I might be about to say something very obvious (which would be no strange thing for me), but I was reading a discussion on the ‘Halo killer’ concept that nearly every new FPS gets tagged with where one person said Halo improved the FPS genre, and that’s why it became the new standard. And the predictable response is the disection of Halo’s gameplay components until there’s no sign of originality left.  But it’s a moot point because Halo is popular. Wildly popular. And maybe I’m off base, but the single dominating reason I can find for its popularity isn’t in the gameplay, its story, or the 16 man lan bashes, but firmly lodged in its presentation.

I said somewhere else that the DMC wouldn’t be nearly as popular if instead of a shirt option half-demon pretty boy, you had a urine stained hobo as the lead character… though Condemned makes me rethink the idea of hobos as appealing videogame characters a bit. Anyway, it seems to me that the further console gaming goes to improve the technology that allows for greater presentation, the more importance that aspect of the experience becomes in the minds of the players, until it seems as if it’s become the primary factor.

Computer gaming is a bit different. I think it’s helped by a smooth, natural progression of technology instead of leaps and bounds, giving it a little less hold on the consumer, and also the computer player in general isn’t the kind of person who thrills at the next Madden or lays down cash for a game based around the fictional exploits of 50 Cent. Though you see more and more of this now that the developers have shifted away from computers primarily to work towards console gaming.

If there’s any point in this mess, it seems like you can predict if a game will sell or not now purely by the quality of its presentation. For instance, I think Gears of War is a lock as a big seller as it borrows a lot of presentation ideas from both Halo and RE4, but doesn’t reek too strongly of the clone vibe to push people away. While a game like Chromehounds doesn’t even seem to understand the concept of presentation, and feels as if it’s doomed to be forgotten a month after release.

Looking back on this generation, I find it hard to name a game that was a big seller that didn’t smack of consumer appealing style (unless it was firmly lodged in there as a long running franchise), while at the same time games with style at the very least put in decent showings on the sales charts. There can be an argument to what’s considered an appealing style or presentation, but I’m thinking less of personal preferences and more of the casual gamer mentality, either in the US or Japan. I have no idea what they like in Europe so I can’t say if this applies there.