Mainstream Games A Meh?

[stok3r]

Is it just me? It can't just be me..

I'm not talking about all the rubbish casual games on Wii and DS. It the big releases on the real consoles. Like, you know what I'm talking about.

The only big release I've played recently is Assassins Creed 2, and, well its pretty good, but its nothing to go back to you know? And my most recent gaming splurge was on all the PS2 Project Zeros and Forbidden Sirens and Silent Hill 2 and 4. And the only current gen title I was looking forward to heaps kinda recently was Star Ocean 4, which is pretty fucking awesome I think. Do they count as mainstream? I don't really think so.. I only seem to be buying older titles recently, or scouring for visual novels.

Mmmm... this turned in to a rant.. Anyway, do you think that the games released nowdays arn't as good as one released on older gen consoles? Yeah I know there are shit ones on them aswell, but there seems to be more better ones

 

[JEBWrench]

However, dig a little deeper on the PC, and you'll find a goldmine of games, some that people have never heard of, but are still brilliant. And they're still being made.

And all of them by Paradox.

On a serious note: Mainstream anything are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The more common gaming becomes, the lower said point of appeal gets. Ergo, to be successful, games need to remain generic to maintain widespread appeal.

 

[stok3r]

However, dig a little deeper on the PC, and you'll find a goldmine of games, some that people have never heard of, but are still brilliant. And they're still being made.

And all of them by Paradox.

On a serious note: Mainstream anything are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The more common gaming becomes, the lower said point of appeal gets. Ergo, to be successful, games need to remain generic to maintain widespread appeal.

Yeah I haven't really looked into PC games that much. I'm more of a console guy. I think the last PC game I bought was FEAR, and the last one I played was Braid. Still pretty good.

I haven't done it, but I think that if I count up all the games I really liked on PS2 in-particular, it would outway all the games I really like on current gen consoles. Especially on the Wii. There were I think 3 games I really wanted, but were ruined by the remote. I just can't use it, it really annoys me. And its annoying how they dont have an option to use a Gamecube controller on all the games that can use one, like Metroid and Zelda and such. Anyway, because of that, thats an entire console I cant play. Hmm, kinda off topic..

I'll have a look into Paradox, I haven't heard of them

 

[MiserableOldGit]

However, dig a little deeper on the PC, and you'll find a goldmine of games, some that people have never heard of, but are still brilliant. And they're still being made.

And all of them by Paradox.

On a serious note: Mainstream anything are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The more common gaming becomes, the lower said point of appeal gets. Ergo, to be successful, games need to remain generic to maintain widespread appeal.

I wonder how many innovative and risky games never made it off the sketchpad in favour of another Gears of Bore clone?... Capitalism shows up and sticks a shiny dollar sign on it and fucks it up as always. Businessmen have a legitimate place in the world, but we have to remember the most succesful ones are generally greedy little subhuman fuckwits, and there are some things their dense outlook will destroy simply by getting involved no matter how many shiny toys and cash they offer to chuck at you-art, media; in fact anything that requires passion for its own sake.

 

[dagens24]

Mainstream games are better than ever before.

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[Lullabye]

Star Ocean 4 was a very crappy rpg. Awesome games nowadays are sporadic at best but there are tons of awesome games out there. Such higher production values nowadays. Epic and fun games that come to mind....

Saints Row 2
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Brutal Legend
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect 1 & 2
Fallout 3

The list goes on and on.

Oddly enough, I never really enjoyed Mass effect, or it's sequel. I know it's a good game, I can feel it, but I just couldn't do it. I think the only FPS rpg that I could stomach was Oblivion.

Honestly, I just love the ps2. My favorite games are on that system.
Shadow of the Colossus
Trapt
and so on. Always this system proves to be the most solid, diverse console on the market. The sheer amount of games available for it is astounding, the many developers it helped get established, the ever ever changing standards. It's my favorite system hands down.

