Weekend Reading: Are Sequels Killing New Games?

Despite the fact that the gaming industry is considered by some one of the most creative types of entertainment out there, sometimes such a thing isn't true. While so far we could talk about a steady stream of new ideas and IPs (Intellectual Properties), one that Hollywood certainly seems to like as more and more game-based movies are coming out, like Max Payne or the future Uncharted, BioShock or even World of Warcraft-based ones, recently it seems that the stream is going dry.

Last year was considered by many one of the best ones in gaming, with a staggering amount of triple A, high-quality titles that have appeared appealing to any kind of gamer – from shooter to RPG or MMORPG fans, everyone had something to play. But if you sit and analyze these games, a lot of them were sequels or new iterations in already popular franchises. Gears of War and Resistance both saw their second installments come to their individual consoles. Far Cry received a spiritual successor in Ubisoft's new take on the series. World of Warcraft received its second expansion which quickly broke world sales records.

Amidst all of these quality titles, only a handful of actually new games appeared. LittleBigPlanet, Dead Space or Mirror's Edge were new IPs that guaranteed to deliver intriguing gameplay and take the industry forward, all of them promising to be the next big thing, but all of them sadly having one thing in common, lower-than-expected sales.

It would seem that, in a rush to deliver these hyped-up games to the masses, gaming companies forgot that in the same period before the holiday season, people wouldn't really take into account new games that they hadn't seen or played, but instead go for the franchises that were guaranteed to deliver a great experience. This was especially true given the financial recession, as gamers didn't have the same amount of spending money, so they were aiming for titles whose older versions they had already played. Generally, even if the new game isn't at the same level as the first one it will still sell, which was proved by Gears of War 2, as we reported it had sold over 4 million copies.

So this weekend I'm asking you this: Do you think sequels are killing new and original games? Should gaming companies schedule their new games to appear at a time when the market isn't flooded with other quality titles? Leave a comment below with your opinion.