Is gaming a dying fad?
- Thread starter Ago Iterum
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I could use your exact same argument to say that music (Not a particular genre, but music in general), TV, movies, novels, and the Internet are all just fads. Obviously, all of these are here to stay, just like gaming. Just because you yourself are bored with gaming (Which baffles me, given the absurd holiday season we are in right now) doesn't mean that every gamer will spontaneously throw their controllers and say "Blah...games aren't fun anymore!"
Besides, your entire post is a giant load of opinion. I don't like MMORPGs either, but there are a lot of people who get a big raging stiffy every time an enemy drops an Epic item. Since WoW currently has more players than there are people in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia combined then I think it is safe to assume that A LOT of people DON'T think they are chores.
Bottom line? You are bored with gaming. Your opinion =/= the same opinion as every gamer on the planet. Gaming is bigger now then it ever has been, and there are no signs of it slowing down. Fallout 3 has already made over $300 million and it just came out. Really, is this the sign of gaming's death? Because I certainly don't see it.
Edit: Yes, we are indeed in the SEVENTH generation of gaming. Not third, not fourth, but SEVENTH, with the first generation of consoles starting in 1972.
Besides, your entire post is a giant load of opinion. I don't like MMORPGs either, but there are a lot of people who get a big raging stiffy every time an enemy drops an Epic item. Since WoW currently has more players than there are people in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia combined then I think it is safe to assume that A LOT of people DON'T think they are chores.
Bottom line? You are bored with gaming. Your opinion =/= the same opinion as every gamer on the planet. Gaming is bigger now then it ever has been, and there are no signs of it slowing down. Fallout 3 has already made over $300 million and it just came out. Really, is this the sign of gaming's death? Because I certainly don't see it.
Edit: Yes, we are indeed in the SEVENTH generation of gaming. Not third, not fourth, but SEVENTH, with the first generation of consoles starting in 1972.
could it be that... we are... getting... OLD!? (=(Ago Iterum said:A lot of people I have spoken to on this subject have had the same thing to say; "Where could gaming possibly go next?"
With gaming reaching visual and audial perfection, and many games becoming more of a chore than a fun pastime (For example, many MMOROG's, which seem more like part time jobs than games, jobs that you have to PAY for) I ask, how many more generations will it be before the attitude to gaming becomes more of a 'been there done that' kind of thing?
I began thinking these thoughts after the new Ratchet & Clank game was announced. I've been an avid fan since the original was released on the PS2. But on news of another 2 new ones for the PS3, I couldn't've cared less. It didn't excite me at all, and not only do I feel I won't buy the game, but I'm considering selling my consoles. I felt the same when the new Animal Crossing was announced for next month.
I need to know how you guys feel, is it just me? Or are games starting to become samey, and boring. I mean, we will never get back the amazing gaming experiences of the SNES, or PSone, will we?
Your thoughts, please
For christs sake, will you read the post?! I have not once said that it is a fact that gaming is getting boring etc. I said I'm getting bored with gaming, and I wanted other peoples views, not a lecture. This isn't the first time I've had to say this.Raven28256 said:
Sorry if I'm sounding like a knob, I just got annoyed that people don't read the original post properly.
I actually read that on the bus a few days back and remembered it when I saw this thread.Ago Iterum said:
I'm considering revoking my statement "Creativity may be a dying breed" now I think about it. Sure, back in the day, we had so many good games.. but, consider that the only reason we loved them so much is because we'd never seen anything like it before. They may well have been great games, obviously, but the newness of the entire concept made us love them all the more. Nowadays, we have so many games that it's genuinely hard to create something new. The creativity is still there!
I call, for example, the N64 game Goldeneye. At the time, it was absolutely excellent. A game where you can play against friends, in the James Bond universe, splitscreen, on a single TV. I replayed it recently and the only reason I still enjoy it is those old memories.
If Goldeneye was released today, it'd be mocked and completely overlooked; we've seen it all before. This, in my opinion, is why we've got these gimmicks in games now. A few examples that made a few games stand out..
Army of Two - *sorry for stealing, Yahtzee.* I haven't played the game, but from the ZP review it seems that there was no real need for there to be two at most points other than "to give a few leg-ups".
Crysis - I'll be honest. I didn't use the suit functions half as much as I wanted to. Matter of fact, the majority of times when I actually did, I just used them to make dropping off a cliff less painful because I couldn't be arsed to walk around.
Fallout 3 - VATS. I can't see the point, really. It's just a pretty gimmick and a quick throwback to Fallout 2's turnbased combat system.
Any game with "destructible scenery." - This all started with Red Faction, which - surprise, surprise, was widely proclaimed to be a revolution in gaming. Frankly, it wasn't. I could blow a hole in the floor, then I was stuck in a hole in the floor. Hiding demolition packs and health packs behind marked pieces of the walls was interesting, if somewhat illogical - how the hell did they get in there, anyway?
