The Fall Season, The Video Game Industry, & The Sequels

The fall season goes hand in hand with the video game industry, just as how important the summer season is to Hollywood and the film industry. Maybe it’s because the fall season happens to be the time of year right after a heavily packed summer expo and trade show season for the video game industry. Or maybe, it’s because releasing video games in the fall, the move strategically places them just in time for the holidays. Whatever the reason may be, what truly matters to gamers worldwide is the fact that for the most part, the best and most anticipated video games of the year see their release throughout the fall season. To see how this season stacked up, check out GameInformer.com’s list of video games that were released during these past few months.

Resident Evil 6

Dishonored

This year on any given Tuesday, the day video games usually get released; we saw many franchised favorites comeback with new installments to their respective stories. Heavy favorites like Resident Evil 6, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 made their way to the store shelves and continued on the success their predecessors left behind. Of course, new games also made debuts into the market, such as Dishonored and Tokyo Jungle. But it would also be fair to say that the sequel is king of the fall video game market, at least it is this year. If only judging from the list that is linked above, one can see an overwhelming amount of video games that are either sequels, sequels to sequels, or some sort of spin-off based off of a popular franchise with already some sort of fan following. The truth is, if we were to take a look back at all the expos and trade shows that took place this year, we would see that franchised video games took up a majority of the news being reported out of all the events. From a publisher’s perspective, a video game series that already has a following is always a safer bet in a tepid market than a fresh new idea. As a gamer myself I do and don’t mind, at the same time, about publishers’ reluctance to explore new ideas given the state this industry finds itself in today. I don’t, because I love the games that already have a history, because that means there is already a story present one can dive into and explore even further. But at the same time I do, because nothing is more enjoyable, in video gaming terms, than playing a freshly new and well-made idea and falling in love with a new video game franchise.

So why is it that we are seeing more sequels and more spin-offs this year? The economic state of the industry can possibly be responsible for some of the actions video game publishers have been and are taking. Back in October, BGR.com reported that video game sales, as a whole, had fallen for an eleventh straight month. The numbers did not just take a slight dip; instead they were a whole quarter below than the year-end numbers were in 2011. Alarming? Yes, but there are also some other factors we should all keep in mind. The biggest factor we need not forget is, the fact that both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are consoles that are over six years old. And with the announcement of the now-released Nintendo Wii U earlier this year, everyone knows that Microsoft and Sony will eventually follow suit, but when? So the question bears asking: are the publishers holding back new content strictly to coincide with the release of new consoles in the near future? I would like to hope so, and I am also largely optimistic that we will see an influx in fresh new material sooner than we think. I hope.

VGChartz.com

Of course, that doesn’t mean the gaming industry is going to sit around and wait for the new supposed hardware to finally come out. They are going to continue to make what's working for them, and in this case it's sequels. I think that a testament to the amount of sequels and spin-offs that are out are due to the success those franchises have had with the current systems out on the market. This happens all too often; there are franchises that are hits with certain systems just as there are franchises and characters that grow to legendary and timeless statuses. If you ever want to see how much more successful one sequel was than the previous installment, simply go to VGChatrz and check out each games’ sales figures for yourselves.

Ubisoft

So what’s next? Now that this fall season is technically over (there are only a two releases left for the rest of the year), the race begins a new to see what is in store for the 2013 fall season. If all the publishers out there are doing the same thing Ubisoft is doing in researching and surveying their followers and customers, then it would not be a surprise if next year’s list of games is as equally as big if not bigger. And yes, that includes the number of sequels we have seen this year as well. Until then, all we can do is wait, but rest assured that we here at Pencils and Vectors will be dedicated to bringing you the latest and most interesting news the video game world has to offer.