Ponderables: Can a game ever be finished?

Written by Jim Squires

Thursday, 03 May 2007 06:25

I was recently re-reading last months issue of EGM, and in it there was an interview with MotorStorm producer Simon Benson. He discussed a number of things that would have been a little different had they been given more time, like a larger soundtrack, splitscreen multiplayer, and better loading times. He then made a statement that I felt summed the state of the industry up nicely;

With game development, a team is never happy. There's no such thing as a finished game, just a shipped game."

So the question is - if the developers don't feel that they've been able to take all the time they'd have liked and implement all of the things they'd intended, are we ever truly getting a finished product?

And on a side note -- now that we live in the age of patches and downloadable content, will the developers ever be given the financial incentive they need to finish a product after it's gone to market?

Comments (3) Add Comment

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written by Dan Zuccarelli, May 03, 2007

I think this theory carries over into all different area of media and art. George Lucas won't stop changing Star Wars, and those came out 25-30 years ago.

Weezer has also gone back to earlier albums and made minor tweaks while are never really announced, just changed.

I hope it doesn't happen in games but it most likely will

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written by Tadakichi, May 03, 2007

Speaking of George Lucas and unfinished games... KOTOR II anyone? I know it will never *officially* happen, but I wish they would finish this game.

I realize this example is a little different, and it's not added content that was never finished, but rather the original content that was supposed to be a major part of the game. It still kills me though, when I walk by a door that should have opened to another area but is no longer used.

I can only pray they eventually decide to continue with a KOTOR 3.

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written by nrxia, May 04, 2007

Art is not finished. Art is abandoned.

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