Computer Games Are Dead...

[The Boston Crab]

...to me.


For the first time since getting back into games around 2006, I literally couldn't care less about anything that's on the horizon or here right now.


The Wii is 99% shit. The 360/PS3 are 100% bland. Handhelds can all get to fuck.


Games, we had a good run. The DS was probably the best ever games machine in its heyday.


I would have been better off reading a book in 99% of cases.

[The Masked Unit]

I thought about starting the exact same topic yesterday. I think for me personally a new console cycle might get me excited momentarily, but I think in fact I've just "grown out of them", although I don't mean that in the sense that I'm too old for them. My life just doesn't allow for spending much time playing them now, and there are other, creative things that I feel are a better use of my leisure time.

That said, there's usually at least one game on the horizon that interests me, but there just isn't right now, and I struggle to imagine what kind of announcement would excite me.

I think I'll give gaming a miss for twenty years or so and come back when it's mind blowing and I've got the time to enjoy it.

[Little Hoover]

I've not gone that far yet, but I have to say at the moment, I'm getting far more interested in HD remakes and some of the old PSN games available, there's certainly some upcoming releases that'll interest me but I'm sick of how much identikit FPS games dominate and how online multiplayer has to be in everything these days.

I also think things like the PSN and Xbox Arcade are sort of having the affect BBC4 has. All the creative and interesting ideas are being pushed aside into all these little low budget games so you're not getting games like Okami where you have a unique idea that gets developed into this big budget idea that a studio is willing to risk putting money behind. If it was pitched today it'd probably end up being a twee platformer/puzzle rather than a more expansive and involving idea. Also there'd be a multiplayer mode for some reason.

[mobias]

We're definitely going through a lull at the moment but there are great games on the horizon as far as I'm concerned. In the near future I'm looking forward to Saints Row 3, Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3.

However 2012 looks like its going to be a a great year for games releases. It'll mark probably the pinnacle of what this gen is capable of technically. SSX2012 will come out in January and looks increasingly like EA are really going to deliver on it big time. Some of the ideas in it look utterly superb.  Starhawk on the PS3 looks like it might completely re-invent the open world multiplayer battlefield experience. From what I've seen of it it looks incredibly fun and again really inventive. I'd also be very, very surprised if we don't get a new GTA next year. Rockstar have also been really quiet on Agent which we know they are developing. It might see the light of day next year too.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The Wii/handheld/mobile/internet gaming market should've been a hotbed for interesting niche titled, but instead it's mainly twee/over-commercialised fucking rubbish. Cynical wank or boring wank, still wank.

360/PS3 is equally cynical and far few developers are reacting to the stalling of hardware development but making interesting titles, instead just churning out more shit.

This is where the PC gaming market should've stepped in, but...meh



MEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

You hear me?

[Viero_Berlotti]

I'm looking forward to Skyrim and Dark Souls. Skyrim because I love a big immersive world to explore, you just know it is going to be chock full of things to do and discover. Dark Souls because Demon's Souls was the most innovative mainstream title in terms of gameplay I've played this gen. I'm sure Dark Souls is going to be just as innovative.  I'm still waiting for a fantasy RPG that genuinely breaks the mold though, because even these two titles are going to rely on the same old fantasy RPG clichés that have been used year in year out for the past 20+ years.

[Ginyard]

The problem with computer games is that they're utterly shit compared to listening and playing and making music. If I devote a few days to a game (and I do a few times a year), I mostly come away feeling like it was a pointless waste of time. Where's the soul, brother?

[Phil_A]

I read recently that the console industry survives almost entirely on novelty value. Essentially, the only thing that drives sales is newness, as it seems there's practically no long term public loyalty to any particular brand. This is why the big games companies are forced to produce new gimmicks, new add-ons and so on every couple of years, otherwise people just start losing interest and drift away, and sales subsequently plummet. It boils down to a constant battle to keep the attention of the fickle public, before they get distracted by some other shiny thing and forget about buying games.

tl;dr - if the industry fails to capture the public imagination with it's latest batch of new gadgets and toys, it will just whither and die. Which is basically what's happening at the moment.

[mobias]

The problem with the industry is that it costs so much to produce a game these days that so few chances are taken. Its similar to the movie industry in that respect. I know a few people who work in the games industry and they all say how creatively frustrating it is. There's great ideas out there but people holding the purse strings won't take a chance on them. Creating a game now is such a massive, long and expensive process. 

[Phil_rose]

The problem with computer games is that they're utterly shit compared to listening and playing and making music. If I devote a few days to a game (and I do a few times a year), I mostly come away feeling like it was a pointless waste of time. Where's the soul, brother?

Well, thanks a lot. Now I puked on myself!

