Hiya.

I think a BIG part of the problem is that the bean counters of the 'big publishers' wouldn't know a good game if it swam up their urethra. (Kinda like how Hollywood is now).

A potential game designer says "This is our game! Cool, huh?" and the publishers hear "Blaa blaa blaa". The game designer says "Look at all the stuff you can do in this game! Awesome, no?", and the publishers hear "Blaa blaa blaa". The game disigner says "Here's all the new twists we are putting into the story! They'll love it!", and the publishers hear "Blaa blaa blaa". ..at this point, the game designer realises that the publisher has no clue about what he's trying to get accross.. So, the game designer says "It's kinda like Halo, but we use this new 'next-gen' engine that costs $750,000", and the publishers hear "Halo, Next gen, $750k" and think "Wow! That *must* be good! Deal!".

You see, while a more advanced game engine is always nice (I'd LOVE to be able to use UnrealEngine v3!), it isn't usually neccissary if you have a good, solid game idea and execution. There are a LOT of free games out there on the net (all kinds, from MMO-style like Runescape, to RPG-card mixes like PuzzlePirates, to...well, just everything out there). Most of these games are/were made "on the cheap", and have a LOT of folks playing them. The current video game industry is suffering because of it's own success. A handful of hit games (DOOM, Unreal, Halo, Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, etc.) made MILLIONS...so now, every publisher and his goldfish expects to make millions. But, they are dealing with millions in development costs now because there is a misconception that "more expensive game engine = more successful game"; the writers of said game engines take/took advantage of that and said "Well, if they are getting millions, *I* want millions too!" and priced their 'next-gen' (by the GAWDS I'm really starting to hate that term!) game enigine with that price range in mind. As time has gone on, more and more developers and publishers just are not willing to risk $10-20 million on a new game style/concept/type when they don't know if it will suck. So, like Hollywood, they rely on "Well, has this been done before, recently, and did it succeed in makeing millions?" If the answer is "Nope, this is all new", then it's a no go. Oh, sure, it *could* be the next World Of Warcraft...or it could just outright flop. When the developer/pulbisher has put millions and millions into the development they just aren't willing or able to take that risk.

My theory is this: If a couple of genius programmers were to create a game engine as good or better than Offset, Unreal 3, CryEngine 2, etc., and then offer it for sale for 'dirt cheap' (say, "$1200), I guarantee we'd see more innovative games being released. I see a lot of indie level developers out there who have really cool ideas, interesting stories, intreging settings and characters, etc...but are hampered by the engine they use. So, these games may get made, but don't make any big waves because the developer/artist was forced to "dumb down" his ideas because the engine couldn't handle it.

Sorry, but $750k for a game engine is, IMHO, a *serious* problem for every potential game developer out there. That's why Project Offset pissed me off so much when they sold out.