Gaming Steve has a
piece up that asks why American publishers prefer to play it safe when it comes to out-on-a-limb, innovative titles.
Cooking Mama is an example of a bizarre game that American publishers only accept because "those Japanese
gamers are so crazy!"--however, in the movie industry, even large studios keep producing indie hits.This is especially interesting when put side-by-side with this Gamesindustry.biz article on NCsoft, which examines the Korean MMO company's aggressive moves of late. Traditional games companies may have to move into the MMO market and take new risks if more ambitious companies like NCsoft rise from the East with their sights firmly set on the West.
The play-it-safe tried-and-tested approach of sequel-churning firms like EA may not stand up much longer against such competition--risk-taking does movie studios a wealth of good, and perhaps games businesses will eventually adopt similar tactics.
