The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Gaming (Cracked.com)

Solid article. I love how a goddamn comedy site best known for articles like "the 17 worst hairstyles in the Ottoman Empire" is able to turn out better gaming-related writing than 99% of the gaming press.

I like this article. Its mostly true, except for the first and last part. First because I like iron sights alot better than not having them, and the last part because I just don't want that to happen.

Solid article. I love how a goddamn comedy site best known for articles like "the 17 worst hairstyles in the Ottoman Empire" is able to turn out better gaming-related writing than 99% of the gaming press.

PBSnipes

It's like going to Comedy Central to get the Real News rather than going to Fox or CNN!

Few.. PS Vita got off lightly i'd hate someone to say a straight to the point analysis of the device and have me hating it afterwards. As for the games i totally agree but i kinda like the idea of having them be cinematic like LA Noire or Heavy Rain its quickly becoming my favourite style of game(and it IS a game... stupid article :P)

[QUOTE="LordSadic"]

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"]Yeah, kind of sad. I blame CoD for most of it. Before Call of Duty 4, it wasn't nearly this bad.Gibsonsg527

Blame the devolopers, for taking the paved road, for lacking inspiration and creativity. Why blame it on a freaking game?

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"]

[QUOTE="LordSadic"]

Blame the devolopers, for taking the paved road, for lacking inspiration and creativity. Why blame it on a freaking game?

limpbizkit818

But the thing is, in the N64 era games didn't cost nearly as much and had a more niche audience. While I think he's overplaying the lack of innovation this generation (there are many more varieties of games you can find today then ever before), its true that there was a higher ratio of different things before now.

Like I said though, the much higher amount of new releases sort of makes that fear a bit null. We still see some great indie titles and non shooter games, there just happens to be more shooter games. The OnLive thing though, thats scary.

What is it with people against shooters? It's a genre, which means we should expect many games to play and even look the same.Put a game like Doom next to Battlefield 3. Gaming is going backwards?

What about the fighting Genre? Beat up the guy that's to your right, in every single type of 2D fighter.

How could they possible make these kinds of arguments when they don't understand what a genre is?

more ray man !!!!!!!

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"]

[QUOTE="LordSadic"]

Blame the developers, for taking the paved road, for lacking inspiration and creativity. Why blame it on a freaking game?

limpbizkit818

He dose raise some good points in the article. Particularly the one about innovation dying.

Gibsonsg527

[QUOTE="limpbizkit818"][QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"] Its mostly because of money. Publishers don't want to spend millions on a new IP that might suck.

SPYDER0416

But the thing is, in the N64 era games didn't cost nearly as much and had a more niche audience. While I think he's overplaying the lack of innovation this generation (there are many more varieties of games you can find today then ever before), its true that there was a higher ratio of different things before now.

Like I said though, the much higher amount of new releases sort of makes that fear a bit null. We still see some great indie titles and non shooter games, there just happens to be more shooter games. The OnLive thing though, thats scary.

Virtua Fighter 3

Doom 64

Mario Kart 64

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

Sonic 3D Blast

Twisted Metal 2

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Tekken 2

Donkey Kong Land 2

Final Doom

Street Fighter Alpha 2

Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr

Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run

Guys, this just in. It's 1996 and the industry is on a "Verge of Creative Bankruptcy"! We want to good old days of the NES back!

[QUOTE="limpbizkit818"][QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"] Its mostly because of money. Publishers don't want to spend millions on a new IP that might suck.

dank124

I can't say how false this is. Enslaved, Skyrim, Dragon Age, God of War. All single player only games still being published and still making money. I am shocked that people on this site are taking this guy seriously.

And you're right, Mario 64 did set thestandard for 3d platformers. And you know what happened after it came out? Tons of games tried to rip it off! Just like after COD became huge a ton of games tried to rip it off. It's called trends. This guy is acting like the video game industry is dying and it's complete and utter nonsense.

[QUOTE="Ninja-Hippo"]Cracked said the videogame industry was destined to crash this gen. so... lol. DarkLink77

I think a industry crash would be the best thing for gaming, to be honest. Give it a chance to start a new, I say!

The aiming down sights one was just lame? I mean, what, show every platform game with people jumping?

[QUOTE="SPYDER0416"]

[QUOTE="limpbizkit818"] Article is so false. He could have written that at almost any time in the past 20 years. Nintendo shows off N64 at E3: omg new mario and zelda games they have no creativity! They rather just make money! There are countless new IPs that have come out this gen. Things like PSN and XBLA have helped smaller companies get their products out to consumers. You would never have been able to play a game like Limbo on the SNES. His article ignores games like Skyrim and Alan Wake too. He rather just bash COD and say we are all screwed. Such garbage.limpbizkit818

But the thing is, in the N64 era games didn't cost nearly as much and had a more niche audience. While I think he's overplaying the lack of innovation this generation (there are many more varieties of games you can find today then ever before), its true that there was a higher ratio of different things before now.

Like I said though, the much higher amount of new releases sort of makes that fear a bit null. We still see some great indie titles and non shooter games, there just happens to be more shooter games. The OnLive thing though, thats scary.

