Brand obsession vs. micro-brands

Great post on the Guardian Games Blog by Keith Stuart about the plethora of brand-obsessed games being released. Keith offers a glimmer or hope that we'll move beyond this by describing two fascinating new games:

1) Pippa Funnell: The Stud Farm Inheritance, an equestrian sim sponsored by the eponymous Olympic horse rider. You play as budding young starlet Estelle, who competes in a series of riding events, through ten different environments. Special feature: customizable horses.

2) Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, a graffiti sim set in an oppressive near-future distopia. Marc Ecko is a fashion pioneer and ex-graffiti artist who wants to ask the vital question, "What if graffiti could change the world?". To help him answer, you must take on the role of a young graffiti brat as he hones his tagging style, fights bad guys, sneaks into prime graffiti locations and eventually becomes an "All City King," the most reputable of all graffiti artists.

It's gratifying to see these types of titles being released. As Keith says:

Take your retro cop shows, your life-draining summer blockbusters, your idiot millionaire sportsmen. The future is the micro-brand, designed to expertly target a small group of dedicated enthusiasts. TV has fractured into a thousand channels, videogame licensing may well be going the same way.