Peter Molyneux Blog Update

[GameBanshee News]

Peter Molyneux has apparently started writing for Edge Online, and his first column is about innovation.

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. Today we’ve got budgets to worry about, costs to recoup and audiences to reach. I used to do games where innovation was the core of the game. Populous, the first game I ever did, was one of those games.

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.

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.

I'd wager there is indeed plenty of innovation, but the abuse of that term by PR makes it a rather moot point of discussion.

[DesR85]

Interesting, but balance is important as well. As an example, I remember watching a friend of mine play The Movies two years ago and while I find it innovative, as in being in charge of a movie studio and create your own movies, it soon degenerated to nothing more than micromanaging every aspect of the game from managing costs to employees just like what you would expect from a tycoon game.

I was impressed by the large number of user-created movies it generated, though.

I just wish he'd try to balance the game aside from coming up with new ideas.

[dragon wench]

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.

I find it really unfortunate that graphics have ever even made it into the "innovative" category...
Graphics are fluff...icing on the cake. A cake without icing is still a good cake, but just the icing alone is an entirely empty (and unpleasant) experience.

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.

At least he seems to have learned something...

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by dragon wench

I find it really unfortunate that graphics have ever even made it into the "innovative" category...
Graphics are fluff...icing on the cake. A cake without icing is still a good cake, but just the icing alone is an entirely empty (and unpleasant) experience.

If he is referring graphics from a technical standpoint, then, yes, he is right. Like it or not, improvements in graphics is an innovation in the graphics department. If he is saying that it improves overall gameplay, then it is a load of bollocks.