Do you feel gaming is just as good now as it's ever been?

I've spent a good amount of time on here on SW, and a consistent point that seems to be brought up from time to time, is that gaming in general has gone downhill in the recent generations. There are claims that games do not receive the same care and polish that older generations have done.However, I also see from the samepeople claim that more recent games are some of their favorites ever made.

Let's take Mass Effect 2 for example: If gaming as a whole is worst than previous gens, how is it that so many people feel Mass Effect 2 is one of the best shooter/RPG's ever created? Let's also not forget the string of amazing action titles that have been released, and some very innovative story driven games. Half-Life 2 ring a bell? If the last couple generations are video games downfall, why is it that Half-Life 2 is considered one of the best story narrative games made?

In general, I want to hear what people's opinions on the subject matter is. Why is gaming in recent gens great in your opinion. Why do you hate it? All I ask is that we keep the topic civilized, and not try to bash a specific console/game to promote flamming.

gaming is at its peak right now imo

It matters what genre you are talking about.

It matters what genre you are talking about.

Yandere

gaming greatly improved, but also fanboyism greatly increased too. i remember when everyone just liked playing games and not bashing each others games/consoles.

I have Mass Effect 2 in my tray... it doesnt get better than that.

I have Mass Effect 2 in my tray... it doesnt get better than that.

TheEroica

[QUOTE="TheEroica"]

I have Mass Effect 2 in my tray... it doesnt get better than that.

SilentlyMad

Yes.The ps2 era was great,but this gen being awesome,specially because I think its not even halfway through.

The gaming industry is at a precarious position...I don't think that current trends such as releasing consoles at a loss, rampant development costs, small developers closing left and right, etc. are signs of a healthy industry.

I constantly fight against this misconception about this generation being worse than previous ones, or even the worst of all time.

The production quality today is the best we've seen, with the deepest level of gaming immersion achieved. Combining cinematic story telling with the most immersive worlds and rich qualities of atmosphere that lets the player completely submerse themselves in the experience like never before is unrivaled.

And then there's the complaints about graphics having stagnated with realism and grittiness. Nothing could be further from the truth when in fact todays technology has allowed developers to branch out like never before, exploring many paths of visual creativity that wasn't possible in earlier days. From art deco styIishness with Bioshock, to paint in motion like PoP and Braid, to cel shading like Borderlands, to photo realistic cartoons like LBP - the developers have taken full advantage with what they can visualize and taking that to render.

This generation actually offers more than any previously, you just have top keep your eyes open to actually SEE it.

I constantly fight against this misconception about this generation being worse than previous ones, or even the worst of all time.

The production quality today is the best we've seen, with the deepest level of gaming immersion achieved. Combining cinematic story telling with the most immersive worlds and rich qualities of atmosphere that lets the player completely submerse themselves in the experience like never before is unrivaled.

And then there's the complaints about graphics having stagnated with realism and grittiness. Nothing could be further from the truth when in fact todays technology has allowed developers to branch out like never before, exploring many paths of visual creativity that wasn't possible in earlier days. From art deco styIishness with Bioshock, to paint in motion like PoP and Braid, to cel shading like Borderlands, to photo realistic cartoons like LBP - the developers have taken full advantage with what they can visualize and taking that to render.

This generation actually offers more than any previously, you just have top keep your eyes open to actually SEE it.

AdobeArtist

All of these advancements have a price...I don't think it is sustainable...unless all of those smaller devs are consolidated into the bigger companies (already happening) to cover their costs.

[QUOTE="AdobeArtist"]

I constantly fight against this misconception about this generation being worse than previous ones, or even the worst of all time.

The production quality today is the best we've seen, with the deepest level of gaming immersion achieved. Combining cinematic story telling with the most immersive worlds and rich qualities of atmosphere that lets the player completely submerse themselves in the experience like never before is unrivaled.

