Still love em. Not as much as I used to though. I get distracted more easily. And everyone fighting over every time someone scratches their nose is really taking me out of the hobby. Makes me want to not call myself a gamer anymore. Really gaming would be a hell of a lot more fun for me if there weren't so many people I had to deal with. People who are just so convinced of how right they are about everything.
Is Gaming fun anymore?
- Thread starter ThePurpleStuff
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Well, I asked myself the same question and, at first, had to answer with 'Not really'.
Then I realized that with some exception AAA titles aren't made for me anymore. I'm really interested in buying 'Bloodborne' and 'The Handsome Collection', but aside from that I have more fun with games that are mostly shunned by most gamers or flawed.
I also fired up my PS1 and 2, SNES and Wii and had the completely subjective impression that the games for these consoles were made with more love and regularly dared to use different visual styles. I also think that the PS1 and some PS2 games are still great because they were able to give you a cinematic feeling without being too technically advanced that they could ignore writing a good story.
Just look at the great games Squaresoft pulled on the SNES and PS1: Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy 4 to 9 and Tactics, Parasite Eve, Chrono Trigger and Cross, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana... And that's just one company.
Then I realized that with some exception AAA titles aren't made for me anymore. I'm really interested in buying 'Bloodborne' and 'The Handsome Collection', but aside from that I have more fun with games that are mostly shunned by most gamers or flawed.
I also fired up my PS1 and 2, SNES and Wii and had the completely subjective impression that the games for these consoles were made with more love and regularly dared to use different visual styles. I also think that the PS1 and some PS2 games are still great because they were able to give you a cinematic feeling without being too technically advanced that they could ignore writing a good story.
Just look at the great games Squaresoft pulled on the SNES and PS1: Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy 4 to 9 and Tactics, Parasite Eve, Chrono Trigger and Cross, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Mana... And that's just one company.
Gaming was more fun when I actually had disposable income and could wander into a gamestop and make choices based on box art, also when I was more naive. Nowadays with huge student loan bills, rent, cable, gas, insurance, electricity, food. I cant afford a new console, games or to upgrade my computer. I have to really research titles now to see if they are going to be worth my money, removing alot of mystery.
I want to get back into console gaming to try and rekindle things, just cant afford to.
I want to get back into console gaming to try and rekindle things, just cant afford to.
There are certainly things I don't like about gaming nowadays (specially in the AAA industry). However some other things seem to be of my liking. Alien: Isolation and Shadow of Mordor reminds me that some of the AAA titles still are fun for me (or at least entertaining, as I call the former Alien: Frustration). Besides, Steam allows me to play past and old games that were epic, but that I missed at its time (which were a lot). Then there is Nintendo, who still knows what fun (and nostalgia) means, and apply it to their portable console (and to the Wii U I suppose...). And finally the indie, good and bad things come from them; but overall I still like their best games.ThePurpleStuff said:
Wait, wait, wait. What? From what evidence do you base that "fact"? The way that EA has bought middle budget developers (like NuFX, PlayFish, Pandemic, Black Box Games, Phenomic, DreamWorks Interactive, Westwood, Bullfrog, Mythic, Maxis, etc) just to shut them down later seems to say pretty much the same about the AAA publishers.Tilly said:
The OP seems to be easy to distill into "I only play Zelda games, and gaming isn't fun anymore."
That'll be because of the lack of Zelda games, mate.
I still find gaming fun. I flit between console and PC, too, now that I've got a decent laptop. I play Crusader Kings II and the Total War games and then I go onto console and play some Destiny or...because I'm in Ireland and away from my collection, I've been playing Quake 4 because my girlfriend got it free from Gamestop when she worked there and it's actually really fun. And I study creative writing and that, and this is relevant because the entire time I'm playing games with stories, I'm analysing said story almost subconsciously. Strong male characters, strong female characters. Plot holes and the like, but mostly consistency. I noticed with Quake that there are no female soldiers - so the game establishes fairly early on that women don't fight on the front-line in this universe, and then makes it so the comms officer who seems to be in charge of all the air support, is female. Which I think is really cool
And I brought that up because a few people have mentioned Sarkeesian and others have mentioned GamerGate and yeah, despite all the moral and social justice shit flying about around our hobby, I still find gaming fun, and I don't even have to block out the drama.
