Brand new brands & E3 '06

Just back from E3.  While I was gone The Hollywood Reporter ran this interview with me, where I discuss why our industry would be better off making original brands, versus turning to licenses so darn often, as if we do not have a creative mind of our own.

In the interview I was asked:

THR: What about "King Kong?" That did well as both a movie and game.

Miller: If you release a licensed game when the movie comes out, you'll probably do okay because you have that synergy working for you. That's why the "Enter The Matrix" game worked even though it was rated really low by the game reviewers. But when you do that, you can run into other problems because you're trying to rush the game out which usually results in a lower-quality game. UbiSoft really pulled off a miracle with "King Kong" and made a decent game around it. But those are few and far between.

I didn't add that if it weren't for the synergistic release with the mega-anticipated movie, I wouldn't have bothered with the Kong license.  And I would not expect further Kong games to do well.  (And yeah, Kong is dead, but if the license had inherent value to the game industry, you could easily have Son of Kong or whatever.)

While here, E3 thoughts.  Here's what I wrote in another forum:

Supreme Commander looked sweet.  Might be the game that gets me RTS'n again.

Saw the trailer for Resistance: Fall of Man (typical dumb name, like Halo: Combat Evolved) and I love the idea, and the brief look of the game I saw.  Hard to believe this is coming from Insomniac.

Saw the Turok demo, and WTF?  It was a 3 minute slide show!  Doesn't even star a Native American -- they've gone the nameless soldier route.  Guaranteed failure.

Overall impressions.  There are a LOT of games that I would not have green-lit.  A lot of followers, rather that leaders out there.  A lot of clueless publishers thinking their little me-too game with a few changes here and there are going to carry the day.  Um... no.  Money down the drain.  And way too many fantasy MMOs with interfaces that pretty much clone WoW's!

Eidos is one big failure of a publisher.  Saw several of their lackluster games at the Nvidia booth, and they all looked last generation.  The generically named Rouge Trooper is a big loser.  Tomb Raider looked like a big pile of meh (yeah, I know it's been out, but been too busy to see it).  And Hitman needs to be "Quickly Executed," because no one cares.  The Eidos games were being played by Eidos reps only, as the world walked by.  Oh how far Lara has fallen.  And deservedly so given the lack of innovation.

Bioshock looks beautiful, but a little too slow paced for my liking.  I'm sure it'll be a System Shock sized hit, though.  Which is basically a mild hit, not a mega-hit.

Good grief the Japanese can't name a game to save their lives.  Everything comes right out of the Official Manual of Generic Fantasy Words Names, like Dynasty, Final, Shadow, Dark, Legend, Sword, on and on and endlessly on.  They're not the only game name lamers -- there are so many poorly named games at the show I laughed out loud more than a few times.

Didn't see Gears of War, but heard good things.  Overall, was not an impressive E3 as far as finding unknown nuggets.  All the top candidates going in emerged unscathed by surprises.

Oh, and heard a LOT of negative comments about the Wii controller from developers who messed with it.  Be very worried, Nintendo.  Didn't get to see it myself because I didn't have 2+ hours to wait in line.  What a dumb way to run a booth, meanwhile the open booths of Sony and Microsoft I explored fully.

Comments

[Robert Howarth]

I didn't see any of you 3D Realms there but I did play Prey MP for like 20 minutes. It was really a ton of fun.

[Jeron Moore]

Thinking more on it, I'm really reserving the "wait and see" philosophy for the Wii controller. I'm tempted to go with you on it, Scott - but my affinity for Nintendo keeps me hopeful. I didn't have 2+ hours to wait in line either - too impatient - but as you know I offered a guy 20 bucks and cut to the very front. 5 minutes was much more reasonable than 5 hours. I even got my 20 bucks back, ha. Very cool. That's the way to bypass a poorly run booth - at least on the outside.

On the inside I found myself equally as frustrated; in order to actually play the Wii w/ a Nintendo Rep guiding you through it, you had to sign a waiting list per-game in the rotunda, or - exit into the outer ring and join the push-shove crowd where there was less supervision. I did get a chance to play the "virtual console" demo - only 1 person in line for that demo. Apparently no one was interested in seeing how Nintendo plans on "iTuning" their back-catalog.

