A colleague of mine once said “game ideas don’t have any value [until they’re proven in-engine]”. Though I don’t agree with the sentiment (I think creativity extends just beyond farting out the mere seed of a potential game), I do agree that you need quite a bit more than just a great idea to make a game stellar. After all, dreaming big is only the first step – making them come true is the tough bit.
Come on, the first guy who put chicken and tarragon together was an absolute genius, but if he couldn’t bake to save himself, his half-cooked, sludge-like pastry on his chicken and tarragon pie wouldn’t win him the Great British Bakeoff, would it?
In an industry increasingly happy to play it safe and release one bland, homogenous game after the next, it can be extremely frustrating to see an exciting and unique concept wasted on a so-so (or worse, a terrible) game.
But, in some ways, I’m still happy that these games exist – risks taken, properties revived – even if they missed the mark. But if you’re anything like me, you still curse what could have been…
