Let me start off by saying that many people will enter this topic who have made up their minds already just from the title that they are going to launch into a defence of gaming. If you read nothing else then I hope you at least read this first paragraph. I don't WANT the videogame industry to suck, heck I have spent the better part of the last five years trying as hard as possible to convince myself that things have become 'different', not worse. As someone whose first memories were based around DOS prompts and gaming and who has spent at least every second day since with a controller or keyboard and mouse in hand there is nothing more in the world that I would like to believe than the idea that videogames are getting better. But I don't feel that I can lie to myself any longer and so this post was born as much to get my thoughts down on 'paper' as to open up discussion. For the sake of avoiding any misunderstandings I feel that starting with a short FAQ would be best:
Q. Boring... Read this all before... PC gaming is dead... Blah, blah, blah... Pack up your keyboard and go home Ronin.
A. I'm sorry that you feel bored. I wrote this post primarily for me, you do not have to read it. As someone that feels that a large part of my identity comes from gaming [being a huge part of my life for 20+ years now] I really felt the need to put this all down on 'paper' if for no other reason than to vent.
Q. So you think all videogames that have been produced over the last 5 or so years and are being produced today are terrible? Have you lost it completely?
A. Certainly not. There are occasionally still good games made [heck Minecraft came out in the last 5 years and that was fantastic] but I do believe the overall quality of the industry and games has dropped dramatically.
Q. You are wrong!
A. You are certainly entitled to believe that. I can understand why you would feel that way... I certainly spent a lot of my time trying to convince myself that I was wrong too. I wish I could still convince myself most days.
The Rise of Gaming for Me:The first gaming rig I owned was a rig that ran DOS. I loved the crap out of that computer and managed to amass quite a collection of floppy disks. It certainly wasn't convenient or easy to be a gamer... Hardware cost a small fortune and I remember some games being up to 8 floppy disks. Later on I acquired a Super Nintendo and then after that an N64. I remember fondly a bunch of games that I can no longer remember the titles of. One game that particularly caught my fancy was Harvest Moon for the Super Nintendo.
It was an exciting time to be a gamer. Everything was always constantly improving, game design, technology and game developers seemed to respect gamers. Games made you learn and master the mechanics before you could win. Expansion packs actually extended the game. Developers were willing to try innovative and new things. It was an exciting time because you couldn't even imagine the absolutely ridiculously good games that were over the horizon. Many people will claim that I am nostalgic but I challenge those people to really think about how the industry worked... Putting aside the technical limitations have things necessarily improved?
The Focus on Graphics:Somewhere along the way... It's hard to pinpoint an exact date the focus for developers shifted from game design to graphics. At first this wasn't such a bad thing... The blocky graphics of DOOM and Half Life 1 while having a certain retro-charm were not exactly easy on the eyes by any stretch of the imagination...
Graphics are an important part of a game. I won't argue that. You will notice I said PART though. Graphics are only one part of the experience. Think of it like restoring a car... Not many people enjoy a slow car do they? But if you blow your whole budget on a massive twin-injection V8 engine [that's probably not a thing... I'm not a car guy] and the rest of the car is still a wreck does that make it a good car?
What's this Ronin? Last gen graphics? WHERE'S MY BLOOM?If graphics are advancing at the cost of every other single part of the game then there is a problem... A serious problem. I think that the focus on graphics became a problem when we hit the 'bloom' generation of graphics... Let me state this right now... Bloom is not making anything look better... What it is doing is making my eyes bleed.
Bloom... The reason why our children will eventually live in caves under the Earth...It seems like there's always 1 graphical gimmick of the day that every game MUST have... 99% of the time that graphical gimmick actually makes the game look WORSE.
These days developers don't even bother to advertise FEATURES of the game anymore... They just show things exploding and then fart out their brand name afterwards. You just know somewhere there's a CEO in an office yelling at a group of guys because their modern FPS shooter had three less explosions in their ad than the other teams modern FPS shooter had in their ad.