Overall, not a good experience... but I remain optimistic for them, if only because I enjoy their games. I guess we'll see if the Wii is truly an industry breakthrough as it's being called... if it doesn't take off in the way they are hoping, I'll be very disappointed.

Jeron

[Patrick Johnson Jr.]

Developers see that licenses will bring in money, because of a pre-existing fanbase that you're "guarenteed." Movies are a good example of this cause it creates buzz about the game and the movie at the same time, so the game developer/publisher and the movie studio see it as a win/win.

Example of pushing the limit on licenses: Desparate Housewifes, using Paris Hilton to sell some bejeweled knock-off. It'll sell somehow.

I'm in favor of unique IP because A) seeing a correctly done game on a Licensed Franchise is rare, B) it's something that is unique to games (though it might be a sequeled game or there's been a few or many iterations: see Duke Nukem ;)).

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

Some people talk and talk,
Some people do and do.
Some people do and talk,
Some people talk and do.

I guess, this is what the human zoo looks like to a dog.

[Ben H]

Rogue Trooper's name might sound generic, but it's licensed from an old 2000AD comic character that a lot of UK gamers will remember fondly. It sounds like they've done the setting justice, rather than tacking it on to a generic shooter. It is a last-gen game - in that it's not out on the Xbox 360 - but it makes more sense than most licensed titles. From what I've heard, it's a decent (if not amazing) game too.

[emerald]

The Wii secret revealed!!!!: http://www.n-dimension.blogspot.com/ in Spanish (¡?), please anyone translate?!

[Charles E. Hardwidge]

I read Rogue Trooper back in its day. Good stuff. Rebellion have turned out a competent title with a few niggles, but it's a fair creative and technical effort overall, and some elements of it are excellent. It’s a much better effort than their last game and, this time, suggests that if they continue to develop as they are they’ll produce something amazing one day. Whether they do or not is down to them. Better to start slow and end well, etcetera.

For those who aren't familiar with Rogue Trooper, the game does a reasonable job of introducing the character and wider world. It touches on the Gene Genies, the genetic doctors who created the G.I.'s (Genetic Infantryman), the one stroke kill which flipped into the Quartz Zone massacre, and his only companions, personalities frozen in Bio Chips at the moment of their death. Between cut-scene and gameplay, it has some value as a narrative.

I don't like many games. No matter how clever or polished, I don’t like Prey. Rogue Trooper isn’t especially clever and lacks polish, but I liked it. If there’s a reason for that, it’s the visual, gameplay, and story narrative. My mind might be playing tricks with me as I read and enjoyed the original Rogue Trooper stories and artwork, but I’m not totally convinced about that. I can look at Prey and find things I like, just as much as I can look at Rogue Trooper and find things I don’t like.

I guess, it’s a question of taste.

[Brian 'Psychochild' Green]

Personally, I've heard just the opposite from people about the Wii controller: it's pretty sweet from what I've heard. A journalist I know said that she was actually impressed with the EA sports titles on the Wii, and this might actually get her interested in sports games more. I suspect the negative things developers are saying come from the general conservatism of the industry. How many programmers do you know of that clung stubbornly to C even after all the old "problems" with C++ were cleared up? The new controller is scary for most developers and they don't know what to do with it yet. I suspect they should learn quick because it seems gamers are warming up to the idea. This is one reason why we don't see a whole lot of "innovation" or new things in the industry, because it scares people.

But, yeah, the setup to see the Wii was dumb. But, forbidden fruit is the tastiest, and I'm sure Nintendo got a few more people interested in seeing the Wii because of the long line.

And way too many fantasy MMOs with interfaces that pretty much clone WoW's!

And this will continue until it stops being profitable to make fantasy online games. Blizzard proved all the old naysayers wrong when they said the market was saturated for fantasy games and no other game could possibly benefit in the space. It just takes a game with something going for it (like a strong brand and loyal followers) to do better. I'm sure Bioware's upcoming MMO, which almost certainly will be fantasy, will still do quite well. Of course, most of the people building yet another fantasy online game don't have these aces up their sleeves.

As for cloning WoW's interface: it works and people know it. If you're doing a clone, might as well clone the thing that was done really well. Interface design is really hard, so cribbing off a successful example is just smart, I think. It's important to differentiate your product, but I don't think the interface is one of those areas to attempt major changes.

