Failing to learn one of the very important lessons of video game hype, Guillermo Del Toro and his pals at THQ revealed today that their collaboration will be for not one game but a trilogy. Don't they know their history?
Del Toro's team said that their 2013 game, inSane, will be the first of a trilogy. But bad things often happen to games that are announced to be the start of trilogies.
Here's why the creators should be wary:
Advent Rising? Planned as an epic sci-fi trilogy. Publicized as a trilogy. It's creators were adamant about making a trilogy. Not so. There has been just one Advent Rising game, released in 2005 to not very good reviews. The game's creators, Chair Entertainment went on to make the celebrated Shadow Complex instead of an Advent Rising 2. When they may have imagined making Advent Rising 3 they were instead making last week's amazing new iPhone game Infinity Blade. That worked well for them, but so much for that trilogy.
Too Human? Planned as a grand trilogy. The result? So far, just one game released in 2008 to poor reviews, with its development studio, Silicon Knights resurfacing this year to say they're working next on... an X-Men game.
Mass Effect may have also been planned as a trilogy, and that one is at least working out. Still, how about getting the first one right? Guillermo Del Toro, you may be able to make an awesome game, but be careful promising a trilogy. They often don't pan out.