Lunchtime Discussion: Episodes
Tune in talk of episodic gaming.Published: 12:00, 07/09/2010 by Kris [Halbpro].
44I watch a lot of TV, although not in the intended format. Generally I watch a TV show in one big chunk once it’s out on DVD, I hate waiting between episodes to see how the story continues. That’s just how I am, I have absolutely no patience with these things; in fact I have so little patience that I’ll happily read spoilers just to see how a cliffhanger resolves.
The weird thing is I’m completely in favour of episodic content in games, providing a series of bite-size chunks of gaming goodness in monthly or bi-monthly succession seems to work pretty well in my opinion. A lot of this depends on the size of each episode in the game’s “season”; too long and they take too much time to develop and play ruining the whole episodic concept, too short and they don’t really seem worth the time and money you need to invest in the latest episode.
Telltale are clearly the kings of episodic gaming, they always seem to nail the price point and release schedule of their games spot on, and they make brilliantly funny games as well. All of these factors combine to make them the kings of episodic gaming, producing brilliant games that are just the right size to leave you begging for more.
Sadly there are those that misappropriate the term ‘episodic’, notably Valve. The time between Episode 1 and 2 was about a year and a quarter, which is hardly episodic. You wouldn’t say that FIFA is an episodic series, and it’s only on a yearly release schedule. However compared to the long wait for the third episode of Valve’s trilogy, the gap between the first two episodes was positively tiny.
Hopefully we’ll actually see the final episode one day, but even if we do Valve are hardly producing an episodic series. Maybe they just need to use a different description for the series, because episodic is just plain wrong.
What are your thoughts on episodic gaming? Does it make a nice change to more traditional releases? Or is the phrase misappropriated so often as to make it worthless?
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07/09/2010 at 12:02
Member since: Aug 2009
I suppose i cant comment as the only game i have thats episodic is sam and max, which is a borefest. But for releases over time i think its great :)
07/09/2010 at 12:15
Member since: Sep 2009
Glad to hear I’m not the only one, and what is up with the laggy controls & loading screens. If I hadn’t gotten it thru PS+ I would be bitter about the game’s price.
07/09/2010 at 12:57
Member since: Oct 2008
I downloaded it on this month’s PSN+, glad I never forked out the prices they were putting it out for in the first place. I used to like Sam and Max on the PC but unlike the recent monkey island update, they’ve really managed to disappoint with the Sam and Max episodes.
07/09/2010 at 12:05
Member since: Forever
I’m addicted to TV series boxsets, and love watching ‘just one more’ however I would feel games are more akin to movies so if there’s several years between releases it doesn’t bother me.
The time away from the game allows me to appreciate the one’s I’ve just played more and allows the anticipation to build by its absence… Compare that with a title which will has almost had a yearly release like R&C and a bit of fatigue begins to set in, sure the story progresses (or spins-off) but because of the frequency each release has a lesser impact.
Proper episodic gaming on the PS3 like Penny Arcade Adventures, Sam & Max & Blue Toad has been poor (at best)
All I want to know is when is there going to be a Italian Job, Flash Gordon or Masters Of The Universe sequel, all 3 of those movies ended on cliff-hangers and haven’t been followed up on
07/09/2010 at 12:50
Member since: Sep 2009
I agree with you cc_star, and that is a good analogy. I suppose some PSN releases could work as eposodic but I wouldn’t like to see all games to move this way. However with higher development costs it would make sense to part-develop a game as a proof of concept and then do additional episodes if it proves popular and keep going until people tire of it, it would have to be priced right though as I could also see publishers using it as a way to cash in on the consumer – selling a game in 10 parts at £9.99 each over PSN instead of £39.99 for the whole thing on Blu-ray. Would people release they are suddenly paying £100 for a game if it was paid in installments during the course of a year?
That being said I do like single player DLC even though it is rare to get it – currently I’m really enjoying Minerva’s Den for Bioshock 2 and it feels like a new game as it’s been a while since I last played it, I also enjoyed the Prince of Persia Epilogue level (although it was rather short), and of course you have the massive expansions to GTAIV. As long as they are priced right in relation to their length I’m all for getting additional sub-stories after the game is released – things that further explain the story/universe of the game but at the same time not being a forced purchase due to a cliffhanger in the main game. I still think it’s a real shame the Heavy Rain Chronicles were scrapped in favour of tacked on PS Move support for example :(
Maybe the compromise is to have a PSN ‘Prologue’ to a game both as a way to build hype, and test the water with new IPs. Then release the main game standalone on Blu-ray. Then if it sells way release one or two additional ‘episodes’ further down the line to expand the story further…
07/09/2010 at 12:10
Member since: Feb 2010
episode 3 is a lie :(
07/09/2010 at 12:31
Member since: Jul 2009
I Will never tire of that pun!
