There's an idea that's been floating around in game magazines and Web sites recently that gamers aren't interested in supporting innovative games.
Everybody complains that mediocre roadkill such as Enter the Matrix sells 4 million copies, but quirky titles such as Rez can't break 100,000 in sales.
Now, I'll grant that the public ignores a lot of good games, but whose fault is that?
In the current issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, the editors complain about the lackluster fate of games like Rez and lecture readers not to buy into all the hype when a publisher trots out its latest big budget sequel.
But what game is splashed on the cover of that same issue and gets its own breathless cover story? SOCOM 2, the sequel to a shooting game that everybody with a PlayStation 2 and a network adapter already owns.
Yes, gamers have a responsibility to vote with their wallets, but in an era of pre-orders, a lot of gamers plunked their money down for Enter the Matrix or State of Emergency or the Sims Online long before those games hit store shelves.
And they placed those pre-orders because, gosh, all the magazine and Web site previews said they looked great.
Innovative games such as the Mark of Kri, Way of the Samurai and Panzer Dragoon Orta get lots of positive ink once they're released and reviewed. But by then, the previews and leaked screenshots have done their job, and all little Johnny Gamer wants to play is Final Fantasy XXXIV.
I'm not saying that all sequels stink. I can't wait to play Halo 2, Doom 3 and, yes, SOCOM 2.
But it's hard to complain that gamers are too stupid to recognize something fresh when they barely get a chance to see it.
