Has gaming passed it's peak?

[Eve Charm]

Eh gaming hasn't but I think our generation "The Nintendo kids" are going away. Lets face it, Adults, with jobs and families, who the hell has time for something like a final fantasy game anymore. I still buy to collect out of nostalgia but how much longer before I stop caring.

To be honest I probably bought more games over the year, not even including steam that I haven't even took out of the package then ones I've gotten at least 5-10% done with the game.

While we wanted mario, sonic, zelda when we were kids as much as possible these kids want Call of duty, GTA, and minecraft. and a new mario and sonic game is as appealing to them as barbie horse adventures was appealing to us.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, no. There was a huge amount of hype for new consoles. You might not know it if you're getting your info from this community, but the Escapist has its baggage and biases and that's perfectly fine. It's not indicative of the whole, however.

I'd say just the fact that people don't want to move on from the PS3 and 360 is enough evidence that there's still a strong relevance to gaming. This is just a continuation of the trend of not forcing people out of their old console. The PS2 saw routine support longer than any console I can name after a successor came along.

But that aside, this console launch was a huge deal.

 

[gargantual]

Eh gaming hasn't but I think our generation "The Nintendo kids" are going away. Lets face it, Adults, with jobs and families, who the hell has time for something like a final fantasy game anymore. I still buy to collect out of nostalgia but how much longer before I stop caring.

To be honest I probably bought more games over the year, not even including steam that I haven't even took out of the package then ones I've gotten at least 5-10% done with the game.

While we wanted mario, sonic, zelda when we were kids as much as possible these kids want Call of duty, GTA, and minecraft. and a new mario and sonic game is as appealing to them as barbie horse adventures was appealing to us.

We need old school save states and a few more games with quick saves. Less episodic auto saves. Might be awkward way for adults to finish with bit piece playthroughs but if you look at finishing a game like a one hour daily devotional. Its no different than Gibbs working on his boat in the garage in NCIS, or Stephen King making time to write.

Well for some at least....

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'm stuck in-between. As far as policies, I seriously wish we could go backwards. I also liked it better when companies made games for gaming's sake. You see massive bloated budgets with companies having to go all in or face massive losses, stifling creativity and bringing about virtually the same game just so it can be a success. Cause 3 million in sales is somehow a failure these days.

I will admit that I owe a lot of my fave games to this generation, or the one before. No doubt in my mind. But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about the rest of the industry. As a portable gamer, graphics have never been my absolute preference. A good experience is what I look for. And I tend to find that away from the insane budgets and the copy-paste brown and grey shooters of last gen. Seeing the rest of the generations be a total letdown in many ways only cements my feelings. Not including Microsoft's insane blunder or EA becoming massive dicks since last gen (I don't recall them being so bad in the Gamecube/PS2/Xbox era).

The gaming industry has the capability to do so much right now, but it's bogged down very heavily. Because everything is such a risk, with companies targeting every demographic under the sun to make their game sell, I don't feel like we're gonna go very far this round.

Maybe then the industry can get a kick in the balls and learn it's about the GAMES. Yes, I know companies exist to make money, I get it, don't bring it up. But I never had the feeling that's all it was about in previous generations pre-360/PS3/Wii. Nowadays, it's all very different. And it's a sad state to be in.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

It has if the toxic disease of early access continues to spread, and even come to consoles as 'beta'. And if publishers jump straight back into making the same game again every year, which made everyone desperate for the previous generation to end.

 

[infohippie]

Nope. PC gaming is still going from strength to strength and the indie scene is better than it has ever been. Perhaps EA (and Ubisoft, and a bunch of other big name publishers) have passed their peak, but gaming as a whole absolutely has not and probably never will. Hell, I have been a gamer for over three decades and I am more excited about upcoming releases than ever before. Can't wait to play me some Star Citizen, and there are a whole bunch of other games on the horizon I am really looking forward to. There is just no big commercial release I am particularly excited about and frankly, I don't really care.

 

[Pogilrup]

Some here have a made a point regarding older member audience having less time to play games in comparison to younger audiences.

Tell me what games can be described as "short but sweet"? I think I would find those games quite appealing if I ever lack time for playing games in general but still want to play something of decent quality.

 

[thehorror2]

I think what we're watching is the slow death of traditional AAA gaming. The indies will continue to rise, and there will be attempts to ape them by the big publishers (EA made a few staggering steps in this direction) but aside from a few stalwart franchises that people JUST. KEEP. BUYING. it'll all be over in the next decade or two.

 

[Vault101]

The current "gaming community" - that is, gaming forums where gamers come to dicuss games, is in a pretty horrific state imo. All large parts of the community seem to want to do anymore is whine about things. Whether it's sexism, DRM, Steam selling the wrong type of game, characters with exagerated features, whatever new controversy of the month takes over and the community has become almost toxic imo. Why would anyone bother to try and be excited about the new consoles on this forum for example? Any discussion about them just dissolves into PC vs console dick waving contests or circlejerking about how Microsoft is literally the Fourth Reich.
.

because people can and should complain about things? if people didn't unleesh the rage of a thousands keyboard warriors then Xbox eould have tried to enforce their always online bullshit

I can underdtand the sentiment of never being able to just "like" anything...like it all has to be vewied from a lense of cynasim but there is A LOT to complain about this gen, you might not think its all valid but plenty of people do

 

[Erttheking]

People don't know how to do anything but complain, companies are just souless giants ruining gaming, the consoles are inferior to the last generation, PC gaming is dying, and everything was perfect just a few years ago.

