?

"Chrome Hounds! aw man what a great game but don't buy it-they shut the servers down." These words will forever stab my brain unmercifully.  That was actually said to me by a dear friend.  Think about that and let it sink in "...What a great game but don't buy it..."  That makes no sense-actually my friend is right it makes perfect uh..."sense".  We're seeing a lot of focus and emphasis on multiplayer these days and hell why not?  Being fragged by 7 year olds who have the map and glitches memorized is (sadly) the cutting edge of gaming today.  But what happens when the lights go out?

What happens when a company decides "We cant (or don't want to) support the servers any more."?  Short answer: you enter the town of Fuck-a-Roo'd-Population: You and everyone else who bought the game.  Long Answer? this post.

My buddy was telling me that chrome hounds is awesome and yeah it sure looks like it-too bad it flew under my radar and I only found out about like a year ago.  I cannot experience that game to the fullest anymore.  There is something terribly wrong there.  Now again younger readers won't understand but I will try to explain. I can go to any retro store or ebay and buy a NES game and plop it into my top loader and it will play the entire full game no questions asked.  THAT is what I am used to.  This whole we can take 50% or more of the game away from you at any given time is what's the word here...I want to be eloquent...it's Bullshit.  Thats like one day that same game just cuts out at a certain point.  Yeah once you get to level 3 the game just stops it just ends.

Multiplayer is the focus of many games these days and single player campaigns are a second thought if a thought at all.  COD, BF, all those games that really target the online market are considered amazing games but why?  When those servers eventually close (and they will one day) people will re-visit them and find out "Single player sucks!"  A game isnt amazing by its ability to wow you for a year or two it is earns its amazing title by forever wowing you.

What's that?  The game is awesome so it'll never shut the servers?  Yeah ATLUS is laughing at you.  Demon's Souls is considered one of the best games for PS3 and it's been out for roughly 2 years.  The servers go bye bye this month.  I cannot play with my brother in Manhattan anymore...The thing about it is online play is a SELLING point that devs flaunt and shove in your face. YOU CAN PLAY WITH ANYONE IN THE WORLD BUY IT BUY IT! only to find that-that promise cannot be maintained forever-it just can't.  So games become sort of temporary and that is very sad friends.

That's like me pointing to my retro collection and saying "It works but we can't play it-devs weren't thinking about lasting power."  To me it is so foreign and in some ways wrong.  Maybe I am showing my age but I feel that it is a matter of common sense.  Hm? oh ok yeah go buy that extra map pack for an extra 20 bucks putting you at 80 bucks for a game. whats that you bought the "collector's edition" so with the maps you're at 100-120 bucks for one game...and those maps are only good online? so when they shut the servers down you're 100-120 into a game that is no longer whole?  you're right I don't have common sense.

Some of you less appreciative types might be saying I won't want to play a game when it gets old-who cares?  Do you own pokemon on GBA and N64?  If you do you are already embracing the nostalgia of games of yesteryear-you will not be able to do that here.  Multiplayer is great and all but I am of the mind that if it consists of nearly half of the game then it is a crappy game.  Oh no? "It's a great game but don't buy it."  Don't buy it is something you say about a bad game isn't it?  In my day a good game was indeed a good game and you better damned well buy it or else everyone you know will be playing Super Mario 3 and you won't be.

Gaming today seems to me very short sighted.  While there are plenty of single player games that are whole and solid I look at these mega titles and they often boast online play.  This is like being excited for the world's biggest ice cream sandwich on the hottest day ever.  sure it hits the spot for a while but before you can finish it's melted away.  Think about those poor bastards who bought demon's souls the day before they shut the servers down.

Marvel Capcom Super Dumb Time

The greed and stupidity seemingly never ends huh?  By now anyone reading this knows about Capcom and the MVC3 debacles.  Fate of two worlds comes out and it's alright but no MVC2.  MVC3 ultimate is announced and instead of doing it as DLC to add on to Fate of Two Worlds-they want hard copies.  I don't know why.  Wait yes I do-more money.

MVC3 ultimate was released on disc with ADDITIONAL dlc.  Here's the kicker.  After some poking around in the game's code some people found out that the "dlc" was already on the disc.  Yeah no shit-they didn't even TRY to conceal the fact that it was already done.  No sort of frantic rush or damage control.  Almost kinda like the boss catches you sitting on your hands and you're all like "Sup?"

Now we talk about DLC in my office quite a bit we come to the conclusion that anything in DLC is a true add on and not already done.  We also come to the conclusion that it should be free or as close to free as we can make it.  Paying 20% of the original game price for a few extra costumes or maps is just plain wrong.  Typically a game is 100% complete and 20% is intentionally removed before release and that is dlc.  But it isn't that is horse shit.  It's blatantly ripping off the people you depend on.  Here is your crown king Stupid.

