Editorial Peter Molyneux on innovation

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Fable: The Lost Chapters

Peter Molyneux, the man behind the over-hyped piece of crap that was Fable, <a href="http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/peter-molyneux-writes-edge">has now started a blog</a>. His first post is about innovation, something he's only really good at talking about but not delivering on:
<br>
<blockquote>But nevertheless, there still is an enormous amount of innovation going on right now in videogames. Look at the quality of graphics, for instance. Look at a screenshot of a videogame today and compare it to one four years ago. We used to throw tons of different status bars and on-screen maps. Today we have more condensed readouts that give gamers all the information they need. It’s just a small example of how innovation can seep into a game without innovation being the reason a game exists.
<br>

<br>
And innovation can’t afford to be alone. There is true innovation when it’s balanced with drama. I’ve made so many mistakes where I’ve just thought the innovation alone was enough. In Black and White, I didn’t think I had to worry about the story or drama, because we had this great big land with great big creatures—that should be enough, right? No, it wasn’t enough. I should have gone that extra mile to balance drama with innovation. But the world craves new things. It’s a hunger that we have as human beings for something new. It’s very rare when something truly original comes around.</blockquote>
<br>
In the end he says a lot but really says nothing much at all.
<br>
<br>
Spotted @ <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com">Yup, you guessed it</a>

 

[sportforredneck]

I wouldn't call Fable a piece of crap. It had good qualities and wasn't unplayable.

 

[LCJr.]

Redesigned gui=innovation?

 

[FrancoTAU]

He created Populous.

 

[Xor]

Populous was a long time ago.

 

[Topher]

It was a long time ago but it was a blast to play. The things about Mr. Molyneux is that everything would be much better if he would just stop talking. He makes games that are very flawed and lack-luster but they are always fun to play and that's fine with me. If he would just stop loving the sound of his own voice so much and focus on actually making games instead of diverting so much energy to the running commentary of his thoughts that he feels the need to share at every conceivable opportunity... everyone would benefit.

If you want to be an industry commentator, fine, be one but if you want to be a game developer learn to make your work speak for itself.

 

[Lemunde]

But nevertheless, there still is an enormous amount of innovation going on right now in videogames. Look at the quality of graphics, for instance. Look at a screenshot of a videogame today and compare it to one four years ago. We used to throw tons of different status bars and on-screen maps. Today we have more condensed readouts that give gamers all the information they need. It’s just a small example of how innovation can seep into a game without innovation being the reason a game exists.

In all honesty I haven't heard anyone aside from developers get excited about graphics in a long time. Now days it's a given that if a new game comes out it's supposed to look good(indies/roguelikes notwithstanding). As long as it doesn't look like total ass nobody really cares. All these new graphical gimmicks are nice but aren't mandatory and I don't think they influence people into buying a game the way they used to.

 

[MetalCraze]

Hey games became dumbed down, linear and boring to suit even the most retarded people that don't know how to turn on their xbawks/pcs/ps3s and also brought them kewl graphics because we can't do anything else normally - we want to work less but earn more - so that's innovashun, you see. That's innovashun so it can't be stupid.

 

[Mareus]

But nevertheless, there still is an enormous amount of innovation going on right now in videogames. Look at the quality of graphics, for instance.

Graphic is not innovation.

Look at a screenshot of a videogame today and compare it to one four years ago.

There are games made 10 years ago that look a lot better than games made today.

..it’s an awful lot harder to be innovative just for innovation’s sake.

Indeed it is Peter, so you should stop trying to be innovative just for innovation's sake.

I’ll use one of my personal favorites as an example: Battlestar Galactica. It’s a great series. The original series from the late 1970s was the cheesiest, most rubbish thing ever. When you were a kid, it was one of the last things you forced yourself to watch if there was nothing else on TV.

When I was a kid I loved that cheesy, rubish thing.

It’ll probably be unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We’re still exploring how powerful Xbox Live can be, finding out new, little things that we can do with that service. The small, ambient innovation going on is so simple, but before you know it, a little tiny thing has become a really big thing, and I think that’s a really fascinating progression.

