I hear regularly that gaming is dying a horrible death, or at least stagnated, and that [insert publisher here] is ruining the game industry. As a 19 year old, with a not very deep history in games, I feel like this statement overlooks a lot of fantastic titles. The "what types of games don't you play" thread highlighted this for me. Yes there are some genres I don't play, but people saying they don't play indie games irked me. They aren't all pixel art junk. I'm not sure really what my goal is here but I just thought I would highlight some excellent games of recent. I shall keep this within 3 years. Also some of these aren't new titles and are sequels, but they build on what was already established and perfect and polish them into greater games. Now I know I've missed a lot of great titles and that a lot of people will disagree about some titles on this list, but I think it shows that good games are still being produced for all genres. Bastion Limbo Anno 2070 Dishonored Borderlandses The Witcher 2 Portal 2 Trine 1 & 2 Legend of Grimrock Amnesia: The Dark Descent Bulletstorm ARMA 2 XCOM: Enemy Unknown Dungeon Defenders Battlefield 3 Assassins Creed Brotherhood and Revelations Crysis 2 Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Fallout: New Vegas Nexuiz The Batman Games Bioshock 2 Mortal Kombat Uncharted 3 Journey Alan Wake Saints Row: The Third Demons & Dark Souls Orcs Must Die 1 & 2 Deus Ex Human Revolution Minecraft Sleeping Dogs The Walking Dead God of War 3 Sanctum Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Dead Space 2 Metro 2033 Torchlight 1 & 2 Anticipated (By Me) Assassins Creed 3 The Last of Us Watchdogs Beyond: Two Souls Dead Space 3 ARMA 3 Hawken
Heh it's quite a complex issue in my opinion and it all just depends on your perspective. At 19 all of that stuff must seem amazing because it's all fresh. But say you were playing first person shooters when Quake was big in the mid 90's, and then you got a good taste for military ones with games like Soldier of Fortune 1/2 (great multiplayer), and then Counterstrike, and CSS, and the whole Unreal series, and the Tribes games, and Operation Flashpoint etc.. There becomes a point when games like Crysis 2 and BF3 are actually pretty boring. It's good that they exist, because not everyone has been playing games for 20 something years, but still, it would be nice if there were at least a FEW games that tried to break the mould. And it just hasn't been happening, not much at least. So there's the things getting stale issue. But then there is a kind of degeneration with some games too. The Bioshock games for example, are like spiritual successors of the System Shock games, and I think anyone who played those games in the 90's, must be as hugely disappointed with the Bioshock games as I was. They aren't really bad, but the System Shock games were a lot tougher, scarier, and deeper, and they were totally original and ground breaking in the 90's. So when you get something a whole decade later and yet the only thing which got better was the graphics, it's a big downer. Deus Ex is a similar deal. And the same thing is true of a lot of those games really, Legend of Grimrock was kinda cool and I bought it just to support a little indie company, but really.. when you grew up playing stuff like the Eye of The Beholder trilogy and then the Lands of Lore games in the 80's and 90's, Legend of Grimrock felt a bit flat to be honest. There's no healing, there are no outdoor areas, the layout is totally linear, there are no friendly NPC's, there's hardly any story, etc.. There are some that I really liked, but literally only about 5 or so, and when you spread that over the space of 3 years, it leaves you desperately wanting more. The problem with the games industry was explained really well on an article I read last year, but I can't remember where it was. I also saw a similar report on the BBC too. But basically what they said is that the thing that 'died' was what they called 'middle class games'. So the indie games on small budgets are doing really well these days, stuff like Minecraft, DayZ, Legend of Grimrock etc. And then the top end games with gigantic budgets, they are still selling well too, all the big stuff like BF3, GTA games, etc. But what we lost was all the great games in the middle. And in fact, in the good ole days, they weren't even split up so much like that in the first place. The whole concept of gaming was still so new, there weren't really huge budget games and indie games and stuff in the middle, there were just games. And everything was pretty equal, and there were no massive corporations spending tens of millions to squeeze out anyone who can't afford to do that. So everything was competitive. Nowadays you just can't compete with the big boys unless you have gigantic budgets. And that's the last issue. Since the budgets got so big (GTA4 is said to have cost $100 million for example), the people who finance the games just can't afford to take any chances. So whereas in the 1990's budgets were far lower and you could get funding for any good and interesting idea, nowadays with so much money at stake, they only want to fund tried and tested ideas - ie - things that have already been done before. And that goes back to the age/experience thing again. If all this is still quite fresh then it must be great because if you get something you like, like Crysis, then it's happy days because you are just going to get a whole series of games like that. But if you don't want more stuff like that, and instead you want something wild and original and experimental, then you have no chance. So basically it just depends on your perspective. A few years ago, things did look REALLY bad for people like me, but a lot has changed in the last few years. Not only have indie games really started to flourish thanks to huge successes like World of Goo, Minecraft, etc. but with the advent of Kickstarter, it provides a much brighter future for those of us who want something a bit different to the usual stuff. The budgets might only be a few million rather than the 50-100 million the big games get, but at least it's something, and at least we are going to get some games from genres that were all but dead in the past years (RTS's, tactical RPG's, space games, etc).
