Has The Golden Gaming Era Peaked?

cypher67 on 03/02/2015 - 08:37
Last edited 03/02/2015 - 08:40

This is just my opinion being a ~30 lifetime gamer, looking to see if I am alone.

I recently watched a movie length documentary on video games called just that, "Video Games". It was a fantastic watch and whilst it was obviously angled towards certain brands and games, it still captured a fairly accurate story of how we got to where we are now.

Gaming for me peaked around 5 - 10 years ago, new concepts, play styles, the introduction of internet gaming opening up the possibilities of what you could do from the comfort of your own home.

I played my first game of Battlefield Desert Combat, taken in by the openness of the battlefield and wide array of artillery & mastering the choppers whilst playing against real people rather than AI; this was just a taste of how good it could get.

I was then immersed into the World that was Warcraft, MMORPG's were the new craze. The game was never ending and ever expanding with the ability to grow within the game.

I could go on, however in the last 5 years I haven't felt like anything has really changed. Graphics are better, story lines are more engaging, gameplay is more in-depth, but everything seem recycled like I have done it before; it just now a little more polished.

For gaming manufacturers are simple taking a known brand, adding new content and re-releasing each title, rather than pushing the boundaries of new concepts and characters.

My assumption is the expectations from the public has become so high that the financial risks involved with exploring new titles could lead to their own downfall.

Considering more AAA games these days cost more to create than most movies, have we now created our own death spiral into simply rehashing marketable brands and not see anything new?

TL:DR – Cost to create games and expectation of the public has risen so high that creators are afraid to try anything new and innovative.

Poll Options

  • 12
    Games Just Keep Getting Better
  • 48
    Games Have Remained Consistent
  • 23
    Games Are Getting Worst
  • 4
    This Is OzBargain So There Is A Bikie Option
Gaming

Comments

  • siraitken on 03/02/2015 - 08:44

    I was in a similar boat to you.

    I gave up gaming (WoW) becuase it became too time consuming.

    The only way I could keep up with the Jones was to cheat using bots. The bots would do all the farming so I could do pvp & raiding.

  • donbot on 03/02/2015 - 09:47
    +7

    Gaming peaked in the SNES, N64, & PS1 eras for me… to me, new games feel like they're just fancy graphics without the gameplay. Super Mario World, Goldeneye, Abes Oddysee - some of the best games I ever played.

    I base this on nothing, so I'm just a cynical grumpy old man who still reminisces about simpler times - when installation consisted of jamming a plastic cartridge into the machine and troubleshooting was either blowing dust out of the connectors or flipping the PS1 upside down to make it load properly.

    • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 10:17
      +1

      here here…hey you kids, get off my lawn!

    • IJustKnowStuff on 02/04/2015 - 17:35

      Some of my favorite games are still SNES.

      Breath of Fire 2
      Chrono Trigger
      Secret of Mana
      Secret of Evermore
      ….and a bunch more but you get the idea.

    • johnno07 on 04/05/2015 - 18:58

      I've been playing games for about 20 years and I don't agree that gaming peaked in the 90s. I grew up with the N64 and that's my favourite console of all time, but I think just about everything it did was objectively improved on in the next two generations. E.g. Goldneye was amazing, but compared to current FPSs it's totally clunky. We obviously haven't seen the incredibly revolutionary leaps forward that the transition to 3D brought, but it's been fairly consistently incremental.

      I do think that AAA gaming has been in a rut for the last 5 or so years (with a few obvious, notable exceptions). This opened the door for people like Jonathan Blow to make incredible indie games that we didn't even know we wanted.

      Hopefully it's just a matter of time before the "mainstream" gamers finally get sick of annual EA/Ubisoft/Activision releases. Maybe then those devs will start taking leaves from the books of companies like Rockstar and Naughty Dog and have a longer devolpment cycle in order to produce higher quality, more unique titles that advance the medium as a whole.

      I can only see games getting better.

  • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:00
    +2

    Games in general is on a slow decline if you ask me… don't get me wrong though, there are gems out there and some with really interesting concepts and ideas.

