Have they outdone themselves?

[Vanguard_Ex]

Chances are if you have an Escapist account you at least like games. Therefore you'll know that we gamers have a nuclear payload worth of new releases in the very near future heading our way like a sweet freight train.
And yet I can't help but wonder if the bar may have been raised too much? I mean, it might just be me, but I seem to suffer more disappointment nowadays with titles that I used to. Have gaming standards gone a bit too high? What do you think?
Personally I'm itching to get Fable II, but there's that niggling little possibility it'll be a big bag of ass and disappointment.

 

[Space Spoons]

Personally, I don't think the standard can ever be set too high in an industry as costly to the consumer as gaming. We pay an arm and a leg for our games and consoles, it's only fair to expect quality material.

Expectations, on the other hand, are getting a bit out of control. Expecting a quality game is one thing, but these days, every game has to be "next gen", or "innovative", or packed with "revolutionary gameplay mechanics." In other words, every game has to be what Super Mario 64 was in 1996.

Developers are as much to blame for this as consumers are. If you're a game developer, it's generally a good idea to purchase ad space for your upcoming title. These days, though, it's become common for games to sport entire advertising campaigns months, even years in advance. While it certainly raises awareness about the game in question, it also raises expectations to an impossible-to-reach height.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Personally, I don't think the standard can ever be set too high in an industry as costly to the consumer as gaming. We pay an arm and a leg for our games and consoles, it's only fair to expect quality material.

Expectations, on the other hand, are getting a bit out of control. Expecting a quality game is one thing, but these days, every game has to be "next gen", or "innovative", or packed with "revolutionary gameplay mechanics." In other words, every game has to be what Super Mario 64 was in 1996.

Developers are as much to blame for this as consumers are. If you're a game developer, it's generally a good idea to purchase ad space for your upcoming title. These days, though, it's become common for games to sport entire advertising campaigns months, even years in advance. While it certainly raises awareness about the game in question, it also raises expectations to an impossible-to-reach height.

Good answer

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Also, sorry for double posting, but can I just remind everyone that it is not my opinion that the bar has been set too high and that expectation cannot be met, etc? Cheers.

 

[Shindiggity]

I agree with OP in part, as I constantly worry that when I become a game developer (going to the AIE next year), the bar will be set so high that immense pressure will be placed on the developers to be 100% original. Now, believe me, I love creativity and originality as much as anyone else here, but I've noticed alot of expectations among some gamers are ridiculously high. No one can be 100% original with everything they produce, and developers also need alot of time to make good games-something people often do not know.

 

[dud3rus]

Being an avid gamer myself I understand exactly what you're saying Vanguard. Over the years I've felt like games have become more and more of a disappointment. But at the same time I feel that with the rise of the internet, and not to say Game Trailers isn't awesome, but websites like this put anything and everything at your fingertips. Thus raising expectations about games that just can't be met. I stopped watching videos and reading articles about Gears Two, simply so I don't build up expectations about the game that won't be reached. I don't know what to expect from the game, thus I feel that I'll be less disappointed if it doesn't live up to the hype. I've taken this approach to games in general though. I really feel that in the past you didn't have this overwhelming amount of information about a game being drilled into your head, nor the expectation that it's going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Without the expectation your room for being disappointed is much less.

 

[SmugFrog]

The development cycle for a game is outright insane. A game 3-4 years in the making - and eventually they might just yank a bunch of stuff out and push it out the door anyway (Spore). It is good to see a few games going back to a more "basic" approach with gameplay being a key factor (Braid, Megaman 9).

I'm all for the massive projects - I just hope the developers playtest it and tweak it to make it what their audience wants. Valve seems to be good at doing that, if you listen to their commentaries, they playtest the hell out of their games. One thing they changed that stands out in my mind was the leg-springs on Chell; players didn't understand why she could fall from such heights and not take damage, so Valve changes the game a bit and fixed the "problem". As much as I hate them delaying their episodes so much, they really tweak them to make them a great gameplay experience.

I too am worried about Fable 2. Far Cry 2 is also looking TOO good. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully Molyneaux (sp?) has learned from the reaction of Fable (I still liked the 1st one, but you had to set aside the hype and expectations to enjoy it).

 

[Supernovajake]

I think sequels often cause biggest disappointments. Widely considered great games often spring out of nowhere. I don't know if anyone else heard anything about games like Gears, Halo, MGS1, etc before they were actually released, but I certainly didn't! When games like these emerge, hype follows, and then the possibility for disappointing sequels.

 

[hippo24]

Im an incredibly resilient optimist, so i think that every game coming out is going to be great.

-and no I don't think the gaming Bar is set to high. Look at ole EA, turning out dead-Space, which is one of the best games I've laid eyes on. I mean If EA games, the most notorious game designer, can keep up with the times. Then I think ingenious studios, like Bethesda or Valve, can do it as well.

- I also don't develop unreachable hype about a game, because I refuse to watch more than a few gameplay videos, or trailers.

