Episodic content has great potential to recreate the way we play games. It can present chunks of a storyline, enticing players to play games that feel somewhat incomplete, but with the promise that it will come to a resolve. But can truly episodic content be made in such a way that it can be compelling to a large gaming audience? To make games episodic, truly episodic, where they come out more than once a year, sacrifices would have to be made.
Such is the case with Sam and Max. While the franchise is not graphically intense or one that pushes the envelope of game development, it has been able to maintain a steady release of episodes. While beautiful games like Half Life has been unable to release episodes at even a rate of one title per year.
The real question to be answered is whether episodic content can survive outside the PC market. Could episodic content, unique episodic content that is not just ported from the PC , pass the rigorous Microsoft inspections in a fashion that would allow it to release on any sort of schedule? Moreover, could a developer produce episodic content for the consoles in a way that makes economic sense?
Downloadable content services like Live or PSN certainly produce the means by which episodic content could reach the masses. Episodic content gives players both a recurring experience that builds upon previous releases and allows the industry to benefit because the cost of producing the game goes down. Episodic content has great potential to allow developers freedom to make smaller more story driven micro releases but also could backfire if the content was not updated with enough frequency.
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