State of the Gaming Industry - Discuss

[Jman]

So... what do you think about the gaming industry so far? On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate the majority of games made today? Anything you like/dislike about modern games in particular? If you wanted games to change in the future, how would you want them? That's what this topic is for. Just opinions here and there (non-controversial please, I don't want any flame wars).

Honestly, I like a lot of games made from Nintendo as of now. I didn't like the wii games very much, but the 3DS and Wii U are making a great comeback. My main issue is that games don't seem very challenging anymore. It may be that I'm just a well seasoned gamer, but it literally feels as though many games, rated E and M alike, practically hold your hand through tutorials, puzzles, boss fights, and more. It's as if the gaming companies think that I as a gamer have absolutely no thought processes and can't function while playing a game. My second complaint is the huge emphasis on online play. As much as I love dominating noobs online in pvp games, many games with online pvp often have mediocre single player modes with bland storylines, and I do like to play by myself every now and then. My third complaint is the overall difficulty of games (as stated earlier). A lot of games just seem too easy now. Sure, there are games with adjustable difficulties, but only a few games are able to have that feature without completely ruining the effect of the game itself. Take Kid Icarus Uprising and Call of Duty for example. Kid Icarus Uprising has a difficulty system that gradually urges you to try higher difficulties, but you can set it exactly to what you want it to be. 9.0 is brutal, but possible if you try hard enough. As with Call of Duty, the difficulty only comes in several increments on the single player mode. The highest difficulty is complete lunacy, for it simply makes the game completely unplayable. The AI's do everything they possibly can to kill you, and kill you very quickly. This doesn't really work in a game where you can't dodge enemy attacks or devise a strategy to take them down before they kill you.
All this set aside, though. I'm starting to notice a rise in independent game development. After playing games like Super Meat Boy and Cave story, I see that games not made for mass media seem to still cling to the traditional elements of game development, despite the game makers having extremely limited resources. This gives me hope that games in the future may be what I'm looking for.

[Tengu]

The way I seem to be finding most people's perspective on gaming today goes sort of like this:

-Some FPS game comes out and gets popular

-It's all everyone plays for a few months

-A new FPS game comes out and gets popular

-Everyone plays it and forgets that the other one even existed

[Ivory]

Guess I'll toss in my two cents.

I'm not fond of current gaming industry at all. I don't like the how consoles like the PS4 are moving towards ultra-social. I'm not fond of most of modern games. They either don't appeal to me at all, or aren't on a Nintendo console. I've been moving away from being a gamer for a while now. Heck, I barely play my consoles as it is. The only thing I really play games on are my computer and my DS and 3DS. My generation of gamers are pretty well neglected for the newer generation. Sure I still like things like modern sonic games, etrian odyssey, rune factory, monster hunter,fire emblem, kirby and pokemon and such. But well, gaming gets more social and I'm too old fashioned to want to like that kind of life style. Games are getting more fast paced, easier, and such because kids these days have little attention spans and other factors.

But for me? Most of my favorite games are still older games like Yoshi's Island, Kirby Super Star and other NES/SNES era. Not saying I don't also like modern games, I love Etrian Odyssey, Rune Factory and other odd games here and there. But that's about it, I really could make a Roc wall of text on this matter. But then TL;DR kicks in :X

[LlamaHombre]

I remember when E3 was the most exciting shit ever because Nintendo would always bring out mindbending new ideas that were both exciting and innovative. The Wii, Gamecube, and DS all had fantastic libraries.

While I do like a lot of the games I have on my 3DS (I wouldn't have them if I didn't), I do feel there's a considerable lack of innovation. The most innovative game to come out on that entire handheld thus far was Kid Icarus: Uprising, and that came out just less than a year ago. If this was the DS, third parties would be eating the fuck out of it with things like Elite Beat Agents, Scribblenauts, Pokémon's Gen IV and V, Mega Man Star Force, the later additions to the Ace Attorney series, and so on and so forth. I feel that the gaming industry isn't bad per say, I'd just say it's lacking innovation and if it doesn't change I'll likely just leave modern games alone minus those that come to the PC.

