The Dumbing Down of Video Games

[Valentine82]

Many of you are too young (as in, you've just hit puberty) to recall games like Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic, Fallout and Fallout 2, Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn, and Planescape Torment. Despite their often times well written and deeply interactive stories, the gamer and thus the market has gone in a dumber and more intellectually lazy direction.

Enter the era of dumbed down gaming. Most gamers will be perfectly content with the contrived and mediocre, and most giants of the industry have noticed this. Who needs a meaningful and interactive storyline when you have a pet dog and a big sword? Who needs a solid plot and a decent ending when you have explosions and super mutants? Why have a deep and innovative game when you can have a dumbed down collection of colorful Mini-Games? Kudos to anyone who knows the games I'm speaking of.

Maybe this follows a trend in evolution. Statistically people with an IQ level between 90-100 are more likely to have children and are likely to have more children that people with an IQ level of 110 or above. Given the heritability of intelligence, games and movies aren't just dumbing down, all of society is dumbing down. Society has become more enlightened, but it hasn't become more intelligent. We don't really have to worry about Idiocracy becoming a reality because 90 seems to be where IQ levels bottom out before becoming a hindrance on social function, but we face the real possibility of humanity becoming every bit as dumbed down as our entertainment media has become.

 

[Halfbreed13]

Two words:
Console Tards

 

[KiKiweaky]

hmm dumbing down or just saving money by not putting as much into games?

 

[curlycrouton]

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.

 

[CNKFan]

Deus Ex 3 is rumored to come out by the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year so we wil have some good thought provoking stories and what-not. So long as the don't cock it up like Deus Ex 2.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Two words:
Console Tards

Why replies were necessary after this blatant win, I'll never know.

 

[Halfbreed13]

Two words:
Console Tards

Why replis were necessary after this blatant win, I'll never know.

Thank you
*Eats cookie*

 

[Abedeus]

Two words:
Console Tards

Pretty much. Consoles need a lot of easy games to make a huge customer base. I mean, a lot of people have PCs for other things than games. On consoles, you have ONLY games and you must attract customers somehow.

 

[UnderOath1617]

Two words:
Console Tards

Agreed. I also had a friend of mine wonder why I played Left 4 Dead when the graphics weren't as good as Gears of War. A lot of people are less inclined to give a game a chance if the graphics aren't shiny and new. Thus, companies are forced to spend so much time on graphics to appeal to the casual crowd.

 

[Valentine82]

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.

No I'm not viewing the past through Rose colored glasses, I've recently replayed reviewed the games I mentioned in comparison to today's games, and they had more well written and interactive storylines, quests, ect than any of the games you mentioned.

Anyway thank you for proving my point, but I have to agree with you that Bioshock was a wonderfully atmospheric version of the older game it's based upon (Didn't know that though, did you?).

 

[Valentine82]

Tenmar thank you very much for your intelligent and thought out reply. You make a good argument that I hadn't considered too, I appreciate it.


CNKFan like many who played Deus Ex 2, I loved how open ended each zone was, and all the intrigue the game provided. Also, like many, I was disappointed at being locked out of the Enclave after finishing the main mission there. It wasn't really a big deal, but it did get on a lot of gamers nerves as was noted on the forums (Apparently I wasn't the only one who liked decorating the Club with rag doll bodies and storing all my weapons in the basement). I have to say the four endings and the intriguing story more than made up for my inconvenience.

If Deux Ex 3 comes out as just a tad more open ended, as in allowing us to return to places we've been once we're finished there, that game is definitely one I'm going to buy before I try. That is, assuming it doesn't have an EA logo on it

Dumbing down? I think not.

Go far enough and you'll see Mario.

The second best selling game ever, about a plumber that jumps on shit to save a princess from a giant turtle.

Intelligent my ass.

Oh and Mass Effect and BioShock were both intelligent games, I expect more of that from the games sequels and from Dragon Age: Origins.

Psychosocial, I'm sorry that you think I'm comparing Mario Bros to Mass Effect. Have fun playing with your little straw man, you clearly didn't read my post or you would know that I cited examples of the types of games I'm talking about.

Sorry, but Mass Effect, despite having pretty graphics, can't hold a candle to many of the games I mentioned in terms of story line. We shouldn't really expect it to though, it's just the first part of a trilogy. And Yeah, Bioshock was a great rip-off of the game it was based upon. I liked Bioshock and I don't consider it dumbed down, but that's an exception to the general rule.

 

[curlycrouton]

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.

No I'm not viewing the past through Rose colored glasses, I've recently replayed reviewed the games I mentioned and in comparison to today's games, and they had more well written and interactive storylines, quests, ect than any of the games you mentioned.

Anyway thank you for proving my point, but I have to agree with you that Bioshock was a wonderfully atmospheric version of the older game it's based upon (Didn't know that though, did you?).

