The Decline of Video Games

The lack of AA is truely being felt.

What is AA? AA pretty much means middle tier games in terms of production cost. Higher than indie but lower than AAA.

For gens up to gen 7 (during the middle-end of it) where they died due to high dev cost. AA games usually filled up consoles with various sorts of titles, BMX, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Platformers, DDR type games, NBA Street, Fight Night, NFL Blitz, etc. There was much more variety.

100's of studio went bankrupt due to the cost of creating games and it's the main reason Sony and MS have been pushing indies so hard. Without them the consoles will look as barren as they really are.

Todays consoles consist of a bunch of safe sequels and remasters and maybe a few new IPs a year if that. Its the 3rd year and we are finally now getting some games at a somewhat ok rate. Even then most of the games releasing are from the typical big studios, Ubi, EA, Activision.

Japan is a shell of its former self although some would argue they are making a come back on consoles depite being absent for pretty much a decade (in volume).

Literally no variety and most games barely even do anything different, they are just shined up 360/PS3 titles.

Games cost too much to make and take too long to make so we end up having to rely on indies to fill the gaps and also less games as a result. Episodic or add content to game later is now a real concept. Paying $60 on the promise of receiving a whole game later, if you had told me this would happen 10 years ago I would have been replied, impossible.

In gen 6, consoles had Battlefield Modern Combat and PC had Battlefield 1942/2, Consoles had Unreal Championship and PC had Unreal Tournament. Games built to take advantage of their platforms unique aspects. That's just a few examples.

Reasons why good consoles are revered over history is due to the exclusives (gives them an identify) they got during their life times. I'll use the Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2, and Xbox era as an example. Each console had tons of exclusive titles and a good majority of the games weren't on PC either and were built to the strengths of the console they were developed on. Xbox One and PS4 are pretty much the same consoles, only separated by 3 or 4 exclusive titles with everything else multiplat.

Consoles have lost what made them unique, games built specific to their platforms advantages without everything having to be homogenized for every platform. Barely any local multiplayer, yes I have friends and would love to play with them when they come over via local or online guest splitscreen. Console ish games like Ninja Gaiden, Conker, DMC, etc. They have pretty much turned into cheap watered down PCs where you have to pay to play online without any of the benefits of a real PC.

This gen sucks

I agree.

Last good year of gaming was 2010 with red dead

Tldr, get a new hobby then

I missed last gen :(

Tldr

I'm enjoying this gen just fine and I've enjoyed all gens since nes

I think we forget all the shovelware of gen 1 and 2 era's

Console fell hard. Used to be hundred of exclusives, many good.

Today, lucky if PS4, Wii U, or Xbox get 1 good exclusive in year.

PC very good today though

Yeah.

Amount of exclusives so far on both the PS4 and X1 can be counted on little more than one hand, which is pathetic.

This gen is the worst yet.

I am looking forward to VR gaming.

VR games are not about the super realistic graphics or story but more about gameplay and what can be done with the current tech.

Pre-ordering my Vive tomorrow, I said **** it, I'm going for it.

VR has potential, it"ll be interesting to see how games adapt to it for sure

Me too.

that's because everyone went bust last gen, 7th gen was a gold rush, a mad dash rat race to stake a claim in the market, not everybody made it obviously, we saw many celebrated developers (heck even publishers) bite the dust

but I know ton of you younglings got into gaming in the middle of last gen and probably thought gaming was always so flushed with greathness, but it wasn't

Pretty much

Sorry, I can't agree. There's a lot more shit in today's industry, but on the other hand there's a lot more better as well.

Can you go into the specifics of this?

It's refreshing to see a new member creating a good topic.

You should take a look at this thread.

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/games-discussion-1000000/how-many-studios-have-went-under-in-the-last-10-ye-32012636/#14

Well, mostly I'm referring to Kickstarter and the rise of indies. I don't really see how "AA" games (those as you've defined....falling into the "not quite" indies, yet "not AAA" undertakings) holds much bearing. Games are what they are. There are what I would qualify as indies (such as Ori and the Blind Forest) that I consider to stand very tall and proud against the best that AAA efforts constitute. No budget is a determinant of that, the final product speaks in its own defense.