    The gems are usually smaller niche games that are targeted at very specific audiences and so you wouldn't see it in some countries, or at least not a lot of them. Persona 4 Golden, Monster Hunter and Demon Gaze are what I consider gems. They looked dumb at first but once you play it the story is great, the execution of the game was fantastic and I personally love those genres.

    Then you get games like Watch_dogs and Conception II, they have their strong points, Watch_dogs for its interesting ideas and Conception for its battle system, but that was all there was to it… the execution was poor and it fell flat and could not deliver what the best concept allowed for.

    There are also those games that follow the same winning formula to the tee, those are only fun if you are into FPS, bloody beefed up dumbasses, games -cough- CoD -cough-.

    There are definitely great games out there, but most companies just try to follow the same formulas with the same gameplay over and over without any actual improvements. Best to start digging through some of the non AAA games because that's all gimmicks to get the casual gamers to buy.

    • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 10:22

      Not sure it's 'declined' although maybe AAA titles really have, it is shifted to a different model now. Which means there are indie gems to be found, free from the shackles of big companies looking to make money from DLC.

      • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:42

        By decline, I meant the games currently aren't even challenge, most games nowadays are you jump in and you can pretty much take on the whole game without even trying.

        • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 10:51

          At least the big publisher ones yeah, just avoid those you don't miss much (AssCreeds, CODs etc) Try something like Terraria, I have spent so many hours in this one lately. costs a few bucks and the devs love it like their baby and continue to drop content on it.

        • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:52

          @Infinite Monkee:

          Was thinking of getting that one, wasn't sure if i should get it on psv or pc…

        • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 10:56

          @ProjectZero: I play on PC, believe it's on every platform including PS4 now though.

        • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:57

          @Infinite Monkee:

          Lol i think i have you on steam from a group buy of payday 2

        • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 11:03

          @ProjectZero: haha most likely! am 'eonne' on Steam, add me if not :D

  • cypher67 on 03/02/2015 - 10:33

    Further to my post above; At the current rate of game progression I think the average gaming age is going to rise rapidly. The complexity of games is so high now to keep the experiences gamers engaged that Id imagine entering the gaming realm now would be extremely challenging. I recently purchased the latest dragon age game and I found myself confused on what I was actually doing for a while. It was only through persistance that I worked it out and I doubt newbs would be as forgiving. I have a 4 year old son and I've yet to come across a game on the PS4 that we can share and I dont see it happening anytime soon. The new age of gaming will primarily be done on tablets and thats a real shame. If I were to start a game developing company right now, I would 100% go into the tablet market. Bigger audience, lower expectations, lower start up costs and bigger profits to be made. I recon flappy bird made more money in its first week then most games in their entire lifespan, and it was free!

    • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:37

      I recently purchased the latest dragon age game and I found myself confused on what I was actually doing for a while.

      No that happens from time to time, it's usually because games don't give much of a tutorial. Most new games will require an hour or so before you know what you are doing.

      If anything I find games too boring to keep me engaged… I tend to find myself playing an hour or so and get bored. Only game that isn't like that is Skyrim since I just keep modding it lol.

  • derkyft on 03/02/2015 - 10:50
    +2

    Totally get what you mean. Similar to you, I played WoW and it was amazing the first 2-3 years of playing. After leaving and when a new expansion comes out, I'd be excited to try it out, only to see myself playing it for 2-3 weeks before leaving it again. Repeat for Cata， Mop and now WoD.

    The games today are still good, but we've lost our excitement-'virginity' if you will.

    Sometimes, instead of trying a new game, i'd rather go and play CS with crappy graphics or Ragnarok Online just for old school memories sake.

    • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 10:52
      +2

      I think it also growing up, we do not look at them with the rose coloured glasses we did as kids :D

    • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 10:58
      +1

      OMG! Ilove RO, still trying to find a good pizza slice for it… used to play on aeRO

      • shadowarrior on 03/02/2015 - 11:16

        Ragnarok Online :)
        Memories…. my first job in the gaming industry. :)

    • Catfaise on 03/02/2015 - 13:00
      +1

      I'll never lose my excitement virginity for games… ;D

  • Infinite Monkee on 03/02/2015 - 12:21
    +1

    actually just read this which is relevant: http://www.polygon.com/2015/2/2/7962513/everything-in-gaming…

    • GoldPhoenix0 on 03/02/2015 - 13:41

      I highly recommend giving this article a read. Rami Ismal is such a great all round game developer/person in general, which is from personal experience.