[Max]

I feel like I'm losing interest in modern gaming because none of it provides any sort of change from what I own. If I want a FPS, I can still play Modern Warfare 2, I don't need 3. Back in the day I could rely on Nintendo to provide innovation, but I haven't played New Super Mario Bros. 2 or U because neither provide change. I preordered a 3DS and got it before release, but the only games I own for it that I felt were worth my money are Mario Kart 7 and Street Fighter 4. To be perfectly honest, neither of those games provide change either and I only enjoyed them because I didn't own Street Fighter 4 on consoles or Mario Kart Wii.

I think I can blame most of this on age though, because I certainly didn't care when Crash Bandicoot 3 didn't provide much of a change from Crash Bandicoot 2.

[BiscuitSlash]

Within the last year or so I've been growing a somewhat hate for modern gaming. I've realized how good gaming used to be. It had so much quality, so much character, but that's all been fading away and covered up by an inferior new era.

There are my main problems with it:
-The games lately just don't seem to retain the quality that older games had. There have been some really great modern games, some of which I adore and have given me great memories, but not enough of them do that. This is likely due to do a number of things that I'll say below.
-The games are often too easy. Especially looking at you modern Mario games. Modern games often don't provide much of a challenge, and can often be made with pansies in mind. This is exactly the reason I didn't get NSMB2, and I'm glad I didn't. It feels as if too many games pussify themselves and even humiliate manlier and challenge seeking gamers like me. Even Star Fox 64 feel victim to this to some extend, as 3DS mode adds continues to the game. A player keeps getting game overs? So what? They need to mann up! Not get slapped on the wrist on a numb bit of flesh!
-Remember games like Ocarina Of Time which had many areas which would scare the shit out of you if you were less than 9 years old? These times were horrifying in some cases, yet FUN!! Games just don't seem to have the rights to creep us out and shit scare us via all age games anymore, and it's saddening.
-Too much emphasis on online. This one speaks for itself really.
-Probably my biggest problem with modern gaming. The majority of XBOX 360 and CoD players, especially the latter. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU I CAN'T STAND THESE ARROGANT PRICKS. Really, neither of these two would be so bad if it wasn't for their fanbases. From my experience, they just sicken me. It really does seem like CoD fans are brainwashed into thinking it's the only worthy series, and they most likely have been. Give me the CoD franchise and a flamethrower and that inner Pyromaniac of Justice within me will probably kick in.

There's probably a few things I'm missing out too. And oh god, goood memories of those PS1 CB games....

[*Alice]

Complaning about the online focus in the forum about a mostly multiplayer-oriented doom 2 mod on a multiplayer-oriented sourceport? Totally legit.
Also quality is so very subjective. Graphics got better, quality of programming got better/stayed equal, controls are often less awkward as time goes on, storyline used to be better in the past and innovation is mostly only found in indie-games nowadays.
What is correct is that games got easier (but they ALWAYS DID ever since the arcades died ... NES -> SNES/Genesis is an example where the games got better in many ways but mostly also easier).
But for me the biggest problem is that I have so many games already, yet don't have a lot of older games regarded as classic or innovative ... which is why have been buying those mostly in the last two or so years (I even bought a SNES two years ago because of that).
And also, old games are often cheaper (at least PC games, mass effect or c&c first decade for 10€ = win).
The newest game that I have is Portal 2, btw. (Ys doesn't count because it is just a port)
And I regret having wished for that 3DS for Christmas back in 2011. (I only bought 3 games for it, and they were all VC games).
And the fact that Microsoft is trying to discourage PC gamers with Windows 8 is just unfair. I really hope that Linux gaming can obsolete Windows 8.
I think i forgot a few things, but that's just some of my thoughts on it.
(i wont give a vote, because I seriously dont care at all about new games, unless they are ports/localizations/remakes of games i wanted but haven't been able to play)

[Balrog]

The main problem with the gaming industry is that it's an industry. The promise of big money has caused the rise of big corporations that are always in search of a way to get more sales and fatter margins. This seems to be the root cause of all the major ills of non-indie gaming. Games are too easy, because market research shows that easy games are less likely to piss off consumers. Games are samey and heavily sequelized, because in business you stick to what sells the most. Focusing on online play means that you reduce the "long tail" between sequels, and you save money because nobody will play against your shitty AI. The evils of online passes, DLC, DRM, and pay-to-win are all attempts to enhance revenue. And gamers just bend over and take it in the ass.

At this point, I'm seriously hoping for an E.T.-level market crash, just to kill the corporate giants.

