10 things I'll remember about gen 7 (and you will too)

I'll remember that the new tech in 7th gen was often squandered on production values and cinematic flourish rather than good quality game design and that the gaming media and general public ate it up (I'm looking squarely at you Uncharted and Mass Effect)

I'll also remember Nintendo for sticking to their guns while the industry, for the most part, went the above route. Gameplay, level design, and challenge. These are the three pillars that make up a quality game. All three are exclusive to this medium and all three are timeless. Nintendo never forgot this and I commend them for what they've produced last gen.

Then there's Rocksteady and Batman Arkham City. This developer rose out of nowhere and won over my heart with one of the greatest games I have ever played. You don't have to go far to find a game that tries to be a jack of all trades, but usually all the aspects of these games are diluted so that you're left with a trade off: variety for quality. This was not the case with Arkham City. It was super ambitious and delivered on every one of its many aspects to an unbelievable degree. Rocksteady is a studio to watch.

Psn getting hacked. So annoying for me because those days I was heavy into the fifa online mode.

- whiny ungrateful gamers who spend half their time playing great games and the other half bitching about them on messageboards. 

Thats MY defining memory.

- whiny ungrateful gamers who spend half their time playing great games and the other half bitching about them on messageboards. 

Thats MY defining memory.

Ilovegames1992

I thought the Wii sold the most games. What i read said Wii sold like 800 million games, maybe i didnt read something right.

1. Sony wildly overpricing the PS3, Nintendo finding a massive audience and then quickly losing it and Microsoft blowing its lead by losing focus on the core and getting lost in the casual weeds.

2. Competitive multiplayer online. Okay, that's been around forever and a day, but I didn't get into it until GRAW on the X360 and I didn't really become addicted until Warhawk. The creators of AI are worried first and foremost about the player experience and every scenario needs to be beatable. Humans don't care about your feelings so if you thrive in competitive multiplayer you know you've got it.

3. Littlebigplanet ushers in the era of user generated content on consoles. Granted, there is a ton of crap, but there are some very talented, very passionate creators who make wonderful (and often weird) games, movies and music videos which reflect their hobbies and passions. Both Microsoft's impressive looking Project Spark and Media Molecule's unnamed PS4 project look like they are going to allow people to take things even further than LBP.

4. DLC - Granted, there has been abuse, but some really awesome DLC has hit. Most of it has been multiplayer oriented but there has been some cool single player content which has extended the life of their games (GTA4, Littlebigplanet, Gravity Rush, The Sims 3, and Disgaeas 3 and 4 spring to mind).

5.The rise of indies on consoles. They started off making (mostly) arcade type games, but nowadays they are in pretty much all genres including adventure games, rpgs and fighting games.

6. The contraction of the middle tier. They face preassure from above from AAA games, who have longer tails than ever due to multiplayer and DLC and from below from indie games, which are much cheaper and ever more ambitious.

7. An embarrassment of riches in terms of quality games. I've been gaming for 36 years and this is the best generation ever. Sadly, not every quality game found the audience it deserved (nods towards Valkyria Chronicles) but quite a few of them did well. Gamers and game designers are more diverse in terms of tastes than ever.

- whiny ungrateful gamers who spend half their time playing great games and the other half bitching about them on messageboards. 

Thats MY defining memory.

Ilovegames1992

[QUOTE="Ilovegames1992"]

- whiny ungrateful gamers who spend half their time playing great games and the other half bitching about them on messageboards. 

Thats MY defining memory.

Randolph

You won't see me bitching about games half as much as you people. I like playing video games, hence talking about them on messageboards. Also, a lot of my post count is from the Off Topic section which i don't visit anymore. 
Stop whining people.

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"]

1. Sony wildly overpricing the PS3, Nintendo finding a massive audience and then quickly losing it and Microsoft blowing its lead by losing focus on the core and getting lost in the casual weeds.

dvader654

MS got a lead because of the casual... The 360 exploded when Kinect hit. It was getting demolished by Wii before that. Why does everyone get this backward. The kinect allowed the 360 to survive for 3 more years than it should have. Since Kinect 360 has been the best selling console in the US every single week.

Carnage got it quite right; the 360's numbers went down year-over-year for every single year post-Kinect save for one.

That's called losing focus and blowing your lead. :P

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"]

1. Sony wildly overpricing the PS3, Nintendo finding a massive audience and then quickly losing it and Microsoft blowing its lead by losing focus on the core and getting lost in the casual weeds.

 

dvader654

MS got a lead because of the casual... The 360 exploded when Kinect hit. It was getting demolished by Wii before that. Why does everyone get this backward.The kinect allowed the 360 to survive for 3 more years than it should have. Since Kinect 360 has been the best selling console in the US every single week.

I wonder the same thing myself.

Sony's 2006 E3 chaplainDMK

This

[QUOTE="dvader654"]

[QUOTE="CarnageHeart"]

1. Sony wildly overpricing the PS3, Nintendo finding a massive audience and then quickly losing it and Microsoft blowing its lead by losing focus on the core and getting lost in the casual weeds.

Shame-usBlackley

MS got a lead because of the casual... The 360 exploded when Kinect hit. It was getting demolished by Wii before that. Why does everyone get this backward. The kinect allowed the 360 to survive for 3 more years than it should have. Since Kinect 360 has been the best selling console in the US every single week.

Carnage got it quite right; the 360's numbers went down year-over-year for every single year post-Kinect save for one.

That's called losing focus and blowing your lead. :P

Sony's 2006 E3 chaplainDMK

• the plethora of amazing games including Halo 3, 4, and Reach, Metal Gear Solid 4, the Gears of War games, the Mass Effect games, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Lost Oddyssey, Xenoblade Chronicles, Uncharted 2, the Call of Duty games, Grand Theft Auto IV & V, Red Dead Redemption, etc.
• DLC which I love because getting more content for games I enjoy is a big plus for me
• the resurgence of fighting games with great games like the Street Fighter IV series, the Blazblue games, Street Fighter X Tekken, Tekken 6, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Soul Calibur IV & V, King of Fighters XIII, Utimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, etc.
• the proliferation of online gaming because I love how many games that one might not associate with online played online. Mass Effect 3 became a huge favourite of mine. Some very cool elements and gameplay mechanics made their way into various online game modes Horde-type modes are one of my favourites.
• downloadable games have turned into an excellent way to get many of my favourite classic games from previous gens especially if they've been enhanced
• Achievements/Trophies I love these things and they've only added further value to the games that I already enjoy