What do you think are the top 3 issues in gaming?

I'll start.

I believe the first issue is innovation. Today too many games are made with the intent of making profit. Games should be made for the benefit of the player, and not any particular company.

Second, Multiplayer. I believe that multiplayer is an awesome thing, and has awesome potential, but comes with too many unknown variables. What happens when a player disconnects? How should unknow variables such as disconnects and connection disconnects be dealt with?

Third. This industry is a very young industry. What general direction should the gaming industry take? What about Wii motion controls, X-Box 360 Kinect, and Playstation Move? Where is gaming going in this decade? How will economic decisions decide what games publishers make, and which games consumers will buy?

High development costs. On the PS2, the average game cost 3 - 5 million to develop. This gen, it's $30 million. So the variety in gaming is quickly disappearing - whole genres just aren't popular enough to make games for. All action/adventure games must be turned into shooters, etc. These publishing mega-corps have focus groups full of soccer moms deciding how the next Dead Space game should be made, everything's geared around how many map packs they can sell, etc. Gaming is becoming like prime-time network TV - catering to the lowest common denominator and as un-creative as can be. And next gen, it'll get even worse. Probably much worse.

Japanese developers - I don't know if their programmers are just that inefficient or their managers are just that incompetent, but these guys are failing. Seems like most of them took half the generation just to write an engine that would run on current gen hardware, and then the games were rushed out as an afterthought. And some can't finish a game - in the entire gen. Others put out games that are so bad (like Final Fantasy XIV) that it has to be completely rebuilt starting from scratch, which probably contributed to FF versus XIII being cancelled and FFX HD being announced 10 months ago, with no release in sight.

Gaming is becoming like prime-time network TV - catering to the lowest common denominator and as un-creative as can be. And next gen, it'll get even worse.

Jackc8

to many military shooters.everygame changing into an action game to appeal to the masses

multiplayer,i like it and im a competitive player(see how i used competitive and not hardcore?) but i like to play single player.now TC ghost recon future soldier has a solid MP and a fantastic campaign length and it's fun to go through

dlc while i have no issue with it in most times but characters i can unlock(i love you kof13 but uh no they could be unlocked) CoD 15$ for 3 maps. i mean if it truly adds to the game im fine but when it's obviously unlockable why milk me?(i love ubisofts uplay thing.)

I'll start.

I believe the first issue is innovation. Today too many games are made with the intent of making profit. Games should be made for the benefit of the player, and not any particular company.

Second, Multiplayer. I believe that multiplayer is an awesome thing, and has awesome potential, but comes with too many unknown variables. What happens when a player disconnects? How should unknow variables such as disconnects and connection disconnects be dealt with?

Third. This industry is a very young industry. What general direction should the gaming industry take? What about Wii motion controls, X-Box 360 Kinect, and Playstation Move? Where is gaming going in this decade? How will economic decisions decide what games publishers make, and which games consumers will buy?

outworld222

I believe innovation IS the issue, but not in the way you do. Innovation -- forced innovation -- brought the Wii upon us. This 'innovation' featured less precise control systems than those it was supposedly out-innovating. Microsoft followed suit by releasing a piece of silicon shlt in the form of Kinect, which actually worked worse than the Wii. So we have consciously accepted and allowed inferior control systems in the fragile ecosystem of gaming, and it's exacted a tremendous toll on it. That's how it is, and everybody knows it.

This 'innovation' was supposed to herald a golden age of gaming, but all it did was reek of shlt. Prior to release, all these journos and assh0le developers went on record saying how many great ideas they had for this thing, and how, MAN THEY JUST COULDN'T WAIT TO GET A GAME OUT ON IT and six years later... NOTHING. You want to know what my number one issue is with the industry? We're suckers -- a bunch of idiotic mouth-breathers who marched right down the path for the pied piper like rats. I'm sure some assh0le in a GM boardroom came up with an idea to steer cars with feet at some point, but the idea was likely shot down because smarter minds prevailed and pondered why anyone would want to drive with their feet to begin with, when hands work just fine. It's too bad the folks in the gaming community aren't as bright.

In summary: Change for the sake of change, can blow on my cojones.

1.Phones/Tablets/Facebook stealing customers from Playstation/Xbox/Nintendo

2.Publishers greed and their treatment of developers

3.Multiplayer becoming a requirement.

Games makers listening too much.

Many Gamers have unreadable demands, stupid complaints or jump a conclusion with faulty reasoning.