[*Alice]

But weren't Sega and Nintendo profit-focused, too, in the good old 16-bit days? Weren't EA and Activision already there in the Nineties?
No, the industry is not the only one to blame for too easy games. The general acceptance of gaming in the society and that people who can not/are not willing to invest time want to play games are other factors that led to it. And also the fact that arcades died because of the increasing popularity of consoles (arcade games are harder than console games in most cases, and death of arcades = death of a reason to make a game hard).
And as I said, nobody forces you to play new games. We have more games in the world than anyone could play already. And many of them are good.
EDIT:
Why were Arcade games so hard? Because they were made to eat quarters like crazy. Just something to think about ...

[Mr. Sean Nelson]

DLC and X-Box Gold piss me off like there is no tomorrow.
Also, games seem to always be either too easy or too hard.

I could riddle off 1,000 things that irritate the crap out of me.
However, it's easy to forget that the majority of games back in the day sucked a whole lot of ass.
People remember the gems, and that is one thing that hasn't changed.

[Hallan Parva]

honestly I feel that a perfect example of "how to do it right" is Borderlands 2



Borderlands 2 is available on your PS3 and your XBOX and whatnot, but it's also available through Steam and that's the version I'll be referring to. Now, there aren't any console differences that I'm aware of, but I bring up specifically the Steam version because their whole model is indie games and freemium content and it's a good center point around which to compare Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 2 is a First-Person Shooter with Role-Playing Game elements, such as leveling up, interchangeable gear, and player stats, added to the formula. The game has been publicly stated several times to have a heavy emphasis on online play, but the way Gearbox goes around implementing this is... well, effective to say the least. In a way, it's comparable to Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures on the Nintendo Gamecube. Playing by yourself gives you this beautiful campaign with fleshed-out characters, time-filling missions, and more glorious guns than you can shake a stick at. If you decide to invite a friend or three, you... end up doing the same thing, but with tougher enemies and slightly better loot in order to curve the game for multiple players. In Borderlands 2, multiplayer is certainly a big part of the experience, but unlike other FPS games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, multiplayer isn't the only experience.

Usually, this particular game costs around $60, but because Steam is such a total broski I picked up my copy during the Winter Steam Sale for around $12. I also wised up and got the Borderlands 2 Season Pass for the ridiculously low price of $5, as well as the "bonus class" Gaige the Mechromancer for around $2. All in all, I pretty much got this hot new game (fully loaded!!) for around a third of its new price, which I think is pretty damn cool if I do say so myself.

This isn't really a pro or a con for Borderlands 2 itself, but if a game costs $20 or $30 with a ton of content, I'd be more inclined to buy it (even if I've never heard of it) compared to a $60 mammoth that's inevitably going to make me pay that same price over again with all that "valuable" DLC fuckery -- bonus points if said DLC contains something that's obviously better than anything I can get through normal gameplay (because balancing's for squares, right?) and TRIPLE WORD SCORE if lacking said make-me-god-tier-DLC prevents me from playing with people who suckered in and bought it.

This is where I feel Borderlands 2 shines: mission DLC is simply post-game extra content and doesn't impact the main game, meaning that people who don't have it can play the entire main game just fine. In addition, the store-only Gaige the Mechromancer fifth class fits right in with the pre-existing four. In particular, she feels like a weird hybrid of Axton's sentry-based combat and Salvador's frantic rapid-fire slogfest... and it feels not only glorious, but also really balanced. At points I actually felt myself yearning for Maya's Phaselock or Axton's Double Time support skills, though Gaige certainly has quite a few gems of her own.

Now, my favorite part of Borderlands 2's DLC is the Season Pass. Basically this is the "skeleton key" of the game: if you buy this one item, all other DLC bonus missions are automatically yours as soon as they're released. Yes, note the as soon as they're released part. You can buy non-existent DLC and get it as soon as it launches while also saving money compared to buying them individually. Honestly this is how all multi-DLC mega-games should go about it. If someone likes your game so much they've already commited to buying any and all DLC for it, then by the gods give them the power to go ahead and get it over with! I'm not even halfway through the game and I almost forgot I even had the Season Pass, but getting Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt last weekend put this huge freaking grin on my face because I just felt this great wave of surprise and excitement from having it right away.