 

[JEBWrench]

I wonder how many innovative and risky games never made it off the sketchpad in favour of another Gears of Bore clone?... Capitalism shows up and sticks a shiny dollar sign on it and fucks it up as always. Businessmen have a legitimate place in the world, but we have to remember the most succesful ones are generally greedy little subhuman fuckwits, and there are some things their dense outlook will destroy simply by getting involved no matter how many shiny toys and cash they offer to chuck at you-art, media; in fact anything that requires passion for its own sake.

FPS (and to a lesser extent, TPS) are genres that are easy to go for, let you use flashy graphics engines, and provide people with an immediate thrill.

Thus, people buy them, companies profit, companies make sequels, people buy them. Repeat ad infinitum.

This is precisely why people need to buy original IPs, regardless of quality. (See Edge, Mirror's). Unfortunately, that creates a good chance of the numbers getting misinterpreted, and the generic parts of the original IPs get regurgitated.

If you buy them, they will come.

 

[sean.A7x]

Most games i play i think are good, they are getting better

 

[squid5580]

I think we have reached the originality saturation point. Most of the good ideas have already been done...to death. It isn't just with games but with all media. Music, TV, movies and literature has reached a point where we are being bombarded with clones. And at the same time we expect more since we have better technology.

 

[Tharwen]

You just prompted what could become a useful little thought:

Why bother with DRM when I can just buy great games from indie/smaller developers?

How did I not think of that earlier? How did I not notice other such revelations that presumably litter the internet? How many roads must a man walk? So many questions...

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Perceived quality is inversely proportional with the attempted spread of appeal, ie. you (that is anybody who reads this) will find a particular mainstream game boring because it doesn't feature the things you enjoy as prominently as you think it should. It's not that quality has gone down too much, although DRM and bug plagues are ubiquitous, but most of us old-school gamers have simply grown up enough to develop more specialized/sophisticated tastes. For example, I am rather partial to the old Silent Hill games, but Homecoming was somewhat of a disappointment for me because of a) the stupid combat, b) the horribly awkward romance and c) the characters being underdeveloped. It's not a bad game, but not as appealing to me. And I really hope somewhere within that mess of a text brought on by sleep deprivation lies some sort of logical point...

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Some are, some aren't. All rules have an exeption (think about it), including yours.

 

[UnSeEn60]

I agree with the initial post, most definitely. I find that the older I get, the less I'm interested in mainstream games and the more I'm thrilled with the amazing indie developers that are popping up. Case in point => games like Braid, Ben There Dan That, Plants vs. Zombies, etc.

Having been a gamer for most of my life, I'm getting sick of the overdone Killzone/Call of Duty FPS clones. I'm all for a great brainless killing spree, but developers should realize that sooner or later, the mainstream crowd is going to ask for more. At least, I HOPE they ask for more...

 

[JeanLuc761]

The reason games are mainstream is because they're cheaply made and mediocre, it sells to a lot of people that way just like junk food.

Examples of these games are:

Halo franchise
Gears of War franchise
Uncharted franchise
LittleBigPlanet
etc.

I'll agree that a couple of those titles aren't fantastic but "cheaply made?" Not on your life!

At any rate, this idea that mainstream games suck has been around for a LONG time, partly due to the heavy market population and the fact that developers rarely take risks. When it comes down to it, mainstream is where the money is and I'm just glad there are companies like Bioware and Epic who consistently deliver top notch content that also fits into the definition of "mainstream."

 

[Alarien]

Well, the question is, what are mainstream games, what are indie games, what are "gamers'" games?

There are a lot of popular games that are piss poor. The problem is that the mainstream public now is consuming games, so stuff that would have been considered shit several years ago is now considered a triple AAA title worthy of a franchise.

 

[teutonicman]

Main-stream games I've played recently (within 6 months): Mass effect 2, Ass Creed 2, Army of 2 squared, Fallout 3 DLC, Brutal Legend, MW 2 and DJ Hero. The only ones I thought sucked were; Brutal Legend and Army of 2 squared. Most of the games coming out recently seem to be of at least non-shit quality.