Poll: Is it Good or Bad that games is now mainstream?

[MiserableOldGit]

Its a double edged sword- on the one hand its provided the cash required to put together high budget titles - most modern games would be beyond the reach of even the most talented people if they were still making them from home like back in the old days (remember when the best way to get games was by mail prder direct from the chap that made them?..). On the other hand, it also means that games get dumbed down to cater for the lowest common denominator, Gears of War 2 is a prime example (an 18 rated game blatantly aimed at 15 year old smack tards-how did they get away with that?). You just have to be picky and find the gems in amoungst the shite - let the morons have their fodder, it provides cash and resources for the good games.
One thing that really pisses me off is that now games are suddenly cool people that thought you were wierd at school are suddenly playing them and acting like they liked them all along-anyone seen that bird on Xbox live that reviews games? "I loved the original street fighter 2 and I'm sooo glad its back" MY ARSE! OK, maybe she was an exception and was the only girl at school that loved games, but I know which way I'd bet next months rent...

 

[MikeOfThunder]

I game is main stream because its a good game to most people... So i would say good thing. Although there are games that i dont think are great and sold well (Left4dead - thought was a bit shit for the price really)

 

[AbsoluteVirtue18]

I think it's good, because if I go to a store to buy games I might actually see someone I know, considering most of my friends aren't "hardcore" gamers.

 

[A Raging Emo]

I'm not sure... with games like Wii Sports and Guitar Hero/Rockband everyone seems to be playing games now. Because of the Wii, it's no trendy to like video games!

Of course, the majority of actual gamers realise that the Wii's main selling point to people who weren't gamers was the Motion Control; not the games, but the motion control. People bought 360's for Halo 3, Mass Effect, Left 4 Dead, et cetera. People bought PS3's for MGS4, Killzone 2, LBP, et cetera. People bought Wii's for the motion control.

Of course, there were a selct few who did buy a Wii for the games on it. I did when I had a Wii (I sold it to buy more 360 Stuff), as I knew Twilight Princess was a good game.

Sorry, I was rambling.

What I'm trying to say is, because lot's of people are playing games now, so more generic/bad games are being made because these people who don't really know about games will buy them. That makes it harder for us to find games that are good.

 

[Proteus214]

I'm going to say that it is a bad thing. The fact that it's mainstream means that there are more consumers that the publishers are going to try and cater to, which means that all these big budget titles that are coming out are going to be designed to appeal to as many people as possible. This leads to a watered down experience, crowbarred-in unwanted elements, and less time for the developers to create the game that they actually WANT to make.

 

[Buccura]

Just because something is mainstream doesn't mean it's bad. Rock Band is very mainstream and it's now one of my favorite game franchises of all time because it is damn fun. Gears of War is also mainstream but it's also a (mostly) fun game that I enjoy playing with friends. It's mainstream games like Halo(shock I know) that I don't like cause it proves to me how entertained the masses are by mediocrity. Is it good or bad? Honestly, I don't know. I suppose maybe I'll have to go with bad, because of how developers can see how the masses are easily entertained and as such their products' value reflects this.

 

[uncle-ellis]

It's crap It just means that;

1. x box live is over run with shit heads.
2. More games are heartless cash ins that require almost no actual development because it has gritty lion eating space marines that shoot death at aliens (or if you're a girl it has a cooking book in it(female empowerment win!)).

/rant

 

[veloper]

Just hoping the industry will not forget the real gamers, opposed to just making easy games for retards.

 

[chstens]

I don't care.

 

[Sejs Cube]

It's good. More exposure means more development and dedication to the medium.

Any clinging to some sort of imagined elitism, "back in MY day" bullshit is just retardation.

Boy, films sure were better when it was only a distraction for the well to do and very few people made movies. Boy, literature sure was better when the majority of the population couldn't read.

 

[wgreer25]

Well, it's both. It is good because being more mainstream means that there is more money for the industry and thus production value are higher.

It is bad because they are starting to fall into the Hollywood backhole of quality. I call it the Hasbro effect. You have a great concept (GI Joe, Transformers) and are able to turn it into nothing more than flashy lights and explosions... because you know it will make money. Halo is doing this, I'm sorry Halo fans, but there is not need for further Halo games, but thanks to the Hasbro effect, they will continue to churn them out.

The gaming industry is not that bad (as a whole)... yet. There are plenty of good "new" titles being released. Assassin's Creed, Batman AA, Dead Space, Mirror's Edge... all new IPs and all pretty darn good (IMHO). The Hollywood syndrome will kick in and you will see thousands of sequels to these games, but the difference between Hollywood and games it that sequels tend to be better than the original (in games, not movies).

But I digress... Yes it is good in that there is more money/investors in the industry, which means that there will be more people willing to put their money into independant producers (I will point out Braid and LBP, both AWESOME games). And the same goes for movies, but IMO the ratio of good movies to bad is like 1/10 (1 good/ 10 bad). Games are about 1/3 currently. And these independent producers usually teach the "big boys" something about how to make a movie/game, so everybody wins.

 

[suhlEap]

both, it's bad because it means that some games are aimed solely at casual gamers which generally means that they won't be as good.
but it's good because it means that games companies are pushed to try and make better games.