Episodic Gaming

[Candescence]

Really, ever since Valve coined the term, episodic gaming is a bit of a joke thanks to Valve's release tendencies (they're perfectionists, so no surprise there), but other companies such as Telltale Games are getting this balance right. You see them release entire seasons of Sam and Max and Strong Bad, with each "episode" every month.

So, recently, I've been thinking about the concept. If singular releases are like movies, what are episodes? Like a TV series? Of course!

Personally, I feel open to the concept. Sure, you're not getting much out of each episode, but it adds up into a whole. And there's also a distinct advantage - the devs can take feedback from from the episodes they've done, and use it to improve on the next ones. If a guy buys an episode and finds that it's crap? You won't have wasted so much cash on it, and if you DO like it, you can buy the next episodes.

Of course, it depends on how the devs work. If there is long periods between episodes (unless the number of episodes in a "season" is low and the episodes are large), what's the point? As I said, Telltale have got it right.

So, what's your opinion on the whole episodic shebang?

[Silencer226]

It could be good for those of us who want some extra content to play with, but the bad side of this is that there is like no control over how much they charge for this content. For example Prince of Persia recently came out with it's Epilogue, it was good what wasn't good was the price $10 for 2 hours worth of gameplay. That may not seem like much but it adds up.

The epilogue for PoP was not right it should've been $5, scratch that $4 for the unsatisfied feeling I had once I beat it in one sitting.

Edited March 18, 2009 by silencer226

[Strong Bad]

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People is, like, the best game ever.

Episodic gaming is a pretty good idea. If you don't like the first episode, waaaaaaaaah, don't play the rest. If you liked it, buy the rest. EZ SNEE Z

[Thirsty Pocket]

It kind of reminds me of that old scrapped "Satellaview" thing for the Japanese only SNES.

[Erazor]

Speaking of which, whatever happened to Sin Episodes?

Edited March 18, 2009 by Erazor

[Badnik Zero]

This seems like a really good idea for fangames, but if you have the resources it's probably better to release a complete experience. Maybe that's old fashioned, but I wouldn't like to download peripheral chapters just to make the game more complete.

Unless it really is episodic and ongoing. That might be worth it, and I think MMOs already do this sort of thing.

[pooshoes]

Speaking of which, whatever happened to Sin Episodes?

Ritual Entertainment got bought out by a casual games company called Mumbo Jumbo.

"The idea of acquiring Ritual was to have them strengthen our development in the casual genre and not to have them involved at all in the action style games," Cottam explained. "If there's an opportunity to have them do something on the SiN episodes, we would look at that, but that will not be the focus of the company. The combined companies will focus exclusively on casual, unless opportunities present themselves that we think are strategic from a business standpoint... Again, I wouldn't close the door on [traditional games] but that's not the primary focus."

Edited March 18, 2009 by Pooshoes

[JezMM]

I certainly do like the idea of it, but essentially all the ones that can do REGULAR episodes, i.e. Sam and Max, could also be done in a whole full-length game in the same amount of extra development time, i.e 5 months or so. I could wait that.

Whereas ones that do IRREGULAR episodes, i.e. Valve with Half-Life 2, they're perfectionists and are constantly tweaking the Source engine at the same time, it's not like making episodes for them, it's literally like making as new, but short, game every time.

There are often 5-6 year games between every main Mario title which is of course a favourite of mine, and I often wonder if I'd ever want those in episodes once a year perhaps to tide me over, but I think not.

Sonic games, my other love... if they were ever episodic, I'd want each episode to be at least half the length of Unleashed, which is asking quite a bit really unless they were released on a monthly basis, in which case I'd be happy with say, 5 stages and 1-2 bossfights per month.

It sucks to be on the slow path with all the other Valve fans though. I never played HL2 until The Orange Box so I got to play HL2, Ep1, and Ep2 back to back. Now alas I must wait for a game that unlike my first HL2 "experience", will only be 5-6 hours long, as oppose to about 20-30 as HL2/Ep1/Ep2 put together were.

[Remy]

but essentially all the ones that can do REGULAR episodes, i.e. Sam and Max, could also be done in a whole full-length game in the same amount of extra development time, i.e 5 months or so. I could wait that.

But the whole point of episoditc gaming is say, like Sam and Max, you can play each episode as it comes, not having to wait for ages to play more, until the full game (all the episodes) is released. This was the theory behind Half-Life episodes too, but Valve time fucked that up royally.

