There are many minor reasons why games today aren't being produced at the level of their predecessors, but there is one huge reason that I hope can enlighten the industry, and expand it's territory. That is, basically, games in the past were coming out in entire different GENRES. Now they are just mock ups of what's been thought of already. Mario Bros.- one of the first side scrollers; Mortal Kombat - the first fighter; Mario Bros. 64 - the first open world; gran turismo - the first simulated racer; doom - the first first-person shooter; sims - the first relationship simulator; sim-city - the first governance simulator (which may be a good idea to revamp this simulation to include decision making for infrastructure construction practices such as bridges or underwater tunnels...idk); Punch Out! - the first boxer; Pilotwings - one of the first flight games; command and conquerer - one of the first strategy games. I think u get my point now. Basically, if designers could just think of a new way to present the world around a protagonist, and/or steer that protagonist in the world...instead of trying to come up with different stories. Now that would be revolutionary. Idk, kinda harder to do than say. But, one idea I come up with is kinda weird, but could have some potential. A timeline rpg. About a man who is intertwined with his ancestors and descendants dating all the way back to ape-man to an evolved superhuman. U could have the ape-man as a third-person action adventure having to escape a clan, and join another, or survive on his own...the man as a first person shooter in a war...evolved superhuman as a puzzle/strategy game. All these different genres being statiscally affecting the timeline, thereby, diminishing or enhancing the abilities/relationships of the character in that time period. Could get kinda complicated! But anyway, it's just a thought on the whim.

Let's face it. Nearly every Batman game to date has been a total failure. It could be from the lack of technical development, sloppy gameplay mechanics, or juvenile plot layout. Whatever it was, it didn't adopt the true atmosphere of the first Batman movies. My favorite Batman movie of all-time would have to be Batman Returns. It may be b/c I'm a little old-fashioned, but I still don't think it gets the credit it deserves. I mean, u have Danny Devito as Penguin, Michelle Pffiefer as Catwoman, and Michael Keaton as Batman (who I believe to be the perfect actor for the role). He looks intense, intelligent, and athletic, but not too bulky. His acting just fits perfect for the role with his calm and cool attitude with a thoughtful and wise persona. It's just superb acting all around with Tim Burton's dark and gritty vision of Gotham, instead of the immature low-budget stage-like atmosphere in Batman & Robin, and Batman Forever. I just hope the game goes above and beyond the standards, mainly b/c I'm buying this game when it first hits the shelves.

Now, who said we video gamers didn't have a use for anything? Turns out that all those people who say that are just living in the past. When Rathium was showing off their new controller software for UAV's (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) they surveyed people on which type of controller interface they'd prefer. A young boy chose the X-Box style controller over the joystick, and the now dominately-used keyboard and mouse. I wonder if the military would be upset if you got frustrated with the mission and threw the controller at the screen... :|

Anyhow, here's the link to the video if you're interested:

http://my.att.net/s/s.dll?ep=62700&only=y&PT=8&_pgoffset=1095&articleid=5987906