Things That Bother You About Gaming

[Spark Of Spirit]

Echoing what Desensitized said, does anyone else think this has been an absolutely shitty console generation? Between Nintendo whoring out the GameCube 2.0..I mean Wii and then abandoning it, the overall disturbing trend towards microtransactions, and the fact that so many good series and brands have just been left for dead, I'm finding less and less to be happy about these days.

Other than the many genre and franchise revivals that were almost dead last gen, I have enjoyed this gen more than the last, but the uprising of highly scripted movie games is stifling all creativity out of the mainstream and the only alternative comes from art hacks like Jonathan Blow or hyper casualized crap like Angry Birds.

This gen, almost as much as last gen, feels like gamers and companies are forgetting where gaming comes from. And now that Sony seems to want to let these problems into handhelds (my last bastion of modern gaming), I may be moving to retro gaming next gen. Even though I'd rather not feel the need to.

[Rynnec]

I agree with both of you. There have been quite a few gems, but the tastes of the mainstream have significantly declined. It's like the current mainstream will settle for mediocrity over the truly outstanding if its "Realistic" or "Artsy" enough.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You see, it all depends on how you choose to look at it. To me, it feels like you guys are choosing to focus too much on what you don't like. You fully admit that there have been a bunch of great games this gen (even if most of them are probably niche or barely mainstream based on what you might like), but also focus on stuff that you don't like. For me I like to judge a gen based on how much enjoyment I got out of it, and I usually tend to forget about the bad or boring experiences that I had because they are....well, forgettable. To me, as someone who only owned an XBOX360 and got to play only what my friend would get for other consoles of this gen, I enjoyed quite a bit of a titles, and there are several that I missed out on which I'm sure that I would have liked. However, even based on my limited selection of games to play this gen, I did find a substantial amount of entertaining titles. To me, this gen was OK, much like how last gen was also OK. Its not great by any stretch, but I was still entertained by plenty of games and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to me.

[Spark Of Spirit]

If it wasn't for the Wii and XBLA, I'd probably be a handheld only gamer right now. But thankfully while a lot is wrong with this gen, there is still some good stuff to hang on to for the time being.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Maybe I'm just imagining things but there were a good number of retail games from this gen that I recall you saying that you liked. Were there not enough of those or do those just not count anymore?

As for me, I'd love to get into handheld games but usually I never get around to picking up a handheld system. One of these days I'll pick up a DS, though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

There were a few, but not a whole lot I can hold on to for replay value. Like I said, it's a decent gen, but I'm mainly enjoying Wii games, XBLA/PSN games, and handheld experiences more than the HD retail games.

[gunswordfist]

Gamers.

They want instant gratification all the time, raise their expectations to ridiculous levels for every freaking thing, whine when sequels play like their predecessors and whine when they don't, whine when games are too short despite re-playability being pretty much the only aspect that give these games length since gaming began, whine when things are too hard but refuse to drop the difficulty or learn the game, whine when things are too easy despite them just being good at the game/genre (accept that not every game is catered to your uber-skill), treat games like disposable products then complain that games feel hollow and disposable these days, want to ditch traditional elements for "evolution" all the time then act puzzled when companies close because they aren't making money on said titles, and reward mediocrity for the sake of art style giving Angry Birds and Braid's creators careers that they don't really deserve because gamers are still shallow graphic whores who don't even respect their own hobby yet act is if they are experts in the medium.

For proof, just read any message board centered on videogames and you'll find every single thing I wrote. Be sure to tell them that they're ruining gaming while you're at it. Because they are.

I hate short games. Well short 3Ds ones. Games that are barely 10 hours are rarely fulfilling enough. This short game movement shit has got to stop.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Gamers.

They want instant gratification all the time, raise their expectations to ridiculous levels for every freaking thing, whine when sequels play like their predecessors and whine when they don't, whine when games are too short despite re-playability being pretty much the only aspect that give these games length since gaming began, whine when things are too hard but refuse to drop the difficulty or learn the game, whine when things are too easy despite them just being good at the game/genre (accept that not every game is catered to your uber-skill), treat games like disposable products then complain that games feel hollow and disposable these days, want to ditch traditional elements for "evolution" all the time then act puzzled when companies close because they aren't making money on said titles, and reward mediocrity for the sake of art style giving Angry Birds and Braid's creators careers that they don't really deserve because gamers are still shallow graphic whores who don't even respect their own hobby yet act is if they are experts in the medium.

For proof, just read any message board centered on videogames and you'll find every single thing I wrote. Be sure to tell them that they're ruining gaming while you're at it. Because they are.

I hate short games. Well short 3Ds ones. Games that are barely 10 hours are rarely fulfilling enough. This short game movement shit has got to stop.

According to GT the new Need For Speed is 2 hours long. They gave it an 8.4, too.

THAT'S short.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To me, its all about replay value. For example, you could beat a game like Mega Man X or any classic 2D Sonic game within an hour if you wanted to, but both games are riddled with a mixture of alternate paths and secrets and a bunch of stuff that you can collect that really makes treading through them again so worthwhile. I could play each game a dozen times over and not get board of them.

Conversely, if I were to compare it to a suitably long game like Fallout 3, while just making it through that game once definitely takes a long time, I could barely play it for more than an hour before getting bored of it. So, to me its quality over quantity.

[gunswordfist]

Gamers.