Overlooking the innovation that is happening. The larger name games are being innovative despite how many like to points out they are not. Indies games are not being as innovative as many want to claims.

Different consoles and exclusives.

Obtuse DRM, for one. Been lucky enough to avoid it so far, but all the experiences I've read about it are terrible to say the least. They need to either drop it altogether or make it work.

Rapidly rising development costs. Comes with the advancement of technology, sure, but this is getting ridiculous. I think it was the Penny Arcade Report which interviewed someone who said that publishers have to pay, for large-scale games in full production, around a million a month to cover pay-roll, expenses, and whatever else. Something has gone horribly wrong is that's the norm. Costs like that are impossible to recoup when successful games, on average, only make a few million.

And of course forced innovation. I'll give Nintendo credit on successfully leveraging motion control into something hugely profitable. But when you see the Wii U, you can tell their stretching. Sony and Microsoft both seem to have that complex as well, as the PlayStation Move, Kinect, and Project Glass indicate. Innovation is rapidly becoming synonymous with "gimmickry." Innovation should, ideally, come naturally. Instead, it's just everyone copying each other and proclaiming originality, which is a poor substitute.

1.Phones/Tablets/Facebook stealing customers from Playstation/Xbox/Nintendocrimsonman1245

Stealing consumers? Do explain.

Many of the issues comes down to the consumer. Yes, the gamer is to blame.

Dumbing down of games. Gamers like their things dumbed down.

Most games being devoid of creativity, variety or a difference from one another. Most games being generic action games, or generic shooters. Consumers simply refuse to play anything else, different, or unique, they all just want to shoot sh!t, which is the result of this.

Multiplayer being the focus, whether coop or MP deatmatch. Again its the gamers to blame for this. Multiplayer sells better than Single Player. This is a sad truth.

Money Issue--overspending and its effects

• DLC to make up money
• DRM
• Cinematic gameplay (people are suppose to "buy" this experience)
• The closure of many studios
• The rise in ignorance among publishers (leading to many indie devs--which isn't neccassarily a bad thing)
• Nickel and Diming tatics--pre-order bonus/single player access codes

Only one reason to hit many others. Take it how you want it.

1. Way overspending on game development so that companies like EA have to give some bull**** reason that a game will have to sell 5 million just to break even. How many games even hit that number? This also leads into the others:

2. Blaming the used game market on all the industries problems when in fact it is the publishers themself looking at only short term profit than the big picture. Also bad DRM that only punishes legit buyers and makes people want to crack the game more, and they do every time.

3. New ideas are at such a premium you cant put a DLC price on it. Just about every game coming out now is either a sequel, a prequel, or a rip off of another brown game. Why take the risk of a new IP when you can copy CoD and sell millions. The industry has been stagnating for years now due to lack of innovation. Everyone is so fixed on the status quo of being a brown game with guns. Then when a game doesnt sell the expected crazy amounts the publishers toss the dev house to the street to die.

Industry sales have been in double-digit decline for months, yet the publishers dont look at the real reason why. It is their stupid business practices that is doing this. Yet in their eyes, it is the consumer's fault for not buying their latest ripoff.

Oh I forgot number 4: Gamers allowing the big-name publishers to get away with these BS business practices, shove endless overpriced DLC down our throats, and us thinking that the publishers are the victims here like they want us to believe when in fact we are the victims for being taken in. And what really kills me is the gamers that are in league with the publishers.

Piracy

DRM (which is a result of piracy)

DLC (preferred expansion packs)

Um.

"Top 3"?

Hmmm..

When ppl are negative and downrate games cause they change.(RE,DMC.)

Milking of franchises...

Above all,lack of RISK.You know,creativity,originality,innovation!

1. gamers-they dont know what they want

2. Studios- they say they have gamers best interest at hearts

3. stagnant ips

I'll start.

I believe the first issue is innovation. Today too many games are made with the intent of making profit. Games should be made for the benefit of the player, and not any particular company.

Second, Multiplayer. I believe that multiplayer is an awesome thing, and has awesome potential, but comes with too many unknown variables. What happens when a player disconnects? How should unknow variables such as disconnects and connection disconnects be dealt with?

Third. This industry is a very young industry. What general direction should the gaming industry take? What about Wii motion controls, X-Box 360 Kinect, and Playstation Move? Where is gaming going in this decade? How will economic decisions decide what games publishers make, and which games consumers will buy?

outworld222

The increasing power of a declining number of publishers. Big companies are buying up all the developers, and those publishers are only interested in making money. It's much like what happened to the recording industry, just replace record labels with publishers and musicians with developers.