  • wonderboy on 03/02/2015 - 12:29

    I think the golden age of AAA games is done, especially after 2014 where the majority of games were borken or dissapointing. I'm kinda over AAA games. I don't think I've had fun with an AAA game in years.

    I play them for a couple days then return or sell them. Only play good indie games or Hearthstone nowadays.

  • GoldPhoenix0 on 03/02/2015 - 13:27
    +2

    I think that one of the biggest issues is that games are costing way too much to produce, which in turn means they are more of a risk to produce, meaning that big publishers are not trying something new, meaning that we get slightly improved (or worse) sequels, which is what consumers seem to spend their money on. It's a vicious cycle which is hindering any "big" improvements or innovations. I think Extra Credits and their explanation of why the PlayStation Vita "failed" explains this cycle, and although it is targeted at the vita specifically, applies to home consoles as well (link here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REaUzHef9h4).

    I am one of the people who, although graphics look nice, think that games should actually take a step back from having the cutting edge visuals and utilise the performance of these new-gen consoles to create better experiences. Basically, instead of wasting the money and resources on visuals, invest it in something else, like better AI (e.g. Alien: Isolation, where the Xenomorph uses simulated "senses" to find the player, rather than simple scripted routines like "find and kill player"), larger scales, or something else to be different. I've been playing the Kingdom Hearts series which were made over 10+ years ago and still enjoying its story/gameplay, much more than games like Killzone: Shadow Fall or Watch Dogs. I think the biggest example of this was the God of War games, where I was having much more fun playing the older titles rather than the newer, "prettier" titles.

    I think (IMHO) that the biggest problem is the consumers these days. People seem to go back and would prefer to buy sequels of games because they want more of that series, and they know basically what they are going to get. I still go out and buy the latest Assassin's Creed game because I absolutely loved the first 2 games in the series, and although they are almost the same game each year, sometimes better or worse, there is just something about it that I enjoy, even if it is exploring the different time periods in history and stabbing every second NPC. I know what experience I will be having, and will fork over some money for it. Because of that, each time they try something new, the consumers seem to either cry foul and complain about it, stopping many of the innovative choices. Now that people are stuck on a brand, the publishers will put their money in that basket because people will buy that product more than something completely new.

    The second reason the consumers are the problem is that for some reason, graphics is almost everything. Case in point, the resolution war between PS4 and XBONE. Yeah, there is a small difference between 1080p and 900p, but honestly, after 10 minutes, unless you are really picky, you won't even notice the difference. I think the same thing could be said on the size of the screen you are watching something on… heck, I was playing 4 player Goldeneye on a 38cm TV and still having so much fun. Next time you are watching TV/Playing a video game, see if you are complaining over some aliasing on some edges after 20 minutes, I bet 99% of people wouldn't care.

    I could keep going, but I think I have already lost 95% of readers due to the long post…

    • Kozhutki on 10/02/2015 - 19:18

      It's hard to say that graphics are almost everything when there's a lot of indie games that "lack" the graphical fidelity of Battlefield or Crysis sell amazingly. A lot of older games seem to flourish because of nostalgia
      (in my opinion anyway), whilst GoldenEye was a very fun FPS game I didn't feel it was anything special or innovative. I respect the game because I wasted a lot of my young life on it but I leave it at that, I don't go back and play it because I know it's not that great of a game, that emotion is just powered by nostalgia. Much like Mario Kart, it was a great LAN game but the game itself wasn't anything special. Didn't have much content and was pretty simple.

      I also disagree about games costing too much to produce. While they cost a lot more than they used to to develop, most of the budget of AAA games goes to marketing. GTA V for example, developer budget was around $135 million and the marketing budget was around $100~ million. It's a ludicrous amount of money though.

      Thanks for the post.

  • GourmetFoodie on 03/02/2015 - 15:44
    +3

    I disagree. I think virtual realities/holograms etc are going to change the face of gaming and create new frontiers for game ideas. In 10 years time I think gaming will be very different to today and even more exciting.

