Let's Make a Franchise - Part 1

What does it take to create a successful franchise?

This is a question developers and publishers have been asking themselves for decades. Some have figured out specific secrets regarding strategies to give their products a greater chance (bundled in games are almost guaranteed to be successful if the console sells well), but for most companies, much like the movie industry, nobody knows anything. What’s the gaming version of Paranormal Activity or Get Out? I might say Dark Souls, the series I just wrote about last entry that on paper seems to make no sense but in practice became a huge success. Limiting the accessibility and taking things backward surely would be a tough pitch to publishers, but over 13 million copies sold later developer From Software is laughing its way to the bank (not to mention, exclusivity deals which lead to Bloodborne being only on the PS4).

Regardless, I sought to find a way to get a better understanding of how franchises are born, specifically what might give a new property the best opportunity to become a successful franchise. My hypothesis was that launching a new property in congruence with a console launch was the best recipe for long term success. I was influenced not only by classics like Mario and Sonic (Sonic not originally being bundled in with the Genesis, but after doing so became a colossal success), but by more recent entries like the game Knack, which was considered an average platform but was recently greenlit for a sequel last year, largely because it sold well given the PS4’s limited launch titles. In order to father data for analysis, I look specifically at three generations of consoles: the Sega Saturn/Sony PlayStation/Nintendo 64 generation, the Sega Dreamcast/Sony PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube/Microsoft generation, and the Sony PlayStation 3/Nintendo Wii/Microsoft Xbox 360 generation. This post will focus specifically on the earliest group of consoles, and will move forward in time over the next few posts.

The data parameters I gathered were the following:

From here my mentor, Professor Jenny Escalas, and I were able to gather some extremely interesting insights that just may provide help to anyone looking to launch a new game in the future without previous experience. Without further ado, here are some of the insights we found in regards to the 5^th generation of console launch games.

Overall Metrics:

1.      18 games available across the 3 consoles (10 for Sony, 6 for Sega, 2 for Nintendo)

2.      14 out of 18 games received sequels

3.      10 out of 18 games received multiple sequels

4.      Average review was 71

5.      Average sales figure was 1.4 million units

                                   

                              (I’m sure you know this gentleman. Credit: Wikipedia.com)

Insight 1 – Platformers and Fighting Games Ruled the Era

In what should not be a surprise for the mid ‘90’s timeline, platformers and fighting games were the genre that had the greatest chance of success. All 3 platformers released across the consoles received a sequel, and 2 out of 3 of the fighting games did as well. Even more impressive, 4 out of the 6 games did not have a previous iteration, the two that did were Super Mario 64 and Street Fighter: The Movie (although this game fared poorly and was the one game that did receive a “true” sequel; however, the franchise Street Fighter exists to this day, but no movie specific follow ups). Even more impressive is of the 6 games, 4 continued with multiple sequels. Among the 6 games was Rayman, a name that is familiar with most gamers and can effectively be considered one of the early mascots for Sony (Rayman himself would be supplanted by Crash Bandicoot in the future, but Ubisoft struck at the right time and took full advantage of the system). Coming off the 16-bit era where platformers and fighting games were at their peak though, it was not much of a surprise to see these genres create effective long term success.

                                                 

(A very cool new franchise, Panzer Dragoon. Credit: HardcoreGaming101)

Insight 2 – Review Scores Play a Direct Role in Creating a Sequel

In this generation critical reception had leverage over consumer reception. That’s not to say that commercial sales did not play a role in creating a sequel, but they did not have as great a direct factor. All 11 games that had an average review of 75 or higher received sequels, even though 2 titles were lacking in sales (Clockwork Knight – 90,000, Panzer Dragoon – 110,000). Panzer Dragoon was actually the second highest rated game of the generation behind Super Mario 64, so it’s fair to assume that Sega believed the critical success would lead to future sales even if it was not obvious in the first game. Still, making a better than average game for this generation essentially guaranteed a sequel, and to a degree, a franchise, as 9 of the 11 games received multiple sequels, truly a nice feat for the generation.

                                  

(It all started with this radical box art. Credit: Wikipedia.com)

Insight 3 – Single Player Games Had a Perfect Record in Sequels

Honestly, see subject line. Single player games did exceptionally well in this generation. Even poorly reviewed games like Total Eclipse: Turbo and Kileak: The DNA Imperative which had aggregate review scores of 57 and 48 respectively managed to get a sequel. While this trend would not continue going forward, it is fair to infer that this generation was the final great one for Single Player games before multiplayer options became more commonplace.

Insight 4 – A Bad Era for Sports’ Games

Unlike the forthcoming generations, the Sports genre suffered terribly with its outings[1]. Of the five games released only two received sequels, and one had been a pre-existing franchise. Granted, both successes continued into multiple sequels, which meant there was some success, but indications are that this timeframe was one that was not kind to sports initially. This is likely due to the large shift from 2D to 3D graphics, forcing developers to take their time before launching a new franchise or an update to one. The shift in graphics was extremely detrimental for several genres and franchises (this generation could also be considered the last great Platformer generation). Once developers got used to the new graphical interfaces, Sports’ games would find themselves in the thick of every future console launch.