Just like five years ago.

 

[Something Amyss]

People don't know how to do anything but complain, companies are just souless giants ruining gaming, the consoles are inferior to the last generation, PC gaming is dying, and everything was perfect just a few years ago.

Just like five years ago.

You forgot consoles are also dying.

because people can and should complain about things? if people didn't unleesh the rage of a thousands keyboard warriors then Xbox eould have tried to enforce their always online bullshit

I can underdtand the sentiment of never being able to just "like" anything...like it all has to be vewied from a lense of cynasim but there is A LOT to complain about this gen, you might not think its all valid but plenty of people do

Yeah, the notion that people are complaining because they're just complainers by nature is pretty inane when we have so much to legitimately take issue with.

Given the state of gaming, people should probably be complaining more.

It's not that every last complaint is legit, but there's plenty to complain about.

We need old school save states and a few more games with quick saves. Less episodic auto saves. Might be awkward way for adults to finish with bit piece playthroughs but if you look at finishing a game like a one hour daily devotional. Its no different than Gibbs working on his boat in the garage in NCIS, or Stephen King making time to write.

Well for some at least....

I don't know. While we lost save files for a lot of games, it seems like most games autosave every five seconds or so. Picking up to play has never been easier on some levels.

For me, the big thing is remembering how to do stuff. Not so much an issue for a bog standard shooter, but a fighting game or platformer, it becomes kind of a thing. I don't have the patience to remember 70000 commands for each game I want to pick back up (which can be an issue with certain types of platform/adventure games).

I think this is why I like just getting on GTA or Saints Row these days. I can pick up pretty much where I left off without trying to remember.

 

[The Random Critic]

Every generation thinks they're own generation game's are better. (doesn't apply to every person in the generation per se)

Just cause you don't like it doesn't mean someone else doesn't. So for you (and maybe me), probably, But for someone new to these "generation" of games. Not really

And who knows, maybe someday you'll find anther game that will fill your own spark. Cause believe it or not, there are o so many games out there. So many of them you will never find...

When people shared their mighty opinion attach with any kind of hidden identity (bar internet, etc), what I usually see is that the person who spew the edgiest and least supported opinion regarding certain topics are usually the ones that cares about that topic the least. Like my own opinion, for example.

 

[Vault101]

People don't know how to do anything but complain, companies are just souless giants ruining gaming, the consoles are inferior to the last generation, PC gaming is dying, and everything was perfect just a few years ago.

Just like five years ago.

EVERYTHING IS DYING

...literally...its like physics or something

 

[Flammablezeus]

Gaming is nowhere near its peak. Technology's becoming cheaper and cheaper and making it easier for indie devs to create amazing games without bowing to AAA publishers who don't know a thing about development. The most amazing things are still far away. As it is, people need to move away from making every game like every other game.

 

[Lightknight]

We're facing the fastest selling consoles in the history of the industry. Maybe you're just remembering the past wrong?

Initially, yes. But as time marches on lack of software is actually hurting sales. Sony for example makes either very little money off the PS4 or they sell it at a slight loss relative to the PS3(that they initially sold at $300-400 loss on each console). It took them about 4 years to make some money off the machines themselves, so that puts the 'ridiculous' launch price of $599 in perspective(the way they presented it was a disaster obviously). The low launch price of the PS4 is also only possible by making PS Plus a paid service as its their only way to recoup some of those losses and/or compensate for low profit margins.

Less than desired software is an issue at every launch.

I can't believe that I see this conversation regenerate literally every generation and not just from average gamers. The columnists who have been in the industry feed into the fears and conversations too as if they didn't live through all the previous generations.

The low launch price of the PS4 is possible for many reasons. One of the easiest reasons is that it's x86 architecture and not proprietary. The PS3 hardware was expensive and proprietary.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

What can i say? Give it a year or two and see what has happened before deciding gaming has passed it's peak.

There hasn't been a game that appealed to me on the new machines yet but i know it will come. Last generation it was Dead rising with it's ridiculous zombie counts that made me jump for the 360. GTA 3 made me buy a PS2. I wonder what game will make me move onto the PS4 (because i've been badly burned by MS and will not touch them again). Maybe i'll spend lots more money on a PC, rejoin the cheating crowd and forsake hardcore gaming again...the possibilities are...limited lol

My biggest concern is the lack of change in the control methods. Controllers only have so many buttons so games are hobbled by a lack of combinations and keyboards are less than adequate for many game types. So on that score this generation is going to need some innovating game mechanics or it will probably stagnate quicker. But with the rising population and fresh batch of newbie gamers who haven't grown tired of the same old same old it probably has reached it's peak for gamers of a certain age and experience (likely me). As a whole it can continue to ignore veteran gamers and not suffer any financial consequences. There! A nice cheery ending

 

[Bruce]

Nope.