Anyway, rant over. I don't think creativity is dead, I think we are much more jaded when it comes to gaming nowadays. Admit it, Portal proves that some people are still doing it right. (But not EA. EA are not doing it right at all.)
You take that back this second.Hunde Des Krieg said:could it be that... we are... getting... OLD!? (=(Ago Iterum said:A lot of people I have spoken to on this subject have had the same thing to say; "Where could gaming possibly go next?"
With gaming reaching visual and audial perfection, and many games becoming more of a chore than a fun pastime (For example, many MMOROG's, which seem more like part time jobs than games, jobs that you have to PAY for) I ask, how many more generations will it be before the attitude to gaming becomes more of a 'been there done that' kind of thing
I began thinking these thoughts after the new Ratchet & Clank game was announced. I've been an avid fan since the original was released on the PS2. But on news of another 2 new ones for the PS3, I couldn't've cared less. It didn't excite me at all, and not only do I feel I won't buy the game, but I'm considering selling my consoles. I felt the same when the new Animal Crossing was announced for next month.
I need to know how you guys feel, is it just me? Or are games starting to become samey, and boring. I mean, we will never get back the amazing gaming experiences of the SNES, or PSone, will we?
Your thoughts, please
In a sense, this is more like the 7th gen of consoles.
1. Original Pong machine
2. Atari 2600 and the like
3. Dreamcast/NES
4. Sega CDi, SNES
5. PS1, Nintendo 64
6. XBOX, PS2, Nintendo Gamecube
7. XBOX 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii
Chronology may be a tad off, but this is CLOSE to right.
1. Original Pong machine
2. Atari 2600 and the like
3. Dreamcast/NES
4. Sega CDi, SNES
5. PS1, Nintendo 64
6. XBOX, PS2, Nintendo Gamecube
7. XBOX 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii
Chronology may be a tad off, but this is CLOSE to right.
Why are the names of the people you have quoted wrong?fish food carl said:I love doing that!NewClassic said:Haha, I don't think many people saw the sarcasm in my comment... I knew the generation we are currently in, I just didn't want to call the guy out on his mistake. I hate doing thatUltrajoe said:
Seriously? Anyone else noticed this?
Haha! Just noticed that. I don't have a clue :SUltrajoe said:Why are the names of the people you have quoted wrong?fish food carl said:I love doing that!NewClassic said:Haha, I don't think many people saw the sarcasm in my comment... I knew the generation we are currently in, I just didn't want to call the guy out on his mistake. I hate doing thatUltrajoe said:
Seriously? Anyone else noticed this?
The Dreamcast was MUCH further on than the NES days. But yeah, you're nearly on the moneyFlying-Emu said:
He's gone and changed them. It's not terribly difficult. It's a bit silly though. I only noticed because my name was in the quote tower. He could have at least made them funny ;/Ultrajoe said:Why are the names of the people you have quoted wrong?fish food carl said:I love doing that!NewClassic said:Haha, I don't think many people saw the sarcasm in my comment... I knew the generation we are currently in, I just didn't want to call the guy out on his mistake. I hate doing thatUltrajoe said:
Seriously? Anyone else noticed this?
I have done.fish food carl said:And what could I have done to make them funny? I admit it, I've been rumbled. It is actually surprisingly fun to do. Try it.Amnestic said:He's gone and changed them. It's not terribly difficult. It's a bit silly though. I only noticed because my name was in the quote tower. He could have at least made them funny ;/Ultrajoe said:Why are the names of the people you have quoted wrong?fish food carl said:I love doing that!NewClassic said:Haha, I don't think many people saw the sarcasm in my comment... I knew the generation we are currently in, I just didn't want to call the guy out on his mistake. I hate doing thatUltrajoe said:
Seriously? Anyone else noticed this?
'twas Carl, as you can see.Ago Iterum said:
Man, late nights make me grumpy.
I've been playing games for 31 years, since the days of Pong, and I can relate to what you are saying, but I don't think the statement is necessarily true. Gaming has plenty of unexplored territory to conquer before we can safely say, "what now?"
Sure, there is the deluge of "me-too" games (how different is Doom to Painkiller apart from the updated visuals?) but what keeps my hopes up are those quirky games that appear once every blue moon and show us that as long as there is imagination and creativity (and developers don't let the number crunchers in accounting call the shots) there is the possibility for developers to come up with a uniquely fun game concept. Games like Katamari, Patapon, Portal, PixelJunk Eden, Elite Beat Agents and Audiosurf come to mind - and keep my hopes alive.