    • AssamLaksa on 03/02/2015 - 16:09
      +1

      ^ this. I totally agree with this. There's still so much untapped potential in terms of VR! Our games are currently limited by our available technology, but once VR becomes a norm, I'm sure game developers will be able to use that to their advantage!

      • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 17:05

        VR Pron! Heard about it on the radio lol

    • ProjectZero on 03/02/2015 - 17:03

      VR is still limited to sight only… until they have stuff like SAO, I don't it would change much… other then price.

  • GourmetFoodie on 03/02/2015 - 15:46

    Also I think a greater female influence is going to enter the world of gaming which for too long has been dominated by a male mindset - which is stifling for innovation.

    • Kozhutki on 03/02/2015 - 21:22

      Are there any games on the horizon that have a larger female influence in them? Quite curious.

    • [Deactivated] on 04/02/2015 - 18:01

      there are plenty of female gamers and female developers, stop talking utter garbage

    • FrankMcFuzz on 05/02/2015 - 16:32
      +1

      That's because people would rather play Bayonetta than Manonetta.

      I think even the most male-oriented sexualities would feel a little bit sick if Bayonetta was perfectly mirrored with a male sexualized protagonist.

  • horsome on 04/02/2015 - 00:53

    I have been reduced to paying mobile games these days.

    It's an underutilised platform for serious gaming however.

    • FrankMcFuzz on 05/02/2015 - 16:35

      That's because devs are scared to put 'serious games' on the platform, as the games are so easily missed in amongst the Candy Crush and Clash of Clans clones.

  • rong818 on 04/02/2015 - 09:40

    I think lots of games moved to mobile too. Free to play + in app purchase + daily bonus. Tend to be cheaper to produce, hit and run, easier game play but super sticky.

  • FrankMcFuzz on 05/02/2015 - 16:33

    There is another thread here, in which someone said to me that "Decent games usually refers to popular games."

    This statement, more than anything, symbolises the death of the Games Industry in a nutshell.

  • TheGMan on 05/02/2015 - 23:00

    For me the moment when computers games stopped being interesting was shortly after the first counterstrike game came out, the pinnacle though would have been Quake 2, with its super simple game play and fast action, in particular the death match part.

    Then again like the OP I am also around my 30's. I also have an office in a school where they have incubator's for wannabe indie devs, listening to them speak about what they are or want to make it really is the same thing that had been done over and over, although there is the occasional one that had an idea that is really outside the box, which makes me smile.

  • [Deactivated] on 08/02/2015 - 23:39
    +1

    Beware rose-tinted glasses. I think there have been plenty of great, fun games over all of the eras. People talk about the SNES days or whatever but there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of duds back in those eras too. All generations have their stand-out classics, many of which you can still play today on modern systems.

    Of course you quickly find out how unplayable some of them are because the control schemes were awful or the cameras were awkward or the difficulty was so extreme because a lot of the devs had come out of the arcade era which deliberately made games borderline impossibly hard to keep people feeding the machines.

  • TopCat on 09/02/2015 - 08:46

    While things can feel recycled, I am eagerly awaiting The Witcher 3 :)

  • tonyjzx on 10/02/2015 - 17:21

    i believe things will go on as they are

    you and I may not like the CoDs of the world but the reality is that GTA6 will do even better than GTA5 and people will still buy Halo 5 despite the mess that is Halo MCC…

    there are indies, there are AAA, there are yearly regurgitations and there are those from eastern europe

    i think that AAA still continues despite flops because thats what those big studios thinks we want

    CoD Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, Battlefield Hardline… errgh

    • scrimshaw on 10/02/2015 - 19:56

      Game companies nowadays brag about 'giving the consumers what they want' and 'crafting new game experiences using the latest next-gen AI/Engine/Graphics/BS' when in fact all they're really focused on is ensuring the game is a blockbuster hit, so that they can continue selling the next sequel (and ride the coattails of the previous game).

      Most games turn into crap because they allowed business management decisions to interfere with the design of games.

