That's the conclusion reached by one Rob Cooper, the man in charge of both Ubisoft UK and the festivities following the
triumphant debut of
Assassin's Creed at the top of the UK charts. The ambitious bump-off bonanza became the third-fastest selling Xbox 360 game ever, a fact which Ubisoft sees as confirmation that we don't
all want games with roman numerals and pretentious colon usage in the title. "I think the success worldwide of Assassin's Creed absolutely proves that new IP can live and prosper within the sequel and licensed based competition," said Cooper, speaking to
MCV. "The industry is crying out for new and compelling content and we're delighted that AC has lived up to its expectations."
Sales expectations, perhaps, but whether or not the game itself
delivered depends on
who you ask and how
myopic their viewpoints are. Don't bother asking
us though -- we're too busy being
medieval jerks.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ScreamingSkull @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:23PM
Heh, except Assassins Creed is already set up to be a trilogy...
Nick the Hero of Canton @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:25PM
It's still a new IP...
ScreamingSkull @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:27PM
Oh I'm all for new IP's, I'm just already sick of the instant franchises people try to set up, movies/books/games it's all about making sure you can drag money from people at a constant rate now-a-days.
samfish @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:25PM
Anything can and will prosper with a unending ton of hype.
And relatively attractive women pimping the game.
fawazr @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:30PM
like that BMXXX game with Carmen Electra or Beach Volleyball or Tomb Raider on the Dreamcast?
Shagittarius @ Nov 24th 2007 12:04PM
Just like anything with a plumber and unending fanboy lip service.
Rubix42 @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:33PM
I too am very excited about new IP's these days. The fact that my collection of Next Gen games is almost all sequels is pretty lame.
Granted, I like my games, but come on.
Jon @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:43PM
The irony is we will see Assassin's Creed III, IV and so on in the near future.
SJ @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:47PM
It's not really about new IPs, it's about how good the games are and how well they have been marketed.
Mr Khan @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:57PM
I feel that a good franchise is one that uses its name and a few basic pillars to sell itself, but each game in the franchise has different elements, or is a relative departure from the previous game (Metroid is a good example, pretty much every game added something you hadn't seen before, Final Fantasy also does this to some degree)
These franchises are not stagnating the industry, others that never change anything certainly are
Silent Xenocide @ Nov 23rd 2007 4:58PM
New IPs are good. This games ending was not.
Tango Charlie @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:05PM
The industry DOES need new IPs, but more than that they need *good games*.
Portal's a new IP. But what if the same game were told using Gordan Freeman, and let's say it was set before he became involved with Black Mesa or something. So, Portal with an existing IP. NOW - would that in any way change the fact (yes, fact)that Portal is an awesome game?
We also need good games marketed well. Anyone want to help me put up some Zack & Wiki posters?
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:07PM
Where do you want these posters, sir?
Mr Khan @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:12PM
They used massive images advertising Zack and Wiki for many user's signatures over on the VGChartz forums
But I actually found Zack and Wiki in Best Buy today, didn't buy it (my target was Radiant Dawn, which was out of stock at Best Buy), but its a good thing that i found it
Tango Charlie @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:14PM
@ Ludwig: Really, I've just been using any flat surface I can find. I've also been experimenting with curved surfaces. Eventually I hope to graduate to poster-ing people's pets.
Batzarro @ Nov 24th 2007 12:57AM
Agreed on the rest of the stuff other than the posters. Good games are good games, sequel or not.
Stu @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:16PM
This better not be a sign that there won't be an Assassins Creed sequel.
also, that's kind of pretentious. I guarantee that one of the other two faster sellers was halo 3 which would completely rebuff his point.
Intentless @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:34PM
Don't fear they have already said it is built to be a trilogy...
Jonah Falcon @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:16PM
BioShock and Mass Effect are damned good new IPs.
Geist @ Nov 24th 2007 12:33AM
They are...but are they really that new? Bioshock is System Shock 2 to the point of absurdity, while Mass Effect mimics a ton of KOTOR gameplay elements, though granted the dialogue thing is somewhat new.
James @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:22PM
In that case why don't these devs get making good games. Top 3 highest rated games? Sequels. Prime, Galaxy, OoT.
If these new IPs were good then we can talk. Bad case story with Assassins Creed too, I had more fun and more varied gameplay on Assassin.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:35PM
Sure I would love new Ips. What I don't want though is the same damn game just covered in a new skin with different characters and a different title. If you're going to make a new IP at least make it unique (of course that does not mean it has to be innovative).
BananaBoat @ Nov 23rd 2007 5:51PM
It's funny. I was psyched for Assassins Creed, and sure that Mass Effect would suck. Now after having played both, I realize that I got it backwards. Assassins Creed is a nice idea, but it needed to go back into the oven to bake for a few more months (I guess the sales numbers would argue with me, but whatever). Tedious doesn't even begin to describe Assassins Creed. The combat (unless you have the good fortune of sneaking up behind someone) is so tedious, that I ended up running from most fights, not because I'm not good enough to beat the enemies, but because there is no sense of satisfaction from doing so (there are always...always more enemies). I went into this game expecting Prince of Persia mixed with Tenchu and maybe a little bit of Ninja Gaiden for good measure. What I got was watered down Prince of Persia. Ouch
(01) @ Nov 23rd 2007 6:09PM
It's the paradox of gaming....we scream for more "original" games, but when they actually drop (Psychonauts, Zak and Wiki, Beyond Good & Evil) no one actually buys them and they are panned by reviewers. It's not very hard to see why Dev A is going to continue making FPS:205 than branch out into something new. He's right, but damned if I see it happening anytime soon.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 23rd 2007 6:44PM
And when an old series tries to do something different, the developers are usually berated by the gaming public for doing so.
sigh,
Such is the hypocrisy of a gamer.
fawazr @ Nov 23rd 2007 7:07PM
"It's the paradox of gaming....we scream for more "original" games, but when they actually drop (Psychonauts, Zak and Wiki, Beyond Good & Evil) no one actually buys them and they are panned by reviewers."
