Column: 'Blogged Out: Sequels, Capitalism, Castles'

In another of today's main features, regular columnist Jim Rossignol presents this week's 'Blogged Out', a news report that looks at the world of developer blogging and the conversations being had with the community at large. This week, the column looks at multiple subjects, including developer Damion Schubert's comments on gaming sequels, which read as follows: "To be honest, the games industry has always had a skewed idea of sequelitis. The conventional wisdom is that gaming is the only media genre where sequels routinely outperform their predecessors - movies, for example, pretty much assume it's all downhill from the original. A record-busting blockbuster may become Straight to Video once you reach sequel number III or IV. Games, on the other hand, have often historically sold more when the sequel ships. Ironically, piracy probably plays a pretty big reason why. $50 is a big investment, especially in a hobby as hit-and-miss as video gaming, so people may rent or pirate v 1.0 of any given game. When the sequel comes out, if they liked the first, their positive experiences with the first make it more likely they'll straight out buy the second when it comes out." You can now read the full Gamasutra column on the subject, also including more on prescriptions for sequelitus, Capitalism 2, and magic castles in the sky (no registration required, please feel free to link to the article from external websites).