Fundaments of Game Design Ch 9 & 10 Intellectual Property & Creating Sequels Richard Gesick

Intellectual Property intellectual property is an idea or a collection of ideas that is owned by someone or something and is the result of creative work the majority of best-selling game titles are derived from pre-existing IP IPs are part of the reality of making games professionally

three basic types of IP Original IP is developed by or for the IP holder and, in the case of the game industry, is owned by the publisher or developer Licensed IP is pre-existing IP that is licensed for use in a video game by the publisher or developer Sequels are subsequent releases of either original or licensed IP any collection of ideas that represents something of creative value is IP

IP Publishers and developers gravitate toward licensed IP for one reason above all others—risk mitigation Consider the IP spectrum of the Madden series by EA Sports: John Madden NFL Football teams Individual players EA Sports Previous Madden titles

Working with IP Research designers often find they know a whole lot less than the licensor Since Wikipedia is community-generated knowledge, it can’t be relied upon for accuracy

Working with IP know your constraints They already know the game they want you to make, know the fundamentals of game design, and have made a credible suggestion. They already know the game they want you to make, have no idea about the fundamentals of game design, and have suggested a game that borders on horrifying. They already know the game they want you to make, and it’s just like a recent hit, only “better” or “different.” They have no idea what they want to make, and are relying on you to tell them.

Working with IP Target audience, rating from ESRB For very famous IP characters, there is a whole set of behaviors that the IP holder routinely disallows or demands

Working with IP honor the player develop a solid core mechanic what key things the player expects from a game bearing your assigned IP develop a solid core mechanic every IP has its own core that core may not translate so well into the video game world IP’s designers need to find a way to preserve the intent of the IP if they are unable to translate its core perfectly from one medium to another

Creating Sequels publishers and developers publish sequels to mitigate risk developers are well equipped to make the next game even better than the one before, particularly given all the feedback they’ve received. They know what works, and they know what doesn’t sequels that share technology sequel-to-sequel save time and money

Types of Sequels Expansion packs require the player to own the original game from which the sequel came and are designed to expand upon the original play experience Mods usually take the form of new levels, new missions, and new items sequel to stand-alone products that are good to go right out of the box and require no additional software to play yearly releases don’t require ownership of any previous game to play Spiritual successors are not truly sequels Clones - the same thing, only different and better

Working on sequels pattern to successful design Exploit: Know what made the original game good, and don’t screw it up. Expand: Improve upon many of the features in the game, checking each to make sure that it still strengthens the core of the game in some way. Explore: Survey the genre overall as compared to your game and try to innovate in some way—be it an online feature or a new play mode such as co-op. Exterminate: If there are features that make the game’s core weaker or detract from features that make the game core stronger, remove them. If your players hate it, it’s a safe bet that it should go, too.

sequels Player expectation Research monitor fan and critical reaction to previous games in a series