They want instant gratification all the time, raise their expectations to ridiculous levels for every freaking thing, whine when sequels play like their predecessors and whine when they don't, whine when games are too short despite re-playability being pretty much the only aspect that give these games length since gaming began, whine when things are too hard but refuse to drop the difficulty or learn the game, whine when things are too easy despite them just being good at the game/genre (accept that not every game is catered to your uber-skill), treat games like disposable products then complain that games feel hollow and disposable these days, want to ditch traditional elements for "evolution" all the time then act puzzled when companies close because they aren't making money on said titles, and reward mediocrity for the sake of art style giving Angry Birds and Braid's creators careers that they don't really deserve because gamers are still shallow graphic whores who don't even respect their own hobby yet act is if they are experts in the medium.

For proof, just read any message board centered on videogames and you'll find every single thing I wrote. Be sure to tell them that they're ruining gaming while you're at it. Because they are.

I hate short games. Well short 3Ds ones. Games that are barely 10 hours are rarely fulfilling enough. This short game movement shit has got to stop.

According to GT the new Need For Speed is 2 hours long. They gave it an 8.4, too.

THAT'S short.

THAT'S retarded.

To me, its all about replay value. For example, you could beat a game like Mega Man X or any classic 2D Sonic game within an hour if you wanted to, but both games are riddled with a mixture of alternate paths and secrets and a bunch of stuff that you can collect that really makes treading through them again so worthwhile. I could play each game a dozen times over and not get board of them.

Conversely, if I were to compare it to a suitably long game like Fallout 3, while just making it through that game once definitely takes a long time, I could barely play it for more than an hour before getting bored of it. So, to me its quality over quantity.

Didn't I just say 3D games and not 2D?

Anyway, rarely do games make me want to replay them right afterwards. That's why I prefer long experiences. I like to move on to other games and then if the game was good enough and wasn't too short, I'd go back to playing it.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

the overall disturbing trend towards microtransactions

This one, this one right here.

Not only does it limit your options if you don't have an internet connection handy (or more recently depending on what retailer you buy from), but its given companies the perfect excuse to gut their games of bonus content, lock away certain features, and they basically strip you of your rights as a consumer while trying to play the victim card.

The saddest part is when certain people try to defend this shift by blaming pirates and people who sell/trade their games. Congratulations on buying into corporate propaganda.

[Spark Of Spirit]

the overall disturbing trend towards microtransactions

This one, this one right here.

Not only does it limit your options if you don't have an internet connection handy (or more recently depending on what retailer you buy from), but its given companies the perfect excuse to gut their games of bonus content, lock away certain features, and they basically strip you of your rights as a consumer while trying to play the victim card.

The saddest part is when certain people try to defend this shift by blaming pirates and people who sell/trade their games. Congratulations on buying into corporate propaganda.

Yeah, the most annoying aspect is that most of that content used to be IN the game and now they make us pay extra for them. Like $60 isn't enough for a game, now we have to get nickel and dimed for content just a few years ago used to be free. And the whole "well pirates steal the game so they have to make money back somehow" is just plain wrong. For one, I doubt there's a pirate out there that had any intention of buying the game in the first place meaning there's no lost sale and secondly game pirating isn't anything new so why is it only NOW a problem?

Maybe if they didn't spend millions of dollars and use hundreds of people to make a glorified movie that lasts six hours with no replay value (or worth) they wouldn't being hemorrhaging money and going out of business. But no, punish the people who support you. That'll get you far.

[Daxdiv]

the overall disturbing trend towards microtransactions

This one, this one right here.

Not only does it limit your options if you don't have an internet connection handy (or more recently depending on what retailer you buy from), but its given companies the perfect excuse to gut their games of bonus content, lock away certain features, and they basically strip you of your rights as a consumer while trying to play the victim card.

The saddest part is when certain people try to defend this shift by blaming pirates and people who sell/trade their games. Congratulations on buying into corporate propaganda.

Yeah, the most annoying aspect is that most of that content used to be IN the game and now they make us pay extra for them. Like $60 isn't enough for a game, now we have to get nickel and dimed for content just a few years ago used to be free. And the whole "well pirates steal the game so they have to make money back somehow" is just plain wrong. For one, I doubt there's a pirate out there that had any intention of buying the game in the first place meaning there's no lost sale and secondly game pirating isn't anything new so why is it only NOW a problem?

Maybe if they didn't spend millions of dollars and use hundreds of people to make a glorified movie that lasts six hours with no replay value (or worth) they wouldn't being hemorrhaging money and going out of business. But no, punish the people who support you. That'll get you far.

I actually visit a message board that has these people that do try to justify things like DLC cheat codes, project $10 and sometimes buying used. I can understand piracy bits, but it's not this is a problem that will go away over night and I do agree that people that pirate really have no intention to buy it, that's why they pirated it in the first place. I do have a personal stance on piracy and that I only pirate games I can't get over here in America, mostly Mother 1 and 3.

Speaking of which, I saw that Saints Row The Third has DLC Cheat Codes as well. FUCKING A!

[GaryPotter]

I don't do DLC out of principle, and because I find the whole idea incredibly asinine. Literally the only piece of DLC I've ever gotten was Battlehorn Castle for Oblivion, and that was during a brief promotion when it was free.

Also, why do people play Saints Row? It's a poor man's GTA. I got the first game as a gift and it bore me to tears.

[gunswordfist]

I don't do DLC out of principle, and because I find the whole idea incredibly asinine. Literally the only piece of DLC I've ever gotten was Battlehorn Castle for Oblivion, and that was during a brief promotion when it was free.

Also, why do people play Saints Row? It's a poor man's GTA. I got the first game as a gift and it bore me to tears.

Nice knowing you. Foggle is about to rip you to pieces.