So you are still going to stick to your old formula, eh Pete? Innovation just so you could use that word more often.

“There’s no innovation going on in games right now.” You know the first time that I heard that sentence? 1987.

Yeah, and you fell in love with that word. We know Pete. We know it all.

 

[Bluebottle]

Lack of story or drama was far from being the biggest reason why Black and White was a piece of shit. Dungeon Keeper coped quite well without either, as did Theme
Park, and they're still righly considered classics.

 

[Globbi]

I hate the new interfaces that don't give me most info and buttons I would like in sake of showing more on screen but they fail utterly. A few wrongly placed interface elements take really more space on screen as anything between them can be considered not visible.

It is probably used mostly because t's easy to make it look as supposed on different screen resolutions that are a must now. But, hey it's innovative, right?

 

[Midwinter]

Black & White lacked story? No, it lacked interesting long-term gameplay. After a few hours many levels came down to throwing rocks across the map because your influence didn't get big enough to do much else to impress foreign villagers. The game got very boring after a while and that wasn't because I was yearning for more stupid sidequests.

There were some interesting ideas in the game, though. The controls were really cool and the tamagotchi-creature-thingy could have been great if the AI was a bit better. I also liked how your empire gradually changed depending on your black/white stance. I guess a few 'innovative' ideas still don't make a fun, coherent game.

 

[easychord]

Game makers think that new Battlestar Gallactica and 24 are just about the greatest things ever and that not having anything in games that you have to look at or think about is innovation. Innovation, more like unnovation. Amirite?

I actually quite liked Black and White. It was a flawed game and got boring a little too quickly but it was one of the last big games where I actually felt like I had been dropped into something new, not just a minor tweak of a proven formula. Fable was just a boring game for XBox kids with a few pointless gimmicks, probably added to stop Lionhead from getting bored and slitting their wrists.

 

[Texas Red]

Maybe with his Fable 5 Molyneux will one day innovate dialogs. With ME, AP "dialogs" and Fable emoticons, he will truly be proclaimed a genius.

 

[Carrie Underwood]

I like Fable. I like Molyneux. He is, however, batshit insane.

<blockquote>Here we are in 2008, and I’ll admit that in interactive entertainment, it’s an awful lot harder to be innovative just for innovation’s sake.</blockquote>

This is the problem. Developers are trying to be innovative just for innovation's sake. No one thinks about creating a good game anymore - they only think about creating a "new" game with new gimmicks. Nobody wants to work with the tried and true to develop it into something fantastic. Everybody wants to re-create the wheel, and with that mentality, we're never going to get the cart.

<blockquote>But nevertheless, there still is an enormous amount of innovation going on right now in videogames. Look at the quality of graphics, for instance. Look at a screenshot of a videogame today and compare it to one four years ago.</blockquote>

Even if graphics did equal innovation this statement would still be wrong. Every game tries to look like every other game, and while the art departments are colossal, there are no artists in them.

His second statement is just blasphemy. Adding more pixel shaders doesn't make something look better.

<blockquote>We used to throw tons of different status bars and on-screen maps. Today we have more condensed readouts that give gamers all the information they need. It’s just a small example of how innovation can seep into a game without innovation being the reason a game exists.</blockquote>

I'd like to know what universe he's living in, because we really need to get those GUI designers over here. Interfaces today are either so overcrowded with useless information you cannot breathe, or they have so little information that you cannot do anything without going through a billion menus. In both cases, they're so "stylized" and full of graphical bullshit that navigating them is a chore.

As for 'a ton of on-screen maps', I'd rather have them than large blinking arrows saying "GO HERE DUMBFUCK!"

<blockquote>In Black and White, I didn’t think I had to worry about the story or drama, because we had this great big land with great big creatures—that should be enough, right? No, it wasn’t enough. I should have gone that extra mile to balance drama with innovation.</blockquote>

I don't think anyone bought Black and White for the story. How about instead of adding more DRAMA!, fixing up the actual gameplay, huh?

<blockquote>24 was a fantastic innovation.</blockquote>

This makes me wonder if Fable 2 will have collar-grabbing action!