So now the cat is out the bag and people will be cracking discs  even harder now that this happened.  This wont stop dlc rip offs but it will stop a smart yet greedy developer from including "yet to be released" material on the disc you buy.  There was an easy way around this.  Capcom could have just made the dlc unlockable through gameplay achievements.  Hell, they could have even LIED and said "Yeah it is unlockable through gameplay but it seems like it is broken-let's release a patch".  There was no "Oh crap! people found out! we have to save face."  No instead they admitted they were fucking their customers and then shrugging going "what?"

Whoever is in charge of PR or damage control over there sucks.  But it shows you just how entitled to your money that they feel they are.  "Shame on YOU! you unlocked something you bought from us before you bought it again!"  There is no shame or humility in their statements just a blatant and even further middle finger to those who supported them by buying the same game twice ALREADY, which only adds to the reason why some are calling them Capcops.

Now before some of you fan boys pull out your replica weapons let me tell you this.  Capcom blew me away as a kid and even into adulthood.  Megaman, Street Fighter, Resident Evil all bad ass and for the most part fairly solid in their franchises.  But there comes a time when we must be honest with ourselves and those we buy from.  If you put sneakers in a box and sell the box to your friend and then he opens the box and starts wearing the sneakers you can't really be pissed with him.  You sold him the sneakers with the box even if he didnt know the sneakers were in there.

Capcom should be performing damage control and throwing themselves on the mercy of their fans for such a blatant rape but they are seemingly above that.  Pride before the fall?  perhaps.  Greed and stupidity? you bet your ass.

Major Labels and Why They Want Sameness

I'm gonna keep saying this "When I was a kid" we had a plethora of different game ideas being hurled at us.  The reason being is that the developers didnt know what would be a hit and what wouldn't.  Literally anything could be made example here  http://www.honestgamers.com/reviews/9233.html yeah a guy made out of vegetables fighting other foods...yeah.  Why not?  Seemingly there was nothing too bizarre to be made. But there were more successes than failures in my library-not sure if I was savvy or if the devs had great ideas.  I suppose it doesnt matter since my point here is that back then we had options.

Let's not make any mistakes video games are a billion dollar industry.  The right one could make your studio go from eating out of a soup can to driving lamborghinis.  When Blizzard started up they couldnt afford to pay their employees and issued promissory notes in some cases.  Now they are worth quite a bit.  Zynga started out with investment capital of 24 million (nothing to sneeze at) but within 5 years is now worth over 10 billion.  Yeah the B word.  Zynga is a good example of what this post is about.  Sameness.

Farmville Cityville Frontierville Castleville hell there is enough sameness in those games where I dont consider them to be separate of each other.  But it made them a shitload of cash.  How?  Lots of people played them...they sold ad space...the end pretty much.  Draw something?  Well they bought that off some kid for 30 million so I dont count it as their own and Dream Heights well that was stolen http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiny-tower/id422667065?mt=8  In a fair world Zynga would lose a testicle for this but we arent living in a fair world.

Now that picture is just for fun I do not hate Zynga.  I think that their business practices are deplorable and they are morally bankrupt but I do not hate them.  I simply make the point that they steal from small devs who dont have the legal muscle to go toe to toe with them.  They are unoriginal cowards but I do not hate them.  Anyway people line up to play the same game just re-skinned.  Tons of major labels do this.  I think the worst offenders are FPS games.  I grew up on Doom Quake and early COD.  Game mechanics are virtually the same.  It is basically the same game with different weapons and whatever loose story is roped in.
Or sometimes the story is overly complicated to the point where it doesnt even matter.

But people try and copy success and they are playing around in a field where there is a lot to be gained and a lot to be lost.  Major labels think copying and sameness will be safe.  To a degree they are right.  Sameness at best will grant you some stability but it will never grant you those huge sums you are chasing.  It is basically treading water.  The minute you go outside copying a game a large lead weight is tied around their ankles and they sink into the abyss...after some wonderful lay-offs.

As I said I have been around in games since the very beginning.  I have seen it's golden age.  What I am seeing now is greedy fools concerned with the profit margin rather than being inventive.  But it takes creativity and hard work to be new and fresh and any lazy fat idiot can copy something.  It is easy.  I am seeing a lot of major labels and devs concerned with easy money rather than givng the fans something new to cling to.

It's sad-I saw gaming go from fun and originality to "Who cares? people will buy it."  I promise you that we are working hard in my company to bring fun back to bring back how games SHOULD be...games...focus on fun and the money will happen-focus on money and the fun will never happen.