In your opinion they were better. However, I think that the less advanced technology rendered them less capable of portraying interesting storylines (although there are many notable exceptions to that statement). I enjoy games from all eras, from Heroes of Might and Magic to Crysis Warhead, and it is my belief that games are becoming more intelligent and complex as ever, again with some exceptions.

And please, do not assume my ignorance. I am very much aware of, and do in fact own a copy of, both System Shock 1&2. I thought Bioshock was superior to its "ancestors", but only just. the System Shock games (System Shock 2 especially) were fantastic, and I thought they were a perfect demonstration of how to effectively inspire an atmosphere of extreme tension and loneliness in a game, but I think Bioshock managed to improve on that, and create an incredible and fascinating world.

 

[Shamanic Enzan]

What caused it all? Pandering. As mentioned earlier in the topic the industry is just that, an industry. A majority of corporations just want your wallet in theirs, and what usually makes a lot of money? Simple stories anyone can explain and since a majority of the gaming populace (however narrow that majority is becoming) is male, fantasies involving big boombooms and big womanly parts will sell well. Sure some creators may try something different (Valve being a key player in the "immersion" and new forms of gameplay) and will do quite well off of it. However others will do the same thing *ahem*MirrorsEdge*ahem* and since it falls flat on its face come review and sales time, no one will A) want to refine that concept into something that works, and B) try something new.

For those of you who aren't little fan boys like myself, "Enzan" is the Japanese name for Chaud, operator of Blues/Protoman.EXE in the Battle Network series of the Mega Man franchise. The original few games in the series (I'm talking 1-3 people) were actually very good in all departments. The question is: Would they have been released or sold well had they not had the Franchise's mark? They were decent, take out all the MM references and you still have (in my fanboy opinion feel free to fire away) good stand alone games. However many people I know who purchased them either played them on my game boy or saw the Blue Bomber on it. I find myself stuck in the very same "Is this still good or am I just buying the franchise" situation with the sequel to the BN series, Star Force. Sure the game play is revamped a bit and the story is still somewhat interesting but would I really be playing it if I hadn't played BN 1-6?

All in all it's a mixture of the two: Pandering to grab everyone's wallet and banking on nostalgia to keep selling. Less work = crappier games and unfortunately stories are the first to die.

 

[War Chief Will]

First of all IQ is a myth. Secondly, It ain't dumbing down....it's just hard to make a game with an excellent story that people cann skip by pressing the A/X button.

 

[Beltaine]

And please, do not assume my ignorance. I am very much aware of, and do in fact own a copy of, both System Shock 1&2. I thought Bioshock was superior to its "ancestors", but only just. the System Shock games (System Shock 2 especially) were fantastic, and I thought they were a perfect demonstration of how to effectively inspire an atmosphere of extreme tension and loneliness in a game, but I think Bioshock managed to improve on that, and create an incredible and fascinating world.

I completely agree.

I had a friend who annoyed the hell out of me constantly whining about how Bioshock was an inferior rehash of System Shock 2.

I played the original System Shock when it was released and found it to be a confusing mess.

So, when I finished up Bioshock, I gave SS2 a shot. I saw the similarities, appreciated what it was trying to do, but ultimately enjoyed the streamlined experience of Bioshock more.

The "failed rehash" argument about Bioshock is old and tired. Bioshock deserves merit on its own, regardless of what games were produced before it.

"Less is more" is an appropriate summation. However, that doesn't always work out in video games.

 

[Erana]

*sings*
Games are worthless, unless they can...
Make a complete stranger, break down,
and...
Cryyy.....

Wait, this isn't an Imogen Heap song? Pardon me.
Really, though, Go play an average NES game.

 

[Valentine82]

Curly, to say that they were better written is not a matter of opinion, there are actual literary standards by which they can be judged. I didn't say that the games themselves were better, I think Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Assassin's Creed are too different from one another for any reasonable standard of comparison to be drawn, but the former was better written than the latter. Assassin's creed, by the way, is a very dumbed down game. It's run and stab action with little story other than "Go Here, Kill Guys, Ark of the Covenant Cliche" and you bring that up in comparison to the games I mentioned (Planescape Torment, for example).

And I'm sorry, it's hard not to assume the ignorance of someone who compares Portal to Baldur's Gate 2, I mean one is a fun but fairly simple pick up and play action/puzzel game that plays with physics and all that fun stuff, and one is a deep story driven adventure title with lots of dialogue and character development. How you compare one to the other is beyond me. Yes, Bioshock is superior in many respects than the games it was based on, but my point there is that Bioshock is an exception to the rule and owes a lot of it's success to the older game that inspired it.

 

[Valentine82]

Oh and Beltaine, please read my above response to Curly.