I'm also a bit surprised you aren't talking about one of the most successful new brands: Guitar Hero. I saw the game behind closed doors a year ago, and what a difference a year made! They went from a small room to a sizable booth in Kentia, and now Activision has bought Red Octane. A great example of what happens when you take the plunge and make a great new game that's different than everything else out there. I'm looking forward to Guitar Hero 2, personally.

My thoughts,

[Rowsdower]

Scott, instead of posting an offhand comment on Wii at the end of your post that will surely inspire countless flames, why not actually elaborate on what kind of negative comments you heard? Your comment is a bit useless as it is now.

To be honest I think you might be working in a game development bubble if the people you talk to aren't at least cautiously optimistic about the Wii controller. I'm also a developer and everyone (almost literally everyone...) I talk to who has actually played on the Wii is nuts about it. I even know a guy who quit his company because they weren't going to do Wii games.

[Tom Schaffer]

i wasn't at E3, but other devs and journalists I know have been there and were thrilled by the Wii - some of them were surprised, because they had been very sceptical before (and because they went to the booth one day before the fair opened, they also didn't have to wait in the long line ;)) the controller is said to be extremely precise and the feeling of playing should make you smile within seconds. I can't wait to get my hands on the Wii for myself.

I guess it's not Big N who should be aware.

[Pag]

Based on what I saw online of E3, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Wii controller, but I'm wondering about the real depth of interaction it creates. It seems awesome for small games like Warioware and sports, but I'm still wondering what it genuinly adds to bigger games. Sure swinging a baseball bat by swinging the controller seems fun, but that doesn't make a game I'd play for 10 hours. Neither Zelda nor Red Steel used the wiimote in a compelling way. I really wish Nintendo would bring a breath of fresh air in design with this controller, but I guess I'm still unconvinced it's more than a gimmick.

As for the endless licenses, the cynic in me says it's just lazyness on gaming's marketers part. If you're marketing the King Kong game, all you have to do is tell people "It's the King Kong game!" and they're interested. The hard part -- making people care about King Kong -- has already been done by the movie industry. If you're working on marketing a new concept, you have to actually find why people should be interested by it and find a compelling way to explain it. It's a lot easier to just surf the wave of somebody else's hard work.

[Kristian Joensen]

Scott speaking about that hollywood reporter article, what is your comment to this: http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?id=12144592 ? ;)

[Aaron]

Rowsdower - chances are the comments he heard were classified information. I've heard negative feedback on developing for the controller (not of the end result really), but I can't say what the nature of that feedback is due to NDA's.

[Rob]

Sorry all those games sucked. But how awesome was the Duke Nuked 4-ever showing!!!

Oh...wait...

[You're an idiot Scott]

"Prey" is just a rip off of "Turok", so STFU.

[Greg]

You seem to operate under the opinion that every game must be next-gen, must be pushing the tech, must be triple-A. If that were the case then every game would be at a $59.99 price point. There is a market for good games at $29.99. Hate to break it to you but Rogue Trooper probably looks last gen because it is last gen. I saw a lot of games like that at E3. Lots of publishers trying to squeek out the last titles of that platform.

Do you have any concept of how much it costs to develop new IP vs. licensed content? Why not make a quick buck on licensed content? It might not be the greatest game, but it sells and from the business perspective isn't that what publishers are concerned about?

[Scott Miller]

>>> Do you have any concept of how much it costs to develop new IP vs. licensed content? <<<

We make a lot of new IP -- we've never made a licensed game, and never will. Original IPs are a lot more difficult to make, btw.

>>> "Prey" is just a rip off of "Turok", so STFU. <<<

Yeah, and other idiots said Max Payne was just a rip-off of The Matrix. But more salient to your feeble point, is every game featuring a Native American lead character going to be a Turok rip-off in your mind?

[Patrick Johnson Jr.]

Wait, didn't Turok get rid of the Indian character in the new demo?... That argument now can be de-validified. By the way person who judged the book by its cover... Turok: Dinosaur Hunter came out in 1997. Prey was announced in/around 1995 with Tom Hall at the helm. Your theory of Prey imitating Turok has been bunker bustered. When you want to make a claim get the facts straight...