Virtua Fighter 3

Doom 64

Mario Kart 64

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

Sonic 3D Blast

Twisted Metal 2

Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Tekken 2

Donkey Kong Land 2

Final Doom

Street Fighter Alpha 2

Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr

Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run

Guys, this just in. It's 1996 and the industry is on a "Verge of Creative Bankruptcy"! We want to good old days of the NES back!

You missed the part where I brought up how I disagreed on the too many FPS games being an issue. We see a lot more of them compared to non shooters then we saw fighting games compared to non fighting game, but I also mentioned that there are many more games being released each year that makes it a non issue. If you don't want an FPS, just play any of the other hundreds of non shooter games that come out each year.

But like I said, its still a higher ratio.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="Ninja-Hippo"]Cracked said the videogame industry was destined to crash this gen. so... lol. Master_ShakeXXX

I think a industry crash would be the best thing for gaming, to be honest. Give it a chance to start a new, I say!

About not having a vision:

Gaming as an industry isn't supposed to have an over-riding vision. There isn't a CEO of gaming. Epic is worried about what's coming next because they are closer to that non-existant position of CEO of games (including the parking lot full of supercars) than the maker of the next Angry Birds, who is thrilled that he doesn't know what's coming next. They're in defense mode cause they have something to lose. They're also less likely to be innovative because of that, which is something you say your worried about, so rather than looking at things from their perspective, flip the script.

About not knowing what a game is:

THANK GOD! If something can be defined completely and clearly than it isn't evolving. I thought you were worried about creativity, how come everything you say promotes the death of it? Throw around some words for some of the interactive video experiences out there, if some of them other than "video games" stick, so be it, we have a new branch of media, of course then that branch will sadly be less of an influence on games.

About Technology:

Simply declaring the lack of buttons is less interactive is a ridiculous and bogus simplification of the state of technology in the industry. Though once again, you're being a purist and trying to kill innovation (3 for 3 on killing innovation so far, big round of applause). To quote the article, "And in fact, the last two really big hits for the Wii (Donkey Kong Country ReturnsandMario Bros Wii) scrapped motion and just had you turn the controller sideways like a very uncomfortable control pad from 1991." Yep, let's pretend Super Mario Galaxy 2 wasn't between those two because it doesn't suit our argument. Intellectual dishonesty, FOR THE WIN!!!!

About..."And yes, we gamers are ultimately to blame. We don't even perceive how incredibly narrow our range of choices has gotten. For instance, every single gaming forum on the Internet right now is hosting at least one passionate discussion about which is better,Modern Warfare 3orBattlefield 3.":

Yes, because that's not the way its alway been. No one the playground EVER said "Which one's better, Sonic or Mario." :roll: Being part of a community means having shared experience, the Battlefield vs. MW3 debate is one of those.

About new subcription models:

To quote the article,

"Likethe newCall of Dutyseries holding back some maps and features for their "elite" service, for a monthly paid subscription."

Funny, can I have a real link to "holding back?" Because the link you provided says...

"it isn't clear if these will be the same map packs that can be purchased as DLC or exclusive to CODE subscribers"

Nor is it clear whether this subscription will fund the creation of future maps more often than usual giving, you know, value for money. As a matter of fact, very little is clear, but why let that stop you from making stuff up to add to the echo chamber; Intellectual dishonesty FOR THE WINNING STREAK!!!

Also, additional revenue models can make space for new types of experiences, but someone as concerned about the death of creativity (I forget, were you concerned creativity was dying, or that it wasn't?), wouldn't want new types of experiences would you?

I like the MW3 and Crysis 2 comparison. Underwater, emerge and see New York burning, ships are burning, and there is lady liberty.Dr_Snood

Yeah, that one was good.

I get most of what he's saying, and I also don't see this industry being able to sustain itself in its bloated form. Like most industries, businesses will continue to enter until no one is profiting and then they'll start leaving until the ones left are profiting again.

These things are cyclical, and unavoidable.

As always, my interest in games is directly related to how much fun I can have playing games. As the level of fun goes down, so does my interest.

haha this pic

Lief_Ericson

complaing about iron sights makes about as much sense as complaing about crosshairs, or any other standard game mechanic.

I don't see companies of this generation go through some kind of enlightenment or paradigm shift to cease their search for short term profit and with it their selfdestruction.
That is why I hope their 'economists' are aware that there will be no indications preceding a gaming crash, if there will ever be one again. The way they are going, they will at some point simply blast across the borders of consumers, and they will give up on gaming. The only saving grace may be that if such a thing would happen, there are now many kinds of gaming with many different kinds of costs, platforms, and paths. But that won't save the companies.

Surprised bandwagonin and believing reviewer score as gospel are not on that list:roll:

Interesting article, but 10 years from now, people will say the same thing; no matter what the state of the industry is in.

LOL'ed at the grandma pic and the one with the lightsabers..

This article is full of truth.
Especially the part about having to register online in order to play a single player game,this is very disturbing.

The PSN outage hasn't really affected me since I had so many single player games to keep myself busy, imagine I couldn't play them because I need to be logged in for a game with no online features whatsoever...This is messed up.

It's better when they stick to talking about payment models and publisher greed and the lack of creativity. They get a bit inaccurate in other situations. They also could have mentioned the trend towards franchsie necrophilia and ruination these days (See: Everything).