GameTap VP of Content: Episodic games should reflect TV shows
by Zack Stern 
{ Jan 3rd 2007 at 4:25PM }
Rick Sanchez, Vice President of Content at GameTap, outlines his thoughts on the potential of episodic games. After defining episodic content -- regularly scheduled chapters of a game that can stand alone -- he focuses on why this method of game design fits the market.
Sanchez says that the production and life of episodic games could reflect a TV show. When looking for a publisher, developers could create an episodic pilot of a game, like the TV pilot season allows producers to attempt a variety of shows at a relatively low cost. A publisher could order a series of episodes based on the game pilot, and even more episodes could be schedule based on consumer purchases and feedback.
Sanchez also notes that the casual gamer could support the bite-sized style of episodic publishing. We sometimes avoid -- or don't complete -- 60-hour games because we don't have the time. While we're not casual gamers, we prefer frequently playing a game for a short duration. Does the pick-up-and-play aesthetic inherently relate to gameplay -- like Katamari Damacy or Tetris -- or can chapters of a first-person shooter also fit that ideal?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mal F4cti0n @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:58PM
One reason I got sick of Oblivion relatively quickly....not enough time and no real feeling of accomplishment for hours and hours of gameplay (as you advanced in levels so did your enemies, they were always just as difficult to beat). Plus the lack of community involvement....I don't like playing solo games with the advent of online gaming.
Good idea would be a mix of single and multiplayer. You join a team of 4 to 8 players and progress thru the story. People can leave and join, and only be able to join a later area if they have previously completed it. I think this type of scenario would work really well for adventure games.....people need to think about how to open that door, and maybe people start with different items in their "packs" and they have to search thru them and come up with a way to use them in conjunction to advance.
anonymous @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:47PM
Thanks for the Free ad for E!, I too like Talk Soup.
Oh and I think episodic content is just another way of Nickel And Dimeing us. So I'll pass on it, I'll wait for the enevitable "collection" to hit the B&M stores.
jayntampa @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:54PM
Have you noticed how single DVDs of TV shows have pretty much gone the way of the dodo ... you know why? People like to buy WHOLE SEASONS. He's going backwards in thought. People don't like buying part of a story ...
Of course there are exceptions, but if you look at the general marketplace, that's the way it works. People don't want to buy half a movie or part of a mini-series ...
I see episodic gaming as a fad ... other than for independent studios trying to get off the ground.
Flit @ Jan 3rd 2007 4:59PM
No, tv shows are going the way of the dodo because of TIVO, people watch the shows they want to watch WHEN they want to watch them. Video games already are like this.
I think he's right. If you get a simple base for a game that works, a concept that draws people in, then you can get feedback from the community, fix the problems and continue with further iterations, or fix what was wrong with the "pilot". This can lead to independant hits. Then, if the game is popular enough, combine the episodes and sell em all together, for the gamers who have the time to sit down and complete 5 hours a day. Kind of like how you can buy a game with it's 3 expansion packs years after it comes out.
Just wait, Half life 2 with episodes 1,2 and 3 will be $60 2 months after episode 3 comes out.
Same with sam and max, all that episodic content will be combined into a single game (i hope)
Easy_G @ Jan 3rd 2007 7:30PM
The main issue I see with Episodic gaming is in production values. Right now the few episodic games we have (HL2 and Sam and Max) still have huge production values that match their full-length game counterparts. This means the games take longer to make and are hardly episodic in the end.
Normal full-length games are more like movies, they take years to make and have huge production values.
For episodic games to be like television they would have to take a hit in their production values so that they could be pumped out more regularly. Also, their prices would have to be greatly reduced, or maybe they would be on a subscription plan. If I pay 20bucks for a game and it is crap, I'll be annoyed, but I couldn't really care less about bad TV shows on a station like HBO because of the value I'm getting for them.
Right now episodic games are in the middle, trying to be as good as full-length games while missing the boat on actually being episodic. Until consumers are ready to take a hit in the quality of these games, they'll never be fully episodic.
Campion @ Jan 3rd 2007 8:30PM
The font is "Impact". It ain't exotic.
tom @ Jan 4th 2007 10:05AM
i rarely finish games.. life often gets in the way and once you get distracted from a game for a week or two it can be hard to get back into it. More games should do the "previously on.." thing that tv shows and driver3 did.
I hate going back to a game and not being able to remember what i was supposed to be doing.
The point about people buying single tv shows is a good one.. I buy loads of tv shows on tv.. but i'd never think of buying single episodes.. that is likely to be true of video games too.
That said, i'm seriously considering gettting the first ep of sam'n'max just to see what its like.
(but telltale should really offer the option to upgrade a single purchase to a season pass!)
James @ Jan 4th 2007 12:49PM
I'm not too big on the whole episodic thing. With TV shows that I am really in to I am let down when I have to wait a week to watch the next one. Often I prefer to watch episodes back to back until I'm ready to do something else. With MOST games there has never been any intention in making a game you are supposed to complete in one sitting. Why do we all of a sudden need this? Do gamers need forced breaks? With episodic games having 5 hours of gameplay it's still not something many gamers will complete in one sitting. Why not just add intermissions to a full game?
I agree that the episodic model still needs a lot of work. If they can make it a bargain to play episodic content I'm all for it but if it costs you $200+ for a "Season" of a game I won't be finishing a lot of games. I find gaming to already be on the pricey side for what you get. Some games stand out as good value while others fall flat in the replay department yet prices are even for most new games. Half-life 2 was the last game I bought for full price and I had a lot of play with the various multiplayer mods.