Thread: Is it me or have games been going downhill...

I'm about to go to bed so I'm not going to get into a lot of detail, but basically game publishers and designers are only out to make a quick buck, and they can't do that if people are constantly getting frustrated at the complexity or difficulty of some games. To make more money they have to appeal to a wider audience, and that means making games simpler and easier to beat.

Really the game industry is just trying to keep itself afloat, and this is the best way they see how to do it; appeal to as many people who don't have the time, energy or skill to beat a half decent game as possible. Which means designers dumbing down their games by emphasizing less on the development of skill and problem solving by the player to win. This isn't the case for all game designers, but as you have noticed this is becoming more and more of a trend for quick money making.

Oh... graphics?
Yeah... that's been what's going on.

You see, when 3D came into existence... people were amazed and in awe...
But when good gameplay appeared in 3D, people were astounded.
Then 3D became BETTER 3D. PEOPLE WENT BANANAS.

It happened around mid-Playstation.
When Playstation hit a graphics-mark people haven't seen normally, the gaming industry took notice at the sales for better graphics.
The gaming industry also noticed that people tended to avoid bad-graphics, even if the gameplay was beyond fun.

That's where the gaming industry split.
Playstation headed for graphics.
Xbox tried to show off its PC-esque capabilities (which included graphics).
Nintendo still aimed for gameplay.
And SEGA... well, they were unfortunate. Too soon, SEGA, too soon.

Playstation had awesome gameplays in upcoming 3D games, but if you really took notice: The gameplays were becoming more stale as the graphics got better... it was the same thing over and over, even though the systems could handle better controls and action-sequences. ( Good example: Kingdom Hearts gameplay... though fun to most of you, you do realize that it could have been 100000x better, right? ...or do you not remember old games? ...or are you just blinded by the fanfiction and colors? )

Xbox... well... they're Xbox... they're like PC gaming: Add more features, add better graphics, and add even more options--- but they tend to skip out on gaming. All their genres follow a certain formula that they think they've perfected (but that's not completely true)..... henceforth, it feels like all they focus on is graphics, but really, they've never really been top-notch in gameplay. -Not saying it ain't fun, just saying that they aren't that innovative in controls.

And Nintendo kept following the same formula they always had. The sad thing is, Nintendo didn't really care about graphics... they thought gaming hasn't reached its potential in gameplay yet, and thought the gaming industry was too focused on graphics- of which they could have worked on anytime. So as truth shows: Graphics has gone to the gamers... most gamers tend to hate the Wii because of its "old-gen" graphics and unfamiliar gameplay.


But Wii's paved the way for the other systems... the other systems' companies realized how much of a "threat" the Wii was, and started planning on future console controls.

Gameplay doesn't suck nowadays, it's just not new (except on the Wii side)... sure, we get more options and more graphics - but whatever happened to a good ol' fun-time with family like we used to have with the old Nintendo? (I remember constantly playing Super Mario Bros. 3 with my family all the time)
Gamers have kinda' burned that path a long time ago ( when their parents told them that video games were from the devil ), only new gamers and loyal Nintendo fans still appreciate that kinda' thing.

Originally Posted by Exoparadapsyphobia

Really the game industry is just trying to keep itself afloat, .

Excuse me... WHAT?

Last I checked, the revenues from video game sales, including consoles, Surpass that of the Movie or Music Industries. Combined.

The game industry is in no way endangered of going belly up, its just that good games take a couple years to develope, and the studio's that make them can only make one game at a time, so that means that good games, like Gears of War, Halo, Rockband, Final Fantasy, almost anything that Wil Write touches, take several years to come to fruition, so there will be a few years between games, meaning that there will be mediocure and crappy games to come out in the mean time.

Originally Posted by Soshi Kitai

And SEGA... well, they were unfortunate. Too soon, SEGA, too soon.

Had sega put a DvD player into its Dreamcast, they would have won the console wars (At least the first part of it) and drove Sony into the ground, so to speak. What make the Playstation so popular was the fact that other then its gaming capablities, it was a cheap DvD player, it came out when dvds were just coming into the market. If it wasn't for its DvD player, the PS2 would have floundered.

The Dreamcast hardware could easily compeat with the Playstation 2's graphics, its only limitation was the media its games were stored on were CD's, not DvD's, making multidisc games a necessity and that drove up production cost.

The same could be said for the PS3, right now, its the cheapest BluRay player on the market.

Its depend on how much you like that game you got or going to get, if you have tried it before you got it and liked it, then you are going to get it, but if you are basing the game on reviews and graphics then you may be in a dissapointment then you have wasted your money if you cant return it. yeah some classic game are better but some of the new game are good as well

Aceman pretty much hit the nail on the head, but however Exoparadapsyphobia has a point too. Yes, the gaming industry is tryin' ta appeal ta a broader audience, but not necessarilly 'cause it's tryin' ta stay afloat. The gamin' industry is doin' jus' fine, however there r alot of ppl out there who either don' have the time or skills ta sit down and play a video game for long periods at a time. So the gamin' industry is tryin' ta broadin' their horizons and appeal ta that market by creatin' a variety of different games wit different levels of difficulty. They're jus' tryin' ta appeal ta ppl of all different types, ages, and even sexes (although they still have a ways ta go on that part). But also, as Aceman has already stated, it takes years ta develope good games; so the gamin' industry is rakin' in the money by creatin' games that appeal ta ppl who are more casual gamers. It's jus' simple economics.

well, yes aceman has gotten it, like he usually does.

however my opinion is that at this point we are coming to the summer. the summe gaming drought should begin. and if its not a drought its a list of crappy titles made only to keep their businesses afloat if things dont go well for the summertime.

In short Lenne, It's just you. Games are on a high right now. Both gameplay and graphics are becoming better fast. In fact, there are so many good games being released that we don't even have the time anymore to finish them all.

@ Aceman67
I strongly disagree that the PS2 only won the last console generation because it had a DVD drive or that the Dreamcast lost because it didn't have one.
The Dreamcast failed because Sega didn't have the money to compete on the level of the PS2 and because the PS2 had better games + a good name with the first playstation winning the console generation before it.

I never used the DVD drive the PS2 had and I'm one of the early adopters.