                            

(It’s so…90’s. Credit: GameOldies.com)

Insight 5 – The Golden Child of Console Launch Titles is Ridge Racer

Coming into the 5^th generation Sony had the most to prove. Yes, it was appealing to many individuals given the lower price tag (Sony’s product was at least $100 less than any competitor product) but it had no franchises or previous intellectual property to rely on for software sales. Thus, it needed to try to throw as many potential franchises at the system as possible, leading to games like Rayman from Ubisoft and Ridge Racer from Namco (later Bandai Namco). I’ve already discussed the success Ubisoft had with Rayman in Insight 1, but Ridge Racer took the console launch game to a new level. What I mean is that for every forthcoming generation, Namco launched a Ridge Racer game alongside it for Sony. Ridge Racer 5 was in the PlayStation 2 lineup and Ridge Racer 6 was part of the PlayStation 3 lineup. Even the PlayStation Portable had a Ridge Racer title at launch. Why did Namco employ this strategy? It’s simple: the games reviewed better than average and sold well for their time period until Ridge Racer 6. The original Ridge Racer had an aggregate review score of 81 and sold just under 800,000 units, which should definitely be considered a success for a brand new IP. Ridge Racer 5 had an aggregate score of 80 along with 1,240,000 units sold, once again showing the series was both high quality and easy to market. Things went astray in the 7^th generation as Ridge Racer 6 had a lower aggregate score of 74 and managed only 200,000 in sales, but at this point, Namco had reaped the reward of a successful franchise all through betting big on the success of Sony consoles.

Conclusion:

Without spoiling the upcoming posts, what we see here in the fifth generation is a bit of an outlier. These trends did not continue into the future for the most part, but instead showcase the end of an era. The shift from 2D to 3D was a difficult one, and with the games released we see a majority sticking to the old norms (Platformers, Fighting) instead of the more commonly found games today at launch (First Person Shooters, Sports). Regardless, there definitely stand out hits at the time, such as Super Mario 64, alongside new franchises like Rayman and Ridge Racer. These two specific games were definitely highlights, especially the birth of Rayman. As we’ll see going forward, Ubisoft has been extremely shrewd in its strategy to bet big on console launches, which has kept them not only creating new franchises but also raking in sales compared to its competition.

Next time things will get a little more interesting as this brand new company called Microsoft decides to enter the fray with its original Xbox while Sega makes a last stand with its Dreamcast. Thanks for reading!

Notes:

Special thanks to Gamerankings.com, VGChartz.com, and SegaRetro.org for providing a substantial amount of the data points needed to conduct this research

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[1] Note – I consider Sports and Racing two separate genres

JCR Hot Take: Cool to be Hard

                                                               

                                                  (What a rush. Credit: Gamespot.com)

My heart is pounding. After nearly 30 deaths to Gerhman, The First Hunter, the penultimate final boss of Bloodborne, I’m on the precipice of victory. Dodging right and left as his very fast and damaging scythe comes towards me, I know that this is my chance. He comes forward with a roll, one in which will leave him open for a parry and visceral attack. I shoot, he falls to a knee, after which I run up to him and finish him off with my axe. The moment is exhilarating, it’s 12:30 a.m., I have class in 8 hours, and I am completely satisfied. I then find out I triggered the secret boss, the Moon Presence, and get walloped in my first time trying to beat it. That’s no matter at this point though, because after hopelessly losing time after time, I finally vanquished Gehrman, and despite the losses and frustration, the fight was a highlight I won’t forget.

Back in the glory days of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, games were hard. Brutally hard. The term “Nintendo Hard” began to gain traction in the industry, as games for the era were frustrating, unforgiving, and required precise inputs. With that came the complexities of learning the systems of different games, making players sharper with their control and recognition of enemy patterns. With every crushing defeat a player came that much closer to victory, and once that victory was achieved a sense of euphoria came over the player, making the effort seem that much more worthwhile.

                             

(If you played Silver Surfer on the NES... Credit: areyoubadenough.blogspot.com)

In the early ‘90’s things began to change. While the Super Nintendo had its fair share of difficult properties it did not rival its predecessor. However, it was around the mid to late ‘90s where the difficulty of old faded away. With the advent of new technology, specifically around the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn era, games began to shy away from extreme difficulty to not lose players. Lengthy tutorials became a mainstay, and continues/save points were extremely prevalent to prevent losing progress. This trend continued through the sixth and into the seventh generation of consoles. A particularly hard game was an anomaly.

                                                   

(It’s called Prepare to Die Edition for a reason. Credit: Steam)

Then, something changed, and harder games began popping up again. Starting with Demon’s Souls in 2009 and hitting it big with Dark Souls in 2011, developer From Software has been bringing ultra-hard games to the masses. The premise of the games is simple, while lore is rich within the universes. The game boils down to creating a character to battle the way through western fantasy environments and villains, including some truly punishing bosses. From Software is longtime developer in the industry, but these games have just become their recent phenomenon, and include Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodborne. The company has come out and said the third installment is the final in the series, having it go out on a high note before things get stale in the universe.

