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Post by Hunter1324 on May 28, 2017 20:59:43 GMT
I'm starting to wonder if the drop in sales is really just a product of bad writting/gameplay. I might be wrong, but I think that "interactive novel" style games are falling out of fashion again (they did once back in the 90's IIRC), it is a kind of game genre that has seen much innovation since the TWDG:Season 1 (with the possible exception of Until Dawn but I hesitate to consider that a true interactive novel), add to that the fact that there had been massive hiatus between the seasons of all TTG series and the many uninteresting series that were started in between and it's not hard to guess why the interest on telltale products has gradually weathered down. If they want to succeed they need to bring back their A game and they need to innovate and take risks, I feel though that they may had taken too long to react, they should had been seeing this coming since the ending of GOT:S1. LiS was an interactive novel and it was a juggernaut in terms of sales. The genre isn't dead. When was Life is Strange released, two-three years ago? Back then TTG games where doing pretty well with TFTBL and GOT:S1. That makes quite a lot of difference, like I mentioned in a previous comment in another thread gaming trends can die and/or became stale very quickly, look at early motion capture technology, third person cover shooter's, survival games (not dead but still done to dead). They were hot shit back in the day but it didn't take long for them to fade into obscurity or mediocrity.
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Post by jake frost on May 28, 2017 21:02:10 GMT
LiS was an interactive novel and it was a juggernaut in terms of sales. The genre isn't dead. When was Life is Strange released, two-three years ago? Back then TTG games where doing pretty well with TFTBL and GOT:S1. That makes quite a lot of difference, like I mentioned in a previous comment in another thread gaming trends can die and/or became stale very quickly, look at early motion capture technology, third person cover shooter's, survival games (not dead but still done to dead). They were hot s*it back in the day but it didn't take long for them to fade into obscurity or mediocrity. To add to this, First-Person Shooters also seem to be dying out a fair bit and 3D platformers have possibly started making a comeback.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 21:02:15 GMT
LiS was an interactive novel and it was a juggernaut in terms of sales. The genre isn't dead. When was Life is Strange released, two-three years ago? Back then TTG games where doing pretty well with TFTBL and GOT:S1. That makes quite a lot of difference, like I mentioned in a previous comment in another thread gaming trends can die and/or became stale very quickly, look at early motion capture technology, third person cover shooter's, survival games (not dead but still done to dead). They were hot s*it back in the day but it didn't take long for them to fade into obscurity or mediocrity. Shit you're right, it's already been two years. I'm curious to see how LiS 2 will perform (though I expect the sales to be lower, given that roughly half of the players hated the ending and were dissatisfied with it).
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Post by Hunter1324 on May 28, 2017 21:06:38 GMT
When was Life is Strange released, two-three years ago? Back then TTG games where doing pretty well with TFTBL and GOT:S1. That makes quite a lot of difference, like I mentioned in a previous comment in another thread gaming trends can die and/or became stale very quickly, look at early motion capture technology, third person cover shooter's, survival games (not dead but still done to dead). They were hot s*it back in the day but it didn't take long for them to fade into obscurity or mediocrity. To add to this, First-Person Shooters also seem to be dying out a fair bit and 3D platformers have possibly started making a comeback. Oh yes, COD dropping on sales for years and BF1 and Battlefront underselling in spite off the massive hype, how could I forget Really it might be hard to realize at one given momment but if we look back one can see some very clear patterns in the development and trends in the videogame industry.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 21:11:50 GMT
(pet peeve but these aren't really "interactive novels" are they? I mean, literature as a medium is largely defined by prose and/or verse, and these have neither. They're somewhere between games and TV, as games are still a catch-all term for any interactive medium(which I personally dislike), and like TV Telltale's series' have an episodic structure and make use of visual story-telling, performance, etc.) Anyway, I think if it is the case that it's simply a trend that's fallen out of favor, that'd be a huge shame, because despite what a lot of people say, I do believe Telltale was driving the medium forward. Though, not in the way they or others seemed to talk about. Certainly they aren't driving games as a medium forward because they aren't games. They're games in the sense that that's still a catch-all term, but they have no systems or mechanics as challenge. Every system or mechanic is for the service of the story, so... can't really call it a game. I personally think Telltale made great strides in popularizing interactive stories(interactive film/TV?) as a medium all its own. Which, is significant. If they hadn't taken a dive in quality, then perhaps they could have rode out a lessened interest in interactive stories as a trend of gaming, and could have, alongside other studios, popularized a significant enough library of titles to the point where the culture at large could have a series discussion on separating interactive stories from gaming. (and that was the "Philosophy of the Arts" student in me coming out there a bit )
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Post by Hunter1324 on May 28, 2017 21:16:58 GMT