IF YOU'RE NOT RENDERING EXPLOSIONS THEN WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR? TO HELP PEOPLE MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION ABOUT OUR PRODUCT? YOU'RE FIRED SMITH!The Casualisation of Games to Appeal to a Wider Market:Let's get this out of the way straight away... Game developers [at least the big ones] believe you are an idiot... It's OK they believe I'm an idiot too.
Game developers think we don't want deep experiences... We want to drool at the graphics on display and complicated things like BEING ABLE TO OPEN DOORS should be left to the AI companions. And when you look at the AI companions it truly is an insult to think that game developers give them more respect than the player.
What's completely astounding is that gamers do not want to be treated this way... Games that do not hold your hand [Minecraft, Portal, Dwarf Fortress, etc] have been crazy successful.
I might be alone in this but if I'm playing the game I want more than just an on-rails experience... Let me wander the halls... Let me call the shots... LET ME OPEN THE GOSH DAMN DOORS.
First level boss battle.The Rise of Consoles + Mobile Games and the PC Port + DRM and Always Online:You know what I love? Spending $2000 on hardware so that I can play a terrible port... Why... For the love of all that is good in the world would you not start development on the platform with A) the best hardware and B) the most possible variations of hardware... Common sense would dictate porting to a simpler, fixed specifications platform would be easy from that position... I really have nothing more to say on this... I'm perfectly happy for consoles, I know that a lot of people love them but that's really not an excuse for developers to abandon the PC almost entirely.
Remember when playing a game was as simple as putting a CD key in? Now you need to go through five extensive background checks, report to your local government agency, show them your passport, pass a drugs test, qualify for the Winter Olympics and then after all that you can play.
Oh wait no you can't because the servers aren't up...
Kickstarter and the 'Indie' Scene:Some people claim that gaming was in fact saved by the rise of Kickstarter and the 'Indie' Scene [note the sarcasm marks please]. Let's get Kickstarter out of the way first...
Dear Kickstarter... I hate you... You are a land of broken promises and failed dreams... The cake was a lie.
Kickstarter has produced SOME [some in this case meaning VERY LITTLE] worthwhile stuff. For the most part though you have simply given a platform to 'ideas people'. Before I go any further... I do not make games therefore I guess I am an 'ideas person' myself. There's nothing inherently wrong with 'ideas people'... Until the 'ideas people' decide to try to make a game... Then $200,000 backer-dollars later a half-finished, unsatisfying game is given up on and left perpetually in alpha in all but name. I can't think of one game that was Kickstarted and has actually properly finished production... There probably are some out there but the fact remains that most are not.
Moving on to the 'indie' scene. You know what you were lacking games industry? Hipsters... Well worry no longer! Because now we have an army of indie developers and just look at the armada of interesting games it has created:
Braid - retro style platformer
Fez - retro style platformer
Super Meat Boy - retro style platformer
Hang on a second... I'm noticing a pattern here... There is a disturbance in the 'indie-force'...
What's more worrying than the fact that a large part of the 'indie' scene is even less creative than AAA games is the extreme dickishness of the developers:
Example: Phil Fish, creator of Fez: "PC's are for spreadsheets". Phil Fish also told critics to "go die".
If anyone here has seen Indie Game: The Movie they'll know what I'm talking about... Some people consider games art... Well games are supposed to be fun as well. If you game is not fun calling it 'art' does not make it a good game.
The Future of Videogames?From my perspective it doesn't look bright. Every day I lose a little bit of hope. One day I hope I can get excited about the future of videogames again. Until then I guess I'll always have Dwarf Fortress.
I could spend all day posting more but to be honest I am exhausted and thinking any more about it will just make me even more sad. So I will cut it off right here... Over to you for discussion/criticism.
Things I will cover if I come back to this post... DLC... Freemium... Paid-Reviewers... Etc...