 

[MetalCraze]

24 was a fantastic innovation?

 

[thesheeep]

Nobody wants to work with the tried and true to develop it into something fantastic. Everybody wants to re-create the wheel, and with that mentality, we're never going to get the cart.

That's where Blizzard comes in. They never really innovate anything. They just deliver incredibly good games. Real craft, I'd say.

But both together is possible. Let's just assume, for a moment, that Spore will not only be incredibly fun to look at but also a good strategy game. Then it would have both, innovation and good craft.

 

[Carrie Underwood]

That's where Blizzard comes in. They never really innovate anything. They just deliver incredibly good games. Real craft, I'd say.

Exactly. And all those development studios wonder how Blizzard makes so much money. They stick to what works for their fanbase, and build upon it.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Never was so much shit said with so few words. I believe P.M. is insane.

 

[Oarfish]

I’ve made so many mistakes where I’ve just thought the innovation alone was enough. In Black and White, I didn’t think I had to worry about the story or drama

No Pete, sticking in a shitty linear story over what could have was a novel sandbox strategy game was the biggest single contributor to fucking up B&W in the first place. Must have been an awesome brainstorming session over the back of the toilet when he came up with the brilliant idea of taking your creature away or otherwise rendering it useless for half the bloody game.

 

[Texas Red]

Nobody wants to work with the tried and true to develop it into something fantastic. Everybody wants to re-create the wheel, and with that mentality, we're never going to get the cart.

That's where Blizzard comes in. They never really innovate anything. They just deliver incredibly good games. Real craft, I'd say.

But both together is possible. Let's just assume, for a moment, that Spore will not only be incredibly fun to look at but also a good strategy game. Then it would have both, innovation and good craft.

I wouldn't call a MMOG or a hack n slasher "incredibly good". More like "worthless shit".

 

[DefJam101]

Incredibly solid IMHO.

They are good at taking an old formula and polishing it up. (See: Starcraft) They don't do much else but they at least know what they are good at. They don't go Molyneuxing around doing god knows what while their fans slowly die off.

 

[Carrie Underwood]

Nobody wants to work with the tried and true to develop it into something fantastic. Everybody wants to re-create the wheel, and with that mentality, we're never going to get the cart.

That's where Blizzard comes in. They never really innovate anything. They just deliver incredibly good games. Real craft, I'd say.

But both together is possible. Let's just assume, for a moment, that Spore will not only be incredibly fun to look at but also a good strategy game. Then it would have both, innovation and good craft.

I wouldn't call a MMOG or a hack n slasher "incredibly good". More like "worthless shit".

You're a fucking douchebag.

They put out an incredibly solid product that their fans enjoy. They build upon the strengths of their predecessors and improve gameplay balance. It goes without saying that their games run incredibly smooth, hold up well years after their release, and have less bugs than most games. They even go so far as to come out with a patch close to a decade after a release. They don't dumb down and abandon their customers.

You may not like MMOGs or hack n' slashers, but that's merely a matter of taste and not due to the game itself being a worthless piece of shit.

 

[shihonage]

Damn you, Molyneux, for saying ... words !

Burn in hell, you... wordy guy !

 

[Hory]

That's where Blizzard comes in. They never really innovate anything. They just deliver incredibly good games. Real craft, I'd say.

They innovated several gameplay mechanics, that's why Starcraft is so much above any other RTS. Innovation doesn't mean inventing a new genre with each game.

They don't dumb down and abandon their customers.

Oh, they didn't dumb down a genre, but even worse, they purposefully chose genres which have dumbing-down in their nature. They're selling retarded games to millions of retards and/or kids.

You may not like MMOGs or hack n' slashers, but that's merely a matter of taste and not due to the game itself being a worthless piece of shit.

This "taste" isn't some random pick from a list of equally great choices. You can have the taste of uneducated, unintelligent, standards-lacking, monotone-living people, or the taste of art-appreciative, culturally-knowledgeable, challenge-pursuing, time-valuing individuals. From these options, I can say quite easily which one is a "worthless piece of shit".