 

[Generic Hero]

I actually think the bar is actually being lowered. For example the Wii in my opinion is lowering the bar, it's making millons from making simple games that involve everyday actions. Things you would be considered a chore or bore like excerising, put that chore in a game and suddenly people are finding it fun. Not to sound like blame the extreme casuals or the younger. But there becoming a target audience and a big one at that. It was high at one point now it's getting lowered again but surely it will rise again.

 

[SmugFrog]

I remember following videos and pictures of Halo's development when I was considering purchasing an Xbox. I wasn't really very impressed, but it turned out to be their best game at release, and I did like it.

MGS 1 I didn't even know they were making. I remember walking past a PS setup in store and seeing a game demo playing and freaking out.

 

[tiamat5]

Are you kidding? The bar is definitely set to low if anything. Are you seeing the things that game companies are getting away with these days? Bad graphics, Stupid AI,boring and
nonsensical stories, bad camera angles, tedious game play. Any yet games like these get good scores and even if they don't, people still buy them. We are paying more money we should be demanding more quality. Instead we just take the game wade through all the tedium and sludge until we find a good game somewhere in the rubbish. Then they give it a score based on what they find. A game shouldn't have to be played for hours, days or weeks before you find something good. It should grab you from the beginning and never let go.

 

[Jumplion]

The bar has stayed the same, but like Space Spoons said, out expectations have been raised.

Now with the word "innovative", "gimmicky", "next-gen" (which still doesn't make sense!), and some other stuff, people are expecting Mario64 in their living rooms or desks when the game comes out.

 

[Shotgunbunny]

Personally I believe that the more you play, the less satisfied you are with new releases.

The perfect example is my favorite game of all time: Baldur's Gate 2.
Before I played that I loved gaming but I couldn't really name a game that was my favorite.

However, ever since I spent months hooked like a crack whore on that awesomeness I compare every RPG that I find to it, hoping to find something better.
But I still haven't found it.

I've tried not to, but it doesn't work that way. What has been seen cannot be unseen, so to speak.

Some time ago I was losing all interest in gaming, scraping by with not so mainstream games to satisfy my hunger, there weren't many pc games coming out at that time, though, and that definitely different now.

At least now I've got a healthy amount of games to look forward to.
But I've already scraped off Fallout 3, as I hated Oblivion, and Bethesda isn't trying to hide the fact that 3 has nothing to do with the previous.
But the ultimate verdict for me will be Dragon Age, BY and (supposedly) FOR the people who loved BG2.
Apparently Bioware believes they can outdo themselves. I say let's see them do it.

I've often said that gaming now isn't what it was back in the day.
I'm really curious as to what I'll be saying in a few years from now.

But another way to look at it is that gaming HAS evolved, and that it IS different from what it was. Not in a good nor bad way, but it simply is.
I mean, I remember my dad used to spend hours playing Myst. But I could never get into that game, it just didn't interest me in the least.

So I'm guessing the new generation of gamers wants different games then I do.
So maybe in a few years we'll all be playing MMORPG's and Online shooters. Who knows?

 

[Jimmyjames]

I'm actually really glad to see that people are acknowledging that expectations have become too high.

The biggest problem nowadays is that games cost SO much money and time to produce that it's becoming very, very difficult for smaller studios to meet those expectations. For these studios to make it, they have to release a certain number of games every other year or so to even stay in business. With the current gen, games just take longer to make. It's a fact.

So, with some companies quality suffers a bit. It's why studios are so quick to sell out to Activision, EA, or one of the big publishers. They just can't afford to do it themselves any longer.

People that think the bar is set too low (tiamat5) have no idea about how game companies work, and exactly how hard it is for this current gen to be developed for.

 

[implodingMan]

I think that the gaming community in general has a very negative attitude towards the very games they are supposed to enjoy. Reading any amateur review shows this attitude in the things they focus on. Negatives are overblown, positives are barely mentioned.

All of this is because every single game needs to be "innovative". People complain that Halo 3 is too much like Halo 2. Well what the fuck were they supposed to make it? A dungeon crawling turn based card battling monster collection-athon?

Another good example of this is that new COD game. People on various boards are all complaining about how it is too similar to COD4, when they just spent the last several months whining about how it would be too different and unlike their favorite game. Everyone is impossible to please.

 

[Shotgunbunny]

Something to add: I read an article some time ago that basicly stated that the gaming industry will eventually collapse under it's own "weight" unless the whole industry changes.
The worst part of it all, IMO, it that usually the game developers only get like 10% of the revenue. The rest goes to the publisher. Of course the publisher made the creation of the game possible by securing a decent release for the game, so you can't really say "publishers, don't ask so much money". Because it's basicly their money with which the games are being made.

It's a process that's more likely to go bad then good.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I've personally become fairly jaded, until I got the orange box, TF2, Portal and HL2 really eminded me why I have a pc!

Stuff of this quality is rare and far apart tho.

I have to say also, despite WOW being constantly knocked, the feeling in game at present is bubbling over with excitement at all the new stuff!