The best days of gaming are over

The best days are today and are yet to come.

Why?

1. I can still play all the old games.

2. I can play all the current games.

3. I can play all the future games.

This is why every day is always the best day in gaming. Yes, we might lose franchises and the business models of various publishers become shitty, but we always have new developers forming, independent gaming is a growing sector, and more. This has more or less always been true as well.

What about you @warmblur? Where do you stand?

I've grown to hate modern gaming due to greed and laziness I honestly don't know how anybody can be optimistic for the future of gaming when we've seen how bad these publishers can be. I'm looking forward to the future of VR not so much for gaming but for the full immersion of escapism.

No way, kiddies love MT and NFT, must be right.

Hard to say... I think the "AAA" space is quite mediocre at the moment, with the same old boring cinematic sh*t coming out & in the pipeline (except for a few exceptions here & there). Plus remasters/remakes etc.

For me personally, the Indie scene and Nintendo are the saving graces. This is where I find most of the innovation and just more interesting stuff in general tbh.

@warmblur: in many ways, yes. There might be a few gems here and there, but all in all if you look at the big picture, you would be correct. Glory days are behind us.

Feel this thread gets made every few months. . feeling the need to wear rose-tilted glasses and say "back in the good old days". Get's a little worn out. It's not as though we get enough fresh faces on the board for the answers to be any different. If the threads was a year apparent I maybe able to agree on the justification.

As such my answer is always the same. Every generation of games has winners and losers.

This generation of games is no different, if one thinks modern games suck? you're probably looking in the wrong places, or perhaps intentionally being stubborn and ignorant.

On the other side of the spectrum it depends what one wants from a video game I suppose and why one invested in the hobby to begin with? If it's a narrow window perhaps consider broadening your surroundings or consider other hobbies for your time and financial investment.

Completely agree.

A lot of it is aspiring to be "cinematic" over a game and the predatory practices in motion.

Tend to get more excited for the indie stuff that pops up on Steam. Typically, have abit of soul to them, focus on gameplay and remain cheap, largely devoid of the predatory shit.

When I'm talking about the "old days" I'm not even going that far back even the 7th gen was a million times better than what we have now in terms of new IP's.

Also I strongly disagree that is generation is no different then past ones it's much worst games cost more there's barely any new IP's almost every game is a remake, remaster or reboot. I like to think about it like this the movie industry has been around way longer then the gaming industry has. They reached the point of rebooting everything because it's easy money just look back in the last 5 years how many movies and tv shows have came back from dead. The gaming industry has already thrown the towel in more or less and they seem creatively bankrupt and now they are doing the exact same shit. It's depressing honestly they have seem to given up in alot of ways and they are much younger then the movie industry.

I agree too about AAA games but the thing is it doesn't have to be this way and it shouldn't but these gaming publishers are garbage and ruining gaming.

Yep, it sucks it shouldn't be this way the best days are over thanks to corporate greed and laziness and it's only going to get worst unfortunately.

@uninspiredcup: Yep totally agree. Most AAA games nowadays focus on story too much and basically turn out to be interactive movies. Gameplay surely has to be the priority. That's what differentiates video games from other media.

That's why Indies and Nintendo games are so important to me nowadays, because they generally focus on gameplay first.

Not for me it isn’t. Tons of great games that I enjoy keep coming out. They don’t have to be new IP’s either. I love great sequels and remakes just as much.

Theres plenty of new IPs. stop spreading fake news. Arkane make new IPs all the time and thier games resemble 6th gen games (not 7th gen shit lol)

most games im looking forward to are new ips. even GOTY 2021 was new IP innovative Deathloop.

• Atomic Heart (new IP)
• Callisto Protocol (new IP)
• Redfall (new IP)
• Pragmata (new IP)
• Witchfire (new IP, inspired by Quake)
• STALKER 2 (long awaited sequel of best FPS ever made plus graphic king)
• Alan wake 2 (long awaited sequel to best horror game ever made)

warmblur logic. A game I dont like doesnot exist.

beside peak of gaming was late 90s/early 00s till 2007. so those were best days definitely.

I cannot agree with any of this, it's ok to be set in your ways and made up your mind but I'm not jumping in that boat with you.