And then there's the complaints about graphics having stagnated with realism and grittiness. Nothing could be further from the truth when in fact todays technology has allowed developers to branch out like never before, exploring many paths of visual creativity that wasn't possible in earlier days. From art deco styIishness with Bioshock, to paint in motion like PoP and Braid, to cel shading like Borderlands, to photo realistic cartoons like LBP - the developers have taken full advantage with what they can visualize and taking that to render.

This generation actually offers more than any previously, you just have top keep your eyes open to actually SEE it.

Sky-

All of these advancements have a price...I don't think it is sustainable...unless all of those smaller devs are consolidated into the bigger companies (already happening) to cover their costs.

Your talking about the infrastructure of the industry. This thread is about the quality of the games from a gamers perspective. Not the executives on the board.

I for one would like to see more games like Mass Effect 2 (what I'm now calling the Game of the Generation, not kiddin), Uncharted 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Force Unleashed, God of War 3, Castlevania LoS... well I could go on and on, but you get the idea :)

for me it has gone downhill, freat for those who are impressed by mass effect, personnaly i didn't like the first one , so i don't see myself even trying the second one ( I probably will eventually who knows). My biggest problem this gen is that i feel i'm playing strip down version of previous games. Most of the time i fail to see why so many games receives high marks. For example i felt that mgs 4 was just a good game, not as good as the previous ones. Gta 4 was repetitive beyond belief, yet those two games received super high marks for i don't know what reason. Unlike the previous gen, i have money to buy or rent games and I play a lot more games. I could go on with many title as well. Anyways that's just my opinion

Your talking about the infrastructure of the industry. This thread is about the quality of the games from a gamers perspective. Not the executives on the board.

AdobeArtist

Oh. :P

I have plans of working in the industry eventually...so I have an interest in that kind of stuff. If we are talking about quality, then I agree with you for the most part...I would say that the Wii and Nintendo's stance this generation is the antithesis of your post though.

It hasent gone down hill at all. I find most of the people who complain have no idea what games to buy and have bad taste in games as well.

Not only that nostalgia is really annoying oh and a lot of people are very stubborn and wont take advice further hampering there chances of getting the games they desire.

Im 25 and games are fine. :P

It depends on what you consider, good. If you consider graphic pushing and the same games over and over great with the backing of hge corporations and money and the entire game industry being controlled by these masses great? Then sure. I beg to differ. I think creativity is suffering. I think games and what we have to choose from and to spend our money on is extremely limited and much better can be done but it probably won't be as long as these huge companies continue what they are doing. DEvelopers aren't even developers any more and have forgotten how to make games imo. They are now graphic artists trying to replicate some semblence of reality which is half the problem. They don't know how to make "games". Is TV at it's best because of reality TV and that millions of people watch american idol? No it's not. It's the same thing. Unfortunately most people don't know any better.

When MS releases a console and you have to pay $50 a year for Live and that's just accepted as that's what you do, there's a problem imo. When half the games released are first person shooters. No it's not as good as it's ever been.

I'm 36 and have been gaving since i was 6.

[QUOTE="AdobeArtist"]

Your talking about the infrastructure of the industry. This thread is about the quality of the games from a gamers perspective. Not the executives on the board.

Sky-

Oh. :P

I have plans of working in the industry eventually...so I have an interest in that kind of stuff. If we are talking about quality, then I agree with you for the most part...I would say that the Wii and Nintendo's stance this generation is the antithesis of your post though.

So you create an intelligent and informed perspective on the industry currently basically stating its not in a good state. Then you admit you want to go into it? Contradiction MUCH? lol I found that a bit amusing carry on folks. jwsoul

There are aspects of it that are bad. I feel that the industry is taking steps to rectify these issues, such as waiting longer before releasing new consoles and adding DLC to boost the longevity of the game and cover costs. At the same time, there are also companies that are thriving and are not going away any time soon (Blizzard, Bioware, etc.) that I would be interested in working for because they would be stable, interesting, dynamic, and challenging jobs.