Sonic games, my other love... if they were ever episodic, I'd want each episode to be at least half the length of Unleashed, which is asking quite a bit really unless they were released on a monthly basis, in which case I'd be happy with say, 5 stages and 1-2 bossfights per month.

There's no way sega can build 5 stages from scratch within a month, that's crazy! XD

[pooshoes]

Valve has stated that the development time for Episode 3 will be considerably longer than for the first two, which came out roughly a year and a half after the previous release.

This is most likely due to a massive development of the Source. DirectX 10, anyone?

[Covskin]

My only experience of Episodic Gaming is with Telltale Games, having purchased Sam & Max Series 1 and 2. So some of what I talk about could only relate to Telltale rather than the idea as a whole.

The idea is good in theory. Get a brand new game a few hours long every couple of months for a bargain price! But there are also constrictions. You can't really get into too much depth. Difficulty cruve has to be near enough reset every game, because you don't know if someone will pick up a series halfway through. Same therefore goes for the plot. Unless your customers are willing to buy and play your games by your own rules, you're stuck in a hole. I make heavy emphasis on this because Telltale released the 4th episode of Season 1 for free. So naturally, for a lot of people that was the first episode they played. If the games had been getting more complex and difficult with a long-standing plot, they'd have been marrooned.

Valve seem to be getting away with that a bit better though. Maybe its because of how long it takes them to release the dan things.

The release schedule is also incredibly important. Take too long like Valve, and you'll invite criticism, even if the final product is fantastic. Release games too close together, and you saturate yourself, and run into a creative wall.

This is why I stopped with Telltale after Sam & Max Series 2. By the time they released the final episode, they'd made 11 games, about 3-4 hours long each, in about 2 years. And these things were packed. Sure, the overall game wasn't particularly long, but if you could see something, you could interact with it. There were literally hundreds of secrets in each series. And in the second series, you could really see how it was beginning to affect them. They'd hit their stride at the end of Series One, had a very short break, and went right on to the next bunch of games, where they just slowly ran out of steam. Sure, Episode 2.4 picked things up a bit, but as that was the "main" episode it clearly had more time put into it.

Before even finishing Sam & Max Series 2, they'd started on Strong Bad! And judging from reviews, that also didn't really hit full steam until the end.

But before they finished Strong Bad, they announced they were working on Wallace & Gromit!

I admire the work ethic, and they clearly have talent, but they seriously need to learn to slow down, for the sake of their product.

Episodic gaming can work, but you've got to get the balance of so many things perfect.

[Mollfie]

It's a great idea, if they deliver on time. It's very annoying to be told something will be released soon, to have the date pushe dback repeatedly.

[Brainfog]

Yeah, I like the idea of getting the choice of playing an episode first before getting the whole package. If it sucks, I won't play the next episodes, and I won't have wasted 60 euros on a crap game. Just like a pilot episode of a TV series. If it sucks, I don't watch it anymore.

Also, I suppose it's a good thing if the developer has a few episodes done and ready to be shipped before releasing the first episode. That way there can be a solid release plan and no push-backs.

[JezMM]

But the whole point of episoditc gaming is say, like Sam and Max, you can play each episode as it comes, not having to wait for ages to play more, until the full game (all the episodes) is released. This was the theory behind Half-Life episodes too, but Valve time fucked that up royally.

True I can appreciate that. I guess with Sam and Max quaint short stories are prolly better anyway. Though I'm sure it'd excite a lot of fans if they said they were working on a 10 hour or so long storyline.

There's no way sega can build 5 stages from scratch within a month, that's crazy! XD

Ha, I know, it's wishful thinking. Though to clarify I was thinking of Unleashed etc in the fact that I imagined 2-3 of those levels being slower/gimmicky ones or at least shorter regular levels, lol. Depending on how often DLC gets released for Unleashed in the future I might get my wish somewhat anyway.

Edited March 19, 2009 by JezMM

[SuperStingray]

Sonic games, my other love... if they were ever episodic, I'd want each episode to be at least half the length of Unleashed, which is asking quite a bit really unless they were released on a monthly basis, in which case I'd be happy with say, 5 stages and 1-2 bossfights per month.

If making Sonic games episodic would make it easier for Sonic Team to make better quality games, so be it. But I think it would be hard to pull off an episodic Sonic series, at least in the style of Unleashed because since the levels go by so fast, your at the end before you know it and you have to wait for the next one, and if Sonic 06 has taught us anything, waiting and Sonic games just don't mix.