Randy Pitchford: Plagiarism is Rife in the Industry

Randy Pitchford has said he is "astonished" no Borderlands clones have appeared, claiming that the games industry is rife with plagiarism.

The Gearbox boss explained to Gamasutra that Borderlands deliberately didn't target the Call of Duty crowd, and he's surprised no one has tried to mimic Gearbox's creation as a result.

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We're in an industry where people do nothing but steal from each other.

"I'm actually astonished that we're about to launch a sequel and no one's stole it from us," he said. "The formula's right there. No one's stolen it yet. That's weird.

"We're in an industry where people do nothing but steal from each other. That's kind of interesting, isn't it? Not that I want anyone to steal it, or I'm challenging people to steal it.

"When talking about Borderlands 1, it was really confusing, because on one hand we gotta scream from the highest mountain to get attention because it's a new IP. On the other hand, it's like, 'S***, we don't want to tell people our secret because then they're all gonna copy it because it's so good.'"

Pitchford goes on to explain that the original Borderlands set out to distinguish itself through its graphics, as well as more RPG based gameplay. He says that the decision was made not to emulate any other titles, as that would pretty much rule out being able to surpass them.

"You really have to put in a lot. You have to really go for it and spend a lot," he claimed. "You have to basically not only out-brute force the market leader, but you have to out-clever them. The game has to be better.

"It's kinda like Jerry Garcia. He said something like, "You don't merely want to be the best at what you do. You want to be the only ones that do what you do." If you're the only ones that do something that people find as valuable? You don't have to worry about competition. Like,Borderlands has zero competition. It doesn't have to worry about that at all."

Borderlands 2 is due out on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on September 18 in the US and September 21 in the UK. For more information on the game, check out our preview or watch the video below, where we chat with Randy Pitchford himself.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant.  You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Ubisoft: Industry "Penalised" by Long Console Cycle

Ubisoft's CEO has claimed that the lack of new consoles has damaged the entire games trade for consumers and developers alike.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Yves Guillemot shared his feeling that the lengthy console cycle has stymied creativity and led to companies resorting to making sequels.

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It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation,our customers are very open to new things.

"What we missed was a new console every five years," he said. "We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market. I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.

"It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation,our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds -- and they are really going after what's best.

"At the end of a console generation, they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

He also claimed that the innovative benefits of new generations were clearly evidenced by Nintendo's Wii U, which Ubisoft is developing Zombi U for.

He explained, "I think they've created something good, if the customer uses everything they have created, I think we can see a good success with that machine. That type of collaboration can be fun and also challenging at the same time. It's something has never been done before. Those guys are taking lots of risks with the games they create - and they're extremely successful."

Guillemot's comments come hot on the heels of Square Enix's Julien Merceron, who also lamented this generation's length. While both men have cited cost as a reason for consoles being so long delayed, there's been increased speculation in recent months that next-gen consoles may utilise subscription fees to make things cheaper for consumers.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant, and is dreading having to find the money for new consoles. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com