Also, software is only half the equation. You still have hardware that can potentially revolutionize gameplay. The Wii itself, while in my opinion is a flawed execution (Motion+ should have been part of the console from the start) is brilliant on paper and is a good example of this. So is the Novint Falcon for FPSs on the PC. I am willing to wager that multi-touch systems like the iPhone and Microsoft Surface touchscreens will usher in another wave of unique gameplay possibilities.
I just recently tried out a hydraulic system for driving simulations and while the setup cost around US$20,000, the experience was nothing less than exhilarating. Perhaps virtual reality gear is poised to make a comeback, now that the technology is vastly cheaper than it was 20 years ago? We all know what the SoundBlaster does, but did you know two engineers in the early 90s developed the equivalent of the SmellBlaster? What if someone decided to market this product and it hit mainstream adoption? Imagine playing Battlefield with the smell of gunpowder (sans the smell of decomposing bodies, thank you) surrounding you? Technology paves the way for unique gaming experiences just as much as our creative limits allow us to.
It's not necessarily about the lack of challenge either. In my particular case, I am a father of two, and I find myself increasingly opting for the "Normal" or "Easy" in lieu of "OMFGThisIsInsane" difficulty simply because my gaming time is preciously low now and I don't have the time to "master" a game anymore. I simply want to fully experience what a game offers without it making me feel like I am copping out. My backlog of partially finished games is massive (easily over 100 titles between my consoles and PC) and I doubt I will ever have the time to finish them all. Given my time constraints now, I really appreciate the "pick-up-and-play" games that I have for my NDS and PSP and play almost religiously on my daily commute.
MMOs are too much of a time sink for me to even attempt to play; the same for multiplayer games. If I don't put in the time I don't have, I will be utterly humiliated in games like Team Fortress or Unreal Tournament 3. What I'd like to see is a standardized multiplayer mechanism that pairs gamers of the same level with each other. I want to play more online games, but I don't want to become the punching bag for the online collective every time I log in to the game.
I just hope I live to see something similar to Star Trek's Holodeck. That for me would be "good enough", but gaming is not a fad - it's here to stay indefinitely, and we haven't even begun scraping at the limits of technology and imagination.
Sure, there is the deluge of "me-too" games (how different is Doom to Painkiller apart from the updated visuals?) but what keeps my hopes up are those quirky games that appear once every blue moon and show us that as long as there is imagination and creativity (and developers don't let the number crunchers in accounting call the shots) there is the possibility for developers to come up with a uniquely fun game concept. Games like Katamari, Patapon, Portal, PixelJunk Eden, Elite Beat Agents and Audiosurf come to mind - and keep my hopes alive.
Also, software is only half the equation. You still have hardware that can potentially revolutionize gameplay. The Wii itself, while in my opinion is a flawed execution (Motion+ should have been part of the console from the start) is brilliant on paper and is a good example of this. So is the Novint Falcon for FPSs on the PC. I am willing to wager that multi-touch systems like the iPhone and Microsoft Surface touchscreens will usher in another wave of unique gameplay possibilities.
I just recently tried out a hydraulic system for driving simulations and while the setup cost around US$20,000, the experience was nothing less than exhilarating. Perhaps virtual reality gear is poised to make a comeback, now that the technology is vastly cheaper than it was 20 years ago? We all know what the SoundBlaster does, but did you know two engineers in the early 90s developed the equivalent of the SmellBlaster? What if someone decided to market this product and it hit mainstream adoption? Imagine playing Battlefield with the smell of gunpowder (sans the smell of decomposing bodies, thank you) surrounding you? Technology paves the way for unique gaming experiences just as much as our creative limits allow us to.
It's not necessarily about the lack of challenge either. In my particular case, I am a father of two, and I find myself increasingly opting for the "Normal" or "Easy" in lieu of "OMFGThisIsInsane" difficulty simply because my gaming time is preciously low now and I don't have the time to "master" a game anymore. I simply want to fully experience what a game offers without it making me feel like I am copping out. My backlog of partially finished games is massive (easily over 100 titles between my consoles and PC) and I doubt I will ever have the time to finish them all. Given my time constraints now, I really appreciate the "pick-up-and-play" games that I have for my NDS and PSP and play almost religiously on my daily commute.
MMOs are too much of a time sink for me to even attempt to play; the same for multiplayer games. If I don't put in the time I don't have, I will be utterly humiliated in games like Team Fortress or Unreal Tournament 3. What I'd like to see is a standardized multiplayer mechanism that pairs gamers of the same level with each other. I want to play more online games, but I don't want to become the punching bag for the online collective every time I log in to the game.
I just hope I live to see something similar to Star Trek's Holodeck. That for me would be "good enough", but gaming is not a fad - it's here to stay indefinitely, and we haven't even begun scraping at the limits of technology and imagination.