For creativity if we really look at the matter with such a narrow or blunt lense this is what we get- All pixel generations heavily consisted of Mario, Street Fighter II, or D00M clones; this sadly isn't an exaggeration. 128-bit generation almost everything was cloning Grand Theft Auto or Final Fantasy, as such wasn't the most original. First HD generation was over the shoulder dudebro town with a brownish color-palette, you'd have to go out your way to know of games like Little Big Planet or Braid.

Don't know what you buy in your spare time, but reads like you don't go far off what marketing and advertising departments want you to pay attention to. If what you are asking for is new "five years" IPs that try different things with the medium? The Outer Wilds, Anno: Mutationem, Huntdown, Death Stranding, Dreams, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Dodgeball Academia, Sifu, Valheim, Deltarune, Celeste, Loop Hero, and Carrion. And that's just a handful I recall at atop my head, am fairly certain anyone could add to this list to the point it ranges to 50 new IPs in the past five years doing interesting design ideas.

I find the argument of sequels not being creative subjective however. Look at the difference with Street Fighter and SFII, without that sequel what would become of fighting games? What is the FPS without Wolfenstein clone D00M or Arena shooter sequel Quake 3??

And likewise with a modern classic Divinity: Original Sin II; which has put Larian Studios on the map as one of the best and most respected developers around. You made your restrictions however and I provided based on that. Not to mention Monster Hunter (a series I chat about too much) is night and day different from generations ago, and nothing does what MH does. An all they've done is continue refine the craftmanship of that franchise in new and creative ways.

More games get developed now than ever, and that's one of the reasons I don't agree. And cost is subjective, AAA games on some platforms at release is certainly higher than the last few generations for sure. I've read back in the olden days Nintendo cartridges cost way more than modern so, meh. I only pay the premium tax if I know I'll be invested. Not to mention sales and second hand market are more popular today than back in the 80's and 90's I'm fairly sure in regards to video games.

All of this aside. The real question; what are you after in a game? Because cost, new IPs, and creativity is not a problem as I've seen it in 2022. If anything you need to ask yourself what gaming experience you are wanting as of 2022?

Even though I disagree with you I respect your opinion. To answer your question what I'm after in a game? AAA companies being less greedy and taking more chances. I know it wouldn't happen but there was a time when EA, Ubisoft, DICE, Square Enix etc... had loads of amazing new games. Now all they care about is milking everything and not taking chances and don't even get me started on Rockstar.

This video perfectly describes my problem with modern gaming. I know it takes years to make new games but it was better in the past because games where less expensive to make and we got more variety in the AAA market this video explains it much better then I do.

Most of AAA games in this videos.

finding hope from AAA companies to deliver good games in future is delutional when plenty of mid tier games doing excellent.

for example RE4 was one of the most overrated game of all time. I played almost every version and was disappointed by its awful control, camera, shooting etc.

all of good alternate of these games found in mid tier developers but you only find games from AAAAA developers lol.

Also, I dont see how can anyone praise 7th gen.

• It was a gen where COD was at peak. even MOH 2010 become COD clone.
• It was a gen when splinter cell and Hitman was at worst of thier time with conviction and absolution that ruined the series until Hitman trilogy save it.
• It was a time when Id software the developer who revolutionize gaming was at worst thier Id tech 5 failed, Rage 1 failed, Doom 4 got cancelled and it become Doom 2016 which become masterpiece.
• It was a time when Regen health was mandatory in every game.

now people who are feeling nastolgia for that lol.

for example RE4 was one of the most overrated game of all time. I played almost every version and was disappointed by its awful control, camera, shooting etc.

What the flying hamster did I just read!?

I cannot for the life of me process that remark without context.

This is Games Discussion, if you won't describe and give examples why you feel these elements are "awful"; just comes across as an edgy comment to stir controversy.

While far from perfect, Resident Evil 4 is arguably one of the most well crafted and influential games ever given development. The Last section of Resi4 is without question the weakest and sure the lack of Survival Horror stirred the fandom but it is so well designed as a video game that I can't take that statement remotely serious.

You literally just posted about Callisto Protocol. A tribute to Dead Space, which itself was tracing paper Resident Evil 4.

