The most shining example of this is the oft maligned Resident Evil games. I loved the first two, but you had a slew of complaints (similar to DMC) about the fixed camera system. People were calling it a “fundamental flaw” with the game, when the fact is that this “flaw” was precisely what created the claustrophobia and tension in the first place.

The disorienting “Hitchcock” style cameras created the right moods at the right time. Would hearing a shuffling zombie around a blind corner be half as threatening if you could simply do a “wall peek” maneuver? You can see this illustrated perfectly with the much praised RE4.

Now, RE4 is a great game, but one thing it ISN’T is scary. I remember jumping in fear several times while playing RE2 because of it’s well orchestrated and controlled ‘scenes’. This didn’t happen once during RE4. Why? Because when you have the freedom to look wherever you want, snipe zombies with a zoom scope the sense of peril goes down the drain. It’s kind of hard to be afraid of a zombie when you have a rocket launcher.

Anyway, this is why small / independent development studios are so important. There may not be enough of a mass-market to justify a 20 million dollar, 18 month development cycle, but there might be enough to keep somebody who is passionate about the craft continue to keep creating smaller scale games with a more specific market.

You can’t always rely on the consumer’s opinion and focus groups to shape the direction of a game.

As Henry Ford said: “If I’d asked the people what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse”