Less Content, More Money... Huh?

[TexasWatermelon]

Hey everyone, my name is Autum and I'm definitely a game lover. But I've noticed over the past couple of years that games have been getting less original, less challenging, and less enjoyable overall, even though we're still spending sixty bucks a pop for them!

So for my creative writing class at Penn State University, I'm going to write an article about this terrible epidemic, and I was hoping to get some input from real gamers like you guys. What do you think about today's games? Are they getting better? Worse? What games do you remember that gave you a genuine challenge and lasted more than two days worth of play time? And if all of this is true, why do you still buy and play video games?

I would really appreciate your help guys, so anything you can give me would be great. If I really like what you've said, I'll send you a private message asking if you would mind me using your quote in my article and a little more information about yourself for that purpose as well.

Thanks so much everyone!
Autum

 

[BloodSquirrel]

#1 Games are getting more expensive because graphics are becoming more and more expensive to produce. The increased complexity probably contributes as well; increasing complexity tends to have an exponential effect on the time it takes to write software. Also, keep in mind that a $10 increase over more than a decade is not even keeping up with inflation.

#2 The "games suck now" mantra is, well, mantra. People are always complaining that whatever's new isn't as good as whatever was old. Personally, I think this generation has kicked last generation's ass already, and it's not ever over yet.

 

[Altorin]

games aren't more expensive now, at least for the end user, not counting DLCs.

Games are a lot cheaper now, considering what you get.

Atari games were being sold for 60 bucks in the 70s. And that's 60 bucks in the 70s, not 60 bucks in the 10s.

 

[TheNumber1Zero]

Todays games tend to flux between unforgiving to "press X to win" easy.
There are still plenty of good games that are being made these days.
One of my earlier games to give me challenge was Pokemon Blue, unless 3-5 years is a quick completion time.
Games are getting both better andworse, just as they always have.
I would still probably buy games even if the quality had become rubbish, I tend to be an accepting person, so a game with little redeeming qualities would still bring me enjoyment.

Hope that helps, doubt it does though.

 

[grimsprice]

#1 Games are getting more expensive because graphics are becoming more and more expensive to produce. The increased complexity probably contributes as well; increasing complexity tends to have an exponential effect on the time it takes to write software. Also, keep in mind that a $10 increase over more than a decade is not even keeping up with inflation.

#2 The "games suck now" mantra is, well, mantra. People are always complaining that whatever's new isn't as good as whatever was old. Personally, I think this generation has kicked last generation's ass already, and it's not ever over yet.

Yes, Yes, yes, and... yes-ish.

I think the ingenuity, creativity, and awesomeness of generations gone by is no longer with us because of the increase in price. With development teams getting bigger and bigger, the creative idea of one person can get lost in the chaos of corporate admistration. Sticking with the formula is the only way to get games done on time and with the budget allowed.

So this gen might not be ass-kicking awesome as the last one because of the increase in dev time and cost.

 

[Altorin]

I think people have short memories. (probably considering them most either don't care about the history of gaming, or are too young for it to even enter into their mindscape - they grew up on Xboxes)

People were charged 60 bucks for games in the 70s that barely qualified as games.

It was so bad that it actually destroyed the very idea of gaming as a business in america. We're nowhere near close to that happening again at the moment, despite what many people believe.


watch that if you want to see what I mean.

 

[SimuLord]

My mom paid $70 in big, fat 1990 dollars for Phantasy Star 2 so I could have it for Christmas. I seem to recall some of the SNES games like FF6 and Chrono Trigger going for as much as $80, in big fat 1994-95 dollars.

I just bought 10 games on Steam in a 72-hour stretch for under $150 as part of the Holiday Sale, including Fallout 3 and all its DLCs for $37.49, in worthless 2009 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that's something like 25 cents on the dollar, and I got 80 hours' worth of gameplay out of it.

I think your premise doesn't really hold up.

 

[JRCB]

Yeah, price could be a bit lower, but games are now becoming big developments, like movies and such. It`s true that more money is being spent on shinier graphics instead of original plots, but that`s because shiny games sell better than original games.

 

[Altorin]

My mom paid $70 in big, fat 1990 dollars for Phantasy Star 2 so I could have it for Christmas. I seem to recall some of the SNES games like FF6 and Chrono Trigger going for as much as $80, in big fat 1994-95 dollars.

I just bought 10 games on Steam in a 72-hour stretch for under $150 as part of the Holiday Sale, including Fallout 3 and all its DLCs for $37.49, in worthless 2009 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that's something like 25 cents on the dollar, and I got 80 hours' worth of gameplay out of it.

I think your premise doesn't really hold up.

I love when I'm not the only voice of reason in a thread.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

Gaming's a big, big industry these days, arguably the biggest and most profitable form of entertainment there is going. The days of bedroom programmers are largely over, and this means that big business rules the roost, which, in turn, means everyone is in it to make money. This isn't a bad thing, it's a natural by-product of growth. As something grows, it collects a horde of crap that clings to it, but the solid core of good games still shines through.

I have a lot of faith in the games industry. In 20 years, we've gone from enormous pixels and one-note gameplay to having entire, living, breathing cities on a disc. What other industry can boast that kind of creative expansion? Gaming isn't getting worse, but standards are rising rapidly, and the games are simply falling behind these standards as designers struggle to keep up. Take what most people would consider an average game nowadays and show it to someone playing Elite back in the day and they'd snatch your hand off to play it. The games industry has always been full of crap, and while there is more crap these days, there is also more quality. There is more... everything, because the industry has undergone a growth spurt, and it's only going to get bigger. So, while this may mean more crap, we also get much more quality on the way. I look forward to it greatly.

EDIT: I remember forking out £50+ for cartridge games back in the day, compared to the flat rate of £40 (sometimes less) of today, so this argument of games costing more for less fails somewhat.

 

[e2density]

Games are at an all time low. It's been a long while since I've played a game that genuinely evoked strong emotional feelings about the story...

I was listening to a Modern Warfare 2 player the other day. I said, "I'm going to preorder Bad Company 2 next month. It's going to be a great game."

His response? "Oh my god did you see the screenshots for that game? THE GRAPHICS SUCK! And they stole most the guns from Modern Warfare 2!"

Now not only is he wrong since Battlefield 2 came out long before Call of Duty 4, but he judges the entire game based on the graphics. I'm starting to hate today's gamers. They are lazy, stupid, and think that graphics are the only thing important in a game...

What ever happened to gameplay?

 

[Mr. GameBrain]

Games are at an all time low. It's been a long while since I've played a game that genuinely evoked strong emotional feelings about the story...

I was listening to a Modern Warfare 2 player the other day. I said, "I'm going to preorder Bad Company 2 next month. It's going to be a great game."

His response? "Oh my god did you see the screenshots for that game? THE GRAPHICS SUCK! And they stole most the guns from Modern Warfare 2!"

Now not only is he wrong since Battlefield 2 came out long before Call of Duty 4, but he judges the entire game based on the graphics. I'm starting to hate today's gamers. They are lazy, stupid, and think that graphics are the only thing important in a game...

What ever happened to gameplay?

You just seem to have picked the wrong game to play. MW2 has become the general idiot's game, like World of Warcraft, is "everybody else's" game.

Fear not, there are good games and good devs still around, but if the big publishers keep catering to these ignorant morons, then these games will likely fly under the radar for the while.

 

[Altorin]

I am literally gobsmacked by the shortsightedness displayed in this thread.

 

[TheTygerfire]

I've noticed over the past couple of years that games have been getting less original, less challenging, and less enjoyable overall, even though we're still spending sixty bucks a pop for them!

"Well, that's, just like, your opinion, man..."

Games back in the day lasted maybe an hour if you had a good run, and games now are hours and hours long with lots of re-playability, and online multiplayer, AND extra content outside the disc itself. If you don't like games now, don't play them.

 

[Atheist.]

I have to reply to everyone talking about pricing of games over the years.

The reason the companies making the games have charged a (relatively) consistant price through the years, is because their consumer base has increased by a factor of 10-100, perhaps even more, depending on the game (I'm looking at COD6.) The production cost has increased at a rate similar to roughly that of the consumer base. In fact, the consumer base has raised significanly more than the cost of production for a handful of recent popular games. We get good games, because so many people choose to buy them.