That'll be because of the lack of Zelda games, mate.
I still find gaming fun. I flit between console and PC, too, now that I've got a decent laptop. I play Crusader Kings II and the Total War games and then I go onto console and play some Destiny or...because I'm in Ireland and away from my collection, I've been playing Quake 4 because my girlfriend got it free from Gamestop when she worked there and it's actually really fun. And I study creative writing and that, and this is relevant because the entire time I'm playing games with stories, I'm analysing said story almost subconsciously. Strong male characters, strong female characters. Plot holes and the like, but mostly consistency. I noticed with Quake that there are no female soldiers - so the game establishes fairly early on that women don't fight on the front-line in this universe, and then makes it so the comms officer who seems to be in charge of all the air support, is female. Which I think is really cool
And I brought that up because a few people have mentioned Sarkeesian and others have mentioned GamerGate and yeah, despite all the moral and social justice shit flying about around our hobby, I still find gaming fun, and I don't even have to block out the drama.
Well my experience is different as I am part of the PC MASTER RACE, but I can echo my loss of interest in completionism. If it doesn't give you an in-game reward, cheevos can eat me. I've also found that single-player holds my interest less and less, as I spend more time at home because of my kids and job, games have become more of a social outlet for me.
I also sort of feel like games are increasingly a hollow substitute for accomplishment, that my time would be better spent on something that will endure and be useful. So games with shared content are very appealing to me now. The awesome Workshop integration in AOE2 was a huge plus for me.
I also sort of feel like games are increasingly a hollow substitute for accomplishment, that my time would be better spent on something that will endure and be useful. So games with shared content are very appealing to me now. The awesome Workshop integration in AOE2 was a huge plus for me.
To an extent, but I wouldn't say indies "largely" destroyed mid-range ("AA") developers.Tilly said:
There's a few big things that lead to AA's demise:
i) AAA stopped funding "AA" projects entirely. Why? To focus on big-budget broader-appeal blockbusters, because that's where the megabucks were. I lay the blame largely on them because prior to the 360/PS3 generation, AAA basically owned the market and fronted the cash for nearly all significant works, mid-range included.
ii) Online distribution. Duh. This is essential for the current indie market to exist at all.
iii) The cycle of consolidation and reemergence of talent.
The quick and dirty version: AAA focuses on big budget games, AA productions get slashed, layoffs ensue, many ex-AA developers find new employment elsewhere -AS- indie devs.
In this sense, I agree that the rise of indies did contribute towards further killing off AA productions simply via economic clout (efficiency matters; cheap game with a bit of creativity is more effective than expensive game with similar creativity), but at the same time a number of these indies would not exist if not for the influx of talent and other resources caused by AA's demise.
Also, There is a silver lining where indies are concerned: Some may become tomorrow's AA producers (developers and publishers). I say that, because their success is predicated largely on filling the void AAA left. They may never be as big as AAA, but they have the advantage of offering actual diversity.
These things go in cycles; ~25 years ago, SEGA was a legitimate, major competitor to gaming's (former) kingpin.
Today, not only do they effectively work for said (former) kingpin, but they're a pathetic joke in their own right; a company whose name inspires more punchlines about "Sonic" than anything...or vitriol for irritating Lets Players with DMCA takedowns of games that haven't been relevant in 12+ years.
That I can agree with.
Gaming has become more political because it's becoming a mainstay form of media.
And with politics comes the power to inspire, preach and pander.
It's always bugged me that for all the talk of promoting "diversity" or "progressiveness" (or whatever euphemism they choose) in gaming, the modus operandi of many such advocates is based more on deconstructing existing gaming culture; removing what they hate rather than adding what they want.
Which isn't really promoting diversity, but doing the opposite and hoping others fill in the void with stuff they like.
As for the "social justice" angle: I'll be frank here: I find a big difference between correcting irrational hatred/behavior based on misconceptions and thrusting artificial guilt onto an audience for social leverage.
