Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
But it makes me wonder; now that the industry has stabilized, are
younger gamers missing out?
They are. but that's mostly because most parents just give them a tablet
or phone and have them playing mobile crap. Unless the parents are gamer
or they have a friend that introduces to non mobile gaming, they will
miss a lot.
Because, as fun as the games of yore were, it was also the
anticipation of the new advances - in visuals, in gameplay, in ever-increasing size - that made getting the newest game such a
thrill. Even the most modest games were noteworthy; jumping to color
graphics from the black-n-white of "Pong? Wow! The five-second long
vignettes expanding "Ms. Pac-Man's" lore? Amazing! Being able to talk
to NPCs in Infocom's "Enchanter"? Surely we'd never top that!
My brain got into "I won't be graphically surprised ever" since
Dreamcast. Nowadays, art direction and style has replace cutting edge
graphics for me. I have been drooling over Snufkin: Melody of
Moominvalley for the last 3 days. That sigur ros soundtrack... (* ^ ω ^)
there was some fantastic and novel addition to the genre.
Until every addition was the same across all games due to "follow the
leader", so if you did not like one mechanic, you were out of luck
because every game from now on would be open world, have crafting,
unnecessary multiplayer, no single player campaign, loot... And I hope
all of you like AI, because it's going to be everywhere soon.
The single-screen arenas of the first arcades expanding into scrolling levels and then into expansive worlds.
..That were empty and devoid of life because they just wanted to sell
the map size. That has not been a good thing for games.
But that seemingly endless era of progress started to dry up; in the
last decade, the veritable flood of novel and exciting ideas became
glacial. Games of 2013 are - minus a few lighting effects and some lower-resolution textures - pretty much the same as the games of 2023.
It's not that the games have become worse... but they don't seem to
have gotten any better. What innovations are being made are largely
confined towards helping the publisher better monetize their
customers, even if those changes are often to the detriment of the
gameplay itself. Is it any surprise that my sense of wonder and joy
has diminished over the years?
That sounds like AAA game syndrome. The best surprises are the ones that
don't make it to the frontpage and no one pays for the algorythm to give
it the spotlight. Examples that are not AAA and are not well known
(except Kentucky):
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Dread X collection (I recommend 2, with the Squirrel Stapler segment)
- Iron Lung
- Kentucky Route Zero
- Pony Island
- Carrion
- And a long etc.
AAA games, and GAAS are stagnant. There are still games with novel
approaches, great stories, and great art direction.
And sure, there's a part of me that says, hey; this is just what
happens when you start getting up there in years. You become jaded and cynical. But I've other hobbies where I still feel that old pleasure
and anticipation over the newest and latest that contrasts with the increasing ennui I feel over video games. Sure, I still have fun with
games; I still add to my library regularly. But ask me what new game I
am eagerly anticipating and more likely than not I'll draw a blank.
So I wonder how the newest generation will relate to video games; will
they ever feel the excitement we used to? Sure, youngsters - by the
very nature of their youth - will always be more open to the hype than
us wearied oldsters - but will they relate to it with the same
almost-frantic way we did? What with the slower pace of advancement
and with video games being an expected part of everyday life (as
opposed to an entirely new form of entertainment), it's hard to
imagine. Sure, they'll wax nostalgic for a few notable titles but -
barring some revolution in the industry - I wouldn't be surprised if
many of them tag out of the hobby entirely when they turn twenty or
thirty.
Trust me, kids keep losing their shit over every next mario game.
Pokémon could replace football (the one with feet, not american handegg)
as the most mainstream popular thing.
I would recommend the Nextlander podcast for a lot of discussion about
how their children are starting to experience videogames (the staff sure
have grown families since 2008).
Might video games one day become the "old people's hobby"? Something
only the sadly nostalgic or aged engage with, like philately or
knitting. Barring a massive change, can video games keep the attention
of the next generation when all it does is repeat the same banal
formulas year after year? I'm not sure it can.
I think it's more like a certain way of gaming will become "old people's hobby". I don't see games away as long as there's money to be made for
it. The real danger is ruining the genre until we end with another "1983 videogame bubble crash". The situation since 2015 or 2016 has been
reminiscent, with games copying popular games, until players don't trust another moba or hero team shooter and the costs of running the service
and paying the devs are more thanwhatever money the game makes. Instead
of bursting the bubble, everything seems to be concentrate in a few big surviving games, similar to the Big Tech companies that keep surviving.
Right now kids play Games As A Service (GAAS). From Roblox to Fortnite
and everything else, it's a kind of game that is more about the loop of gameplay, constantly feeding new stuff to the player that is not very
related to the game (in-game concerts?)
Unless you go for indies, it's getting harders to find a single player
game that is not a service, it's incredibly complex and has bring back a
feel not seen in years. Yes, I'm thinking about Baldur's Gate III, which
seems to finally have updated an incredibly ancient genre and sell it to
the newer generations.
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