      Just look at Valve, they've stopped developing games (Portal 2 / Left 4 Dead 2) probably being their last work, they've quit making games entirely and are focusing on just selling stuf on Steam. That's where the money is…

      • tonyjzx on 10/02/2015 - 21:02

        i think the worst indictment for me was AC Unity

        lets not think about the buggy mess it was but think of the design documents…

        here's a game set in the French Revolution from a French company that had to use a partially non French character who speaks non French accented English because they found out that the Western English speaking audience would not accept a French main character with a strong French accent.

        And that is what $100mil games is about. If you had to use 7 studios across the world and 700 staff you want to be sure your game appeals to the American and larger Western English speaking audience… the 'dudebros' who own Xbox Ones.

        Or you have US military industrial complex right wing shooters where you drop UAV bombs on brown people.

        I used to play the CoD type single player games just to see how silly it got.

  • Hikey on 10/02/2015 - 17:41

    Gaming peaked in 1991 with Super Mario Bros. 3

  • iridiumstem on 12/02/2015 - 06:27

    I think there is a problem for AAA games; they are so expensive to create so that publishers and investors want to make it an average game. They don't want to risk it, so they make it like an mainstream game, in other words, less innovations. I think it's shifting the source of innovations to indie games, but I am slightly worried to see this transition; It reminds me of the North American video game crash of 1983 with lack of quality control.

    Also, I think the relationship between the game publishers and the game producers have something to do with bad quality as well. Some publishers pressure game producers to release the game before certain dates, i.e. Christmas, which makes the games to be rushed in production (though I guess this applied to older games as well, i.e. ET on Atari).

    • FrankMcFuzz on 12/02/2015 - 08:33

      At least ET didn't charge you 15 bucks a pop for each enemy on the screen Cough Evolve

      I would almost rather play ET than some of the triple A games coming out. It had more content, and less bugs.

      • iridiumstem on 12/02/2015 - 08:35

        At least Evolve didn't kill off an entire industry which almost caused end of console gaming?

        Technically it's arguable, but for the sake of the joke, I will just let it pass.

        • FrankMcFuzz on 12/02/2015 - 08:56
          +1

          It was partially a joke. But as a very passionate videogame player, I think we need another industry crash. We need to get rid of all the 'game a year' products, with their bugs and copy-paste and 0 innovation. The "Dudebros" are killing gaming, and 'trends' have diverted from everything that made the industry fun a decade ago in order to sell.

          Just look at the ending of Halo 1, and the ending of Halo 4. The ending of Halo 1 is a game, and a challenging, intense race against time. It's really fun.
          The ending of Halo 4 is not a game. It's "Press the buttons when they come up on the screen". It's not fun. Hardly appealing to fans of the franchise, it's aimed at the Dudebros who don't do 'challenge'.

          Or we can just be happy with our indie games. Perhaps asking for another videogame crash is a bit sadistic.

        • iridiumstem on 12/02/2015 - 09:04
          +1

          @FrankMcFuzz: I know, I was joking as well. Though it would be cool to be able to dig up Evolve from the desert.

          I am going to press x to pay my respects to now dead AAA games industry.

          I think the publishers have too much saying in the production of the games, especially in the AAA games. Maybe the game market will control the quality by itself with the indie games bringing in innovations. People are buying indie games more because we want to be entertained, not how realistic the flower looks in the game. So maybe AAA games will realise that they can sell more by being innovative, not by milking the franchise over and over again without changing anything. Maybe I am just dreaming. I dunno.

        • FrankMcFuzz on 12/02/2015 - 09:25
          +1

          @AznMitch: It's funny. They're more likely to get backlash and lose money by forcing in-app transactions and 'mainstreaming' tactics into beloved franchises. COUGH SIM CITY COUGH.

          But it's hard to boycott the industry, because the number 1 purchaser of games are parents of kids, and neither parent nor child knows any better than buy Assassin's "We couldn't put in female characters because it would cost too much" Creed.

  • jjager on 15/02/2015 - 19:39

    I found http://www.hellblade.com/?p=16972 to be an interesting read, and pretty much sums up what a lot of your guys are talking about RE: AAA game design.

    I think a lot of it has just moved from producing quality/innovative games to it being another source to make money. Technically not at all wrong, because they are businesses after all, but it has lead us to where we find ourselves now. Kinda ironic that innovation is 'too risky' when you have some pretty big success stories in the Indie world, with plenty doing okay.