The result is dumbed down products on restrictive hardware. Games have to be able to appeal to as broad a market as possible in order to maximize profits, which means they have to be released on consoles, and have to be easy enough for anyone with a positive IQ to pick up. It also means decreased innovation, as taking risks isn't financially popular when you could just milk what the sheep are buying with annual releases.

The community has also been largely eliminated; maps, mods, skins, themes, etc. are now called DLC, and all you get is what they give you the option to pay extra for. Even the servers are completely in their hands instead of being community run and policed.

As more developers are brought under a decreasing number of publisher umbrellas, competition naturally decreases, and that is the thing that drives innovation. Eventually they won't even have to think about it, and innovation will be left strictly to indie developers while the remaining two or three publishers "compete" with each other.

• Video game stories are almost always bad, and developers are going about it the wrong way, not using advantages of the medium to fix it. Long cutscenes/scripted events =/= good story.
• Lack of freedom or replay value.
• Everyone is just trying to make movies. If I want to see a movie, I'll rent a movie.

1. cost (both to purchase and budgets of making a game)

2. gamers- whine way 2 much this generation

3. motion controls/mobile gaming

1. Valuing story over gameplay (e.g. Metal Gear Solid 4, Mass Effect 2).
2. Inferior Sequals (e.g. Resident Evil 5 (worst of the worst), Splinter Cell Conviction, Prince of Persia 2008).
3. Mulitplayer in every game (e.g. Resident Evil 5 Versus DLC, Metal Gear Online).

• Video game stories are almost always bad, and developers are going about it the wrong way, not using advantages of the medium to fix it. Long cutscenes/scripted events =/= good story.
• Lack of freedom or replay value.
• Everyone is just trying to make movies. If I want to see a movie, I'll rent a movie.

brickdoctor

Well said sir. I am overly tired of reading gamers claim to games having great stories when in reality most of them suck. And I am equally tired of watch drawn out cutscenes in EVERY freaking game. I find myself watching more than playing and then these devs are surprised when no one is playing their game after the first two weeks. Devs have to go back making games and less poor cinematic experiences.

• Video game stories are almost always bad, and developers are going about it the wrong way, not using advantages of the medium to fix it. Long cutscenes/scripted events =/= good story.
• Lack of freedom or replay value.
• Everyone is just trying to make movies. If I want to see a movie, I'll rent a movie.

brickdoctor

[QUOTE="brickdoctor"]

• Video game stories are almost always bad, and developers are going about it the wrong way, not using advantages of the medium to fix it. Long cutscenes/scripted events =/= good story.
• Lack of freedom or replay value.
• Everyone is just trying to make movies. If I want to see a movie, I'll rent a movie.

Pedro

Well said sir. I am overly tired of reading gamers claim to games having great stories when in reality most of them suck. And I am equally tired of watch drawn out cutscenes in EVERY freaking game. I find myself watching more than playing and then these devs are surprised when no one is playing their game after the first two weeks. Devs have to go back making games and less poor cinematic experiences.

(With number 1 being the most important)

1. Everyone is obssessed with graphics. Great graphics mean NOTHING if the game is boring. Take Dead Island for example. From the screenshots and gameplay footage, it looks like a very impressive game. The scenery is nice and the textures look very realistic. But the game plays like sh*t. All those shiny textures cause inconsistant frame-rates and obnoxious pop-ins. Because the frame-rate doesn't drop all that much, it's not too hard to get around that bad performance to play the game. But it doesn't really matter because the gameplay itself is so damn boring. It seems like the developers concentrated too much on making the scenery look nice, and not enough on making the game actually FUN. That's a problem most developers have today. They just wanna make the game look cinematic for the idiots out there who are easily impressed.

2. Developers and publishers throwing hissy fits over used games. They try to justify their claims by saying used game sales steal money away from the creators of the game because the money you pay Gamestop for a used game doesn't go to the developer of publisher. So they try to impose things like online passes and other kinds of key codes that you'd have to pay extra for if you buy the game used to encourage people to buy new. They've even been pushing for the next gen consoles to have some sort of anti-used game tech so that everyone would have to buy new games. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! I wouldn't be gaming today if it weren't for used games. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot. I'd boycott these game consoles if what they're saying is true, and so would most other gamers. They'd be losing more money. Don't they realize that!?

3. Lack of innovation. Game companies are running out of ideas, so they resort to gimmicks. They can't really use improved graphics as a major selling point anymore because graphics are just about as good as they're gonna get. You really can't ask for much more. So they try to push things like 3D gaming and motion control, two very pointless gimmicks.

1. Valuing story over gameplay (e.g. Metal Gear Solid 4, Mass Effect 2).
2. Inferior Sequals (e.g. Resident Evil 5 (worst of the worst), Splinter Cell Conviction, Prince of Persia 2008).
3. Mulitplayer in every game (e.g. Resident Evil 5 Versus DLC, Metal Gear Online).

RageQuitter69

i thought metal gear solid 4 had so much value without the online component the online jsut added to the already amazing game

[QUOTE="brickdoctor"]

• Video game stories are almost always bad, and developers are going about it the wrong way, not using advantages of the medium to fix it. Long cutscenes/scripted events =/= good story.
• Lack of freedom or replay value.
• Everyone is just trying to make movies. If I want to see a movie, I'll rent a movie.

Pedro

Well said sir. I am overly tired of reading gamers claim to games having great stories when in reality most of them suck. And I am equally tired of watch drawn out cutscenes in EVERY freaking game. I find myself watching more than playing and then these devs are surprised when no one is playing their game after the first two weeks. Devs have to go back making games and less poor cinematic experiences.

[QUOTE="RageQuitter69"][QUOTE="brickdoctor"]

Well said sir. I am overly tired of reading gamers claim to games having great stories when in reality most of them suck. And I am equally tired of watch drawn out cutscenes in EVERY freaking game. I find myself watching more than playing and then these devs are surprised when no one is playing their game after the first two weeks. Devs have to go back making games and less poor cinematic experiences.

jsmoke03

yes please illuminate us

Tacking multiplayer on to everything.

Always online DRM. Taking away the consumers rights whilst the pirates can carry on pirating. DRM does not work, and the dumbass publishers need to realise it.

Huge, overblown budgets that do nothing but kill creativity.

I'd also add motion controls onto there. They add nothing and are only put in to appeal to casuals.

1. ****** whiney gamers thinking every dev should cater to their desires. I could go on and on with this but to keep it short, gamers never enjoy games for what they do for us as entertainment.

2. $10-$15 DLC is hella annoying

3. Fanboys

1. Publishers in general

2. Easily offended, entitled gamers

3. Can't think of one. I think most of the flaws presented can be tracked back to publishers.

1. Entitled gamers
2. Retro gamers
3. Girl gamers

DLC

ONLINE PASS CODES

QA

1. Unthinking consumers willing to put up with countless attacks on their rights by publishers. 2. Asshat publishers doing everything they can to screw over thinking consumers in the pursuit of wringing every last dollar out of the unthinking ones 3. A general downplaying of the importance of gameplay in modern games.

Because of the three reasons above the industry has degenerated into a cesspool of QTEs, half hour cutscenes, scripted events and setpieces, DLC (on disk, day one, or otherwise), Online Pass, subscription fees, intrusive DRM, always online for single player games, "Game of the Year Editions", overpriced plastic peripheral overload, and a general cookie-cutter and checklist approach to game design. Stupid consumers continually show they are willing to pay for what used to be free, and publishers continue to push costs and risks so high that the only hope of recouping costs is to continue making the same three games every year.famicommander

Very good post. Glad to see a lot of other people seem to be realizing just how hard publishers are fighting to completely screw over our consumer rights as well as thinking that they can still own a product after it has been sold.

And yes the mountains of DLC has to stop. Look at AC3, still some months away and guess what got announced today? Season Pass. Which means there will be lots of overpriced add-ons for it. Looks like Ubisoft doesnt want a potential customer as the game looked interesting, but no they have to make sure that if you want the full game you have to pay another 50$ in DLC on top of the 60$ retail purchase. Piss off Ubisoft.

