Re: Can Games Get Any Better (2024 Ed)

On Sun, 24 Mar 2024 09:05:35 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 23/03/2024 15:00, Mike S. wrote:

I do NOT think games are better or worse now then they were in the
past. I prefer older games but I always believed this was just because
of my own personal preferences and not because games themselves  have
gotten worse. There have always been good games and bad games. I don't
think that is ever going to change.
 
The biggest change I have noticed these days I think is that big
developers no longer take chances. This is not necessarily a bad thing
though, because the more innovative titles have just moved  over to
smaller indie devs. This is just a switch to me, not a decline. From
what I can see, there are so many types of games to choose from, you
should be able to find something that appeals to you. At least on the
PC side of things.

>
I think that in some ways they are better and in some worse. The big
budget space seems to have very much stagnated in terms of gameplay and
gone backwards in terms of innovative overall. As you say innovative and
risk adverse don't really go together. I'd also add that part of gaming
in this space that I think has got significantly worse is the wide scale
introduction of MTX. You want me to pay £60 for a game and then expect
me pay even more money if I want an enjoyable game experience, I think
I'll pass on that. I do remember thinking many years ago that one day we
might move from where gameplay was the core and a finical model was
attached to it (we think you'll enjoy this game so give us some money
for it) to a finical model which the gameplay was just there to support.
To me, that's now happened.
>
The part I very much agree with is that the innovation has just moved,
or was always there, to medium/small studios and in many ways I think
there it has improved with the range of games easily available to play.
Indeed it's possible that they tripe-A developers have done me a favour
by 'encouraging' me to explore new types of games. Is that something I
should thank Bobby 'I may look like a potato with a face draw on it but
I'm rich' Kotick?
>

This more or less coincides with my own thoughts.

Overall, I think that there /has/ been improvement in the industry.
Yes, the triple-A publishers are absolutely stuck in a rut; they never
take chances, prefering sequels and remakes over anything even
slightly resembling something new and unproven. And yes, the low
cost-of-entry for Indies means that we are seeing a lot of clones of
existing games.

But I am nonetheless hopeful overall, because we are also seeing
entirely new genres being created. Survival games, visual-novels,
dating sims, workplace sims, walking sims, deckbuilders, retro
games...these are just a few of the new ideas that are becoming ever
more prevalent. And new tech is revitalizing the industry too: VR,
handheld PCs (Steamdeck), AI... none of these themselves will (IMHO)
transform the industry, but they are all helpfully shoving the hobby
into new modes and ideas.

It's not quite the wild days of the early 80s (when every idea was
new), or even the 90s (when all the ideas were being reworked) but it
feels like there is a very subtle change going on, of the sort that I
feel was largely missing throughout the early part of this century.

Even the big-name publishers aren't immune. Sure, they'll be last to
the party, but gradually even they must give up on their old-school
ideas and start embracing the newer styles.

Of course, a lot of the trends and changes aren't necessarily to my
liking (retro-style games, for instance, or survival games like ARK or
Raft that seem purpose built for twitch streaming) but placating my
likes and desires shouldn't be the end-all goal of the industry
anyway. I'm just happy that new ideas are finally filtering out, and
with all this innovation I expect that some of those many ideas /will/
appeal to me.

So - unlike when I asked this question back in 2013 - I am
(cautiously) optimistic.