(pet peeve but these aren't really "interactive novels" are they? I mean, literature as a medium is largely defined by prose and/or verse, and these have neither. They're somewhere between games and TV, as games are still a catch-all term for any interactive medium(which I personally dislike), and like TV Telltale's series' have an episodic structure and make use of visual story-telling, performance, etc.) English ain't my first language and I kind of struggle when trying to describe specific terms, I was going for Graphic Novel but then it dawned on me that has a whole different meaning, so I half-assed it and put together the most basic words I could think off to describe it. I agree with the rest of the statement. However I think that the way they had been doing things lately has procluded them from archieving that level of success, as I mentioned before Interactive Stories used to be big back in the 90's but they died out, maybe it's just a cycle. Now that I think I wonder if in the end it wounds up to be a simple choice. Maybe they would found more success if they focused on gameplay mechanics to cater for the gamer community or instead focus on writting to cater for the comic/series fans. Staying on top of the fence may not be the best idea on the long run, so to speak.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 21:29:55 GMT
(pet peeve but these aren't really "interactive novels" are they? I mean, literature as a medium is largely defined by prose and/or verse, and these have neither. They're somewhere between games and TV, as games are still a catch-all term for any interactive medium(which I personally dislike), and like TV Telltale's series' have an episodic structure and make use of visual story-telling, performance, etc.) English ain't my first language and I kind of struggle when trying to describe specific terms, I was going for Graphic Novel but then it dawned on me that has a whole different meaning, so I half-assed and put together the most basic words I could think off to describe it. I agree with the rest of the statement. However I think that the way they had been doing things lately has procluded them from archieving that level of success, as I mentioned before Interactive Stories used to be big back in the 90's but they died out, maybe it's just a cycle. No worries. My whole point being that I'd like to see Interactive stories transcend simply being a genre of games that grows and fades in popularity because I believe they are, or have the potential to be, an entirely new medium of storytelling with advantages and restrictions entirely different from those of games. It looked like Telltale could have been the one to bring the genre enough popularity and volume that it could start to make the transition from "genre of games" to "new medium of storytelling", but the quality of their titles has dropped to the point that it seems like the opportunity is passing. Also, just a point, but I really don't think adventure games of the 90's, or even text adventures of the 80's are the same thing as what Telltale and other studios have now. Adventure games and text adventures still had challenges, puzzles to solve. The more Interactive Stories move away from that and towards more straightforward storytelling conventions, the better their chances to separate themselves from games. This is why I really want Telltale to remove QTEs and other meaningless interactions. Not to say they should only rely on choices. Hubs provide opportunities not just to slow the pacing of a story when needed, but for environmental storytelling, and i'm sure they could come up with more meaningful interactions if they tried. (also, just to clarify, I'm not saying Telltale is the lone studio to accomplish this, but they seem to be the one most interested in doing it. Unlike DONTNOD and others, they're squarely focused on Interactive Stories, and they've been moving away from games and gaming culture. Unfortunately, there's been a lot wrong with that, such as moving closer to TV instead of finding their own niche, and moving to quickly away from gaming culture without first establishing an audience of people interested in Interactive Stories as a separate medium)
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 21:39:48 GMT
If they make good shit then yeah If they make bad shit then no
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Post by Zeruis on May 29, 2017 3:09:19 GMT
We'll see.
Telltale needs to completely overlook their developing philosophies and stop hiring "writers" with no experience right out of college. They'll also need to handle one IP at a time instead of thirsting for quick funds from the popular franchises nowadays. Even then, it'll take some time before pushing out quality.
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Post by Bioshock Infinite WD on May 29, 2017 20:03:29 GMT
I want them to not fail, I just don't think are going to pull themselves out now.
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Post by the meg on May 31, 2017 9:42:18 GMT
I'm pretty mixed on this one, I want them to burn to the ground since they fucked me over with ANF, but I also want them to succeed since they made one of my favorite games.
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Post by jake frost on May 31, 2017 17:24:24 GMT
My expectations and desires are conflicting. I want them to improve for Thrones' sake. If season 2 is ANF quality it might just do me in - and at this rate I honestly never want it to come. I hope this slump is due to Bruner, but I don't have a lot of faith and don't believe they will improve. If they do a season 4 of TWD and it's TWD2 quality, then so fucking be it. I'd take that over their four previous games. I'm inclined to change my mind to "I want to see them crash and fucking burn".
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Post by IDEK on May 31, 2017 17:49:34 GMT
I want them to fail, but then pull themselves out of the pit of rushed writing a bit later on after they've sat on it for a bit
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