user generated content games

[ad7venture]

I know these games have been around for a while, but there are two games coming out which take it to a new level, I think.  Spore, and Little Big Planet.  The latter being the more interesting to me but also a PS3 exclusive.  These games seem to be getting the most attention at E3.  Is it the future for games do you think?  In a way, it seems like people might just write their own games and never buy anymore which would be the death of games.

[Kickaha]

Well anyone can buy pen and paper but we still have bookshops . . . don't think Spore will make other game genres obsolete.

[Ben304]

I don't think people will stop buying games because, no matter how many games we build ourselves, it is still cool to experience someone else's vision and see how they do it.

Plus if you build the game yourself you know all the secrets, and finding game secrets out is fun.

[ad7venture]

Plus if you build the game yourself you know all the secrets, and finding game secrets out is fun.

Yeah, but I think they have a way of exchanging games, at least I know Little Big Planet does, and I think Spore does also.  Normally they would all have a sameness to them, but it's getting more and more complex so it's hard to say anymore.

Well anyone can buy pen and paper but we still have bookshops . . . don't think Spore will make other game genres obsolete.

I think it's mainly the new thing, but it could have a dent in the sales of other games if people are busy making their own.  I'm not sure how much you can do with Spore.  I think it's mainly a game in itself about evolving creatures by eating them or something.  It sounds kind of stupid to me but everyone that has seen it thinks it's the greatest.

[Kickaha]

"Spore" may dent the sales of other games for a time.  As far as I understand "Spore" I wouldn't say players of "Spore" are making their own games, just their own Spore creations (which can then face off against other people's Spore creations.)

[Urinate]

Spore doesn't allow you to create games. It allows you to create/evolve your own species to play in the game. You also don't share content directly. The system automatically finds creatures other people have developed and adds them to your game world according to what would it concieves of as being balanced.

I don't know anything about Little Big Planet though. But even if it allows you to create your own games I doubt it would hurt games sales.

[ad7venture]

I think one of the reasons these games are getting mentioned a lot is that people are finally getting tired of the action game formula.  Most of them are still shooters, but they just aren't generating the interest anymore even though they are bigger and better.

"Spore" may dent the sales of other games for a time.  As far as I understand "Spore" I wouldn't say players of "Spore" are making their own games, just their own Spore creations (which can then face off against other people's Spore creations.)

Maybe it's changed from the hype they were pushing out, but I thought you were supposed to be able to visit other peoples worlds, which is sort of sharing content.

[Urinate]

Maybe it's changed from the hype they were pushing out, but I thought you were supposed to be able to visit other peoples worlds, which is sort of sharing content.

I think really late in the game, when your species has evolved to space travel you can go to other worlds and such which may essentially be clones of other players worlds but what you do there would not affect the world/universe of any players. It stays unique to your universe. The Game simply uses other players as a way of generating content for you. Thats why they are calling it a Massively Single Player Online Game.

[Mnemonic]

Second Life consists entirely of user created content and as a game developer, I find it very intriguing (no matter how limited the tools are, and how the quality of people's creations varies). Yes, I do believe this might be a future of gaming (or at least one of the branches of gaming that will be evolving a lot in the near future). There's a huge potential, IMO.

[ad7venture]

I forgot about Second Life.  It's interesting that Google is doing something like it but skipping the user generated content.  It made it sound a lot less interesting to me even though I haven't tried either one.  That is one of the problems, though, you get such a difference in quality when amateurs design games.  It's something like amateur adventures where you just don't know what to expect.  It takes a good rating system.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

See, this is what happens when I leave you people alone for long enough. You start interesting conversations.

Anyways, I think the whole Spore situation is indeed interesting, but it can only go so far. For example, can you solve murder mysteries in Spore? Can you thwart the plans of really old Nazi scientists using stealth and MacGyver skills? Can you engage in massive space combat where flagships are shooting at eachother while you engage in dogfights with the enemy fighters? Can you journey deep into long-abandoned dungeons on a quest for gold and glory? Can you stack blocks together to make a tower? Can you go on a first-person rampage through alien sewers?

If the answer is no to all (or even any) of these, then Spore is no danger to the game industry. The same applies to any sandbox game: You've got sand, but do you have water, nitro, aliens, intrigue, technology, relationships, evil, good, swords, sorcery, and even more? Ultimately, a sandbox gives you tools to make what you want... but only out of the sand inside.

[Trumgottist]

Ultimately, a sandbox gives you tools to make what you want... but only out of the sand inside.

Well said.

Also, consider that there has been tools for creating games almost as long as there has been games. Modding has become big in action games, and has proven to increase sales rather than the opposite. People visiting a site called Adventure Developers are interested in creation tools, but not everybody will be. (And even if you are, you can still be buying games. I know I am.) I don't see these things as more of a threat to the game industry than good quality video cameras are to Hollywood. (I could even argue that it's a good thing for the industry, since future game makers can use these tools to practice their skills.)

This post is not about Spore or games like it, but more about the topic in general. As others have pointed out, making games is not what Spore is about. People may spend a lot of time with it, causing them to not buy a competing game, but the same thing can be said about any game, concerts, family visits and walks in the park. (Maybe I'm exaggerating slightly, but you get my point, I hope.)

[ad7venture]

If the answer is no to all (or even any) of these, then Spore is no danger to the game industry. The same applies to any sandbox game: You've got sand, but do you have water, nitro, aliens, intrigue, technology, relationships, evil, good, swords, sorcery, and even more? Ultimately, a sandbox gives you tools to make what you want... but only out of the sand inside.

But, if a game is interesting enough, you can sort of specialize in a type.  I think many game players tend to do that.  WOW is an example of that, where I've heard people don't do much of anything else.  Spore could also be something like that, where you just keep on going and forget about the rest of the game worlds.   I'm not sure if it will hurt games sales or not really.  The sims has kept selling game after game, so it hasn't happened for that, but there isn't really this user generated content going on there so much. 

Modding has become big in action games, and has proven to increase sales rather than the opposite.

True, but mods are for a rather specialized type of player and require a lot of work.  There really aren't that many of them made in a year, and I think it's quite possible that the people that are making them are playing fewer games.  I know I'm not a heavy game player and it's gotten less since I started writing adventure games.  Most of the games I play are free, made by others, or casual games on the internet. 
The thing that Spore has going against it is that it doesn't trade resources, which makes it kind of a little club thing.  I think that's what makes The Blue Cup so popular, along with the fact that it's a great product of course.

BTW intersting hands on article about spore.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

WOW is an example of that, where I've heard people don't do much of anything else.  Spore could also be something like that, where you just keep on going and forget about the rest of the game worlds.

Well, I can honestly say that I've never tried WOW mainly because I am afraid of getting addicted to it. NWN succeeded in doing that for a few months, and that was Single Player.

Seeing how obsessed I could get over a closed-world game like NWN, I don't think that there's much of a difference in getting obsessed over an open-world game. It's a different type of game, yes, but that also means you'll want to play it at a different time.

BTW intersting hands on article about spore.

Hm... that article on Spore actually is interesting, because now I can quite clearly see that Spore is very much a sandbox. Actually, more like at least 3 very large sandboxes with many other things as well.

Well, my statement still stands though. I didn't see any spaceship dogfights in first person, or detective mysteries. So as far as I'm concerned, Tachyon and Agatha Christie still have spots in my game library.