[madhair60]

Exact opposite for me.  They were dead to me a few years back, when I was almost exclusively playing emulated 8/16-bit games, as well as old DOS/Win98 stuff.  Since I upgraded to the HD era, I've finally "grown up", so to speak, and discovered online multiplayer, reams of amazing indie games, lovely 1080p graphics, and even more emulation possibilities (Wii!  PS2!  Saturn!  Er, maybe not that last one).

[I accept the terms of the]

Creating a game now is such a massive, long and expensive process.

Creating a big-budget game. Haven't you noticed the renaissance in indie games and bedroom coders?

[mobias]

Creating a big-budget game. Haven't you noticed the renaissance in indie games and bedroom coders?

Yeah sorry I wasn't clear, I meant console based games at the higher end of the market.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I read recently that the console industry survives almost entirely on novelty value. Essentially, the only thing that drives sales is newness

I would argue the exact opposite of that. What drives sales is familiarity, sequels and the same thing being repackaged and dished out time after time.

[Consignia]

I would argue the exact opposite of that. What drives sales is familiarity, sequels and the same thing being repackaged and dished out time after time.

You'd think so, but it seems that doesn't work all the time. For example the band games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band seemed to die a rapid death for just being the same thing.

[mobias]

For example the band games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band seemed to die a rapid death for just being the same thing.

Those games take the piss though. They absolutely churn them out. There's ludicrous amounts Guitar Hero versions out there, or so it seems. There's only so many times you can repackage something and flog it, and they went well beyond it.

[Consignia]

Well, exactly. It demonstrates you can't just sell the same stuff over and over, because people simply won't buy it. Not true of all games, as they seem to get away with releasing yearly sports games which are largely the same, but I would agree that novelty[nb]but not necessarily innovation[/nb] is a big driver in video games.

[Famous Mortimer]

I always get bored at the bit where you can get by on being an enthusiastic amateur in games, and have to become a serious pro to win. I remember abandoning nearly every racing game I've ever played at about 80% (apart from Need For Speed: Undercover, cos that shit was way too easy to beat).

I just realised that last paragraph has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Sorry. Maybe it's got something to do with games costing so much, so therefore anything weird that might put some people off is smoothed away, to appeal to more and more people. I don't know. Maybe as we all get older, we have less time to play computer games and try and create some overarching narrative from our own lack of spare time?

[The Boston Crab]

Essentially, this is why I'm such a Nintendo-championing blinkered wanker.

Every single game on every other system is shit, to me.

Only Super Mario, Metroid and Zelda games make me feel excited and want to play more. There's so much love and attention and imagination in controlling the characters and interacting with the world, which to me, is the only thing games have over other forms of entertainment/distraction. Stuff like GTA feels like absolute shit to play, there's no fluidity to it at all, there's no joy, no surprises. It's an 'impressive' replication of this, that and the other but it FEELS LIKE SHIT. Same with most games. You're effectively just 'holding right' on the D-pad. That's why it feels like a waste of time, there's no skill involved. FPS require skill but they all feel shit, too, and are shit.

I'm going to dust off the Wii and play Super Mario Galaxy 2 this evening. I feel good just thinking on it.

[mobias]

Essentially, this is why I'm such a Nintendo-championing blinkered wanker.

Every single game on every other system is shit, to me.

Only Super Mario, Metroid and Zelda games make me feel excited and want to play more. There's so much love and attention and imagination in controlling the characters and interacting with the world, which to me, is the only thing games have over other forms of entertainment/distraction. Stuff like GTA feels like absolute shit to play, there's no fluidity to it at all, there's no joy, no surprises. It's an 'impressive' replication of this, that and the other but it FEELS LIKE SHIT. Same with most games. You're effectively just 'holding right' on the D-pad. That's why it feels like a waste of time, there's no skill involved. FPS require skill but they all feel shit, too, and are shit.

I'm going to dust off the Wii and play Super Mario Galaxy 2 this evening. I feel good just thinking on it.

I'm 100% the total opposite of that. I'm a child of the 80's but never really got into gaming on the Spectrum or Commodore etc, even though all my friends did. Right  up through to the PS1, gaming still didn't capture my imagination enough. Its a bit like the Limmy's show sketch in the second series when he talks about how generic and boring modern games are compared to the old school stuff and immediately undermines it all be showing how utterly shit all the old games were.
It wasn't until seeing GTAIII and playing it that I had a eureka moment and suddenly thought gaming had delivered. I played my PS2 to death and bought a PS3 and I'm never off it. With the likes of Red Dead Redemption I play it and think this is how I always wanted games to be. Immersive, cinematic, tons of detail, visually stunning and with the freedom to enjoy it in your own way and at your own pace. I think games can be a work of art as much as anything else.

[Steve Lampkins]

I'm not a big gamer at all - but I have been playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2, a hell of a lot. And I'm likely gonna drop a couple thousand on a super duper computer for Battlefield 3 this autumn, so I can actually play a game as it's meant to be played.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

All the creative and interesting ideas are being pushed aside into all these little low budget games so you're not getting games like Okami where you have a unique idea that gets developed into this big budget idea that a studio is willing to risk putting money behind.

Okami is just a Zelda clone with a painting gimmick, shirley?

[I accept the terms of the]

I have no desire to try at games anymore. I don't like it when games feel like work. As a kid I would have been excited enough about the magic world that lies beyond the difficult bit that you've retried ten times already, but these days I know it's just some cut-scene. I don't mind when retrying is fun or fulfilling (platforming is fun, you're always doing something gamey, and solving a puzzle is fulfilling) but chores and repetition can fuck off. I was replaying GTA IV earlier and just switched off after I had to make the five minute drive in the middle of a mission AGAIN. Is the game so impressed with itself that it thinks the player should invest that sort of time in doing something boring that they didn't choose to do?

I was happy to spend hours and hours doing the full-game speed run in Braid because every single point of that was engaging and meaningful. I can't play Mass Effect at all, it wastes so much of my time! It thinks it's epic and special enough to make me sit through it and wait for it. No, Mass Effect. Monkey Island could tell me a story with lots of dialogue without outright wasting my fucking time.

[Subtle Mocking]

I think what you mentioned above is more of a problem with GTA IV as opposed to your attention span. It's been noted on here before about how overly 'cinematic' it can be. There was at least some humour in San Andreas, for example. GTA IV seemed too...real.

Anyway, I'm not really that excited at all about the Christmas release schedule this year, but I haven't been for a long time. I find myself just buying the annual updates of sports games now, along with the odd 'big' release. I really don't give a toss about FPS games, even if the upcoming Battlefield looks gorgeous. Good-looking does not necessarily equal fun.

[I accept the terms of the]

I think what you mentioned above is more of a problem with GTA IV as opposed to your attention span.

Yes, it definitely is that. As I mentioned, I could sit at Braid for hours planning faster routes through the game, because that was engaging and all of it had a point. I just don't get along with most games anymore, because about of a third of the gameplay is stuff that I would only do if I was being paid.

[Space ghost]

I have no desire to try at games anymore. I don't like it when games feel like work. As a kid I would have been excited enough about the magic world that lies beyond the difficult bit that you've retried ten times already, but these days I know it's just some cut-scene. I don't mind when retrying is fun or fulfilling (platforming is fun, you're always doing something gamey, and solving a puzzle is fulfilling) but chores and repetition can fuck off. I was replaying GTA IV earlier and just switched off after I had to make the five minute drive in the middle of a mission AGAIN. Is the game so impressed with itself that it thinks the player should invest that sort of time in doing something boring that they didn't choose to do?

I was happy to spend hours and hours doing the full-game speed run in Braid because every single point of that was engaging and meaningful. I can't play Mass Effect at all, it wastes so much of my time! It thinks it's epic and special enough to make me sit through it and wait for it. No, Mass Effect. Monkey Island could tell me a story with lots of dialogue without outright wasting my fucking time.

I just got taxis everywhere in gtaiv or used the trip skip function.

You know you can do that right?

[I accept the terms of the]

Yes, but try getting a taxi in the middle of the mission where Packie gets you to rob a bank in Manhattan, starting from his house in the ghetto island to the right. You can't use a taxi in most missions where you are expected to get a car and drive somewhere., this isn't an isolated example.

There is no trip skip.

And it's an example of a wider problem.

[vrailaine]

I'm not sure if I was ever hugely fond of games. Think they were just the most manageable habit to have living in a rural area, being able to get potentially dozens of hours out of a game for only several times the price of a 90 minute film I'd never watch again, like.

The second I got the internet, my attention began to wane from games. Stopped buying them once I got a hacked PSP. Once I got an internet connection which allowed me to download films and television shows without crippling my download limit, I pretty much quit games.
Had a last hurrah of playing a ton of playstation games that I always wanted but had no chance of finding when I was 10 on my hacked PSP about a year later and then that was it, with the exception of Lumines.

GBA is probably my favourite machine.

[garbed_attic]

Many of the games in the Indie Games Bundles are terrific for good, clean graphics and quiet innovation. Braid is an astonishly well executed concept and if it hadn't had been for the terrible writing exhibited in the in-game story books, that I would have considered it nigh-on perfect. Machinarium was an absolutely divine little game, with gorgeous hand-drawn line graphics and dinky character designs, even if some of the logic puzzles weren't very well integrated into the overall game. Also, as ever, there are some very well written text-only games still being made, if one can be fussed to play them - especially those made by Emily Short.

[Space ghost]

Yes, but try getting a taxi in the middle of the mission where Packie gets you to rob a bank in Manhattan, starting from his house in the ghetto island to the right. You can't use a taxi in most missions where you are expected to get a car and drive somewhere., this isn't an isolated example.

There is no trip skip.

And it's an example of a wider problem.

you're just rubbish at games.