And yet, that guilt-tripping is always at the forefront of "social justice" topics in gaming now. To the point where, I'd be so bold to say a disturbing amount of online "social justice" outrage operates on the subtext: "Others have had it too good for too long, so my actions and opinions are justified! No matter how irrational, hateful or hypocritical they may actually be."
Granted, gaming isn't the only place I've seen that, but it's certainly a major arena for "social justice" types currently.
Frankly, I want the same.
That's a big part of why I'm taking my game-centric discussions elsewhere and why I'm basically receding from the growing social-media knee-jerk culture associated with it (which is not as easy as it sounds).
I'm still having a lot of fun with it. I've not been very enamored with AAA releases of the same period you mentioned but there are plenty of great games out there to find. I'm going through my backlog on steam now and pick up 'new' games when they're a 20 spot or better which eases my disappointment in theses games. Colonial Marines is pretty enjoyable when you've invested 5 dollars in it.
No I'm the same. Recently I've bought about 5 games on Steam and put 2 hours into each. A few years ago I would have lapped that shit up, nothing else would matter til I finished one. I guess it just harkens back to when I was younger and only got one game every now and again, so I had to make the most of it. Nowadays I can just go on Steam or Amazon and buy what I want whenever I want. Different states of mind I guess, but I still enjoy playing games when I do, and every so often a game will come along that will give me that drive to 'make the most of it'.
The issue with the game market right now is twofold.
Oversaturation) Far too much coming out, especially in October, leading to a disproportionate amount of Shovelware.
Lack of Identity) Games are being stripped of uniqueness, if you've played a CoD you've played three other games coming out this year. This problem doesn't just exclusively lie on the head of FPS's though. For instance, Gone Home felt derivative from Dear Esther. Dragon Age: Inquisition felt like EVERY MMO EVER even without the addition of other players.
But you're never going to get rid of either of these problems, there will always be games coming out quickly, Jesus just look at the size of the industry, and as for identity, for every unique idea there will always be 10 people taking notes ready to beat that horse to death and beyond.
You're going to have to wait for fun games to come out. You're going to have to pass over a few "Generic Sword Quest" titles waiting for a game like Skyrim to come out. You're gonna have to wait through some "Assassin's Creed: Unity" titles before you hit a solid "Velvet Assassin" and you'll have to deal with a couple "Legend of Korra's" before you get a Metal Gear Rising.
Sometimes it feels like finding a needle in the haystack, but once you do find a title like Journey or E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy it feels so very worthwhile.
Oversaturation) Far too much coming out, especially in October, leading to a disproportionate amount of Shovelware.
Lack of Identity) Games are being stripped of uniqueness, if you've played a CoD you've played three other games coming out this year. This problem doesn't just exclusively lie on the head of FPS's though. For instance, Gone Home felt derivative from Dear Esther. Dragon Age: Inquisition felt like EVERY MMO EVER even without the addition of other players.
But you're never going to get rid of either of these problems, there will always be games coming out quickly, Jesus just look at the size of the industry, and as for identity, for every unique idea there will always be 10 people taking notes ready to beat that horse to death and beyond.
You're going to have to wait for fun games to come out. You're going to have to pass over a few "Generic Sword Quest" titles waiting for a game like Skyrim to come out. You're gonna have to wait through some "Assassin's Creed: Unity" titles before you hit a solid "Velvet Assassin" and you'll have to deal with a couple "Legend of Korra's" before you get a Metal Gear Rising.
Sometimes it feels like finding a needle in the haystack, but once you do find a title like Journey or E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy it feels so very worthwhile.
No, I cry profusely every time I play a game looking at my TV or PC screen. It just hurts too much.
To be more serious, I have actually stopped buying most AAA titles just because of how boring the industry seems to be becoming. That doesn't stop me from playing tons of smaller or more niche titles that are more appropriate to my tastes, though. And I generally still enjoy the hell out of those games.
To be more serious, I have actually stopped buying most AAA titles just because of how boring the industry seems to be becoming. That doesn't stop me from playing tons of smaller or more niche titles that are more appropriate to my tastes, though. And I generally still enjoy the hell out of those games.