I'm not taking one side or the other about content vs money, but I feel most people seem to lack either the history of the cost of the production of games to the number of consumers, or seem to forget the content we get now is considerably more ample than most games in the past. Before we used to have the same few levels that were incredibly hard to beat, but only took two hours for a gamer of reasonable skill. Now most games have a minimum of six to eight hours without sending us to the first level after a few deaths...

 

[The Austin]

He-he. As soon as I saw that title I thought, "Dragon Age made a new expansion eh?" (Because it's 40$ for 15 hours of gameplay, compared to the basic game, 60$ for 75 hours+)

But I remember when there was a time when the most expensive games were 50$, not 60$. I miss those times.

 

[SantoUno]

Hey everyone, my name is Autum and I'm definitely a game lover. But I've noticed over the past couple of years that games have been getting less original, less challenging, and less enjoyable overall, even though we're still spending sixty bucks a pop for them!

So for my creative writing class at Penn State University, I'm going to write an article about this terrible epidemic, and I was hoping to get some input from real gamers like you guys. What do you think about today's games? Are they getting better? Worse? What games do you remember that gave you a genuine challenge and lasted more than two days worth of play time? And if all of this is true, why do you still buy and play video games?

I would really appreciate your help guys, so anything you can give me would be great. If I really like what you've said, I'll send you a private message asking if you would mind me using your quote in my article and a little more information about yourself for that purpose as well.

Thanks so much everyone!
Autum

Well I believe that the quality has truly plunged in this generation. Seriously pretty much every generation up until now has not only had many quality titles but some underrated and unappreciated gems.

Today however, it seems as if standards for video game quality have gone up too high, so now most "decent" or "playable" games are now considered either rubbish or passable. Simply the quality of games this generation is not keeping up with our quickly rising standards.

As for whether we are getting our money's worth this gen, I believe we are being ripped off more than ever. That doesn't mean that every game is ripping us off at $60 or needs to be deeply packed with content, but it sure feels like developers and publishers are starting to serve us short while charging more.

 

[Pingieking]

Hey everyone, my name is Autum and I'm definitely a game lover. But I've noticed over the past couple of years that games have been getting less original, less challenging, and less enjoyable overall, even though we're still spending sixty bucks a pop for them!

That $60~70 a pop is decreasing at an average rate of about 3% a year. Since the prices haven't changed for about 15~20 years now, I don't think you main premise stands.

As for the "less original, less challenging, and less enjoyable overall" statements, I'll agree with the first two. Being less enjoyable is merely an opinion, and I have yet to see any kind of evidence suggesting that gamers find new games to be less enjoyable. Less challenging; yes. Less original; yes, but this is more our (as in we the consumers) fault than the developers or publishers. They're simply responding to the consumer's tastes, and we've told them over and over again that we don't want originality. They, being decent companies who want to succeed by providing gamers what they want, simply listened to us and proceeded to be unoriginal.

Now on to the second paragraph. I think today's games are good. I tend to like them more than older games, because I like games that look pretty. Are they getting better? Not really. But that's not exactly a surprise. Game making is more of an art form; I don't expect them to keep getting better, because it's unreasonable to do so. It's the same reason that people don't expect music to continuously get better; you can improve the technical parts, but there is always a limit to what people can possibly produce. Are they getting worse? Possibly. This is only because of the sheer volume of crap that lands on the Wii and DS. If we take out those, and only focus on quality titles then no, games are not getting worse.

What game do I remember that game me a genuine challenge and lasted more than two days worth of play time? Valkyria Chronicles and Demon's Souls. VC is the game that made me buy a PS3, and Demon's Souls made me even more happy that I had a PS3. Dragon Age: Origins is another one, this copy for the PC. Hearts of Iron 2 and 3 and their various mods have combined for about 600 hours of play time over 4 years. Europa Universalis 2 and 3 (again with various mods) have also consumed about 200 hours over 3 years. MAG's not even out yet, but I've already sunk 40 hours into the week long beta, and I'll easily sink more into it once the game releases.

Since I didn't agree with all of your points, then the last question doesn't apply to me.

 

[Poomanchu745]

One word: BIOWARE. All hail the mighty Mass Effect 2 (30-40 hours) and Dragon Age (50 hours). And both GREAT content. There are good games out there you just gotta look past the crap (MW2).