@warmblur: I do agree those publishers/ developers you mentioned have certainly fallen from grace. Absolutely Rock Star; add Bethesda and Blizzard who're also not quite keeping fans happy anymore. Cannot say I was really big on many those however (id Software and Tango are the only ones I liked much at Bethesda for over a decade) so I guess it reflects less on what I pick-up, buy, and play.

Square Enix is debateable however. I see a lot of love for what they're doing lately. Even then my favorite SE game is Chrono Trigger by a large margin and that was. . before my birth, lol.

So from the perspective of developers and publishers you found reliable I can see that angle of disappointment.

Personally my view on things is if a publisher/ developer is not giving one a good product. Take your money elsewhere.

Yep I am very disappointed and bored now with most of the video games industry these days. Pretty much agree with everything warmblur has said in this thread. AAA game companies are much more focused on getting as much money from you as possible. Games take much much longer to come out compared to 7th gen. The indie scene is pretty much where all my excitement goes but even those little games take quite a bit of time as well so a steam page will pop up and stay there for several years for a game and we just wait for release or buy into some early access games and hope the 1.0 launch comes. Also tons of remakes and remasters rather than new IPs. Nintendo makes a couple new games a year it seems.

I wish i could be more positive but there is so much more negative than positive regarding games in 2022 as compared to any year prior to this decade. And like warmblur has said, it is most likely gonna get worse. Example, everyone hated diablo immortal with its crappy mtx situation but look at the whopping millions of dollars its been making and the Diablo boss defending their microtransactions. It wasn't like this back in the 2000s and you guys want to tell me we live in BETTER times? Open your eyes please.

He is absolutely correct about games being better in 2000 than now. but his examples are bad. theres plenty of new IPs and substitute of old games.

Deus Ex released in 2000 is still best game of all time. and it may not surpassed anytimes soon.

Deathloop was one of the most creative innovative new IP that got hated by gamers because they want same old crap and not new thing Arkane tried. I rather play Metro, Doom, Deathloop, Hitman than most of crap released during 7th gen.

@ghosts4ever: pretty sure the people that hate Deathloop hate it because the AI fucking sucks ass. All I had to do was watch some footage on youtube. I saw plenty of shooting enemies just lining up in a row one by one, enemies not being alerted to explosions right next to them, combat being piss easy. Deathloop just sucks but i appreciate Arkane trying something new with the timeloop mechanic.

You know....

Just bc the 'AAA' industry has become ethically and creatively bankrupt doesn't mean normal devs aren't still making awesome games.

Why do I call them normal? Well it's not normal for a dev to grow so large that they become subject to the short-sighted, corporate system that results in manipulative, cookie-cutter experiences. AAA game development is neither normal, nor is it responsible.

There are tons of normal devs still making awesome games, and I whole-heartedly disagree with the opinion that the best days of gaming are behind us. You only need look outside of the corporate-fueled trash heap that is AAA gaming.

AI is bad because enemies are eternalists who stuck in loop. they are not humans. they dont act like one.

Vissionaries AI is pretty good. especially Juliana.

THe level design of Deathloop is simply genious. no other developers have guts to make level design as good as arkane do.

plus many people play Deathloop like ordianry FPS when its murder puzzle game.

combat become more difficult after each loop. at start it was easy.

@ghosts4ever: well the game certainly lives rent free in your head going by how frequent you mention it in so many threads almost a year later.

The Poll speaks the truth. theres plenty fresh new IPs.

if it was simple poll if gaming was better in 2000 or now. the answer would be simple.

@ghosts4ever: Hmmm....A poll on a forum on one website for video games...with 17 votes.

Yeah, not going to give that the time of day. You can link all the polls, surveys, people's opinions, etc you want. It doesn't change what is going on in the world with what has already been mentioned. And hey, if people want to be blind to all the bad and just take part in the good, more power to them, I guess. They are being willfully ignorant, but they do them.

The video game industry is way too corporate now. It sucks. And these times are nowhere near the creativity of years ago. Full stop. You are never going to convince me otherwise and you could give me 1000 poll results.

Who said im a fan of modern corporate developers?

I have been criticizing most of modern AAA games here.

but with these modern AAA games. Good games also get bashed all the time.

Damn straight!!!