The From Software games are a display of minimalism, at least at first glance. The games have very short tutorials that end in a tough boss fight, showing that it’s better to learn the game’s tropes through failure as opposed to being told all the essentials without experimentation. The environments are large and intertwining, which proves to be a joy for discovery. The trick of these difficult games is that when you perish, you lose all your experience points, and have one chance to recover them in the spot where you died, which can be particularly daunting if you’re a far distance from your point of death. The beauty of the game is that it is a trial in risk and reward, one that can be customized for the player liking. Do you enjoy using a short sword for rapid attacks? Great, but be warned you will not have distance in attacks for ranged foes. Prefer magic? OK, but when an enemy gets in close then long casting times will likely lead to your demise. Either way, the game does an incredible job educating the player on how to be successful while not simply rewarding progress made.

                             

(The Abyss Watchers, an excellent boss from Dark Souls 3. Credit: From Software)

In my opinion, the true appeal of the game lies in the boss fights. Boss fights are meant to test the player’s skills, to see if what he or she has learned is enough to handle a huge monstrosity or worthy opponent. The thing is, in these games there are only few new techniques to learn after the early stages, so instead, the boss battles rely on learning the opponent’s move set, pinpointing the exact times to either parry, block, or dodge an attack, and then punish the fiend. The rub is that each boss is supremely different, some might require aggressive play while others have a more patient approach. Each boss has its own individual orchestrated theme as well, and while the other environments have very little music, adding this touch only furthers the intensity of the experience. It is difficult to articulate the rush of these fights, but after gaming for more than 25 years, I can safely say that some of these boss fights are the best I’ve ever encountered, and will last long with me after I finish completing the games.

                                    

(A wolf holding a giant sword? Only in Dark Souls. Credit: Dorkly.com)

Numerous gamers tend to agree with these opinions, as the community for the From Software games is quite passionate and involved. There are copious boss rankings and lore dissections (two of my favorite YouTube personalities are theDeModcracy and VaatyVidya)[1]. Even more impressive is that games like these that may not seem approachable due to the difficulty have found a very welcoming audience. The Dark Souls series has surpassed 13 million units, and Dark Souls 3 had the best launch week of any From Software game and the best launch of Bandai Namco, a publisher with a storied history (Namco created Pac Man)[2][3]. As a result, similarly styled “Souls” games have been popping up, one of which is Nioh, a samurai styled take on the intensely difficult but rewarding adventure, filled with devilish bosses and demon like enemies. It will be interesting to see how the developer moves forward after Dark Souls, something we’re likely to find out next week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short.

                                                              

(Don’t love Dark Souls 2 but Looking Glass Knight battle is awesome. Credit: wikia.com)

Now I want to make sure I make note that just because a game is hard does not make it fun. While I love Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2 was a letdown in comparison. I’ll freely admit that I haven’t fully played the previous two entries yet, but they will be my next big adventures, regardless of upcoming releases. What I did not care about 2 was that it was challenging in more of a frustrating way. Yes there are a handful of ultra-difficult encounters in the games I care for, but in 2 it just seems relentless. Contrarily, some of the bosses are absolute pushovers that I could defeat in my first try, which really should not happen on a first play through. There just seems to be a lack of balance and I found myself wondering what to do next instead of inherently craving it like the other games. It seems to be the black sheep in the community as well, as certain fans consider it beloved while a fair share of others do not care for it whatsoever. The point is that being difficult for the sake of being difficult does not make these games great. What makes them great is that they are difficult but act as a teaching experience, each individual area and battle is a puzzle, one that can be overcome with dedication and practice.

                                   

(As difficult as it is gross, Bloodborne knows its boss fights. Credit: beatthatboss.blogspot.com)

In the end, what does From Software’s accomplishments teach us about the industry? For one, in what is a seemingly developed market, innovation still has a way to upend what consumers consider entertainment. I myself recall when Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls came out and chose not to pursue either because of reviews stating that the increased difficulty would lead to numerous amounts of deaths. I pondered why anyone would event want to play that type of game. I actually only tried Bloodborne because I had still only recently received my PS4 and saw it on sale with its Downloadable Content at a ridiculously low price. Without question though, these games have been the most gripping gaming experiences I’ve had in quite some time. Even after playing through the new Zelda, which was by all accounts an unforgettable experience and a landmark moment for gaming, I could not stop thinking about my experience with Bloodborne. Turns out even an old seasoned gamer like myself can learn a few new tricks.

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[1] Check out their high quality stuff here - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtcUKdcAXfVCo5YlgBMkfjA https://www.youtube.com/user/VaatiVidya

[2] http://www.shacknews.com/article/94599/dark-souls-3-sales-reach-3-million-units-dark-souls-series-shipments-reach-13-million-units

[3] http://nerdist.com/dark-souls-3-is-breaking-all-sorts-of-sales-records/