First of all thanks for replying. And in such detail. I put the fact that I'm 19 in, for full disclosure, because as you said I will have missed a lot of the 90s games to compare it to. As far as I see it what you are saying is innovation doesn't get a chance with the big publishers. I can see what you are saying regarding a few years ago things looking bad, but the point I was trying to make was that in much more recent years it's been picking up. I am comparing this to a few years ago where you yourself said it was pretty dire. COD clone number 6billion etc etc. I think that in the last 3 years it has been picking up. I can see your point about the middle market and think you are bang on the mark. I ummd and arrd about putting sequels on the list and decided that some were OK. I will pick Portal 2 as an example, due to the uniqueness of Portal 1. Portal 1 is a game without much depth. The whole game focuses around the mechanics (which are fantastic). Portal 2 took these mechanics added so much more. While adding new gameplay mechanics it also added new characters with a little more depth and some history to keep it interesting. I played a bit of CS1.6, CSS, Quake, Doom, Unreal etc back when I was a lot younger, but these games didn't show innovation to me. The Quake, Doom, Unreal lot were fast paced FPS in close environments (generally) and I felt that there wasn't much to choose between them. Disclaimer: I didn't play them enough for this to actually be a worthwhile point. But as a kid they failed to capture my imagination. I've enjoyed unreal more as I've got older. I know I've just picked out a few random points here, and that my perspective is all over the place, which is why I posted. I wanted to see what other people thought. I feel that gaming is picking up again and that it will continue to grow with new IPs such as Dishonored and great indie titles like Bastion, Limbo and Trine. Do you think "The Golden Age" of gaming has passed or do you think that it can and will be revived?
Dolphie: you type too much I can't read though all that, so if you made this point - sry. I started gaming with title like Doom 1, Duke Nukem, C&C 1, Warcraft 1. Back in those days the genres were still being invented, and therefore there was a air of discovery about the titles back then. It was not opening a birthday present, this was inventing the tradition of giveing presents on your birthday in the first place. These days it all seems so tired to us cause nothing is new - just rehashes of games we played 20 years ago. /2cents
Thanks for the thanks! I forgot to say that I think you are right too by the way. That thread about "I hate such and such genre" is pretty depressing because there is a lot of good stuff out there which deserves credit, like you explained. Even though I am a grumpy old git who isn't too impressed by a lot of games these days, I still play games because like you showed in your post, there are still some great ones! And when a game is good these days, it's reeeeally good. Arma2 for example, I love that game and when I think about how big it is, it's pretty mindblowing. Some people give it a hard time for not having Crysis graphics and smoothness to the controls, but I think that's a fair trade off when the world is 60km squared and there's a whole range of weapons, tanks, trucks, choppers, and jets And then games like Fallout3 as well, when they make a sandboxy explorable world these days, they are just so big and there's so much detail. To answer your question, I think gaming will just go through cycles of good times and not so good times. I think the 90's was a 'golden age', but it will happen again and again. And I think we are on the verge of another one right now, thanks to the indie boom (Minecraft, LoG, Bastion, Amnesia, etc) and also Kickstarter. Not only that but some bigger companies are still managing to be a bit brave. We just got that new Xcom game which rocks and it's pretty tough and tactical and yet that was funded by a big publisher. Apparently gaming is growing constantly, and the games industry now makes more money than the music industry and movie industry combined! What that says to me is that even 'niche' games like Amnesia or whatever, the niches are going end up so big that they will still sell a million copies or more, and that means we will get more and more games for all different tastes. I think it's an exciting time to be a gamer at the moment. I know lol :/
If you happen to suddenly be struck with a memory of where that article was it'd be interesting to read. The idea of middle class games dying is really interesting and something I'd agree with. Look at any new game, or just look over Jaybles' list and you can fairly easily classify most games as upper or lower class, AAA or indie. I can't claim to have been around for much more than our current gaming era being not much older than Jaybles, but feel that this division is the only thing keeping gaming from getting even better (I still think it's great presently). AAA games force themselves to conform to the standard they're expected to meet and indie games try to distance themselves as much as possible to avoid competition with them and by doing so create their own standard to conform to. That's something that bothers me about indie games. It's seems apparent that they're what's going to take gaming to the next era but I don't think that'll happen until the whole "indie" moniker is dropped. It seems ironic to me that the "small little indie game that can't compete with the big guys" still has a budget in the millions and often times has sales to match some AAA titles (albiet the less successful ones). We've seen multiple huge indie successes that prove a good game will be recognized as such, regardless of budget, (and huge AAA flops that prove a marketing budget isn't everything) so we should stop acting like "indie games" are some magical different genre of their own that can't be compared to big budget games and more importantly: indie developers shouldn't be afraid to tackle the big names because gamers will support them as long as the game is good.
