The Guardian observes that RPGs have become deadly predictable.
Perhaps in pursuit of creating MMP games that people can grasp quickly (which also translates into rapid profit), companies like Sony have squeezed the life out of what makes games fun: challenge and discovery.
The article goes on to describe games that retain elements of the unexpected in the storyline, giving a special shoutout to BioShock.
Though most news organizations don’t yet have the developer teams (or the time) to create supersophisticated, news-oriented online games, it’s worth thinking about the surprise and delight factor throughout the design process.