Gaming goes in crazes - and that means it ends up going through cycles of excitement any time a new craze comes along.

Then everyone copies everyone else, and eventually gamers get bored of playing the same thing over and over again, until finally somebody comes along and does something different causing the next craze.

This is what happened with adventure gaming, RTS, platformers and FPS games.

We are currently in the bored phase of FPS, but that just means the rise of "casual" free-to-prey city building sims.

Once that craze dies down a bit you will see more buzz about the next one, which will likely be more console friendly.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Depends on what you're looking for or think of as "gaming".
My take on the situation, based on current trends and observations...

-For consoles, I'm feeling more confident every year in saying that they've peaked and are on the decline; really for the first time since the crash of 83'. Consequently, "Traditional" single player games (at least from quality productions) are slowly going the way of the dodo due to this push to make everything online-centric (you will get your always online DRM, and you will take it with a smile).

Some will be quick to dismiss this as a normal part of the console cycle and point to all manner of sales numbers, and how this or that is "Teh best numbars ever!", but in doing so will have to uncomfortably shuffle around explaining the REST of the market. Market share isn't about who is booming, but who is booming the most, and while next gen consoles are booming, everyone else is collectively booming more.

(if nothing else, I have NEVER seen this much cynicism in the first year of a new console; there are always naysayers, but this time it seems very widespread. The Xbone debacle may have saved Sony, but it strained consumer trust in a way I have never seen in the console market.)

-Service-centric games (MMOs, F2P and all that online jazz) are definitely on the rise.

-Mobile gaming is very, VERY slowly crawling out of its casual-ripoff mire, being bogged down by gobs of indefensible "Freemium" price gouging schemes. Only time will tell if the growth produces any more meaningful concepts, or if it's just going to continue to mostly be about milking clueless slots for easy cash. Though since this market is implicitly linked to devices that require a network of some sort to function, it's safe to assume this too will only contribute towards the online-centric singularity mainstream gaming is converging towards.

-PC gaming has been surging forward for about 5 years now and is forming its own identity as something other than "The second-rate 360 port dumping ground, plus MMOs and RTSs." Though now that blunt force exploitation has arrived on the indie-kickstarter scene, the growth is going to dial back. There are some great concept titles coming out on PC from folks OUTSIDE of the AAA Zeitgeist (we don't really need them nearly as much as they want us to believe).

 

[Rozalia1]

Spoiler

Depends on what you're looking for or think of as "gaming".
My take on the situation, based on current trends and observations...

-For consoles, I'm feeling more confident every year in saying that they've peaked and are on the decline; really for the first time since the crash of 83'. Consequently, "Traditional" single player games (at least from quality productions) are slowly going the way of the dodo due to this push to make everything online-centric (you will get your always online DRM, and you will take it with a smile).

Some will be quick to dismiss this as a normal part of the console cycle and point to all manner of sales numbers, and how this or that is "Teh best numbars ever!", but in doing so will have to uncomfortably shuffle around explaining the REST of the market. Market share isn't about who is booming, but who is booming the most, and while next gen consoles are booming, everyone else is collectively booming more.

(if nothing else, I have NEVER seen this much cynicism in the first year of a new console; there are always naysayers, but this time it seems very widespread. The Xbone debacle may have saved Sony, but it strained consumer trust in a way I have never seen in the console market.)

The words of the IGC means absolutely nothing in gauging peoples feeling with a product.
The IGC hates plenty of successful things, always predicting this and that is going to go down the drain...yet they pretty much never do. Look at Nintendo, they've had the ire of the IGC for decades for all it mattered.

Some will dismiss it today, dismissed it 10 years ago, and will dismiss it in 10 years time. When there is actual evidence that everything is going down the drain than you may have a case.

-Mobile gaming is very, VERY slowly crawling out of its casual-ripoff mire, being bogged down by gobs of indefensible "Freemium" price gouging schemes. Only time will tell if the growth produces any more meaningful concepts, or if it's just going to continue to mostly be about milking clueless slots for easy cash. Though since this market is implicitly linked to devices that require a network of some sort to function, it's safe to assume this too will only contribute towards the online-centric singularity mainstream gaming is converging towards.

Now if I had to make a doomsayer prediction this would be the platform involved. Mobile has the potential to replace all other platforms, it could well after a bit of evolving do just that...though not being a phone person I'd hope not.

-PC gaming has been surging forward for about 5 years now and is forming its own identity as something other than "The second-rate 360 port dumping ground, plus MMOs and RTSs." Though now that blunt force exploitation has arrived on the indie-kickstarter scene, the growth is going to dial back. There are some great concept titles coming out on PC from folks OUTSIDE of the AAA Zeitgeist (we don't really need them nearly as much as they want us to believe).

What exploitation? You mean business?

 

[Atmos Duality]

*image snip*

And that's where I stopped reading. If you want to proclaim your smug opinion to be superior, go right ahead.