I have been playing video games all my life and for the longest time I wanted to be a game designer. Too craft experiences for others to enjoy was my ultimate dream. But now that I am on the threshold of making my dream come true all I want to do is walk away because all I see on the other side is an ocean of cynicism. All I hear is that triple A games are soulless pieces of garbage, indie games are pretentious piles of crap, anything in the middle are hollow and cheap, and generally everything about games is horrible and only an idiot would think otherwise. I want to be happy about games and be excited about talking about them with other people, but all I ever see these days are people talking about how gaming is dead and how every game made these days are hollow shells compared to the games of yesterday.
I have been playing games ever since I was a little kid and I have always wanted to make my own. I was excited to go into the industry and start making my mark. I didn't care whither I would be working on an FPS or an artsy platformer for some indie developer. All I wanted to do was make a game that makes someone happy. But, all I see when I go on the internet and look for video game related stuff are people talking about how gaming is dead and how the filthy casuals and the disgusting brogamers are ruining everything. I'll admit the industry is in a bad place right now and I want to have hope that things are going to get better. But sadly, I don't feel that way and ironically it isn't the publisher's bad business practices(we have proven that we can change how they act if we really try) that are making feel that way, but the people that have played games all their lives just like me.
These days it feels like people go out of their way to hate games, even ones that are not even released. Dishonored was my favorite game last year and people have gone out of their way to talk about how horrible it is and how anyone who dares to like it is an idiot. BioShock Infinite has been the best games I played in quite a while and yet again people said it was a piece of dumbed down, overhyped, pretentious crap that doesn't deserve to exist. And now the Thief reboot, a game that has not even come out yet is being called an abomination that will destroy all of gaming for daring to implement features that will make the game easier for people that didn't grow up playing Thief. It seems like the very idea of opening video games to people that haven't played them before is a sin that can't be forgiven.
Games used to be something that outsiders like myself could go to feel like we were worth something, where game designers were encouraged to try and raise the bar to deliver better experiences. But as time has gone on it has mutated into something viscous and uninviting where the outsider is shunned and where game designer that try an create more inclusive experiences are branded as traitors for letting the filthy causal into the fold. I want everyone to love games, but some people just want games to belong the them and to them alone.
I know that their are a lot people out there that love games as much as I do, I know that there are people with high hopes for the future of games, I know that there are people out there that want to let more people into the fold, and I know there are people that can judge games on their own terms and not chain them completely to the past. I want to love gaming, but I can't right now because I see is cynicism and hate. I need to see optimism and open minds. I need to know that I am not alone.
I have been playing games ever since I was a little kid and I have always wanted to make my own. I was excited to go into the industry and start making my mark. I didn't care whither I would be working on an FPS or an artsy platformer for some indie developer. All I wanted to do was make a game that makes someone happy. But, all I see when I go on the internet and look for video game related stuff are people talking about how gaming is dead and how the filthy casuals and the disgusting brogamers are ruining everything. I'll admit the industry is in a bad place right now and I want to have hope that things are going to get better. But sadly, I don't feel that way and ironically it isn't the publisher's bad business practices(we have proven that we can change how they act if we really try) that are making feel that way, but the people that have played games all their lives just like me.
These days it feels like people go out of their way to hate games, even ones that are not even released. Dishonored was my favorite game last year and people have gone out of their way to talk about how horrible it is and how anyone who dares to like it is an idiot. BioShock Infinite has been the best games I played in quite a while and yet again people said it was a piece of dumbed down, overhyped, pretentious crap that doesn't deserve to exist. And now the Thief reboot, a game that has not even come out yet is being called an abomination that will destroy all of gaming for daring to implement features that will make the game easier for people that didn't grow up playing Thief. It seems like the very idea of opening video games to people that haven't played them before is a sin that can't be forgiven.
Games used to be something that outsiders like myself could go to feel like we were worth something, where game designers were encouraged to try and raise the bar to deliver better experiences. But as time has gone on it has mutated into something viscous and uninviting where the outsider is shunned and where game designer that try an create more inclusive experiences are branded as traitors for letting the filthy causal into the fold. I want everyone to love games, but some people just want games to belong the them and to them alone.
I know that their are a lot people out there that love games as much as I do, I know that there are people with high hopes for the future of games, I know that there are people out there that want to let more people into the fold, and I know there are people that can judge games on their own terms and not chain them completely to the past. I want to love gaming, but I can't right now because I see is cynicism and hate. I need to see optimism and open minds. I need to know that I am not alone.