The Old versus The New

I had a thought as I was playing Ocarina of Time 3D on my 3DS recently as I peered over the second screen and saw Shadows of the Damned sitting in my PlayStation 3 collection. Immediately I was left thinking to myself: why haven’t I played more of that game? It is a fresh, new I.P as opposed to Ocarina of Time 3D, which is a re-release of a long-adored classic.

I think the problem is as deep-rooted as lot of things, perhaps it is just me but I know there are others who’d be guilty of the same thing. Essentially it all comes back to being comfortable with the classics. Whether it is an old flame who you know and understand or an old movie that you know and love, it is always easier to go back to something you already know you like. But the question burns: is that the right thing to do? On the one hand the timeless classic is always going to be just that but what about the new thing you have the chance to try? Shadows of the Damned offers a new intellectual property that is just begging for my attention but I can’t help but lose myself in Ocarina of Time all over again.

We are all guilty of doing this in some areas, and whilst in video games it is a lot more natural (heck, why buy a new game when you can just pick up another Call of Duty) it is definitely something we need to look at in ourselves. Every few months new I.P’s step out into the world and more often than not are shunned into the abyss as sequels and franchises sell more than ever. But the blame lies with many as opposed to the few, but who will blame them? You buy a game in a franchise because there is a high probability that it will be something you enjoy because things rarely change too much between entries.

There are people out there striving for something greater than a franchise. Developers who want to bring new ideas into the industry. Jenova Chen (along with thatgamecompany) is bringing us something beautiful and refreshing in Journey. You’ve got the guys at Team ICO helping us realise our imaginations over again with The Last Guardian. You’ve got the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto trying to innovate and create new properties (see: Pikmin). Last year Playdead took the world by storm with their unique new title Limbo. And there are many more if you go hunting, but don’t be fooled… not all brilliant new ideas are born on the App Store.

Of course, it is easy enough to say this is the problem, it is coming up with a solution that begins to make things tricky. Fighting against comforting nostalgia is difficult. Especially when you might be taking a chance on something new that could inevitably suck outright. But without taking these chances, things will never innovate. Imagine if Nintendo had never created the Super Mario I.P all those years ago? What would you be playing now? Would you be even playing video games? Not every franchise was born a franchise, they all started somewhere and the continued ignorance directed to a lot of new properties is going to continue to destroy the industry we know and love. So next time you look at a game on the shelves like Shadows of the Damned or the upcoming Catherine, don’t simply write it off.  Pick it up, take it for a spin, at the very least you tried and know for yourself how it is and won’t need to rely on the opinions of others to make the decision. Same goes for everything in life, it never hurts to step out of that comfort zone.

That risk could pay dividends one day when you look at a game and reminisce about how you gambled on it, much like I do with The World Ends With You.