It depends on what you consider, good. If you consider graphic pushing and the same games over and over great with the backing of hge corporations and money and the entire game industry being controlled by these masses great? Then sure. I beg to differ. I think creativity is suffering. I think games and what we have to choose from and to spend our money on is extremely limited and much better can be done but it probably won't be as long as these huge companies continue what they are doing. DEvelopers aren't even developers any more and have forgotten how to make games imo. They are now graphic artists trying to replicate some semblence of reality which is half the problem. They don't know how to make "games". Is TV at it's best because of reality TV and that millions of people watch american idol? No it's not. It's the same thing. Unfortunately most people don't know any better.

When MS releases a console and you have to pay $50 a year for Live and that's just accepted as that's what you do, there's a problem imo. No it's not as good as it's ever been.

piercetruth34

[QUOTE="jwsoul"] So you create an intelligent and informed perspective on the industry currently basically stating its not in a good state. Then you admit you want to go into it? Contradiction MUCH? lol I found that a bit amusing carry on folks. Sky-

There are aspects of it that are bad. I feel that the industry is taking steps to rectify these issues, such as waiting longer before releasing new consoles and adding DLC to boost the longevity of the game and cover costs. At the same time, there are also companies that are thriving and are not going away any time soon (Blizzard, Bioware, etc.) that I would be interested in working for because they would be stable, interesting, dynamic, and challenging jobs.

[QUOTE="piercetruth34"]

It depends on what you consider, good. If you consider graphic pushing and the same games over and over great with the backing of hge corporations and money and the entire game industry being controlled by these masses great? Then sure. I beg to differ. I think creativity is suffering. I think games and what we have to choose from and to spend our money on is extremely limited and much better can be done but it probably won't be as long as these huge companies continue what they are doing. DEvelopers aren't even developers any more and have forgotten how to make games imo. They are now graphic artists trying to replicate some semblence of reality which is half the problem. They don't know how to make "games". Is TV at it's best because of reality TV and that millions of people watch american idol? No it's not. It's the same thing. Unfortunately most people don't know any better.

When MS releases a console and you have to pay $50 a year for Live and that's just accepted as that's what you do, there's a problem imo. No it's not as good as it's ever been.

jwsoul

Dude i'm 36 and have been gaming since i was 6. Because i haven't updated my profile on gamespot i have no idea? Would you like to talk about games and see who has an idea and who doesn't?

I have Mass Effect 2 in my tray... it doesnt get better than that.

TheEroica

Yep well said i just found it amusing i wish you luck and your correct of course. Blizzard and others are MONSTERS. jwsoul

Thanks, I appreciate the support! I have a pretty good understanding of how the industry works and what it will take to get into it. Usually, I don't explain my personal situation and my life plans in my posts, which might explain why my previous post sounded a bit funny and incomplete. Maybe I should explain myself better next time. D:

I do not feel gaming is as good now as it used to be.

...

Its better than it used to be. Far improved. Game design has come a long way since the "old days".

Skittles_McGee

Nice tease there :P

The overall response is positive. I expected people to be a lot more pessimistic, I mean not that long ago people would constantly complain in similar topics. I suppose we have had a lot of good games released recently, but there were good games out back then as well.

It's been a pretty good generation so far, Mass Effect 2 was awesome. This year looks very promising. There's been quite a few good RPGs released recently. It's been a pretty good generation for action-adventure games. Way way too many FPS games though.

[QUOTE="Skittles_McGee"]I do not feel gaming is as good now as it used to be.

...

Its better than it used to be. Far improved. Game design has come a long way since the "old days".

AdobeArtist

Nice tease there :P

Dont let nostalgia blind you. Games arent worst in any way these days. There is a lot more quality games nowadays. You might argue if the improvement was that big, but you cant say they are worst in any way. Technically they are better in all areas. I also used to think that old games were better, so i decided to replay old ps1 games for example, and they are way worst than you remember.