    To be honest, there are definitely cases of nostalgia and rose coloured goggles, but there are definitely cases of past generation games holding up in today's day and age. Over the past decade I've played games like Secret of Mana 1 and 2 (seiken densetsu 3), Chrono Cross/Trigger, Final Fantasies, as well as games like the old Resident Evils, Metroids, and Megamans to completion more than once. Sure, there were turds in the day, but comparing games of the same series (FF7 to 13; RE1/2 to 6), the 'gameplay quality' has definitely slipped in exchange for hi-fidelity graphics.

    Just my two cents. Fortunately the push for localisation of Japanese titles on the Sony consoles have exposed me to another market of games that I thoroughly enjoy (the aforementioned Demon's Gaze being on of them).

  • TRENT86 on 16/02/2015 - 04:01

    I think the Wii Was the Latest Peak because it changed how we play games

    • FrankMcFuzz on 17/02/2015 - 09:09

      See 'ruined'. I can't think of a decent motion-controlled game that surpasses its controller-based bretheren. And then, because they were making money and bad games, Kinect and Move were invented to capitalize on the decrepit motion controls market. Then Nintendo is like "Oh crap, we actually have competition now, better invent the Wii-Motion+ so it actually works like it's supposed to!"

      Hnng. But Nintendo is going back to their core market, and Microsoft and Sony are still trying to see how far they can get by pursuing the flail market. And that's why Microsoft no longer ships Kinect with the Xbone! Despite making a comment that they would 'never sell a single unit without Kinect' at E3 2013.

  • [Deactivated] on 02/03/2015 - 11:44

    Maybe you're just jaded from gaming so much you don't appreciate the amount of work, money and time it takes to make a game today.
    I am looking forward to many games on PC:
    GTA V
    Witcher 3
    Heroes VII
    Mortal Kombat X
    Pillars of Eternity
    If anything games just keep getting better.

    • FrankMcFuzz on 02/03/2015 - 12:20
      +1

      CERTAIN games do keep getting better, yes. Of course they do; there are more innovations than ever with certain games. Monster Hunter 4 is the best in the franchise, and I don't even care that it's 3DS only. We're getting a new Star Fox. Scalebound is Platinum Games devoting themselves to making a non-action primarily focused game. These things are all amazing!

      Then HOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNK. That is the sound of the fanfare horns for Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed, and other games I define only as 'etcetera'. These horns drown out all other games. It makes consumers and game companies sit up and pay attention to them, and sometimes ONLY them. This diverts the market's attention away from new ideas. Some gamers will ONLY play these loud expensive, half-assed franchises, and game companies are copying harder and harder, ripping off, and generally cutting out all innovations and new mechanics and polish in order to keep up with the noise. This increases the frequency of crap rip offs and game-a-year titles, and lowers chances of new IPs and new ideas.

      Games are STILL good, as you've said. But they're hidden in amongst all this messy noise and half-baked plagiarism. This is what's killing the industry. Now, TL;DR, 'mcfuzz is a huge hipster', but this is a serious problem. People need to buy games based on their interests and the game's quality, and stop buying games based on how loud the sales pitch was, and maybe we can get it back on track. And if people's interests are "I only play FIFA/CoD/Forza, and buy it every year", then they need to stop buying games and go do the real thing outside, coz I sure as hell can't hunt monsters in real life, and I'd hate for my favourite genres to die because sport, racing, and shooting is king.

  • Wallace on 24/03/2015 - 14:28

    Majority of people enjoy gaming less and less BEFORE they reach 30 years old, so it's no surprise if your joy has greatly diminished.

    Also, do most of your high school friends still game? If not, gaming online with strangers ain't as much fun or satisfying.

    For me, with so many freemium touch screen games it is hard to even care about the latest PC, PS and Xbox releases anymore.

    The golden era for me was when arcades were popular and when RTS PC games were just becoming popular.

  • [Deactivated] on 30/03/2015 - 18:20
    +1

    Getting worse over time, it should be the same stuff, but since they need to put more time into the graphics and audio. What actually happens is that you lose gameplay and instead gain graphics and audio enhancements.