I guess that goes back to the old addage of, "Never judge a book by its cover." It seems people forget that this day in age.

Now, to a serious posed question (Concerning Japanese RPGS):

Scott you made mention to the common generic fantasy names they use. Could this be because of translation from Japanese to English, or could be an idiom of game developers over there? Kinda like you stress catchy non-generic game names, except they work with in this realm of these fantasy names.

[Josh Hoppes]

>> "Prey" is just a rip off of "Turok", so STFU.
You realize Prey was originally conceived back with Duke Nukem Forever.

[John]

I like how you skipped over all the other more valid and more poingnant comments. Like how you say negative things about the Wii controller without ever using it. Or how Rogue Trooper is last gen looking and generically named when it is in fact LAST GEN and is obviously named after the comic on which it's based. Why would they call it anything else after 25 years of selling the IP in various forms? This isn't the first Rogue Trooper video game ever made, FYI. I don't know why you even bother to post this crap as it's just hearsay and a lot of ignorant comments on your part. You talk a lot of shit for having not actually released a game in...how many years has it been now? Oh right, a decade.

[Brandon Smith]

You have just made a complete ass of yourself:

Source: http://www.evilavatar.com/

Let me give you the basic synopsis of what the entire game community thinks of you at this point.

You are a hack that can't get his own game finished so you decide to lambast every other company that is having success. Duke Nukem Forever is a *joke*. 3d-realms is a *joke*. You cannot mention either without laughter ensuing. Seriously.

So a bit of advice... keep your mouth *shut* until you can put your money where your mouth is with your own IP.

[Scott Miller]

>>> You have just made a complete ass of yourself: <<<

True, because I'm one of the few developers who actually expresses an opinion in public about other people's games. Therefore, I take the arrows in the back. Comes with the territory.

As for the Wiimote, I'm not the one who said it didn't live up to the hype -- again, I only heard this second-hand from numerous developers I respect, who will not be saying this publicly because, well, who likes arrows, after all. I also heard that while the Wiimote was a little awkward, and tiring after extended use, that it still might live up to its potential for unique gameplay.

I'm always one to root for innovation, and I hope Nintendo succeeds. But, the Wiimote might be a stab at innovation that doesn't pay off in the end. That's all. Sony's high price is also a blunder. And because of their high price, I fully expect the Xbox 360 to win this cycle now. My overall market share prediction looks like this in North America: X360 - 55%, PS3 - 25%, Wii - 15%. I think that for mature players, they'll always start with the X360 or the PS3, and then perhaps buy the Wii as a second system. For kids, the Wii will likely be the first system purchased, unless the parent too is a gamer, then they'll likely lean to a mature oriented system.

Let's check back here in four years and then we'll see if I was close.

[Scott Miller]

>>> keep your mouth *shut* until you can put your money where your mouth is with your own IP. <<<

BTW, both Prey and Max Payne were our IP. We sold the Max IP to Rockstar back in 2002, for a pile of cash that would be more than in most bank vaults. A lot more. So, somehow, we're doing okay, but thanks for the concern.

[Neil]

I think you must be careful about your comments on other titles. There are not many companies that have your enviable financial position. Since you must have very deep pockets, or some very serious backing to have been developing a title through 5 - 7 years and 2 - 3 engines.

Rogue Trooper may be very last gen graphically and the title is tbh abit old school (I still cringe when I recall the name of the chips in the helm,gun and backpack Helm, Gunnar & Bagman).

But its a strip in a comic thats been running 25 years. So it is what it is. A title with history.

Regarding the Wii, the controller may/may not be a pain to develope for, but lets see what can be done with it. I can definitely see the Wii being the 2nd next gen console in the house. With titles that are fun (Yes scary eh?) and you can have a laugh with.

I look forward to 3d realms next title.

[Zoltan]

I think if you see the IP debate in a larger perspective, you can agree that both devs doing original IP projects and franchise projects are legitimate players in the economy.
As I talked about in a post inspired by Scott's, because of the large uniformity of videogame prices (compared to other industries, anyway - you can get a shirt for $10 and one for $500, you don't have that in the videogame industry) they clash much more with each other, but in other industries it's apparent that different products target different audiences.