Let's talk about the video game industry

[Senip]

I wonder if they'll finish the third game for the ps3...I've been waiting for that bad boy for a while...

[Choofers]

Originally Posted by Emanresu13

hi i play gaia online i'm a gamer

gaiaonline is a forum

2012, super bowl

go rams

[Emanresu13]

Originally Posted by Choofers

gaiaonline is a forum

u gonna troll the troll son?!?

Originally Posted by Choofers

go rams

go bungles

---

also wanna add i blame guitar hero for taking it a ten steps further and really ruining shit

that makes three activision games. hey guess which company i hate the most

[Pseudo Enigma]

Originally Posted by Emanresu13

that makes three activision games. hey guess which company i hate the most

I mostly hate them for what they did to Blizzard from what I hear. I don't even know WHAT I am hearing. Some people say Blizzard bought Activision, and some people are saying it's the other way around. All I know is, Blizzard Activision is the most homo thing I have ever seen.

And it gets worse.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Viv...ion-44147.html

p.s. whoever/whatever the **** Vivendi is. I can't make heads or tails of this situation no matter how much I read about them..

[Poison-]

Originally Posted by Pseudo Enigma

I mostly hate them for what they did to Blizzard from what I hear. I don't even know WHAT I am hearing. Some people say Blizzard bought Activision, and some people are saying it's the other way around. All I know is, Blizzard Activision is the most homo thing I have ever seen.

And it gets worse.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Viv...ion-44147.html

p.s. whoever/whatever the **** Vivendi is. I can't make heads or tails of this situation no matter how much I read about them..

Vivendi owns Activision, therefore Blizzard did not buy Activision.

[Emanresu13]

here ya'll go!

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news...cenes-As-Films

http://www.h3xed.com/pc-gaming/all-y...s-in-one-place


how's that for being friggin on topic as hell

[Pseudo Enigma]

somebody shoot Bobby Kotick. I'll pay you all the money I haven't been spending on Blizzard Activision's crap

[dAnceguy117]

kotick is scum. those quotes are painful to read.

Originally Posted by dAnceguy117

a whole lot of games, especially ones made in the past few years, have had multiplayer shoehorned in.

not normally one to ~quote myself~ but I just want to reiterate this point

http://www.gamespot.com/news/spec-op...tation-6393852

"[Multiplayer] was literally a checkbox that the financial predictions said we needed, and 2K was relentless in making sure that it happened," Davis said. "No one is playing it, and I don't even feel like it's part of the overall package--it's another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth, threatening to destroy the best things about the experience that the team at Yager put their heart and souls into creating."

[FFR4EVA_00]

a better summary of what gaming should (continue to) be:

[wargasm1]

i want the misirlou mod loll

[Callipygian]

Some general trends I've been seeing:

- Like in the movies: more and more attention goes to graphics and less and less to the complexity of the story line

- Addiction instead of fun: the WoW-syndrome of appealing to the grinding lust of teenage gamers. Getting enough badges for higher tier gear or getting that 'killing 2000 rare spawn' achievement makes gaming a drudgery.

- Gimmicks and gadgets instead of game improvement. Get people to play a MMO that has potential and then focusing on skins and collector items instead of tuning gaming mechanics

Some games that I can recommend:

- Oblivion
- Civilization IV (with Beyond the Sword expansion)
- Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
- Dragon Age (I and II)

[Emanresu13]

these reminded me:

Originally Posted by Callipygian

- Addiction instead of fun: the WoW-syndrome of appealing to the grinding lust of teenage gamers. Getting enough badges for higher tier gear or getting that 'killing 2000 rare spawn' achievement makes gaming a drudgery.

Achievements that involve 10,000 of X are dumb. I think for the most part achievements should be something you can aquire in under 15 minutes. Something that requires skill, not countless hours.

I've been playing BF3 again lately, and it's back to the grind, more or less. I recall EA stating something along the lines of "unlocking guns/attachments allows you to tailor the game to your playstyle." Uh, no? It restricts me to something very much NOT my playstyle, until I unlock the damn stuff.

Originally Posted by Callipygian

- Gimmicks and gadgets instead of game improvement. Get people to play a MMO that has potential and then focusing on skins and collector items instead of tuning gaming mechanics

Gimmick-ish: I hate how many games, on harder difficulties, give enemies more HP. And that's it. That ain't harder, sorry. That just means I'm fighting longer. Snore. Enemy health increase is just artificial difficulty. Player health decrease on the other hand, means one has to actually perform better. Also nice, are when enemies actually gain new attacks/abilities on higher difficulties.