I haven't had trouble finding good new games to play. Some are old games, some are new, some are AAA, and some are indie. I'm not that impressed by most mobile games but there are some fun ones out there. I'm still kind of angry at myself for giving away my Dreamcast, it had some decent games but just never got much 3rd party support.

warmie,

friendly suggestion

As I just upgrade my CPU from intel i5 to AMD Ryzen 5. and will upgrade GPU before STALKER 2.

you should sell your gaming PC, get cheap laptop that run 2005 games and invest rest of amount in business.

its just friendly suggestion my friend.

i voted the first option, because i wanna believe it's not the case...I recently bought a PS2 because i'm really interested in going back and getting some nostalgic gaming in cuz everything nowadays just isn't hitting the spot for me (but that might also be a me issue as well!)

The best days are behind us. Retro gaming is not doable anymore. Gaming is just like anything else - when it becomes cool, it starts sucking. I was into "retro gaming" back in the good old days when it wasn't cool. It was called "Why are you playing these crappy old games no one care about?". I'm baffled to see GameCube and PS2 games being highly valuable these days, games I paid no more than $10 for back when they were "outdated". Now that "retro" games are more outdated than they ever were, they're suddenly cool again?! Half the reason retro gaming was cool was because it was cheaper than dirt. Like I said, nobody wanted those old games with outdated graphics so you could easily get old games for $1.00 anywhere, any day. Now they're seen as more of a collector's item and people are buying them purely because they're valuable and can be resold. That sucks! Gaming is all about playing the games, not collecting them. I mean, you collect cartridges and CDs naturally since they're required to hold the data, but it's not supposed to be some kind of an investment!

Modern games have definitely lost their spark. Whatever happened to GTA?! That was one of my all-time favorite franchises back on the PSX and the PS2. Now it's just being milked to death and if you play GTA V on PS4/XB1 today, it's got major problems such as buildings not loading fast enough, so you crash into them when flying a helicopter. All the other good franchises are either dead or also zombies of their former series just like GTA. Microtransactions and remakes are a big downside to modern gaming, but I think the bigger problem is there's a lack of creativity. There's not as many unique games as there used to be, and I really miss that. Developers are playing it safe and trying to monetize their games as much as possible rather than try to come up with the most original concept for a game.

Not sure if our best day are over, but i am sure the fu**in industry is forcing us into playing as much as many multiplayer-games as possible, preferrably within the BR genre while giving us lots of useless lootboxes and in-game cosmetics.

Or is BR dead already and simple COD-shooters da shit now?

I don´t know since i never play any multiplayer games, i just see them popping up out of nowhere on a monthly basis.

I think the best is yet to come though games from the past will never be erased from our memories. I think the only negative is companies releasing remastered games and remakes though you probably have a younger generation that never experienced those games. Still I think the future of gaming will probably be online focused which bothers me. I prefer single player games that are original and creative and fun.

Yes, you hit the nail the head this is the problem I have with modern gaming like you said they play it safe and want to monetize the shit out of everything there's not much creativity at all in gaming like there use to be. IMO 7th gen was the last great generation, 8th gen had some great titles but can't compare to what 7th gen brought to the table. I mean just look at the games from fall 2005 to fall of 2013 it's hit after hit and it wasn't reliant on remakes or remasters and the publishers where less greedy but still pos though lol.

The magic is gone.

Yes! hopefully VR someday can bring it back when I get brain chipped.

@uninspiredcup: I’m sorry to say that the magic’s been gone for some time now.

I guess time will tell. I dont know gameplay wise what they can create thats amazing but graphically and performance wise things still have a high ceiling.

Wouldn't know personally about that ,the last I've actually followed gaming and reviews faithfully for anything remotely recent was 2010 ...except maybe elden ring and some shit that actually looked like it would peak my interest ..been mixing it up with retro and semi current titles but Nintendo had recently stop supporting the 3ds

@warmblur: 7th gen ruled. It was the last vestige of the creative era in gaming. I think the many, many commercial failures from 7th gen caused game companies to focus on having that one successful franchise they can milk forever. It's good for gamers though, because there's a lot of unknown gems in 7th gen and they're all cheaper than dirt!

