Masahiro Sakurai, developer of the Smash Bros. franchise, has commented on game design in an interview with Techland, stating that modern shooters have a "creativity problem".
"I've found that, in the established genres, the controls are always the same," said Sakurai.
"For example, in shooting games, you find first-person-shooters utilize all of the buttons on the controller and always do the same thing the stick is for moving, triggers for shooting and they're always trapped in this very restricted framework for gameplay."
"That's just not creative. It feels like people are taking this empty shell and just swapping out the story and art and whatnot."
He also argued that "In the same sort of way that fighting games started to feel stale, there was definitely something new to be had in a design like Smash Brothers."
Sakurai is currently working on Kid Icarus: Uprising for the much-hyped Nintendo 3DS.
He said that in order to combat this decline in creativity he tends to focus on perfecting an effective gameplay mechanic, rather than forcing a game into "a larger, more expensive big-budgeted experience".
How do you feel about the state of game design? Are you sick of playing the same grey-brown shooters, or is there hope to be found in emerging technologies like motion control and 3D? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
"I've found that, in the established genres, the controls are always the same," said Sakurai.
"For example, in shooting games, you find first-person-shooters utilize all of the buttons on the controller and always do the same thing the stick is for moving, triggers for shooting and they're always trapped in this very restricted framework for gameplay."
"That's just not creative. It feels like people are taking this empty shell and just swapping out the story and art and whatnot."
He also argued that "In the same sort of way that fighting games started to feel stale, there was definitely something new to be had in a design like Smash Brothers."
Sakurai is currently working on Kid Icarus: Uprising for the much-hyped Nintendo 3DS.
He said that in order to combat this decline in creativity he tends to focus on perfecting an effective gameplay mechanic, rather than forcing a game into "a larger, more expensive big-budgeted experience".
How do you feel about the state of game design? Are you sick of playing the same grey-brown shooters, or is there hope to be found in emerging technologies like motion control and 3D? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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