Both of the above statements are kind of why I'm leaning toward not getting Borderlands 2. Borderlands was too grindy, and the difficulty too fake. I remember trying to rush through the game, because I figured that leveling up was only going to give me more health/skills. Nope. Turns out it's nearly impossible to kill anything a certain number of levels above you (I forget exactly how many). It wasn't even that I needed better weapons, there just seems to be an invisible "strength" stat.

I've just remembered that I really don't like many games with leveling up mechanics, that don't also have a gripping story to keep me interested. Leveling for its own sake just doesn't do it for me. I most certainly do NOT feel a sense of accomplishment. The fact that I've heard that many people DO, I cannot understand.

[Nullifidian]

The main thing about the games industry is that consumers think of it as an endless bundle of creativity with no limitations whatsoever, and they demand to see that.

However, game companies are very much restricted to their fundings and games cost a ton of money to make, so game companies have to make decisions based on what's in their best interest for the survival of the company. Do they cater to the niche markets for the love of videogames and starve themselves (and possibly their families) or do they cater to the mainstream market as much as possible to get the most proceedings so the companies can pay for the costs of making the game? Paying for salaries (over the course of around 4 or 5 years with a big sized crew as well as a possible few freelancers) and paying for rights and licenses and testing and agreements with publishers and promotors and package production and what not will set you back insane amounts of money. Not only that, but the people who finance the game project are ultimately the boss as well, and they want to see their investment back with profit.

There's a reason why a lot of game companies don't survive in the industry, as good as their intentions may have been. Times aren't like they used to be, where the game industry was still innocent with games such as mario bros, megaman, tetris and pong. Technology advances so consumers demand to see an equal advance in game technology too. Better graphics, more mechanics, better stories etc. And with the amount of companies out there trying to sell their game, consumers get to cherry pick their games based on traits you might not value high. That doesn't mean they're not important though. If you choose to deny any of those aspects the attention that the mass consumer wants, customers might pick another game over your game and game companies will lose a lot of profit.

As far as sequels go, that's also a decision based on success. People who fund game projects are more likely to fund an already successful IP than funding a brand new unheard of IP and risk losing their investment. Plus, game companies get to iterate existing material so it's not as time-consuming and money-consuming as creating a game from scratch.

Working in the game industry is not the glorified well-paid job most consumers think it is. Games industry employees are not free-roaming badass spacecowboys from the planet Awesome, but regular people trying to make a living. It's tough work and companies have to make lots of decisions based on the profit they'll gain from it. And wherever there's a decision to be made, you're bound to disappoint someone.

[DJMAYYYNE]

Originally Posted by 00Razor00

I only care about UMVC 3.

Pretty much this.

[Charu]

Originally Posted by _.Spitfire._

Post about the truth on how it works now in the industry.

I'm so happy there's others that understand this. It's a really iffy issue too, because I'm pretty sure majority of the people who are already established game designers and what not that have been working on this AAA IP product for the past 5-10 years are probably sick to death by it. It's not like they have a choice in the matter either, I mean do whatever brings the food and other living expenses, right?

It's stuff like this that makes me wish the consumers and or publishers would stop being such hard asses about what they demand. I'm not saying get rid of the marketability aspect, because that in itself will be the stupidest thing to do, no I'm talking about the consumers and publishers being more open to new ideas instead of... what's the latest trend that's still going?

FPS #153, idea = shoot shit. What kind of shit? Erm... LAMPS! SHOOT LAMPS! Brilliant. Billion dollars later. Good idea!

You know, let me fetch a comic from Calvin & Hobbes that perfectly reflect how the industry is now which makes me sad.

[UserNameGoesHere]

I, for one, want to see more focus on gameplay.

Graphics AND storyline should both take back seats to gameplay.

The control scheme should be smooth and responsive. But level/game design should be nonetheless challenging.

One way to appeal to multiple skill levels is to have different difficulties of play and/or to start out dead easy but ramp up the difficulty steadily.

The problem is actual good games won't make the money these days since most gamers of today aren't really gamers like we'd think of them in the 80s or 90s. So the people who would enjoy an actual really well-made game are fewer than you might think.

And yes, video games are art. Making a good game is an artform. There should be no "maybes", "almost", "sort of" or other fence-sitting about it. Anyone who tells you video games aren't art is both wrong and likely ignorant. As with any art though, you have to include both that finger painting little Jimmy put on mommy's fridge and the Mona Lisa. All art is not created equal.

So anyone who wants to put an actual good game out there needs to do so out of their own artistic desires to do so, and not expecting tons of money out of it. Because most people, despite what they may claim, aren't gamers (at least would not have been considered gamers back in the 80s or 90s).

