Annualization of Games

     It seems like one of the hot new trends in games these days the tendency to make sequel installments an annual affair. I lose track of all the sequels that are churned out of the fun factory every holiday season, and one can quickly become cynical in regards to glut of incremental sequels every year. So, let's do an autopsy on a few examples of franchises (alive and dead) with annual installations, and see what we can learn.

Case One: Guitar Hero

     There's no arguing that the influence Guitar Hero was a very important event in this cycle of consoles. What started out as a novel party game where the player pretended to be good at music became a shambling corpse of its former glory with each new iteration. Not counting the mobile versions of the game, between 2005 and 2010 there were twelve installments in the main series of the game.

Open your eyes! You're not even on the buttons!

     Naturally, people got fatigued of drinking the stale milk from one of Activision's many cash cows, and eventually critical opinion and sales numbers began to favor the fledgling Rock Band series, until people stopped caring about plastic instruments almost altogether. So what spelled the death knell for the most successful rhythm-action games ever?
     In my interpretation of events, the reason that people started to drift over to Rock Band was because of Guitar Hero's failure to innovate. Rock Band brought a unique social element to the rhythm-action genre that Guitar Hero could never quite catch up to. No matter how many technically demanding, face-melting, steel-shredding guitar solos the game could muster up, Rock Band would eventually prevail as the leader in the Great Plastic Instruments Race for one reason: playing with toy instruments is a lot more entertaining in a group setting than trying to memorize the intro to Cliffs of Dover on a Fisher-Price toy in solitude and sadness.

Case Two: Call of Duty

     Don't get me wrong: Call of Duty games are fun. They are the best approximation to a Hollywood blockbuster thrill-ride that video games can accomplish. They have big, dumb characters, big, dumb cinematic setpieces, and big, dumb guns and explosions. And at the end of the day, like any Transformers or superhero movie, it's all about turning off your brain for a few hours and having fun by watching gratuitous amounts of violence.

AGH GOD MORE JELLY

     So why all the hate? Again, like Guitar Hero, it all comes down to the fact that there isn't enough innovation to keep many hardcore gamers satisfied. I played Modern Warfare and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also played World of Warcraft for two years and enjoyed it. But will I ever go back to them?
     In a word, no. I played both games to death, and while I enjoyed my experiences with them, I played them to death. From what I see, new iterations on Activision's swollen, gushing cash cow aren't different enough from one another to generate interest to me and many others. The series enjoys incredible sales numbers to be sure, but it comes from the same people that only buy the yearly installments of Madden and Call of Duty every year.
     But this doesn't explain the extreme backlash that the series feels. There are plenty of franchises that iterate on an annual basis, like every Madden, FIFA or MLB. So why do gamers erect the Modern Warfare games as their lightning rod of hate?
     Because it's popular, of course. You can't escape the marketing assault that surrounds each game. It's everywhere from your Mountain Dew bottles, to your TV commercials, and to your YouTube ads. Call of Duty's success and criticisms both come from the prevalence of advertisements that are experienced around the games, rather than the merits of the game's quality (or lack thereof).

Case Three: Assassin's Creed

     Assassin's Creed has been an annual series since 2009, and has garnered equal amounts of praise and criticism for doing so. On one hand, people soon get fatigued from Ubisoft's largest revenue generator. In contrast, many gamers (including myself) look forward to every year's chapter in the epic conspiracy story that Ubisoft has created.

Pictured: History

     The reason Assassin's Creed holds a special place in my heart is because of its originality.  The setting uses times and places no other games come near to exploring, and the gameplay combines an open-world philosophy to conventional stealth, action, and platforming.
     If this was all the games offered, however, they would not scratch the itch of the gaming community. They blend the emergent gameplay opportunities with a story arc that spans centuries and pulls on strings that don't go unappreciated by history nerds like me.
     Everything in world history is a complex conspiracy that traces its history back to Templars, Assassins, and aliens. Normally this kind of pseudoscientific drivel belongs on Ancient Aliens, but Ubisoft blends these themes with the interpersonal character stories that we associate with more often. In this way, Ubisoft makes me look forward to the annual installation in the series, rather than dread hearing about it every fall.

The Verdict

     So, what have we learned? In my opinion, annual games need to do a few things to make me care about them. They need to iterate on the core gameplay each game, rather than let the games spiral into monotony and repetition. They need to make the different games easily recognizable from one another, and take risks with each franchise instead of rehashing the same tired story, skeletons, and gimmicks.
     At the end of the day, if you are against these annual games, vote with your dollar and simply don't buy them. It's more productive than making petitions or complaining on message boards.

