Hare clarifies FPS innovation stance
Reused mechanics are "tired and boring".
Jon Hare recently made the bold claim that first-person shooters haven't seen "clear innovation in 20 years" - bar graphics upgrades and "the ability to talk to people and work in groups".
Unsurprisingly, you challenged him.
In response, Hare got in touch with Eurogamer to clarify his stance.
"My attack was actually on the relatively low innovation used across the range of first-person shooters since Wolfenstein," explained Hare.
"Essentially all of these games rely on the same core game mechanics, which to me as a games designer and many, many of my peers are tired and boring and not very innovative any more in the bigger scheme of things, unless you are a level designer.
"Compared to the innovation of games happening at the time when Wolfenstein first came out, during an era when whole new genres were being defined on an almost annual basis (Populous, Lemmings, Cannon Fodder etc.), I believe this is a very valid comment."
Jon Hare was worried people mistook his comments to mean that no games, FPS and beyond, had shown "clear innovation" for two decades.
"It sounds like I am saying that as soon as I stopped making hit games all other games have been sh**," he said, "which is not true and is an insult to the 100s of brilliant and innovative games that have been made in the last 20 years (by the way neither Sensible Soccer or Cannon Fodder were published before 1991, either - so I would also be insulting myself)."
Also, while he told Eurogamer Angry Birds and Scrabble were "all I ever play", he has also dabbled with a long list of conventional chart toppers.
"I have also played Wii Sports Resort, Super Mario Galaxy, FIFA 2010, Call of Duty Black Ops, Halo Reach, Heavy Rain, DIRT, Gran Turismo 5, Need for Speed, Wii Fit, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Bioshock, Doodle Jump, Cut the Rope etc. etc.," Hare revealed. "I just didn't expect anyone to really care so much, so I just mentioned my mainstays."
Jon Hare played Mass Effect 2 as a Paragon, Eurogamer can exclusively reveal.
"Finally," Hare concluded, "I know that I have been very lucky in this industry throughout my career and to a certain extent it will soon be time for us old-guard games makers to clear the way and let the new younger guys come through."
But not yet! Hare's got Speedball 2: Evolution prepped for release on the App Store this month, plus a new word game in the works. What comes after that he's not sure - it could be The Bitmap Brothers' classic, Chaos Engine.
There's much more from the head of Hare in Eurogamer's full interview, available now.
