Strange Agency Annouces Launch of Strange Analyst

[fitbabits]

Thanks to Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com) for the news (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8527).

Strange Agency has announced the release of Strange Analyst, an analysis tool that enables developers to perform competitive analysis to justify the industry potential of their game concepts from the perspective of a computer games publisher.

The software enables developers to profile a game concept, compare it against the profiles of thousands of published games, and analyse their successful competitors. Developers can therefore focus on creating games concepts that have a greater chance of succeeding, reducing the cost and risk of games development.

Strange Agency started life in 2004 to develop a range of software products with applications in the computer games industry. The company is a member of Codeworks GameHorizon, an association of game development companies in the North East of England.

GameHorizon project manager Carri Cunliffe said, "This is a unique and exciting tool developed in the North East and tested by the region’s game developers. It has a great chance of becoming the de facto early-stage game analysis tool and has the potential to sell into the global gaming industry."
I couldn't have made this up if I tried.

[bKangy]

Oh for fucks sake, way to kill originality.

"SAMEY CONCEPT 54: SHE'S GOT BIGGER GUNS!""

[gzsfrk]

Hello, 10478th FPS in a SciFi Horror setting!

[IagoTheHunted]

Wow, could you make a more borg-like product? Next up: "amazing new software analasis tool looks at your painting and tells you why it's not economically feasable to make posters of it. Eliminate all that harmful originality for the sake of statisticaly hand-holding frightened investors that know shit about art".
Oh thank you strange agency, for making our lives so much better.

[Heretic Machine]

Yup, I'm agreeing with everyone else here, this is just something else to encourage cookie-cutter game design. Luckily, I don't think it has any chance of catching on.

[Deadend]

Sounds like a concept for a game to me...

A game where you try and create the most cookie cutter game possible to make a profit.

Or possibly to make the most cookie cutter game possible to prove that statics are stupid and that orignality is needed.

Damn, this game is deep.

[bKangy]

I hope every developer using this finds their title fails, to be honest. Might make the survivors think "there must be another way...".

[Cupelix]

I too think this sounds horrible, but who knows, maybe the program is smart enough to also identify untapped genres - like, your game is similar to Game A, which did really well, and there are no other games like Game A at all, so your game will probably do well. Unlike Game B, which has about a million clones, and only 2 of them did well. It might be intelligent...but I doubt it.

[HotCoffeeDude]

Cool! More WWII shooters! I can't wait!

For some reason, I had imagined such a tool already existed, and was being put to good use by the industry.

[gzsfrk]

It might be intelligent...but I doubt it.

This is the exact same thought that runs through my mind every time I see a post by DirtyHarry. ;)

[screwtape]

Sweet. I can't wait to roll up racecar-driving hookers with my katamari while storming the beaches of medieval Normandy to teach my Nintendog how to fetch a plasma grenade.

It's going to be the greatest game ever created.

[Deadend]

Cool! More WWII shooters! I can't wait!

For some reason, I had imagined such a tool already existed, and was being put to good use by the industry.

Right now it's a propritary tool used in-house by EA... well, only EA offically, even though a few companies seem to have their own versions.

Most just steal design docs in .word format and use the text replace tool to create a "new" game.

[Rakael]

Oh fuck it all. I give up.

Is it me, or does this industry seem to be actively trying to flush itself down the toilet? At this rate I may have to take up hang-gliding or some shit.

[Rakael]

Sweet. I can't wait to roll up racecar-driving hookers with my katamari while storming the beaches of medieval Normandy to teach my Nintendog how to fetch a plasma grenade.

It's going to be the greatest game ever created.


If this wasn't so long, I would sig that shit in a heartbeat! Fucking classic!

[51|RandoM]

Mots Ftw.
Mots Ftw.
Mots Ftw.

[A Lusty Alien]

Hmmmm...

I'd be interested in finding out what it would have to say if you removed all references to the gameplay in The Sims from its database, and then have it analyze The Sims based on the original game concept.

[Neosho]

For some reason, i'm reminded of that family guy quote:

"There's a house that freaking talks holy crap!"

[Parsifal]

And I'm reminded of when Cartman (as Awesome-O) works for the movie guys pitching new ideas.

[Roc Ingersol]

this is so unintentionally hysterical, it's classic.

Anyone who needs market validation for their game concept is going to wind up doing a knockoff anyway -- hell, by definition -- do they really need software to tell them which games to rip off?

EDIT: They might as well have wrote a piece of software that analyzes a game concept and spits back: 'spend more on marketing!' as the answer to every design question.

[Hemalin]

I'm not sure whether I should laugh, cry or be very, very afraid.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Oh fuck it all. I give up.

Is it me, or does this industry seem to be actively trying to flush itself down the toilet? At this rate I may have to take up hang-gliding or some shit.

I'm right there with you man. The game industry today makes me a very sad Gnome.

[gawaintheblind]

This makes me a sad panda.

Im with HotCoffeeDude here. This sounds like something that already existed but wasn't publicised to me.

[jacktion]

Isn't this what brains normally do? Assess the marketplace and decide if your game is a good idea? How can a software tool be better than a brain?
I will concede that it would probably work better than Trip Hawkins or Dave Perry's brains.

[RMan]

Wow, that is a stupid concept, and I'm definately interested in it :). Seriously, the idea is stupid, but if it actually compares you're product's potential success against thousand's of other game's success, then that implies it's also a database of how much money these other products made. I'd want it for that.

[Atepsflame]

All they had to do was program the thing to tell developers to make GTA clones.