I'm pretty content with the state of gaming currently because I don't focus on the triple AAA scene. Indies are mostly where I gain my enjoyment and place my focus, with AAA coming along every once in a while (Witcher 3, Hitman) in compliment of it. This has changed in the past few years, when I was the opposite: AAA is what I viewed as a priority, and indies a compliment. If indies became the norm, I don't think I'd hold much issue.

A good majority of the indies don't have the same gameplay polish or just general refinements compared to a game like Ori, for every Ori you have a million other indies that are retro remakes to SNES games. Not that there is anything wrong with SNES games.

Comparing indies to these AA studios THQ, Capcom, Sierra, Lucas Arts, Rare, EA Sports Big, Neversoft, Midway, Hudson, Konami, and Sega (in there prime) is a night a day difference.

This gen is fine......there just needs to be more of it.

PS2 was the last AAA Gen.

2015/2016 already looks leagues better than most of last gen.

Can't take you serious, when you say gen 7 was at any point good.

The 1st 3 years was sequels to gen 6 games./DMC MGS Halo/

Untill 09, gen 7 was hell if you had a PS3, and even a 360, thanks to RRD, and the WII without Motion Plus.

This gen looks great compared to last gen, but any other gen, yeah, it's a little flat.

And the death of Unreal Tournament, thanks to whoever made the style of UT3.

Care to offer solutions tc or are you just going to complain.

Devs don't want their studios going bankrupt because they took a massive gamble on something that didn't payoff so they stick to what works. Added to that investors care more about their pockets than allowing devs to flourish it's why indies are popular they're more creative because they are not shackled by big puplishers.

Gamers don't help the situation when some are dismissive of multiple genres that do try new ideas or they demand change and then complain about said change. Also the fact that a lot of gamers can't give constructive criticism and help devs improve their games instead you get "this game sucks" or other stupid comments.

You also have to take into account that lots of ideas have been done before especially if you're an older gamer. I don't care whether a game tries new things or not I care that what a game does it does well.

There's many factors why some gens are more productive than others I can't be bothered to think about it I just want to play games somethings come along that are cool like the nemesis system or are just good improvements of what came before. There're plenty of games I'm enjoying right now because I don't play the same stuff day and night I mix it up. Unless you can come up with a solution, a fool proof idea that will allow devs to create the best games as well as convince every gamer to support that let me know. Try funding a game if you're so inclined revolutionize the industry or maybe broaded your game collection and try something you haven't played before. I'm sure many here can recommend cool games. We could try this support the good shit and less of the bullshit and maybe the industry can improve.

Yep, I agree. I think I've been saying for some time now that this doesn't feel like a proper generational leap, more like a mid-cycle refresh. It's just more of what the 360/PS3 gen was, only bigger and shinier. It's stagnating though, things have become stale, static (insert more synonyms). It's been more about iteration than about ambition.

I never said Gen 7 was amazing, it started off good but fell off hard during half of its life.

What new IPs are we getting?

Last gen created way more IPs, all I'm seeing are sequels to lasts gens games.

It's not that this gen doesn't have any new ideas. It does, but they're all incremental, peripheral features and upgrades. You can't possibly see any of it conceivably bringing about a significant shift in game design. Essentially, you can imagine most- if not all- of this gen's games on the previous generation consoles, if with a few minor cutbacks for performance's sake.

Blame yourself for not doing something about it rather than complaining about it anonymously on the internet.

• Splatoon
• Undertale
• The Evil Within
• Soma
• Pillars of Eternity
• Quantum Break
• scalebound
• Darkest Dungeon
• Bloodborne
• Black Desert
• Until Dawn
• No Mans Sky
• Horizon ZD
• The Order 1886
• Rocket League
• Sunset Overdrive
• Hyper Light Drifter (this needs to come out now)
• Dying Light
• Ori and the Blind Forest
• Path of Exile

and that's just the ones I can think of

@Ballroompirate: It's not about new IPs though, at least in my view. It's got more to do with the fact that game design wise, none of the games feel new or truly next gen, new IP or no. You could imagine them all on last gen systems.

