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[rant]
Posted By: GrasshopperDate: 6/4/02 8:28 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Marathon 4 ? (Yossarian)

Fascinating post, Yossarian, which I missed the first time around. I'm glad you reposted it.

There are many unknowns as to what makes a game, a novel, a movie, or any piece of art great -- not the least of which are the conditions under which it is created, and the conditions under which it is discovered -- in other words, timing

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but it would appear to me that the best games Bungie have made so far (Marathon 1 and Myth TFL) were both, at the core, the work of a handful (fewer than ten) people.

As video games become more and more cinematic, with large budgets and huge teams of skill-specific programmers, graphic and animation experts, sound engineers and what have you being assigned various tasks, it's easy for the focus, the VISION of a game (ie, the gameplay) to be lost in favor of superlative eye (and ear) candy -- stuff that makes you go "whoa!" then gradually fades into yesteryear's news, as the next "whoa!" title appears.

Microsoft (or any other gaming company) just want to make money. There's nothing wrong with that, and, in theory, that should't deter microsoft (or any other company) from making a great game. Yet there are many factors that go into making a great game, many of these factors don't just appear by throwing gobs of money at a forthcoming title. The biggest factor, I think, is timing.

To give an analogy, people complain about the state of pop music today having hit an all-time low in terms of creativity, and that record companies are completely insensitive to real talent, because record companies are just out to "trick" teenagers into buying a 14.99 CD, and "real talent" as a result largerly remains unknown. You know what? If ANY record company could discover a John, Paul, George and Ringo, they'd sign them up faster than a New York minute. A record company doesn't care about the quality of their product -- they just want product that goes multi-platinum, and again, you can't blame them for that.

Luckily for us, The Beatles united two (three at the end) sublime songwriters, who met an equally sublime recording engineer/arranger/producer, and they ended up producing music that was not only commercially viable -- but music that also had real depth and emotional content. This all happened at the right time (whatever that means), and at the right place (whatever that means). All their early music was recorded on primitive 4-track equipment (the best that was available at the time), and yet today remains as fresh as it ever was -- to my ears anyway.

Likewise, the team that developped Marathon consisted of a handful of sublimely talented folks whom we all know (by name anyway, Jason Jones and Co.), who met at the right time (whatever that means), and who put out what they thought would be a great game -- which turned out to be a commercially viable product that had real depth to it. Your post, Yossarian, pretty much puts into words some of the strong points about Marathon, so I'm not going to reiterate those here. No need to preach to the choir. :)

Nevertheless, one of the things that the early Beatles records (and Marathon) did for many of their respective fans, is that it raised our level of expectation. In other words, there will NEVER be another Rubber Soul, or another Revolver -- in the same way that there will NEVER be another Marathon. Because not only is it extremely unlikely that those particular stars will be in perfect alignment again, but we were lucky enough to witness those stars being in perfect alignment.

So what is, or what will be Marathon 4?

In the late sixties, The Beatles formed Apple Records, which aimed to provide any artist (not just songwriters) with the means (financial, distribution and otherwise) to release material. Apple was a complete fiasco for many reasons, but the reason I bring it up is because of the obvious parallel with Bungie.

Marathon 4 is Aleph One.

Marathon 4 is bungie.org;

Marathon 4 is the Marathon Story Page.

Marathon 4 is Tempus Irae, Evil, Devil in a Blue Dress, E:MR; it's Rubicon, Siege, TC19, Joueur, DDay, RED, Outpost and the countless other great scenarios that we (the community) have created and digested.

And ultimately, Marathon 4 is Marathon: Resurrection -- giving us what we've always craved: Internet-capable multiplayer

In other words, Marathon 4 is in the hands of those of us who have the time, the ressources, and the talent to amke it happen, and to keep it going.

[\rant]

-gh

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Marathon 4 ?Evilvid 6/3/02 8:15 a.m.
     Re: Marathon 4 ?Jacke 6/3/02 8:46 a.m.
           Re: Marathon 4 ?Johannes Gunnar 6/3/02 9:26 a.m.
                 Re: Marathon 4 ?M-Class 6/3/02 12:57 p.m.
                 Re: Marathon 4 ?Yossarian 6/3/02 1:29 p.m.
                       [rant]Grasshopper 6/4/02 8:28 a.m.
                       Re: Marathon 4 ?Shotgun Pete 6/4/02 8:49 a.m.
                             Re: Marathon 4 ?Grasshopper 6/4/02 11:09 a.m.
                                   who dosent??Tru7h 6/4/02 2:54 p.m.
                 Re: Marathon 4 ?Simon Dupuis 6/5/02 8:54 a.m.
     Re: Marathon 4 ?Vid Boi 6/3/02 2:31 p.m.
           Re: Marathon 4 ?Johannes Gunnar 6/3/02 5:20 p.m.
           Time constraints...Miguel Chavez 6/3/02 9:30 p.m.
                 Re: Time constraints...Vid Boi 6/4/02 5:20 a.m.
                       Re: Time constraints...Mark Levin 6/4/02 10:01 a.m.
                             Re: Time constraints...Vid Boi 6/4/02 10:18 a.m.
                 Ack!mnemesis 6/4/02 10:30 a.m.
                       Re: Ack!Hamish Sinclair 6/4/02 11:16 a.m.
                       Re: Ack!Mark Levin 6/4/02 10:22 p.m.
                             Re: Ack!Tru7h 6/5/02 2:24 p.m.



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