Having the Season Pass gives the devs time to make some quality bonus content for DLC instead of just rushing things and locking them to the disc; because gamers literally have everything after purchasing the Season Pass, they are more inclined to wait for additional content because in their minds said content is effectively free when it releases. This also benefits players who may be on the fence over a certain game; after playing through the main game and deciding whether or not they enjoyed it, they now have the option of trying out the first DLC mission or two before subscribing to the Season Pass and grabbing them all... or they may just buy the missions they like the most.





tl;dr: Borderlands 2 has a brilliant DLC model and I'd love for more blockbuster games to incorporate this line of thinking. By lowering the price of a DLC-heavy game to say, $30 or $35, players are more inclined to purchase your bonus content. Also, give dedicated fans to purchase a "DLC subscription" option where they get all the core DLC as soon as it launches, or pretty darn close to it. (By "core DLC" I'm referring to game modifiers, you can keep your silly costumes as standalone purchases.) If your game comes fully loaded when it releases and you're not going to run any DLC, or the DLC purchases are very light or amount only to silly costumes, go ahead and slap a higher price tag on the game. Shorter independently-developed titles that can be cleared in one or two sittings often come as downloadable games with low prices, so pricing games based on their content levels and DLC percentages will encourage gamers to buy games from a series they may have never played or even heard of in the first place... which ends up boosting sales considerably more than scaring people off with that hefty $60 price tag without any fucking DLC to go with it.

[NemZ]

I've pretty much given up on modern console gaming.  I don't have a PS3, don't want a PS4, never jumped on X-box anything and on the rare occasion I fire up my wii it's just for download titles like mm9 and 10, ff4 the after years, or world of goo.  My 3DS gets a fair amount of use, but mostly with DS games and mostly JRPG remakes from the SNES days or games in that same style.  Radiant Historia is my current go-to.

The PC, Especially steam or free indy gaming sites like Kongregate, is where it's at as far as I'm concerned.  Just about any game I want will be available there, often with active modding communities, though I'm not a fan of social gaming and avoid MMOs like a plauge.... gaming is what I do when I don't feel like being social.  I like my gaming deep, immerse and strictly single player.  Mostly that means things like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Bioshock, Batman Arkham whatever, Deus Ex... things I can sink a decent number of hours into on a flexible schedule.

[Colonel ServBot]

I'm entirely sick of the modern gaming industry.
The PS3 itself was just a waste of money. There wasn't enough games for it when it first came out. And it was a little expensive too. And the blu-ray player was seriously just useless. Video game consoles are used for gaming not watching a horrible remastered Star Wars remake. I'be also been frustrated with the DLC and the XBox live bull crap.
What these guys are selling now a days aren't even full games!
I'm not going to spend twenty dollars a month for some extra mission for the latest CoD: modern bull crap. I seriously hate FPS games.(excluding zombie games, halo, and mm8bdm). It's just senseless shooting each other until our screen goes so red we can even the the HUD. And another thing that SERIOUSLY makes me angry is the amount of shoddy sequels that must have been written by kindergarteners.
Okay, the first game was great. Cool. But don't ruin it with a horrible sequel that sends you to a place you've never been before. It's just aggravating.
Also rip offs of other games.
We don't need nine skyrims now do we?
I'm just going to say one thing about this.
If the modern gaming industry doesn't take a turn and start making good games. I'll be forced to go back to the old ps2 games that I've already beaten nine times.

[Ivory]

Also rip offs of other games.
We don't need nine skyrims now do we?

You realize this has been true since forever? Game is popular, other devs try to cash in on the success by making ripoffs. Existed even back in the NES days and even before then. This isn't even true to video games. This is life in general.

(click to show/hide)

[*Alice]

If you want to see THE prime example for "All games are the same", look at the software selection of the PC-Engine / Turbografx-16. More than half of the games are vertical or horizontal shooters (many of which I really love). The N64 has a very large number of 3D-Platformers where you had to collect things (be it stars, machine parts, tv remotes, bananas, or jigsaw puzzle pieces). And coincidentally the current genre that many people make games in is ... FPSes. And look at all the "Platformer with a mascot with attitude/bad Sonic clones" games of the SNES/Genesis era: Sonic himself, Bubsy, Socket, Awesome Possum, Radical Rex and so many more (no offense to anyone who likes those games).
The difference between today and back then is: You have a lot more old games you can play or buy if you don't like the current ones (for me that would be PS2, SNES and old PC games).
Seriously whining about it will not help. Buying remakes or the old games themselves would be more helpful.