Those games were never panned by reviewers. Reviewers loved those games, even begged their readers to buy those games. Those games, however, were never marketed. They were all set up to fail because the publishers didn't feel like paying to promote games they didn't have confidence in.
I've seen plenty of Carnival Games ads. I've never seen a Zack and Wiki ad. Carnival Games has probably outsold Zack and Wiki 4 to 1. **People won't buy games they don't know about.** Halo 3 was advertised EVERYWHERE and the sales were phenomenal! That's the secret to success. Even games that actually were panned, but were well advertised have had great sales.
Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:50PM
fawazr has it right. The main problem is that too often new IPs aren't marketed well enough. Publishers are afraid they will fail and don't spend enough to push them. Sadly, that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy... the game does fail, but not because it wasn't good, but because it wasn't marketed properly.
Blast Processing Megadrive @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:56PM
Carnival Games outselling Zack & Wiki 4 to 1? No, that's not right.
It's more like 20 to 1. -_-;
[sighs]
MAKE A DAMN TV AD FOR THE GAME, CAPCOM.
Lekko @ Nov 23rd 2007 7:11PM
Sequels sell, basic fact. You saw the first one, so you are pretty much obligated to play the other ones. If you don't, you feel like you missed something.
New IPs are risky, you can always fall flat with a new concept. The worst part of it is that these new ideas are rarely polished. You always know of those off-beat games with quirky ideas, but horrible controls/graphics/story/mechanics/glitches take your pick. Now today we're starting to see some new IPs that are actually getting the polish they deserve, and they are selling well.
Poisoned Al @ Nov 24th 2007 7:49AM
Very true. It took them four tries to get Hitman right for example.
Ray @ Nov 23rd 2007 7:37PM
this man is smart
Tired_ @ Nov 23rd 2007 8:27PM
I thought IPv6 was supposed to address this.
ThornedVenom @ Nov 23rd 2007 8:32PM
He is absolutely right.
J.R. @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:45PM
Just for the record, there were 9 new IPs through October that appeared on the NPD Top 10 at least one month:
Lost Planet (#1, January)
Gears of War (#3, January)
Resistance (#8, January)
*Crackdown (#1, February)
**Wii Play (#2, February/June/September)
Motorstorm (#5, March)
BioShock (#3, August)
Skate (#5, September)
Heavenly Sword (#10, September)
*Halo 3 Beta Invite Included
** Wii Remote Included
Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Crysis, and maybe Uncharted could be on the November Top 10. That's 13 new IPs appearing in an NPD Top 10. That's a good start, but it still means that there were over 80 sequels or existing IPs.
Blast Processing Megadrive @ Nov 23rd 2007 10:58PM
I don't care if an IP is new or old. As long as the game's fun, that's all that matters.
Sequels seem to sell just fine, really. Look at Halo, Pokémon, GTA, and Mario for examples.
Tom @ Nov 23rd 2007 11:20PM
Assassin's Creed did a lot of new and interesting things in terms of how it controls. It strikes a good balance between stealth and action (I kill most rooftop guards with the hidden blade, btw; no need to start a fight) Also the stylish animation and cinematic camera lend themselves quite well to TV ads, so it was well-marketed. I think it is because of these things that the game is so successful, not that it was a new IP. If, for instance, Assassin's Creed were yet another FPS then it would not have sold as well as it did.
Kenofthedead @ Nov 24th 2007 12:55AM
I think the real point of every comment and this post is quite simple; Buy Zack and Wiki!
B1gC72 @ Nov 24th 2007 1:59AM
bring on the new IP's. i hate playing franchises that draw on too long. really kills the legacy of the game. id take new IP's anytime.
mattclarkie @ Nov 24th 2007 4:09AM
Well I am a sales figure. I got mine in Tesco Yesterday, plan to start playing it today. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
The day before I bought Bio-Shock because Gamestation were selling it for £22.49, so I got that sharpish, and haven't got round to playing it, and on an impulse I bought Tomb Raider Anniversary as it was only £25.
So to sum up I buy games I feel are worth buying, regardless of whether the IP is new. I bought Halo 3, CoD4, PGR4 recently to they were good games even though they are sequels.
mattclarkie @ Nov 24th 2007 4:19AM
The thing is there are some games I am waiting for the sequels to. Unfortunately Crackdown doesn't have one planned. I want to see what direction Heavenly Sword takes after the ending of the first. Really want Vegas 2 (hope it isn't delayed), is there a Quake 4 sequel, that ended implying there would be. GoW2, hopefully that will be out this Gen, and be good. And when is Killzone PS3 going to release?
There is nothing wrong with sequels, I like playing a game which I am familiar with as you don't have the learning curve and you get into the fun right away, but like all games they must be well executed, and not too similar to the original.
rick @ Nov 24th 2007 4:13PM
What is an IP