Still Buzzin'

Nintendo may currently be making a big deal of courting non-core gamers with the Wii, but Sony has already secured a portion of the mass market through cheap pricing of the PlayStation 2 and continued support from software such as Buzz, and the similarly appealing SingStar and Eye Toy franchises.

Originally released in October 2005, Buzz: The Music Quiz has spawned general knowledge, sports and junior themed spin-offs, all of which have performed well in the UK charts. Comparing chart positions, the release of a new title actually boosts sales of previous Buzz games, and it's clearly one of 2006's success stories for both developer Relentless and Sony Europe.

With Buzz: The BIG Quiz 2 due in the new year, GamesIndustry.biz caught up with creative director David Amor and development director Andrew Eades of Relentless, to discuss the success of the series so far, why it and similar titles are pushing gaming into new markets, and where next for a series focused on keeping entertainment simple.

David Amor: It shows this kind of game sells well and people are interested in it. We ourselves approached it thinking, "How the hell is this going to do?", and we've been more than pleasantly surprised by how well it's continued to sell and sell.

It seems that when a new Buzz game comes along, people remember the fun they've had with previous titles and the fact they've already got the controllers, and they go out and buy it. I've honestly been in game shops and seen people pick up two different Buzz titles because they've played another in the series.

Is part of the attraction the fact that it's simple to understand? It's a gameshow with big fat controllers...

David Amor: A lot of people just 'get it'. You don't need to explain what it is. You don't have to work through five levels before you know whether it's a good game or not. It's instant recognition. With something like a movie license you have to release it at the same time as the movie or the DVD and after that the window of opportunity is gone - Buzz is less time critical. The Buzz game we shipped at Easter last year is just as relevant now.

Buzz seems to be software that hasn't been sucked into the cycle of releasing titles for the Christmas market, where a game only has a limited time to prove itself during the busiest period of the year.

Andrew Eades: Christmas is the obvious gifting market and you'll only ever get a couple of weeks or months in the charts. Starting late October through to early January that's when to really make money in videogames, and then the rest of the year is tied to specific licenses and the next big thing you can promote a game on the back of. That happens in other mediums as well, it's not specifically a games related problem. It's a shame because good quality products can disappear after three months when we're all focused on something new.

Do you think the price of the games has helped? There's more perceived value as it comes with its own unique controllers?

David Amor: Speaking as a consumer, it's similar to the EyeToy. When I first saw it I really wasn't expecting the camera to come for free. Or SingStar where I get a game that comes with a free microphone. It's the same with Buzz. Given that it goes out at the same price as everything else it seems like really good value. I'm not saying that as someone in the industry, I can just see how it's appealing to people.

Do you see establishing these kind of games on a next-generation format as problematic, because the machines are expensive to begin with and games are higher priced?

David Amor: I think slowly, tastes are changing. I don't think you could have released a SingStar or EyeToy at all in the PSone generation. But a wider range of people, particularly on a Sony platform, are playing games in general. It might have been problematic to release these types of game on a PlayStation 2 early on in its life-cycle. But certainly Sony believes it's able to sell to that market by bringing out a SingStar game on the PlayStation 3.

Until Buzz, we hadn't seen this kind of control method used on a home console before. As a developer, is it important to push these ideas and get people thinking about the way they play and interact with a game?

David Amor: One of my gripes with the videogame industry is that it keeps treading the same path. I see too many me-too products, and I understand why they get made, and clearly there's a market for it. But what Relentless focuses on is trying to capture a wider market. There's a reason why we're so enthusiastic about Buzz aside from sales. And that's because it sells to a different type of person, a wider market.

Certainly the thing we're trying to do is to find a way of lowering that barrier to entry to playing videogames. Be it a very simple proposition of putting the player on a gameshow, or telling them they don't have to use a Dual Shock controller.

Is that part of the secret of expanding the videogame market to a wider audience?

Andrew Eades: Well the key is that you give people something they can understand from the very beginning, without having to think too hard about it. Everyone understands the concept of a gameshow. It was also essential to have four buzzers in the box so players didn't have to get their hands on a Multitap and four controllers - something only a bunch of Pro Evo players are going to be able to get their hands on quickly.

You make it easy for people to understand the gameplay without them having any videogame knowledge. And then you make it easy for them to play the game by giving them a really simple control method.

We also made it very obvious that it should be a four player game, and that anyone picking it up should get friends together to play it. That was new for us, to have a social aspect where you're not playing on your own any more. It sounds obvious, but most people enjoy socialising with human beings rather than a TV screen.

David Amor: Also, when we designed the game we tried to not focus on the actual PlayStation itself. The game is there to get you interacting with other people in the room. There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play a 'normal' game, but the opposite is true if you can all get involved. With Buzz, SingStar or Eye Toy games you don't need to have a controller in your hand to play.

What do you think of the download model on the PlayStation 3 - does that attract you as a developer, and do you see it as something that can be applied to your gaming model?

David Amor: I like it for a couple of reasons. It brings about some interesting business models for both publisher and developer. And we can create something that becomes an impulse buy without forcing people into a videogame shop.

I like the idea that my game might be advertising itself when you turn on the PlayStation 3. Something that stifles videogames is that the consumer has to be inside a store in the first place to see and to buy it. It's too early for us to say specifically about Relentless, but interesting things begin to happen when you start to deliver games in that manner, aside from releasing them as box products into videogame shops.

Finally then, what does Relentless have planned for 2007?

David Amor: The success of every Buzz quiz game that comes out suggests that there's still legs in Buzz on the PlayStation 2, so you'll see some more games from us. I don't see the death of PS2 just yet, not with the type of games we make.