1) The loss of consumer rights as we transition into the digital era

2) Piracy

3) A lack of innovation and rampant copycatting

1. Piracy
2. Entitled gamers
3. Haters

Multiplayer is a definite one, too many developer's tack it on in their games that should just have single player. Another one I'd say is greed. Publishers sometimes release games unfinished or without care (Fallout: New Vegas, COD games) and that has a very negative effect on a lot of people.

glithes and games like the fallout or elder scroll series which should be a massive multiplayer games like warcraft

1. Ignorant gamers who are more than happy to support publishers sh*tting all over gamers rights

2. Online passes, one time use codes, always online games, DRM, the obsession with modern games having to have a tonne of DLC made when they could just work on another game (makes sense to just wait for the GOTY edition and get the lot cheaper anyway), day one DLC, digital games (can't lend or sell them), disc locked content, season passes (Assassin's creed 3 GOTY edition I choose you!), pre-order bonuses with ingame content so some gamers get this free while most buying the game won't (Borderlands 2 GOTY edition here I come), publishers lieing about games shipping with content on-disc and free for all (Batman AC and BF3 on PS3 I'm looking at you!).

3. The attack on the second hand market which is also an attack on the rental market as more games are having online passes slapped on them it makes renting a game then playing it online too expensive for a lot of gamers. Second hand games are not responsible for the apparent loss of income publishers claim, try making games more affordable and with replay value, decent gameplay and not every game needs to have multiplayer plus quit treating consumers like a doormat.

[QUOTE="outworld222"]

I'll start.

I believe the first issue is innovation. Today too many games are made with the intent of making profit. Games should be made for the benefit of the player, and not any particular company.

Second, Multiplayer. I believe that multiplayer is an awesome thing, and has awesome potential, but comes with too many unknown variables. What happens when a player disconnects? How should unknow variables such as disconnects and connection disconnects be dealt with?

Third. This industry is a very young industry. What general direction should the gaming industry take? What about Wii motion controls, X-Box 360 Kinect, and Playstation Move? Where is gaming going in this decade? How will economic decisions decide what games publishers make, and which games consumers will buy?

Shame-usBlackley

I believe innovation IS the issue, but not in the way you do. Innovation -- forced innovation -- brought the Wii upon us. This 'innovation' featured less precise control systems than those it was supposedly out-innovating. Microsoft followed suit by releasing a piece of silicon shlt in the form of Kinect, which actually worked worse than the Wii. So we have consciously accepted and allowed inferior control systems in the fragile ecosystem of gaming, and it's exacted a tremendous toll on it. That's how it is, and everybody knows it.

This 'innovation' was supposed to herald a golden age of gaming, but all it did was reek of shlt. Prior to release, all these journos and assh0le developers went on record saying how many great ideas they had for this thing, and how, MAN THEY JUST COULDN'T WAIT TO GET A GAME OUT ON IT and six years later... NOTHING. You want to know what my number one issue is with the industry? We're suckers -- a bunch of idiotic mouth-breathers who marched right down the path for the pied piper like rats. I'm sure some assh0le in a GM boardroom came up with an idea to steer cars with feet at some point, but the idea was likely shot down because smarter minds prevailed and pondered why anyone would want to drive with their feet to begin with, when hands work just fine. It's too bad the folks in the gaming community aren't as bright.

In summary: Change for the sake of change, can blow on my cojones.

I don't post often, sir, but I read/lurk a lot. With that said, I just have to say that you're one of the more insightful posters on this message board.

I think we are hitting problems with a collision of technology. Why own a PC anymore unless you are going to play games? A phone or tablet can do just about do anything the average person would want a computer for. Next, how do you keep the consoles from being another PC? Consoles were supposed to be a cheap, affordable, user friendly alternative to having to update a PC every couple years or more. The price of the console is too rapidly approaching the price of a PC. In my eyes, companies have hit an identity crisis. Look at Windows 8... The kinect, Wii U, Playstation Move. They do not know what to do. They are losing sales and no longer the huge hype. In my opinion, everyone is trying to be apple with a new idea. Failing miserably at it though.

Everyone is out to make that golden easter egg. Like CoD, WoW, or anyother huge seller. Emphasis has shifted towards money instead of developers expressing what they want to in a game. Diablo 3 was a perfect example for me. Why did I buy a WoW like game with Diablo stamped on it? WoW sold...

I am currently a college student and I had a professor last semester who wrote episodes for Fresh Prince of Belair, Two Dads, and other TV shows and this is what I think happens. There were 15 plus hired on permanent writers plus independant writers that came in from time to time. They all produced an episode and one would be selected from upstairs. In this case it was the episode that made my professor quit writing. After they had changed it to what was "selling: at the moment there was only one joke in that whole episode that was his. The rest had been rewritten and rewritten and rewritten to conform to what the puplic "wanted". The same thing happens in video games I believe. Killing the games.