The Dumbing Down of Video Games

[BolognaBaloney]

This isn't just a video game exclusive phenomenon. Look at movies and books as well.

See: Twilight and any "Blank Movie"

Exactly, the simpler media is, the greater the appeal.

 

[scotth266]

So there is your answer. There will still be deep and engrossing games made because the market is there. Just don't expect it to be a standard because video games are considered toys in the end and do not have the same media credit as books or movies. I do love it when a video game makes me think about hard issues.

Yeah, that sums it up pretty well. This has also revived my desire to make a text-based game, because those can be about anything. Heck, I could make one about a man in a asylum, trying to escape while slowly going mad in the process...

I got a better idea, same plot but have it be an american looking for a career but being unsucessful.

That could be the final reveal: the character was insane all along, and he was really just doing something that mundane throughout the whole thing. You'd need to intertwine things to a crazy amount though...

 

[Shotzey]

I dont agree with the fallout 3 reference.

answers: Fable 2, Fallout 3, and im gonna say wii play.

 

[Shotzey]

Oh sorry you were refrencing the ending of fallout 3. That was crap.

 

[thenoblitt]

I have one thing to say to you sir Mass Effect kicks ass and its made by the same guys who made baldurs gate

 

[Gaming_Purist]

Two words:
Console Tards

I agree. Ever since gaming went mainstream with consoles, QA has gone out the window.

 

[Singularly Datarific]

Two words:
Console Tards

Consoles work for split-screen, a decent advantage over computers, but any other time I'd take a PC version.

 

[quack35]

Not sure if the industry is being "dumbed down", there are just fewer old-school RPGs like the ones you mentioned.

Maybe we need more of those?

 

[YuheJi]

Assassin's Creed story was pretty much "Go here, kill guy, come back, Ark Cliche, Illuminati" and, well, it wasn't even original in any thing but making you an assassin with magic DNA.

I found the story rather engrossing, how all of the people you assassinate claim to have been trying to bring peace, and present their argument to you. Admittedly, it didn't mesh very well with the gameplay, and I thought it felt somewhat forced.

And btw, PCs do allow more variety, and let developers put way more stuff than is needed. Imagine playing The Witcher on a console, going through items, switching combat styles, making potions, etc. It wouldn't be too much fun.

 

[quack35]

More Fun To Compute Well, when I brought up the general trend in evolution, it was because I've noticed that there are an almost endless amount of idiot frat boys who will be perfectly contented with any title that has big breasts and explosion in it, regardless of bad the writing and how moronic the story driven elements and plot devices are.

How does that make them stupid?

How the hell can you judge someone's intelligence based on their game preferences?

 

[eelel]

i can see this to a point but i don't think we have hit the point of no return yet there are many games that are bad especially for the wii but with online flash based game sources available it is easy to make games and that is not to say the big names aren't trying i think bioware honestly tried with fallout 3 and while it is not like the first 2 i think they made a prity good game and then there are games like persona 3 that have an interesting plot line and interesting characters and good game play in conclusion there are good games out there u just need to look for them

 

[BolognaBaloney]

More Fun To Compute Well, when I brought up the general trend in evolution, it was because I've noticed that there are an almost endless amount of idiot frat boys who will be perfectly contented with any title that has big breasts and explosion in it, regardless of bad the writing and how moronic the story driven elements and plot devices are.

How does that make them stupid?

How the hell can you judge someone's intelligence based on their game preferences?

Also, he critiques only the plot and story-line, so does he wish to rule out fun games that lack story, such as gears?

 

[Saskwach]

This may already have been said, but I look for intellectual stimulation in other forms than games. I read lots of history and linguistics, and I've started learning a language - those are my intellectual activities. Hell, I even play pen and paper RPGs for the "deep" number crunching. So when I buy new videogames, intelligence isn't my goal; I want to asplode stuff.

 

[Valiance]

There's still a niche market for this...

 

[Yokai]

Two words:
Console Tards

I agree, like most everyone else. The majority of console owners just want to kill things in pretty environments and care little for the storyline or even the gameplay. I have a feeling that if you made a game that was exactly like Halo 3 just with different weapons and a different setting, it would be a smash hit. Fortunately for us, not all developers have fallen to this level. Bioware, Bethesda, and Valve are among the few that haven't.

 

[JohnSmith]

I actually hope that in-depth RPG style games aren't being made. I now play pen and paper RPG's and until we can make a game with some of the options open to me that I have when a flesh and blood Dungeon master is in control I don't want to see RPG style games attempting it. This is because it frequently leads to a bad case of the "why can't I.." syndrome i.e. why can't I just nail the door shut and laugh at my enemies trying to break in.

Furthermore I really don't think games have been dumbed down that much. For instance you may see Mass Efect as considerably less sophisticated (intellectually) than BG2:SA but really rather than telling its story with scrolling text boxes it told it with action scenes and if that makes your inner elitist cringe because your worried that the masses might be encroaching on your territory tough luck.

P.S. Are you aware that I.Q. is distributed by Standard deviations. This means that more people between 90-100 IQ have children because there are more of them than all the people above 110 put together. Also IQ is a terribly broken system, it was never meant to test average people it was originally developed as an aid for diagnosing learning difficulties.

Also would it kill you to reply to people politely (notes a certain hypocrisy but continues anyway) I mean the fact that they are comparing things that are irrelevant to your central argument aside why be nasty about it.

 

[Captain Ninja]

Well I am a younger generation of gaming so i unfortunately do not know much about the games that you speak of but i agree. i rarely come across a game that has story line i really enjoy the MGS story line really impressed me.

but i think the reason most games have horrible story line is because people don't care about story line these days. all my friends play games like cod4 or halo 3. Maybe GTA or something but they never say "that's a great story line" they are more interested in playing online, trying to prove who is better in the rest of the world. Hell! soem of my friends dont even look at the main storyline going straight to online play.

it saddens me. because i really think story lines are a key fact in any good video game.

 

[wgreer25]

What about Half Life 2, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, and Portal, to name just a few? I believe you are merely viewing the past through rose-tinted glasses, as it were.

I have to agree with curlycrouton, I am 32 and I played all the games you spoke of. They were all great, but for each one of those great games, there were also 50 horrible ones. The problem is that you do still have great games with good story and depth(I will cite Assassin's Creed, Bioshock, Shadow of Colossus, Okami, Braid, Mass effect), but since games are more mainstrean, everyone is throwing their hat into the ring. So the ratio of good to bad games may be a little skewed due to overpopulation, but there are about the same number of good/deep games now as there was 5-10 years ago.

You also have the problem of technology. As technology advances, the scientists/engineers want to find more things to do with it. So many games are just pushing the technology and not creativity. This comes and goes. We have just hit a big technology spurt, so the softwares spurt should follow (i.e. better creativity with the current technology).

Also, as to your comment about the IQ of society, I agree. Stupid people are breeding and we have to stop them. I am an engineer with an IQ of 145 and my wife and I have been trying to have a child for over 18 months... how is it the tards of the world can breed so much better than us?

 

[Optimus Hagrid]

Two words:
Console Tards

I agree, like most everyone else. The majority of console owners just want to kill things in pretty environments and care little for the storyline or even the gameplay. I have a feeling that if you made a game that was exactly like Halo 3 just with different weapons and a different setting, it would be a smash hit. Fortunately for us, not all developers have fallen to this level. Bioware, Bethesda, and Valve are among the few that haven't.

That's not necessarily true. A lot of XBL players I know are wisening up to the fact that most recent games are, in fact, droll. To be frank, we're getting a bit sick of it.