Killer Clowns from Outer Space

It´s true, gaming is done and the industry good as dead, what will be left for the future are free2play-multiplayer-only gimmicks you can play on your smartphone when you´re really bored or stuck in traffic, along with probably 2 or 3 big companies running that game.

I disagree.

The medium evolves over time. Indie developers have a much bigger presence, and there are more games being released, more frequently, with each year that passes.

It is unfortunate that agressive forms of monetization are infecting and killing off beloved game franchises, but at least, there is new stuff coming out all the time.

I think there has never been a better time to be a gamer, all things considered.

This is pretty "relative" as to how these days could be "the best time in gaming" and also dependent on what kind of gamers we are actually talking about here.

Not everyone is playing WOW, COD and PUBG and there are people who actually don´t care for games on their smartphones, as well as there are gamers who never touch any F2P-Title, let alone spending 9,000,0000 hours on one multiplayer-only title.

But one thing for sure:

Once publishers decide the servers of a game aren´t worth it anymore, it is "Game Over man, GAME OVER!!!" for once and for all, regardless if there is a fanbase of 300 or even 1000 people loving the title so much.

Not sure if its a great feeling to buy a game when you can´t even be sure when they´re shutting down its servers and just don´t think this would happen to thousand-years-old titles only!

In fact there was this 3-5 year old title with a bigger fanbase being shut down. Best thing was they announced the game to be shut down prior to about approx. 2 months, with still selling all the add-ons and packages for a total of 200 bucks of course.

Agreed, gaming is still very enjoyable. No shortage of stellar games; whether they be new or old!

I'm fine with people disagreeing, less-so this generational gatekeeping stance.

Some people don't like what gaming has become one way or another, and that can be reasonable considering what many AAA publishers get up to (unfinished games/ lootboxes/ NFTs/ etc).

Many I see of those hot takes however, are lost in what they're willing to see, ignoring so much modern gaming offers.

No, you´re not. The fact that you have to make clear about "being fine with people disagreeing" just shows that you and everyone else really aren´t at all.

In fact no one is. It is all natural to feel everything else but "fine" when you´re talking to someone who´s having a totally different opinion than yours.

The only problem is, todays society is becoming more and more a bunch of hypocrites, always doing their best to play their roles of "good guys" who are so damn open-minded and open-hearted to each, everything and everyone....and then again there are those Trump-Discussions where all of the sudden you´re a NAZI once you just make a lil fun of BIDEN or a COMMIE as soon you claim TRUMP is a dumb fu**.

If people are getting way too emotional, they show their true faces and forget their hypocrite "good-person"-roles.

Please stay on topic

@wladolfputler: You're projecting, and most certainly going off-the-rails.

If you don't like what 2022 gaming is, well I think that's "fine". Whether you believe my notion is up to you to decide. I'm not going to lose sleep over how you feel about it.

To clarify for me it's in the >context<; we are on a discussion board, so I do like to see reasoning and meaning behind what is being put forward.

And if I find statements for disliking modern gaming glancing a narrow tranche at best? I will call that out. Pointing out such things doesn't make me less 'fine' with your or anyone else's differing perspectives on the subject matter. Just leaves room to be desired_

I think yours is more an argument over the preservation of games as a media than the actual enjoyment of gaming.

As time goes by, less and less people will care about games going away.

As a matter of fact, as time goes by, less and less people enjoy older games, as a result of not having the nostalgic factor to carry that enjoyment.

I don't think some games going away are really factoring into the argument that "The best days of gaming are over".

Maybe they are to some individuals, and nostalgia is likely the biggest factor.

To be clear, your opinion is not invalidated because i disagree. You have the things you enjoy, and to you, online games potentially getting taken offline is a big deal, and that's fine.

I guess i've just gotten to a point in life where i just don't wanna be bothered by "The state of gaming". I have a huge backlog i can go back to if i'm pissed off with the current state of affairs.

I also have other hobbies that allow me to leave gaming behind, whenever it gets a bit too crazy.

I have no answer. Like OP says, you can play any games that have come out now along with whatever is out now, but that's provided you have the consoles and accessories to play them, and provided there isn't some wall like lack of service for the game in modern times.

I think there have been good games around worth playing for my entire life. There will be new stuff, but good stuff is already out there now if you look for it.