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Kicking Keesters on Easter: 5 Video Game Characters Who Rose from the Dead

In the spirit of Easter and Jesus's resurrection, it made me start to think about video game characters who have also risen from the dead. Taking inspiration from "the reason for the season" I have decided to focus on five characters who've made a miraculous comeback in order to save the world. While these characters do not measure up to a religious icon, they do create their own marks upon the world in which they live.

Honorable Mention - Duke Nukem in Duke Nukem Forever

It is worth mentioning that Duke Nukem Forever was as dead as dead can be. Somehow, the king himself pulled his rotting body from the rubble of a failed company in 3D Realms, and was saved by Gearbox Software. Duke was old, crude, and boring in his final release. He may not be close to the savior, but it is a miracle that Duke Nukem Forever was able to actually be released. For that we solute you. Now let's never speak of that game again...

Death Knights in World of Warcraft

Arthas is one of my favorite bad guys in all of gaming. His downfall was amazing to me during Warcraft III, and the Death Knights add to his intrigue.  Thanks to Arthas, the Death Knights spread the will of their master throughout Azeroth. With their enhanced rune power, they struck fear into the world for the Scourge.  The original Death Knights created by Gul'dan are not represented by the Knights of the Ebon Blade you know and love today as represented in Blizzard's Wrath of the Lich King.

So why do they belong on this list?  After breaking from Arthas's power, the Death Knights vowed to help end his reign. While you may enjoy living a life of luxury in the sun with your bright colors and happiness, they choose to fight and hone their skills. Their world is one of darkness, death and destruction. They are the armies that will bring an end to Arthas and defend the world. Therefore, they deserve their chance to be recognized as heroes.

Main Character in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Imagine if you will, spending hours creating a character. Not just any character, but your unique brand of justice-dealing avatar that represents your inner style of keister-kickin. Mine usually has a handlebar mustache...  You finally perfect your instrument of doom and start the game. Man, this sounds a bit like Lord of the Rings... This war is apparently not going that well... WHAT! I'm dead??? (Not a spoiler if they basically spell it out on the back of the box) Shortly thereafter, you are reborn, and all hell breaks loose. The world is your oyster, and you are the fun loving otter looking to crack it open... with a blade.

What makes your character so special is their absence of fate. This allows your freshly reanimated figure to mold and weave the world around them, thus creating a world that only you can save. Literally, in this situation only you can save it. In doing so, the fateless one starts to unravel the fates of all others. Fortunately for you there are countless people that you will interact with, hundreds of side quests, and well over one hundred hours of gameplay. My handlebar-faced homeboy had plenty of opportunities to end many mortal's fates before the credits rolled.

Edward "Stubbs" Stubblefield in Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

If you think the recession is bad, then you need to hear the story of Stubbs during the Great Depression. Struggling through life, Stubbs finds happiness in his girl, Maggie Monday, before he is killed by her father. Twenty years later, Stubbs rises from his desecrated grave into the town of Punchbowl, PA. Soon after, he creates an army of zombies to take back the town from Maggie's maniacal father.

Stubbs is a far cry from the Savior in this story. What he does do is change a town, and gives the people there the opportunity to have a purpose after death. Granted, that purpose is to eat brains, and lots of them. He had been cast down, and rose again to rid the world of a form of evil that is worse than zombies. That must count for something right?

Most Final Fantasy Characters in Any Final Fantasy Game

Let's face it. In every Final Fantasy the world is at stake. Fortunately your merry band of misfits is set and ready to meet this threat head on. They level up and hit the stores for better equipment and items. Golbez? No problem. Kefka? You're mine. Yu Yevon/Jecht/Sin? I got them/it. Besides, if they kill me I have ninety-nine Phoenix Downs. That's right; you may die, but I can bring you back. Then we can continue saving the world. My plan is fool proof.

No worries. I have a Phoenix Down... Where did my bag of items go?

Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect Series

Of course it's Commander Shepard. The man died in outer space, and crashed and burned into a planet. He was then put back together in an attempt to control the invading Reaper forces. You are the true ultimate weapon against the forces of destruction in the coming war, and advanced life will not survive without you. Help me Commander Shepard. You're my only hope.

With the third entry in the series coming out so recently I dare not spoil it for anyone. Everything that you have worked for in the past two games comes to a head in the final confrontation, and it isn't just Earth that is counting on you. You didn't rise from the grave to be the protector of humanity (well technically you did), but were brought back to save the entire galaxy. If that doesn't remind you of Easter, then I don't know what will.


Are there any others that you would add to the list? Leave a comment below and like the story on Facebook. Make sure you keep checking back for more great content. Please check in with our sponsors to help keep this site rolling.