Poll: Games today and those who play them.

[Vescosein]

Hi, it's one of my first couple posts on this forum. I had made my account to address someones strange notion that video games were about art and you were an idiot for buying games that were of "not high quality" and "viewing them as entertainment only"

Well this is sort of an extension of my rage. I post on 4chans /v/ image board so I know the low end of opinions on games and what "pseudo intellectuals" think games should be.

Personally I don't mind games are getting easier. Sure I'd like a challenge, but if a developer can make a game more accessible for people so more can enjoy it then that's great. (I personally don't believe the "the general public is stupid" statement because every single person thinks this, so who's the general public?)

Look at call of duty it's rehashed every year, but people buy it because it's fun for them and it's so accessibly easy to pick up and play(not because of stupidity). Of course competitors will copy this formula.

The real problem with games in my opinion are the people playing them. These try hard intellectuals who think smart people couldn't possibly enjoy something easy and everything needs to be a huge difficult trial of skill instead of entertainment and fun. They're toxic to the industry and communities.


I'm sorry I'm rambling, I have a lot of opinions {probably far different from yours, but that's alright. We all need different views of things)

I personally just think we need to all calm down and enjoy video games for fun and entertainment instead of making everything an intellectual pissing content between "intelligent" adults online.

I think this would be better suited for discussion here than anyone else because I believe you guys are a pretty decent community.

 

[OneStepAhead]

If you really have a problem with "intelligent adults" playing reasonably, and respectively, then you don't belong on the Escapist...

OT: The general public IS stupid, and i believe it's not so much the accessibility of casual games, as much as the crowd of people they attract. Personally, I do like a challenge in the games i play, i like them to think outside the box and give me a unique obstacle to overcome.
To make myself clear, these are my PERSONAL opinions, and shouldn't be taken all to seriously. I'm not attacking or insulting anyone, this is just my view on the topic.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Here are some opinifacts

You can make a game more accessible without dumbing it down or making it easier. Some games fail at that.

As the demographic ages games get easier so you cant blame kids. When the avg video gamer was under 20 games were harder than eva.

Another thing to add. Dumbing down doesn't always improve sales. See Fable 3 and Dragon Age 2.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Where is the option for Metrics?

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I like things the way they are. And the general population for any medium has low standards. I find them more "toxic" (I find no one toxic, but if we have to say which is more detrimental than the other). They can cause stagnation and do not reward creativity. My favorite example: Meet The Spartans grossed more money than Pan's Labyrinth at the box office.

 

[Drakos.Amatras]

Not being critical/analytical about things is a pretty sure-fire way to become a mindless consumer-base waiting to be exploited with low-quality products. Why don't you try Googling "Moff's Law"? I'm sure it'll provide a direct, clear answer on why people like to use their heads.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

Does anyone else miss the days when games were just fun. If they had a story or memorable characters great good for them, but the fun always came first. Now the story and characters are front and center and fun is left in the corner playing with a tumbleweed.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

Neither. Games are going mainstream, get over it.

Just like other entertainment media, there'll be the big money-winners that appeal to a wide audience and there'll be niche titles that appeal to a few. Just because Call of Duty happens to be the Michael Bay film of the games industry doesn't preclude the creation and continued existence of smart, innovative or artful games. Neither are inherently harmful and can be enjoyed by their target audiences exclusive of one another.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I think this would be better suited for discussion here than anyone else because I believe you guys are a pretty decent community.

And we tend to not take ourselves (or games) too seriously.
I don?t mind games that try and take an intellectual route but people often overestimate the intellectual cache and pretend like it?s going to change the world... like with Bioshock. Sure it had some deeper meaning than ?shoot everyone that isn?t a little girl? but it wasn?t some amazing breakthrough that?s going to be talked about by philosophers for centuries to come either.
What bothers me is the pretentiousness that usually accompanies it or when a series that usually doesn?t take itself too seriously is all of a sudden trying to get me to take it seriously; I?m looking at you gta4.
I think games should be entertaining and/or challenging above everything else. If someone can fit some deeper meaning in there and make it look natural, that?s just delicious icing on the cake. But when it seems all forced and contrived, it can really dampen the mood.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I dunno...yes, there are lots of games around that are universally known [footnote]by me[/footnote] to be rubbish, but that doesn't stop games existing that aren't. You have to wade through alot of rubbish to find decent stuff, but it's still there.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Does anyone else miss the days when games were just fun. If they had a story or memorable characters great good for them, but the fun always came first. Now the story and characters are front and center and fun is left in the corner playing with a tumbleweed.