  • Cobalt_ on 16/04/2015 - 15:36
    +1

    It's all been downhill since Pitfall.

  • Forfiet on 01/05/2015 - 11:20

    VR looks to have a chance at taking off this time around and hopefully when the consumer versions of occulus, vive and rest come out, gaming will take new paths….

    • FrankMcFuzz on 01/05/2015 - 11:41

      Sure.

      Remember last time?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy

      • Forfiet on 01/05/2015 - 11:42

        "VR looks to have a chance at taking off this time around" <——- That's why I said this! I also said "hopefully" :P even I know they can stuff it up, but the industry is interested that's a start…

        • iridiumstem on 01/05/2015 - 11:46

          I frankly am scared of what VR might do to the industry.
          It might end up doing what 3D did to gaming, while it increased the immersion and other aspects, it also gave the rooms for AAA games and made the big games to be mediocre as it became so expensive for the game publishers to gamble.

          Though, I think VR tech would become a thing, not just a gimmick that shines for awhile and fade out, at least by the looks of how porn industry and adult game industry is trying to support VR (Since porn and adult game did have huge impact on how well public adapted to new technologies in past).

        • FrankMcFuzz on 01/05/2015 - 11:50

          The Virtual Boy failed for a number of reasons, among them "its high price, the discomfort caused by play […] and what was widely judged to have been a poorly handled marketing campaign."[15]

          Well, with modern videogame marketing campaigns trumpeting a product's Hype-horn every time you open youtube, at least one of those things can't be said about the many VR products coming out (How many is there now? There was 2 last time I checked but I think Microsoft wants in now too.)

          So, I mean, at least one of them might succeed? I hope so lol. At least we can count on the fact that Nintendo's not gunna have the cajones to try it again.

  • Mister Popo on 01/05/2015 - 20:36

    Maybe it's just nostalgia, but the n64 era was pretty darn good with Zelda OoT, Mario 64, SSB, Golden Eye, etc. The former were especially complex and well polished for their time and I feel like that was the time when companies put the most effort into creating innovative and addictive experiences. Of course, they had to make sure there weren't bugs because there weren't any updates as such.

  • MrLeE on 08/05/2015 - 16:02

    I still sit around and play Final Fantasy Tactics A1, A2 and DotA.

    Started playing MTG a bit more, but those games are still my long time favourites. (can't forget pokemon).

    But yeah, it sometimes feels like the older games had more depth and the new ones are too jazzy, and lack gameplay.

    Diablo III for example. hahahaha

  • dreadpiratedan on 09/05/2015 - 01:10

    The problem we all face with this is that we can't trust our own memories of things past. Our minds put it up on such a huge pedestal, regardless of how far gaming has/will come, anything new pales compared to the the nostalgia saturated memories we have of our past favorite games. Like the honeymoon period of new relationships, everything is amazing, often causing awkward trouser incidents in public locales. Once it's all said and done you can easily loose sight of what you have, before you get to the good stuff. Or you take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

    I guess what I'm getting at is that although the first time might give the most impact, letting it mature and experiencing what it could be can be truly rewarding. Just because something has been done before, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I can't imagine why one would try to replicate a bad thing, on that note.

    A trend I have noticed in gaming reviews of sequels for big titles; the review rants and raves of the vast improvements, deeper story, refined graphics, frame-rate optimization, how all the annoyances in the predecessor have been rectified and is in every way a superior game to the original. Then they smack it with a lower score than they gave the original. Gotta love that logic. Sadly I got the same vibe from your post. I know what your getting at, but in such a saturated market there is also so many good games to be had.

    For me multiplayer gaming peaked and died in the PC LAN/PS2/Original Xbox era . That is simply me though. I loved the late nights with friends, the over-occupied smelly, humid rooms, good times that can never be replaced. Being 15 and staying up late afterward chatting about what girls were hot at school. I can appreciate that there is a whole generation of gamers taking that experience in a whole new way that is just as meaningful to them as my was way to me.