"Diversity", in the sense it's colloquially used, is one of the most confused ideas I've ever come across. It's terrible that so many people have been conditioned to think of it as almost good by definition and that it's been forced as dogma into so many institutions in the west. There is no 1 thing called diversity. There are a variety of traits across the human population and they're spread differently depending on the trait. It's in principle impossible to have diversity of all of them because they clash. All people mean when they say diversity is "we feel bad about racism and sexism". It's got nothing to do with the idea of being diverse in general.Atmos Duality said:
How many companies promote diversity of IQ? How many promote diversity of physical height? Diversity of physical beauty? Those are 3 traits that to differing degrees also affect how financially successful people are so how come they're ignored?
But these have always been problems. We just, didn't care, didn't notice, or forgot about them at some point. And these problems don't really seem to be all that major to the gamer who knows what they wants, which is why the industry has survived as long as it has despite those problems.BarryMcCociner said:
I can agree with that. Though I still use "diversity" in airquotes because far too often someone is just using their incidental traits to extort sympathy and social leverage from the public. And holy crap are you right about it being dogmatic; all social structures discriminate by implicit definition, because without a list of "Do-NOTS" there really isn't law or order.Tilly said:
(even the most huggy-lovey-dovey of hypothetical peaceful communes employs discrimination at some level; I'd go so far to say that the only truly non-discriminatory people aren't "people" as we know them, but those utterly incapable of comprehending or making their own decisions. Mindless drones, essentially, that only do as they're programmed to, without pause or reason.)
There's a growing problem with some of those "progressives" taking their personal grievances exaggerating their impact to describe "systemic issues". (and it ALWAYS defaults to describing "systemic issues" whenever I ask for practical proof; which must be the ultimate hand-waving gesture)
Which is a bit like saying because I used a sprinkler on my lawn one day, I directly contributed towards a lethal flash flood some miles downwind later that day.
Technically, I can't prove that I *DIDN'T* contribute towards that flood by adding more free water vapor to the atmosphere, but by the same absence of hard evidence it'd be awfully stupid to make the accusation in the first place.
Yet, with enough ignorance and indignant anger, someone will believe the claim anyway, and get mad on the net about it.
*sigh*
Maybe there's something more to this, or maybe I'm just describing an increasingly cynical, angry society (and coat of anonymity) looking for something to feel outraged about, no matter how impractical or asinine.
Which really sucks when REAL systemic issues actually DO arise, and go unaddressed.
Frankly, I don't even really know anymore.
Because the powerful favor the powerful, and work to protect the system that gives them power.
Power dynamics in society are zen-like: Is society a complex system with simple rules to control the masses, or a complex set of rules to mask an otherwise simple system of inept sovereignty? Or are the masses too stupid to be allowed that kind of power at all?
Blah. I need to get going before I ramble more.
I still enjoy gaming quite a bit.
Now though, I tend to avoid the AAA market and focus on more niche titles. Been playing the hell out of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and despite it's flaws, I'm enjoying it immensely.
Now though, I tend to avoid the AAA market and focus on more niche titles. Been playing the hell out of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and despite it's flaws, I'm enjoying it immensely.
I think games are still fun, wish I had a console or powerful enough pc to actually play them though ha ha.
The only gripe I have with modern gaming is the shackles developers have to sometimes work under. This can make the difference between a game being original and fun or just a clone and safe investment for shareholders.
The only gripe I have with modern gaming is the shackles developers have to sometimes work under. This can make the difference between a game being original and fun or just a clone and safe investment for shareholders.
I still like them. If they were not fun I would not be playing them and I would not feel a desire to hang around gaming websites like this one.
I'm probably harder to please these days as I have limited money to spend on games but it is still an enjoyable hobby that gives me hours of pleasure.
I stay out of gaming politics for the most part. There are only a couple of publishers out there that are truly too stupid to have my business and I let the rantier personalities that discuss gaming issues discuss them on their own time without impacting me.
I'm probably harder to please these days as I have limited money to spend on games but it is still an enjoyable hobby that gives me hours of pleasure.
I stay out of gaming politics for the most part. There are only a couple of publishers out there that are truly too stupid to have my business and I let the rantier personalities that discuss gaming issues discuss them on their own time without impacting me.