The Fun is the casualty of failed accessibility.

 

[Mad1Cow]

It's not the "intelectuals" that are ruining the market, UNLESS they are forcing you to change decisions because that game wasn't rewarding for them. I have friends going into the gaming industry that love Sonic and Fable and think Portal is one of the worst games created and while I'm opposed to this, I'm not about to start waving the crusade banners to convert them. Seems to me, you're confusing intelectuals with dicks. Anyone who pulls the whole "I'm right because I say I am so shut up" card ruin anything, especially in vast numbers.

Now what I do think is ruining the games industry is a lack of choice. I know it's because of the whole "well it sells, so let's make more" and money is important because of food etc. But I've looked through the games that are advertised and all across the game shops and they are all dark, grim, violent games. Sure they all look different from your Mass Effects and Bioshocks to your Final Fantasy's and WoW, but they're not very inviting to outsiders of the medium who are the people who claim it's stealing their children's virginity. Some family orientated games that don't look gimmicky would be nice, because while the general public are idiots, customers aren't dumb.

Now people familiar with the industry will just go, "oh well, we have Nintendo to do family games, so that's plenty" but that's still pretty niche. For every Viva Pinata or Mini Ninjas, there are about 50 Halo and CoD duplicates. I think if we had a few more GOOD family games in the industry, gamers should play it because it's fun and people wouldn't call it blasphemous as much since it's not as alien and looks more inviting. Heck with the recent Pony outburst, that just shows that we will try anything so long as it's good in some way. As it stands though, the gaming industry is just too alien to an outsider, so we need to be asking for more appropriate games to make it more globally accepted. That's the main barrier we need to tackle I think and the wii did a good job starting that, but people will go straight back to "Games are Evil" if nobody continues on from that.

Oh and before I get haters, this was a personal opinion, I'm not a Nintendo lover, motion controls are horrible.

 

[Zhukov]

Eh. I'm more-or-less happy with games as they are.

I just wish developers would put some more effort into narrative and characterization.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

"This is a game. Games are meant to be fun." This works wonders. As long as you're having fun, you have a reason to play a game. Not every game needs to be heralded as art, and not every game is targeted towards you. This happens, especially as the industry moves from niche appeal to mass market appeal. There are high brow games, there are mind-rupturingly hard games, there are time passers, there are titles of unparalleled story and character and artistic merit, there are simulations for damn near everything from murder and war to owning a bakery, and there are games your three year old sister can enjoy playing. This all matters. Some of us have a place in our subconscious specifically for platforming, of challenging ourselves with our without a story. Others feel the need to fill someone else full of lead/lead substitute. Some of us like to wrack our brains, competing against developers to see how we compare to them in terms of intellect and puzzle solving. Some of us like to perform 16-button combinations that let us utterly destroy someone else. Others come for the highest of quality brown and grey textures, while others yet prefer their HD polish to be more of the green and blue variety. These are all games, and all meant to be played. Whether you're here for the art, or here for the fun, there's a game for you.

 

[Kaanyr Vhok]

I intend to bash the escapist by saying this and I want to offend the applicable. This maybe the only game forum where a poll would play out like this. Right now 50% is in the dont worry be happy mold and most of the rest are blaming intellectuals.

 

[Giantpanda602]

Another thing to add. Dumbing down doesn't always improve sales. See Fable 3 and Dragon Age 2.

Sales for DA 2 were improved though.

 

[AlternatePFG]

While I agree with your general point, I still do not like it when games are too simple. I have no problem with simple games, but still I prefer games with depth to their gameplay.

But yeah, I do agree on the intellectuals thing, not every single game needs to push the medium forward. Yeah, BioShock had a pretty good story, but it wasn't like it was the masterpiece many claim it was.

@GiantPanda602: Yeah, but not nearly as much as they wanted the sequel to improve the sales.