    It's kinda like the situation of Star Wars. I saw the original trilogy first and rate it severely higher than the new trilogy. Everyone I know that saw the new trilogy first, however, prefers that to the original. Who shot first plays a pretty big role in your state of mind (it was Han). I know for a fact that no matter how good a new Star Wars game might be, I'll never be able to get Pod Racer on the N64 to stop releasing mass endorphins just from looking at the box art. There is simply too much nostalgia there for me to simply let go. On the other hand, I was able to let go of Pokemon Red and experience Pokemon Gold as the far superior game it is.

    I feel the state of gaming as a whole has never been in a better state. Most people in well developed countries can easily access whatever game they want, from whatever era they want, when they want. The way in which they want it might be the tricky part, but resorting to emulators is always an option. The amount of content, genre's, platforms and even niche's is just ridiculous. Until gaming gets to the virtual reality level of plugging into the Matrix, there is one hell of a wall stopping ground breaking strides being made. I've all ways imagined the step before that would be a spherical screen/orb you would open and step inside, using interactive holograms and speech as controls. An electrified body suit would initiate nervous system responses including climate changes with the use of heating/cooling, humidifiers, air pressure regulators and rain machines. Sounds like a pretty wild idea that such a product could be an affordable consumer electronic device, but the same could be said for the first computers and gaming systems. I'd say Oculus Rift would be the console equivalent of the Atari 2600, and what I'm talking about would be a highly overclocked, quad SLI/equivalent, liquid nitrogen cooled high end gaming pc in the year 2042 with 4 dedicated 16 core CPU's. Ram will be irrelevant by then due to improvements on SSD's. So given that Oculos Rift's release date is Q1 2016, that sets my idea at roughly 66 years from now. I'll be 93 and likely still trying to beat Battletoads if my nes still works. I likely wont give a stuff about some cashed up yahoo with this fan-dangled contraption. Doesn't mean that wouldn't be F*%$(#g awesome though.

    But I digress, with so many options available for such a vast audience, would could possibly create a unified and agreeable improvement on the gaming industry as a whole? I am a retro collector myself and have many a time wished that Nintendo or Sega would just be like "you know what, the SNES/Mega Drive II kicked ass - lets re-release it". But then after considering the ramifications of that, it would likely hurt the cause more than help (for me at least). What would be the point in collecting when there is no longer the rush of stumbling upon The Secret of Evermore for $8 at my local market boxed with instructions. I also personally loath the state of mobile gaming with the dumbed down gameplay and pay to play structures, but that does make those that enjoy games like that fools who don't know good games? No, it simply means they are enjoying those games as much as I used to enjoy sinking $10 into TMNT arcade whenever my folks took me to the local RSL as a kid.

    TL'DR; and ultimately my summary: Rather than complain about the content that we don't like, wouldn't we be better off praising those gems we have found and sharing them with like minded individuals? My hot tip of the day: The Darkness on 360/PS3 would have to be one of the best low profile games I can think of and recommend. If you haven't played it and like single player games with an engaging story, and shooters that make you adjust your style, you should give it a go.

  • donedeed on 14/05/2015 - 18:25

    I do agree that the graphics and the details have improved extensively. However, I don't think it necessarily improves the enjoyment of the game itself.
    I definitely think it's very subjective with every individual, but take Leagues of Legend as an example. It probably has the graphics of a decade ago. But people don't care about the graphics, because it results in a lot simpler, yet engaging gameplay.
    I personally don't give a rats about how good the graphics and details are, as long as I can kick back, relax, and just enjoy the game :)

  • neonlight on 11/06/2015 - 22:08

    The Golden era on gaming I think I have experienced most of it. From late 80s to late 2000 pretty much 20 years.

    There ain't any more Wow factors anymore where there used to be excitements on consoles and portables, internet cafes for multiplayer and then evolved people playing at home via the net.

    Smartphones have taken over but I do not get immersed into any titles unlike psp and nds. Those platform were truly for gamers. Nowadays is all about in app purchase and DLCs

    Games used to be great that you want to finish them but these days a lot of them are not as good and what happens is you jump from one to another quickly

  • congo on 22/06/2015 - 20:53

    Games will get better.
    It is stagnate now because of the new gen hardware.
    Once developers get used to it, the games will be even more awesome.

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