07/09/2010 at 12:16
Member since: Jul 2009
I love episodic content and are much like you, Kris (and cc) where you want to hammer the season or series properly instead of waiting week-to-week. Early seasons of Lost were like television crack it was so addictive!
When it comes to gaming, I’d love to see episodic content really take off. Each “episode” would be the televisual equivalent of four to five episodes or half a season. Enough to further the plot but bite-sized enough to churn out every six to twelve months once developer momentum is up to speed.
Obviously the game itself would need a suitably fleshed-out plot so there’s coherence across the episodes but I’m sure it could be done well. Maybe £20 for the first part then £15 a pop for the next episode.
07/09/2010 at 12:18
Member since: Apr 2010
I must say I’m not as much of a fan of episodic gaming. I am also someone that likes to burn through a DVD series in one go, and gaming is the same. I find that if games are released episodically I end up forgetting about them in the gap and then I never get round to finishing them. I bought Sam and Max, and although I enjoyed it I still haven’t finished the second episode as other games got in the way!
07/09/2010 at 12:23
Member since: Aug 2009
The only episodic series I ever played was the penny arcade games, but whilst they were well spaced, immersive and very funny they got cancelled on a pretty big cliffhanger. I think that either humour like that or a strong storyline is imperative for these serieses, as keeping the gameplay fresh can be tricky enough with yearly titles, and with closer releases the gameplay isnt gonna be enough to pull in customers
07/09/2010 at 12:27
Member since: Oct 2008
I am surprised no one has mentioned Sonic 4 yet. Personally, I would rather have the complete game all at once. However, I will have to wait until it is released to judge properly
07/09/2010 at 12:32
Member since: Jul 2009
I didn’t realise the Sonic franchise was episodic. Is Sonic 4 a continuation of a particular saga/story?
07/09/2010 at 12:46
Member since: Dec 2008
No I think I recall them saying (don’t ask me who ‘them’ is) sonic 4 was going to be episodic in itself.
07/09/2010 at 12:58
Member since: Sep 2009
Yes Sonic 4 is an episodic game – the one coming out soon is titled “Sonic 4: Episode 1″. Not sure how many episodes there are though, but chances are when they are all released they will be put together either as a PSN Bundle or on Blu-ray for half the price and everyone will bitch and moan about being ripped off like they usually do…
07/09/2010 at 12:30
Member since: Aug 2008
Whilst I really like the principle of Episodic content, I find I always wait until the whole game has been released so I can buy them all in a bundle for a reduced price (See Sam and Max and Blue Toad murder files)
07/09/2010 at 12:35
Member since: Oct 2008
Agreed, but they should price as follows:
1. Per episode for the complete series
2. Season pass
3. Season pass for all episodes except episode 1, so you can try it out.
07/09/2010 at 12:33
Member since: Oct 2008
I think episodic gaming has an awful lot of potential, but its implenentation has been so poor so far it hasn;t taken off. I would happily pay £20 for a ‘season pass’ for a decent game that gave me an hour-ish of play every week over 12-15 weeks, which is exactly how Siren should have done it.
Who knows – it might even allow games to spend some time telling a bit of a story as well because each episode would need its own story arc within a larger one.
07/09/2010 at 12:38
Member since: Aug 2008
Much as I love the game the way it is I think Alan Wake would have been suited episodic releases given the natural divide between each of the 6 chapters
07/09/2010 at 12:41
Member since: Oct 2008
If you’re applying that argument then what about FFXIII or MGS4 as divided and downloadable? I’d pay £4.50 for each act of MGS4 released over a month, or £4 for each chapter of FFXIII every week for three months.
07/09/2010 at 12:45
Member since: Aug 2008
True, I suppose the big problem with any game like this is that there would be no point buying episode 5 of Alan Wake for example as you wouldnt have a clue whats going on. Sure they could do a “catch up” clip at the beginning of each episode, but games like AW and FF where the storyline is the main focus, I couldn’t imagine it working thinking about it
07/09/2010 at 12:51
Member since: Oct 2008
But that can be got around. I haven’t played Alan Wake, so I can;t talk to that, but if you open a saved game of FFXIII then you get some paragraphs about the story so far. Surely it can’t be so difficult to have a five minute edit of the FMVs so far to give smoeone an idea of the story so far (like at the start of Yakuza 3)
07/09/2010 at 12:59
Member since: Aug 2008
I guess so, though any game that is story driven I would personally rather have the option to play it for longer periods of time instead of playing the game for an hour or so then having to wait until next week to be reminded what happened, etc.