[Pseudo Enigma]

You know, I had a really big flashback to my childhood the other day. Like, when I was 5-6 and pretty much spending all my spare time on videogames, ignoring homework and anything else that seemed like a pain in the ass. What kept me playing those games back then?

I thought about this for a while, and I realized that the games aren't challenging anymore. The games were ridiculously tough for my 6 year old self. By that time I had been all the way at the end of FF6 and, if not for my brother telling me to grind at a specific forest-- you know the one, I would never have figured out how to play those games.

Eventually I realized that games were frustrating when I couldn't beat a boss, and that release of anger that occurs when you finally defeat is was totally what was driving my gaming career. I guess I was a little crack monkey who finally discovered his dope.

But with all things, games started to get easier and easier for me, and with that the challenge specifically dropped. I started doing insane shit, like beating Seymour Flux in one shot with Yuna, or beating up the Midgar Zolom at the beginning of the game to see if I could avoid getting the Chocobo Lure, all just to keep that level of challenge. That small amount of bullshitting your game into doing hilarious shit because you exploit the freedom the game allowed you to have made me feel good about gaming again.

But not for all the long however. Once I realized that games were ridiculously easy for me I got really depressed. I realized I had poured all of my childhood into gaming, so no wonder I was good at them. I then was forced to realize that I could've gotten into a different hobby and poured all my time into that instead of gaming. But that didn't really matter to me once I realized that Gaming had made me happy through all those years.

But what is going on now, what with the new generation of games and consoles and all that shit? I don't play them, that's what. The only new generation consoles I own are the NDS and the 3DS. I don't own a PS3, I don't own a 360, and my computer is from the late 90s. I'm not trying to be this retro gamer on purpose though. I probably would be playing on the newer consoles if it weren't for my lack of money. But I am partially glad I get to explore the older gaming libraries of the PS1 and the SNES because of my lack of money. Because I'm starting to find that the more the gaming industry improves the graphics of a game, the more the story and gameplay sucks a shit sandwich.

Why the hell am I sharing this little recap of my gaming career though? I wanted to say that because I was living with gaming all my life it became something I was used to. The games became dull and boring to me over time because, just like chewing on gum for too long, it lost it's flavour. I want to rediscover the love for gaming that my younger self did, but sadly because the love for gaming was based upon difficulty and the release of stress that I got when I had overcome it. I don't think I'll be able to rediscover my love for gaming even if the video game industry magically turns around and gets smarter, better, and realizes the things that I did.

tl;dr: even though the gaming industry is bullshit, I have lost my love for video games regardless of if the vgi decides to pull itself back together.

[UserNameGoesHere]

Well even let's talk about the gamers of today.

So I recently spoke with someone around age 20 or so who considers himself a gamer. Conversation went something like this.

Him: What kind of games do you like?

Me: Oh I like classically hard, oldschool games like Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads, Abadox... Games like that. I can beat 'em too!

Him: I've never head of those games. What system are they for?

Me: Nintendo Entertainment System

Him: You mean like Nintendo 64?

Me: No. Nintendo Entertainment System. N-E-S

Him: So, Super Nintendo?

Me: No. Before that.

Him: Oh, I like Legend of Zelda

Me: I do too. I've beaten both quests, no deaths.

Him: Wait ... there's two quests?

Me: Yes. You beat the first quest. Then there's a harder second quest.

Him: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time?

Me: No. The original Legend of Zelda.

Him: Wait what system is it for?

Me: Nintendo Entertainment System

-----------------------------

I mean if this is the state of gamers today, you can't really expect much out of the mainstream gaming industry today. Because keep in mind they are appealing to this new kind of gamer who are much more numerous than the oldschool hardcore gamers.

Keep in mind if you don't have a save point every 5 feet, hand-holding the entire time, unlimited continues, and generally make the entire game far too easy, with emphasis almost entirely on graphics and story, these new gamers won't be interested.

It's not any different from the past -- it's just now that gaming is more mainstream, you get the same mainstream influx that tends to ruin just about everything else. So games are made to cater to the mainstream rather than to traditional gamers.

[Pseudo Enigma]

What mainly makes me feel bad about my childhood is the fact that I was naive enough to think that games would get harder because the games then were hard enough, and because of that they were fun. They're only getting easier and more boring and I feel like I let myself get false hopes.

edit: and yes, when I talk about games with people and they start bullshitting I feel like punching them in the face after calling themselves a gamer. It happens every time.

[Emanresu13]

i've been increasingly finding enjoyment in video games through exploits; be it glitches, sequence breaking, low level/percentage runs, stuff like that. makes many modern games more interesting, and breathes new life into older games. i suggest trying it out if you haven't, maybe it'll help break the monotony.