While both of these games can be considered ‘AAA titles’ they do have areas in which the production has differed.
Beginning at the ‘start point’ of pre-production and establishing what, when, and how the game is made, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion differed greatly from many games including Dead Rising 2. This is due to a combination of aspects. Firstly unlike Dead Rising 2 which was being produced for a current generation console, Oblivion was decided as a Next Generation game which would deviate from its predecessor, Morrowind. This had a knock-on effect of the publishers setting a deadline which coincided with the release of the next gen consoles – four years from then. Blue Castle on the other hand had a very conventional deadline process due to designing a game for consoles which not only are already out, but also are well known to both the publisher and themselves. Furthermore, while Blue Castle worked closely with Capcom on the conception of what Dead Rising 2 should be, Take 2 had a much more relaxed approach as the publisher of Elder Scrolls, simply leaving them to produce a ‘’fantastic product’’.
Another crucial difference between the two was in the general approach to production. Dead Rising 2 was working with the solid foundations of the first game, while adding different features to the gameplay and trying harder to achieve where the first fell short. Elder Scrolls, on the other hand, had to reimagine itself by introducing an entirely new artificial intelligence into the game, on top of any changes to the physics and gameplay engines. Additionally they were developing for consoles and PC’s not yet even made so there were issues with creating both the hardware for the developers to work on and creating a game which could be viably played on these hypothetical computers. One such issue which had arisen from this situation was when Bethesda’s demo machine fried a week before the demo showing at E3. If they could not fix the machine, then there would be nothing at the show which could physically play their game.
Nevertheless, the two games did share some methods in terms of the manner that their design teams carried out jobs – especially when it came to gathering source materials from real sights and cultures. Blue Castle games carried out extensive customisations to push what could be physically put together as a ‘combo weapon’. They visited Las Vegas and gathered experiences with the ethos and lifestyle of that area – before transferring it to their work. Likewise at Bethesda, sources would be gathered from various areas both first hand and through web resources. The different teams would experience what they want the player to, transferring it directly into their work. I would say that in that which was shown during the Resident Evil documentary, Capcom in that instance didn’t go out and do that extensive level of primary research. This just highlights how even the smallest changes can alter the approach to production (Resident Evil – Just Capcom, Dead Rising 2 – Capcom and Blue Castle). Although that said, Resident Evil outshone both Oblivion and Dead Rising 2 with a Hollywood production level Pre Visualisation stage.
At the post production level of development, Bethesda and Dead Rising 2 worked in two powerful but different ways. Bethesda had to produce a stunning demo and trailer that would raise the exposure of their game. At the point of production, viral advertising was not the media powerhouse it is today so this was a crucial advertising point which they had to get right. This was achieved as the game received critical success and several ‘Best at E3’ awards.
Dead Rising 2 took a different approach, using three ways to raise awareness. The first was at game expos with various merchandise and freebies based around their ‘Zombrex’ campaign. The second method was the Tape it or Die mock blog, which was powerful viral method to gain a small cult following which would undoubtedly spread the word. The third way was through content released prior to the launch of the game in retail. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was a small sequel released on Xbox live marketplace. For a small fee players would get a chance to experience a slice of the final release. This technique had not been used before, with mini games associated with games occasionally released (Fable 2’s Pub Games) but never a small but full section of game. Of course this was a sign of how the post production marketing stage has evolved in the few years since Elder Scrolls: Oblivion was released. An obvious example of this can be seen by examining the ‘versions’ of two games released globally. At the initial point of release, Oblivion was available on PC or Xbox 360 and the game could be bought as a limited edition or normal. Dead Rising 2 was available on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game has 5 versions globally; Standard, Zombrex, Zombrex (European), Outbreak and High Roller. Each has a varying degree of merchandise added on at a cost.
As can be seen, games production incorporates many different roles and practices. But this doesn’t mean that the production process remains the same – even from two high production cost games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Dead Rising 2. There is the ever present publisher/ developer relationship which has sank many unknown productions, the tight deadlines and high production costs. All of this and more, have begun to be noticed by just scratching the surface of the games development process. Nevertheless looking at the relatively under covered (and somewhat terrifying) topic of games production just yields more interest – at least from a personal perspective.
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