In my opinion, writing something that you yuorself would play seems the better way to go around it. For example, if I were one of the designers for that Barbie game, I would sit there everyday praying for this project to end. Outward professionalism is one thing, but you really can''t lie to yuorself.

If you create something that you enjoy, you become attached to it. That in turn leads to the desire to make the game better. I think if someone truly enjoys working on the project, it will turn out much better than if done by someone who''s just there to get paid.

If you''ve seen the movie Office Space, you''ll understand what I mean. The main character was in an interview and he basically said that he hates his job. The only reason he did anything was so that his bosses wouldn''t yell at him, but ONLY enough so that his bosses wouldn''t yell. Therefore, you can see the inherent problem. I''m sure we''ve all had jobs we hate, and if that job involves creative talent, chances are, you''re not going to come up with much.

ArtemisX

i think you are all missing the point of the article in game developer magazine..

now.. i don''t want to get off on a rant here but....

do you know WHY barbie dress up and cosmopolitan makeover made more then nearly every computer game selling at the same time? because they were the only games that weren''t made for zit faced high school boys.

RTS''s and FPS''s and RPG''s are all great genres of games, but if everyone is making those types of games, what happens to the diversity?. i was checking out the newest copy of PC Gamer, and they were talking about all the upcoming Massively Multiplayer online games... there are really only 3 types on the horizon:

1. 3D Shooters
2. 3D RPG''s (and 2D iso ala baulder''s gate)
3. 2D Isometric RTS''s

does that mean that these three types of games are all we have to choose from? sure, one has an extra sword spinning animation, or this FPS has 10 extra frames a second, and a THREE team capture the flag mission as opposed to the ''old'' two team version.

And i''m not saying that improvements over earlier ideas are bad either.. HOMEWORLD is in my opinion one of the most revolutionary advancements in real time simulation games since the first one. (dune II i think?)

Deer Hunter, So you Want to be a Millionare?, Jeopardy, Barbie, Cosmopolitan, THE SIMS, the list goes on and on... these game all did, or are currently outselling nearly all other games that come out at the same time... i think that should be a lesson to all of you.. diversity breeds success.. Odds of any of us becoming the next ID software is low.. that is unless you are a programming genius and can beat good ol'' john carmack at the game he laid the rules down for. which the odds of doing are pretty low.

I''ve got quite a few games that are totally new rolling around in my head, and i''m actually VERY thankful that i keep reading posts from people saying ''i like First Person Shooters more then anything, i''ll never make any other type of game'' or ''i want to make my own RPG, that''s like FFX and ZELDA combined'' or ''i''ve got an idea of how to improve on empire for a RTS''.. it makes me lick my lips because what i''ve planned is nothing of the sort..

remember.. before john carmack came out with wolfenstein and doom and before the first RTS you had only a couple choices of game.. you could make a side scroller, a up-down scroller, a sports game, an rpg, or a mario brothers clone. and back then i''m sure everyone was talking about how they wanted to make a better version of RAIDEN or Super Mario Brothers...

Then came MYST and 7th Guest and Doom, DUNE II, and 3 new genres were created... and now everyone wants to make those types of games..

i can''t stress it enough.. we should all spend time trying to think of something new.. instead of improving on what''s already been done..

and i''m not saying you shouldn''t make RPG''s or RTS''s or FPS''s, if you''ve got the skills, go ahead and make them.. they are great games..

but being too stubborn in your beliefs that if you wouldn''t want to play it, you shouldn''t make it.. you never know.. you could get working on something new and realize it''s a totally new concept that is pretty cool..

and i think that was the real meaning behind that article..

of course that''s just my opinion, i could be wrong.

I think most people here are coming from the indie/hobbyist point of view when deciding on what type of game to make. In this case of course one should make a game that they would want to play. When people are balancing their real life (job, school, family, etc.) when making their game they don''t have an excess amount of time to work on it and it''s gonna take some serious motivation to finish the game. There''s a reason well over 90% of hobby games are never finished, and balancing life with the creation of a game is one of the major points.

In the professional world of games however, things are very differently. Yes, everybody wants to work on the games that they themselves would like to play, and these types of games generally fall into the hard-core category. While there''s plenty of hard-core games that get on the best-sellers list, very, very few of them come close to the sales of the mass-market games. People working in the industry rely on the sales of their games for income, so while it''d be great to work on their fantasy game, deciding between doing that and paying the bills becomes pretty easy. I know it''s hard to grasp, but some developers would create mass-market games that appeal to a large, un-tapped audience than create a game that will sell 1/10th the copies but gain praise from this game design board.

I''m not saying it''s right, but the gaming industry is a business and one of the largest aims of a business (the largest to most) is to make money. A lot of people have a hard time coming to terms with this.

One of the following three scenarios will describe you. Try to be realistic.

If you''re so sh!t hot that you can write your own ticket and instantly get hired onto whatever team you want at whatever company you choose, then by all means, follow your bliss and go make the game of your dreams.

If you''re good enough to be hired by somebody in the game development business, then make the game you''re paid to make. Maybe through practice and experience you will develop into the ace developer who can call his own shots. In the meanwhile, do your job or be replaced by somebody else who will.

If you aren''t good enough to be hired by anybody in the game industry, then work on your personal projects to improve your skillset and convince somebody that you are in fact worthy of working in the game development industry. In this case, by all means work on something you enjoy.