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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

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