PAX 2007 Panel
Episodic Gaming Panel at PAX 2007
Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007 Categories: Features, Tech Features
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 28th, 2007
Episodic gaming seems to be popping up everywhere. The Half-Life sequels are episodic. The revived Sam and Max is episodic. Penny Arcade Adventures is going to be episodic. At the 2007 Penny Arcade Expo a panel discussion attempted to flush out not only what separates episodic gaming from normal development, but also everything that Valve is doing wrong. Robin Walker from Valve seemed to take the barbs lightly. Vlad Ceraldi from Hothead and Dave Grossman from Telltale rounded out the panel.
Episodic gaming seems to be a solution to bloated budgets and fickle gamers. As Walker notes, “The risks you take in the first year of development, you have to wait five years for the payoff; (with episodic gaming) the risks just aren’t as high when you have to wait one.”
While episodes are comprised of smaller games, what makes then different than traditional sequels? Sometimes the episodes are completely self-contained, and others are linked together. What puzzled me is that wouldn’t that make the Legacy of Kain series, episodic? None of those games were ever made on the cheap. Grossman says, “It’s like the sandwich of the month club” In other words these are smaller games, that are put out at regular times.
Valve had a lot to answer for because of the Half-Life issues that have plagued the company. Walker seemed as frustrated as the crowd acknowledging that things could have been smoother. He had big hopes for the boxed set, but talked about the episodes as a way to ensure more people can finish his games, “It’s depressing when only 25% (of buyers) finish your game.”
Episodic gaming is another new facet to a rapidly changing industry. Each of the companies seemed to have different goals with the tactic. With Valve, it is to make their huge epics into smaller, more digestible chapters. Grossman sees it as a way to keep you with your favorite characters, making games more like comics or a television series. Hothead seems to fall in the middle, also citing development costs. Everyone seemed to agree it was about delivering the best games possible, in a format that gamers can get the most out of their games.
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Tags: Penny Arcade Expo 2007
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on Aug 28th, 2007 and is filed under Features, Tech Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
