Has gaming passed it's peak?

[Lightknight]

It's a thought that's been on my mind a lot recently. With the latest console generation already out, it can't have escaped anyone's notice that there isn't really as much hype or excitement for the new generation as there was for the old.

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

Man, the sheer level of mockery surrounding things like the red ring of death on the 360, and the $600 price tag on the ps3 were intense. The entire PS3 announcement was a pretty big meme and a laughingstock, much like the original Xbox one announcement.

I still remember what games I bought at the 360 launch: Kameo, Perfect Dark, and Condemned. Of those, Condemned is the only game I remember and it was only ok, it still had a lot of issues. I remember when people were talking about Geometry wars as really the only game worth getting on arcade, and gamestops had 360 systems set up where that simple arcade game was apparently the best thing they could think of to put on demo.

Shit, it took until the original Mass Effect for me to have more than a couple 360 games worth playing, and even then, I remember thinking it was just a shootier version of KOTOR at the time. My PS3 library had less than 10 games for the first 2 years the system was out.

Did you manage to avoid the XBO shit storm?

Look, when things go wrong a lot of buzz is generated. The fact is that these products have been run through the QA gauntlet to avoid another RROD at all costs. But just because there's not a ton of buzz around failures doesn't mean there's no excitment or buzz. It just means the products themselves are reliable and the news is just hitting company PR missteps now.

Either way, cash flow informs the excitment or lack there of. Selling faster than ever before indicates that there's just as much excitment even if there's not as much noise.

I think you misinterpreted my post, I was agreeing with you that the OP is likely remembering the past wrong. As in, the 360 and PS3 also got flack similar to what the Xbox one got, and plenty of people were being negative about the last gen and calling out the doom of video games because the PS3 and 360 couldn't possibly measure up to the Xbox,ps2 era.\\
There was also a massive lack of positive hype due to a perceived lack of games last gen too.

Agreed completely. Thank you for clearing up that confusion.

 

[Lightknight]

It's a thought that's been on my mind a lot recently. With the latest console generation already out, it can't have escaped anyone's notice that there isn't really as much hype or excitement for the new generation as there was for the old.

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

Must be. I remember the exact same shit happening last gen. Not to mention last gen had the same kind of people going "Ugh, the new gen consoles are average. PS2 and Xbox were much more popular than the 360 and PS3."

I think it's all about age and perspective. I was much more excited for the PS3 and 360 because I was about 16/17 at the time, and aside from trying to fuck chicks at school, and get drunk by drinking a whole TWO BEERS, gaming was the most important thing to me. As a full grown adult with kids, a full-time job and a crushing mortgage, I'm less interested in the consoles because I don't spend all my free time playing them (Was never a PC gamer). However, I see in friends and colleagues kids the same excitement for the new consoles as I once had. When the 360 came out, it was the people in their early twenties who were the cynical ones that thought gaming was going to end during the mid 2000's. And they were wrong. This gen, it's exactly the same. And I guarantee it will happen again. With the inevitable questioning of the Steam Boxes, which too many PC elitists thought were going to be the console killers (Seriously...to get one that will perform as good as a console costs roughly the same amount. And to get one as good as a great gaming PC is a few grand. Which negates the ability to spend a grand and have an amazing gaming PC), I see consoles going on as they always have.

Steam boxes would ultimately just end up being consoles of their own right. Bunch of different configurations with one platform (if even only one there too).

I can't honestly say that the Xbox or PS2 were that popular either. The only thing I can compare is relative sales. If you agree that sales equate a real means to gauge popularity then there has never been a more popular home console than the PS4 at its current rate of sales per time in existence.

I actually own a gaming pc but I'm not under any impression that consoles are in any significant danger. Cheap up-front cost as well as being plug and play and living-room friendly to the tech troubled individual. Sony at least brings a huge number of great first party games that warrant its purchase by themselves (I personally think the ps3 had the best exclusive list I've ever seen since I'd already played the Nintendo lineup across multiple machines for decades).

 

[Lieju]

I don't really know what you mean by 'peak', and it seems to me you (and a lot of gamers) just were more easily excited by flashy things as kids.

Gaming is only getting more and more popular, do you also think movies passed their 'peak' at some point?
Not only that, but they, and making them,is only becoming more accessible and diverse.

So you get a lot of crap, but also lot of good stuff.

 

[stroopwafel]

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.

I think people underestimate how fragile the situation is. Sony had incredible momentum with the PS4 but they are letting it go to waste by waiting so long with new exclusives(or quality software in general). Declining sales of PS4 would be a disaster for a company that is already in bad weather financially. You could argue every console suffers from that poor initial batch but the counter-argument is that the stakes are much higher this time around, espescially in light of Sony's billion dollar loss in the last fiscal year.

Sony needs to put on the pressure and release exclusives that will drive new hardware sales. I think its not far fetched that if the PS4 does a 'WiiU' it will take the entire company under as Playstation is the only product that still makes some money for them. And without Playstation the console market collapses as it would leave M$ without a competitor, so bye bye 'AAA' games as well. Worst case scenario obviously but name me one other technology giant that would invest in development and manufacture of a new videogame console? There are none. All those companies look with an envious eye at Apple that re-release their fucking phone and tablet every other year and people stand in line as the dumb sheep they are cause Apple. It's same with software developers for which browser/phone games is a much cheaper alternative. For all its faults, I don't see any other company with Sony's foresight and willingness to sacrifice short-term profit for an uncertain future.

So as it ties in to the topic at hand(and which I detailed in my previous post) I don't think(given the potential) gaming has 'peaked' yet but the balance is certainly more fragile, leading to less creative risk-taking, more sequels/annualization(not necessarily a bad thing when it innovates) and longer software droughts. The stakes are way too high for both the hardware manufacturers and software developers, which is never a good proposition in my opinion.

 

[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