We saw the normalmaps. We saw the dancing shadows over flickering torch lights. We saw our wallet being emptied out for the newest video card or for the next-generation consoles, which hankered capriciously for the latest 42 inch plazma. But we didn’t mind, as gamers, because we all wanted those beautiful looking games. The sales figure however, might not have the salivating effect on the developers which had on us when we saw the trailers for upcoming next-gen games. BBC news is reporting for some vague reasons but arguing firmly based on actual sales numbers that next-gen games developers are unlikely to make a profit on new titles until 2008, according to a report. We say vague because despite the report by media analysts Screen Digest, the real reason behind this threat is still unclear, long development times and large production teams are the easy and the usual excuses developers can get away. Piracy, of course has an impact, which is beyond the scope of this article. However, we really want to focus on development strategies, since it looks like developers need more than one “alienbrain” if we are talking about getting organized for “next-gen” games.

With a very relatively small art department when compared to average art teams working at companies like Microsoft or EA, Bethesda managed to pull in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the result was very satisfying, visually at least and as a whole, if you close your ears complaints of die-hard rpg fans about the leveling system. Probably Bethesda got around the corner of by a complex algorithm “copy-paste-dungeons-here-and-there” and used this plug-in wisely.

Yes, the studios are hiring more and more. There are more 3d artist lurking for jobs than sales reps. The competition is fierce, so is the abundance of jobs. Sometimes even the thin line between attracting folks for your company and pr campaign for your next game gets obscure.

The formula for the development strategy for an successful next-game should be very simple, right? Gears of War is next-gen. You can argue about almost anything on earth, but there is no question that epic’s xbox360 action game is truly next-gen. And epic’s team is small, and it costed for 10 million usd, compared the big fuss originated from EA last year that next gen games will cost at least 50 million usd. Sure there are many other elements involved explaining for the success of Gears of War but from a developer stance, Gears of War is an excellent sample of “how to use an top-of-line engine and make a successful game on it” There is no need to comment on instantly when Mark Rein of Epic Games speaks, since you should sit back and take deep breath before doing so, but is anyone really listening? Maybe the problem is that he is talking too much, not in the timely sense, but when he speaks he throws in more than average developer/reporter can chew. He said all of these long time ago…Sales report of next-gen games have just started to arrive. He is right, right? So the industry need either of the following, hopefully all.

1- Learn to license an engine that actually works and try not to reinvent the wheel

2- Learn to use that license instead of hacking your way around in a responsible manner instead of “breaking the expensive toy the child is given as gift”

3- Get rid of  “copy-paste-dungeons-here-and-there” plug-in and use outsourcing in a more efficient way.

4- Stop giving pr-girls the title of “producer” and hire people to watch over schedules who can at least know the difference between normalmaps and bumpmaps

5- Spend more time on pinning down everything on the paper, instead of posting and pumping up pr-agitation. This is on the tip of everyone tongues but things are getting dangerous. People might look at screenshots of an up-coming game, that has matching quality of Crysis and can just about say “meh”

6- Balance the time you spend on your next-gen 1-million polygon character and your environment design. We’ll shoot your 1-million-polygon character in a second but we’ll spend more time in your level.

Yes, we know this list come out this way because we have some twisted bitter sense. Every gamer can have list of do’s and don’ts. The list may go on and on. We simply want more content, not just easy-to-be-worn-out titles like next-gen. Every child that dwells on a rich inheritance might have the tendency to be spoiled. Maybe We got unreal, quake, thief, dues ex, system shock and so much of it that we miss those days. The new born child called next-gen doesn’t want to look back and realize what kind of rich bloodline it is getting its roots from.