@jesuschristmonk Part of it is genetics and some of it is environmental. You get most of your impressionable genes from your grandparents, though. I still get angry pretty easily, that's why I almost always play RPGs. I enjoy them vastly more than any other genre, so lucky me :)
There's nothing good about being frustrated; especially constant frustration. It defeats the purpose of enjoyment for any past time...unless you're getting paid for it like a competitive sport or something (that's understandable). I used to like constantly playing hard video games, but the older I got the more I realized I needed to calm down. It's definitely NOT healthy, as opposed to what Gareth Robinson thinks. Raging like a mad man will harden your veins and raise your blood pressure through the roof. People just get caught too easily by the addictive quality. That's not a good thing, but the dopamine released in your brain will make you think it is. Then you'll continue to crave the effect more while constantly indulging in the same self-destructive behavior.
It's unfortunate that companys don't look at the bigger picture with DLC. Sure you'll make more money from DLC, initially, but eventually you will scare away customers that were once constant buyers of your product; especially if you continue to push your luck. You might not even get those customers back with such a scheme.
Actually, Pachter was half-right about the Wii. In the beginning of it's life cycle the Wii dominated for several years, but it's been selling very poorly now. It has the most total sold units right now, but the PS3 and 360 are consistently outselling the Wii now. When the Wii-U comes out, the Wii will lose so much more in sales.
I don't think shooters having messages are nearly enough to help them regarding story telling ability. There are messages in games everywhere, but most of the time they're never made out to be more important than what they appear to be. It's not like making a spectacle out of things we've heard before or experienced in any other medium will make it better because it's in a game. That and unless the experience of the game itself is good, "important" messages can come off as filler. It takes an entire game's experience usually for messages to be anywhere close to successful. But even then, it's not the messages that are remembered; it's the story and experience of the game. The only recent exception I can think of is Deus Ex: HR; but then again, it's not just an FPS.
@MachShot I can actually, and the 90s games BY FAR are superior. I've been going back to those lately and I can honestly say that they were the pinnacle of gaming. Ocarina of Time, Chrono Trigger, FF6 through FF9, Xenogears, Half-Life, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario World and much, much, MUCH more. I popped in GTA 3, then I played San Andreas and found that GTA3 was completely boring to San Andreas which improves upon everything from GTA3. I can't say that however with FF6-FF9, because I can enjoy the older ones just as much as the newer ones. There were more than just improvements in the 90s gems; they were all able to have their own great merits unto themselves and remain timeless REGARDLESS of any improvements made.
swyg's comments