As TC said, consoles gen don't have their own unique identities. They feel more like refreshes of gen 7.

How did it start good?

Gears of War, Resistance, Assassins Creed, Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil 5, Mass Effect, No More Heroes, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 2 (my fav CoD), Call of Duty 4 (created the whole CoD craze), Dead Space, Borderlands, Portal, Skate, Dead Rising, Uncharted, and Bioshock. This is just in the first 3 years (its not my fav gen but its better than this one).

These are IPs (most were new at the time) are much more significant than like anything we got this gen.

BallroomPirate, your list consist of a lot of PC centric ish titles (I'm listing console games only) like Path of Exile, Divinity etc. Some of those titles you listed aren't even out yet either nor are they on consoles.

Whilst there are some aspects of gaming nowadays that I don't like and has me a little worried (such as the emphasis on MP/online-focused games at the expense of proper SP campaigns), I generally am still enjoying gaming overall.

UT3 was pretty much the effects of having to homogenize a game for all platforms.

Unreal Tournament was a PC only title and was pretty much one of the fastest twitch arena shooters around, once they decided to multiplatform it the game suffered. Got rid of wall jumping and a lot of PC specific features and the game design was built around consoles. Unreal Tournament can't really work on a pad due its multi-layered gameplay and speed, they got rid of it when they decided to go for that console $

Unreal Tournament 2004 was more popular than the UT3 which released in 2007 a year later (game died fast), everyone left UT3 as the game changed (streamlined) and dumbed down from what made it unique.

So yeah, death to whoever made the style of UT3.

It's all because of shat like Call of Duty and the bro gamers who worship them. Thanks for that.

Just stop complaining and give it a rest for a few years.

In the majority of cases it isn't gaming that has changed, its the person playing them.

I'm probably just going to get Fates and Pokemon this year and be satisfied, unless The Mandate comes out sooner than expected.

Overall, I feel I am just losing interest in this industry. But since Kickstarter, AA devs have been thriving. So at least there is that. The fact that the VR fad is kicking in doesnt make me particulary optmistic for the future either.

@mems_1224: Thank you and agreed. These complaining editorial threads (because all they are is opinion piece on gaming today) are becoming as common here as a new COD is to the month of Nov. I have been at this hobby since Pong consoles in the 1970s. While there are some things in the OP I agree with, I too say, then stop playing games. I can still find some enjoyment in this. When I can't, I won't complain or cry about it. I'll move on.

CoD selling like hotcakes while games loke SoC selling like crap, suggest that "gamers" buy the same games as "bros".

The landscape is different and part of the issue is rising costs, but you have other factors like social media where the slightest misstep can mean the internet ganging up on a dev, from the ME3 ending fiasco, to the held back DLC stuff. I'm not trying to defend the business practices, but it doesn't change the fact that if you compare it to other businesses gaming can feel unique. Gamers are ready to pounce on a dev and instantly boycott him for the slightest wrong move, many gamers do not show their support on day 1 these days because of season passes, things that don't go their way, etc.

Myself I actually thought about this the other day, that despite the fact I am such a passionate gamer, I would never want to get into the gaming business, it seems something incredibly difficult to get a good game made without any negative press or something going wrong before release. On well, I'm still loving this gen, the quality is still there I don't mind the lack of quantity because I wouldn't have the time to play much more anyways.

tl;dr

I agree that we could use more AA games though.

I agree that there's alot of recycled stuff, but don't worry there's always good stuff out there.

I can think of quite a few decent games that have come out recently and plenty on the near horizon.

Also, unless you have HEAPS of spare time then I think there's definately enough quality games to play.

You do know that having AA in between AAA releases would only help, right?

Currently, we wait for big AAA releases while playing mostly sub par indie games which if not Retro remakes tend to be walking simulators. Compare those to the AA devs of the past and you"ll see its not even remotely the same thing.

Entire genres are missing in gaming today, not sure what that has to do with an individual changing.

Its some shooter, Madden or 2K and that's it in the AAA market.

Good game still do come out, its just that if we could get AA to add in the extra variety it would benefit everyone greatly.