You know, the recent news item with Fox doing the Destroy All Humans! cartoon is another reminder to me on how similar Pandemic Studios seem to be in following the steps of Krome Studios. Both had a great success with an original IP, both expanded in numbers from that and are making inroads to continuing on that success through sequels and other ventures like cartoons.
In the case of Krome, they've given two sequels which have sort of followed the trend of other games and platformer sequels by offering a bigger expansive world, more gamestyles (racing/flying etc), and generally more of everything. And I think it's kinda hard to see where they could go next with Ty that could excite fans of the franchise. Perhaps it doesn't matter as much considering the target audience, but what usually happens to every game after its third or so iteration is that something radical is required to keep the franchise fresh and fans interested. It's interesting to see what other developers have done with their long running franchises, like making major changes to their characters with an edgier look and whatnot or diverting the franchise into other gametypes like pure racing titles.
My question is, where do you think Krome Studios should be heading next? Does the future for Krome consist of a safe-ish route of more sequels but with big changes? Or is it time for them to think of other game ideas and i.p to explore (and for all probabilty, they likely are). At times, it feels like they're trapped by Ty, tied down on continuing the franchise.
And what could Pandemic learn from what Krome Studios have done? Does the future hold a similar fate for Pandemic Studios Australia?
Oh there?s ALWAYS something to make of something. Take Capcom for instance.. HOW many megaman spin offs have they made.. And one of em [battle network] is completely different form the others and it sells tons-o-money.
For Krome here an example:
Ty the Tasmanian tiger 4: New features.
Customisable Vehicles and Bunyips:
[Basically a further evolution of "rang" customising idea.] Different situations call for different vehicles. Customise your Jeep with new engines and tires. Your Bunyips with different weapon and frame systems. You can even colour the Bunyip to your own personal tastes [Armoured Core]
Construction: The town has been wiped off the map and the only way to get it back is by rebuilding it. As you save more and more town members? new blueprints for buildings become available and the player can choose where and what he/she wants built for the townspeople. But Ty must venture into the bush [dungeon siege style] to gather materials [dark chronicle.]
Other playable characters: When Ty can't make the call someone?s gotta do it. You can play as Shazzer and Tys' Brother to handle different emergencies. Each character has there own different weapon and core ability.
These ideas aren?t revolutionary or very original. But if im a kid whose been a fan of the last 3 Tys being able to play as other characters and given more freedom into customisation would be just the ticket... these are just brain storm ideas.
To put it short.. Krome and Pandemic have a lot of options.. They could very well make a 4th Ty. The question being is the people who are making it [artists/designers/programmers] willing to take the Tasmanian tiger out of a 4th round?
I've just read a [url="http://xbox.ign.com/articles/662/662156p1.html"]new review over at IGN on TY3[/url], and the consensus is that a change really is neeed.
quote:My younger nephew plays and really likes the first two Ty outings and I'm confident he'll like this one, too. But the Ty series has never been original and this latest version feels like a copy of a copy. Gamers who played and didn't like the other two versions will find nothing new here and Ty fans may find themselves wondering why very little has changed.
Like the other Ty platformers, Night of the Quinkan has its moments, but the series needs some dramatic changes to reach new heights.
Some interesting ideas there Caroo. Other playable characters is an option that other platformers have taken as well. Take the long running Sonic franchise for instance, where they've made a game completely with an enemy character (Shadow the hedgehog) as the focus. I would say that it's a safe bet that Krome will be working on a 4th Ty.
If I could add one thing into the Ty franchise it wouldn't be a game play feature..
It would be emotion and depth..
I use the game "JAK 3" to guide my analysis in younger targeted kids games and one of the main reasons for this isn?t just its evolving game play but the fact that so much emotion and character is put into it.
Facial expressions where abundant and the animation quality was very good. As there commentary states it took them one day for every 6 seconds of cut scene animation and there?s a good 30minites in there.
I'd love to see the same amount of emotion and character in a TY game. The characters currently in Ty are pretty 2 demesnial and Ty just said "no worries" half of the time in Ty 2: bush rescue. It had solid game play but it was both to short and felt like storyline was ether watered down or ill conceived due to time restrictions.
Then again I get very cynical about these things XD.
My two cents on the ty games anyway. Heres hoping ty 3 has more character.
I once read a fascinating rant on the Sonic franchise talking about how much sonic changed (for the worse) when new characters and gameplay mechanics were introduced.
Was in Issue 1 of [url="http://www.thegamersquarter.com/"]The Gamer's Quarter[/url] which you can download [url="http://www.thegamersquarter.com/issues/GamersQuarter1.zip"]here[/url]
Well I guess your question of 'where to for Pandemic' has been well and truly answered!
http://www.gamespot.com/6137143
http://www.elevation.com/downloads/News_11-3.pdf
This is this huge news for the local industry! It will be really interesting to see in what ways this extra freedom and financial flexibility will help Pandemic create unique titles.
Ty Forever? Tykatana?
I guess this is where in an ideal world a studio with some financial stability could take some risks with gameplay and development. Perhaps do what google does where everyone spends a day a week on "skunkworks" developments. Most people I've met in the industry have great ideas coming out of every pore but not enough time to build them...
We could end up with our own KaTymari Damacy [:)] breakthrough hit!