Yup, it's all quite interesting. I looked up that article and found it, the guy spoke at some conference and it was reported on Eurogamer here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-03-cliffy-b-the-middle-class-game-is-dead There is also this little bit from the BBC reporting at this years E3 which talks about similar stuff: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9539258.stm
Ahh, nostalgic memories I remember getting my first C&C and Warcraft! Those days I wouldn't have thought that those titles will make it this far :-/ glad I was wrong...
Right. Thread revive cause I was busy and this thread slipped my mind. As far as the middle market goes, I see your point but just don't see how it can exist. Games in that sector never seem to achieve much attention because they don't have the marketing budget of the Triple As or the uniqueness of the Indies. The AAA games can advertise everywhere and the Indie games have the power of the community. Would CD Projekt RED be an example of a middle market publisher?
I think THQ would be a better example of a middle market publisher and look at the trouble they are in atm with their stock hovering around 1.36 ($) after a 50% drop in value last week and this is after they did a reverse stock spilt to prevent NASDAQ from de-listing them
Exactly. And that's why they are pretty doomed. But all this stuff has ups and downs anyway, and we now have kickstarter which has a good chance of totally changing things. Previously dead (or near dead) developers can now make a comeback, and not only can they get funding to make a great new game, but if it's popular, it will affect how the mainstream and big publishers operate.
Slightly off topic possibly but here goes. Part of suspects theres another element to the "golden age of gaming and its apparent decline" problem at work that doesn't get considered enough. Many people who grew up with games when gaming became more widespread in the 1990s are now young adults. They are starting families, owning houses, going out to work. In short they are growing up as it were. You can see it on any wow fan site. People bitch and moan over the direction the game is taking when in truth they are just bored of the game but have nothing else to fill the hole. I'm in exactly the same situation as described above. I simply don't have the time available to dedicate to games like I used to have. That and my attention span has been seriously eroded for some reason. Games don't have the same appeal they once had. The time investment has gone up considerably from what I remember back on the N64 and PS One. I find myself with a more serious and profound problem with my gaming hobby these days. With the current heavy drive towards multiplayer based gameplay I find myself regularly frustrated. I don't have any close friends into gaming. I'd love to get into DOTA2 I really would but pub games sound like a hell I wouldn't enter willingly when seeking relaxation. For the record I'm not convinced the gaming industry is in a decline. I don't doubt it's stagnated considerable and there are many complicated issues around that argument alone. Part of me just thinks one of the core gaming demographics are growing up but desperately want to cling onto what they had in the past.
Need to chip in as I was one of those who said I don't play indie games. I totally get the indie games scene and totally get how important it is and LOVE the innovation that it brings and I see all these cool new games and think damn that's cool. That's not what I enjoy playing. I actually enjoy modern day shooters (GASP!). I grew up on Doom, Quake, UT, Blake Stone, Hexen, Heretic, ROTT, Wolfenstein but I prefer games set in a modern day world because I can connect to them better and they feel relevant and real to me. WWII was ok as the feeling of helplessness was unmatched. Sci fi and futuristic games just seem a bit go and do whatever you want because we have all this fancy new technology and gizmos. ME avoided that by being genuinely epic in scale in the destruction of the universe. I never felt that the powers I had - even with the entire galaxy on my side, that I could save the universe, only that I could try my best. Modern day combat just nails it for me, as it does millions of other core gamers. Many indie games will avoid the modern day shooter world (and rightly so) and games like Fez, Minecraft, platformers like Meatboy are all cool but I just don't connect at all with them. I appreciate them and the gameplay is innovative and graphics are awesome, but I'll put them down after 5 minutes. Let the big boy publishers publish to the masses as that's what they do best and let the indies publish to the indies as that's what they do best. Publishers don't have the ability to take risks like indie guys do - they have goals to meet (let's not forget that games is business as well as entertainment as well as art). For every Fez there's a dozen failures. Therefore, I don't play indie games - they're not for me.