gaming hits its peak from 1997-2005ish IMO. now i feel as though its going down at least in the FPS department. FPS during the earlier half of the 2000 decade were leaps and bounds better than FPS now. they required tons of skill to play, were really competitive and way more imaginitive. every FPS now feels like a rehash, whether it be MW2 (which is the most notorious rehash), KZ2, resistance, halo, whatever. they all feel really similar and not very fun and feel really repetitive. the only FPS that are unique are arma 2, dragon rising, and Shattered horizon for PC. racing games have gotten better and i think are reaching a peak (forza 3 AND GT5 soon, it doesnt get much better than that, also bring in modnation racers, nothing can beat this gen.) IMO fighters are near the same or a bit worse (tekken still sucks, however i am happy MvC2 and sf2t were brought back). RPGs have changed but not for better or worse, they just changed style and went from fantasy games like BD to now games like ME which are radically different but what's better is a matter of taste.

so gaming in some genre's has gotten better, in others it got worse and in some it has stayed stagnant. all my opinion

gaming greatly improved, but also fanboyism greatly increased too. i remember when everyone just liked playing games and not bashing each others games/consoles.

munkeypoo45

gaming is at its peak right now imo

sikanderahmed

Its pretty damn good but the lack of sidescrolling platformers, fun racing games and a few other missing genres is disappointing.

Gaming went down hill after SNES and has continued since then.

Nowadays it's not so much about game play and innovation, it's about "cinematics!" and graphics.

If I want awesome cinematics and graphics I'll go watch Avatar. IMO the 8 and 16 bit eras were the best time for gaming.

hell no. Gaming was so 10x more fun during the ps2 era, Ohh good times. The games were alot More intriquete and varied alot but I think now all Were getting is shooters. :( I love shooters but Suckerpunch Please 4get about infamous and Make Sly Cooper 4 Already!!

Of course it is. It's better.

I would say that gaming has improved greatly from earlier in the decade. I do think that games could be more creative than they are. Too many titles,particularly shooters, are willing to settle with generic settings and storylines.

Gaming is always improving - there are plenty of unique games available this generation. Games like Heavy Rain and Tales of Monkey Island are reviving the adventure genre. The Wii has pioneered new control systems. RPGs - especially Western RPGs are improving dramatically, fusing together the best of the action genre with the customizability and character development of traditional RPGs. In general, games today exhibit an enormous amount of polish which was practically impossible in previous generations; developers are actually imagining and creating real worlds in which characters reside and interact. I mean to say that, with current technology, that designers are actually able to realize their visions, present a story and express character emotions without as many technical constraints. We began to see this last generation, but this generation it's really taken off.

Games like Uncharted 2, Grand Theft Auto 4, Mass Effect 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are all technically marvellous and have impressive presentations, but there's more to it than that. These games have learned from the past and developed control systems which are comfortable and innovative. The gameplay, the stories, the characters, the scope have all been stepped up a notch.

I will admit that, perhaps, the high development costs can limit creativity... but we have WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, and PSN opening the doors to affordable and creative games which are less ambitious than the blockbuster titles out there.

I can't say yet if this is the best console generation, because each of the previous generation has been fundamental in laying the groundwork for where we are today. And certainly, the transition to 3D graphics, Mario 64, Zelda 64, the release of Soul Calibur on Dreamcast, the release of MGS2 and GTA3. These were all defining moments for gaming. But that does not mean, when compared to what we have today, that those games are better than Galaxy, Twilight Princess, Soul Calibur 4, MGS4 or GTA4.

[QUOTE="piercetruth34"]

It depends on what you consider, good. If you consider graphic pushing and the same games over and over great with the backing of hge corporations and money and the entire game industry being controlled by these masses great? Then sure. I beg to differ. I think creativity is suffering. I think games and what we have to choose from and to spend our money on is extremely limited and much better can be done but it probably won't be as long as these huge companies continue what they are doing. DEvelopers aren't even developers any more and have forgotten how to make games imo. They are now graphic artists trying to replicate some semblence of reality which is half the problem. They don't know how to make "games". Is TV at it's best because of reality TV and that millions of people watch american idol? No it's not. It's the same thing. Unfortunately most people don't know any better.

When MS releases a console and you have to pay $50 a year for Live and that's just accepted as that's what you do, there's a problem imo. No it's not as good as it's ever been.

jwsoul