Is the next generation looking to be a return to form?

[DrunkOnEstus]

With the simultaneous releases and fanfare for Xcom and Dishonored, I started thinking about the direction we might be heading going into the next generation.

Publishers are taking notice of point-and-click adventure games, Infinity engine-like RPGs, and other "old-school" genres formerly seen to be a risky waste of time having success on Kickstarter. The games I mentioned above were funded traditionally while adhering closer than usual to the mechanics that were considered "core" in times past.

Nintendo has made it clear that they wish to recover the "hardcore" market that was seemingly lost with the Wii, primarily with the publishing of games like Bayonetta 2. I speculate, but this generation looks to come to an end around the time of Bioshock Infinite, a semi-spiritual sequel to a spiritual sequel that seems to feature an old school flair rarely seen excepting Bioshock itself and Dishonored (and it's Ken Levine after all).

I don't intend for this to be a "casual and hardcore" thing, and I don't claim that there weren't games that carried the torch of what we loved in the past into our current generation. It just appears to me that the powers that be are taking notice of those of us that have...experience I suppose, we that are used to challenge, depth, freedom, and honestly mature content. That maybe some of the games considered obscure or risky might not be so risky anymore. Thoughts?

 

[SeaCalMaster]

First, a correction. Nintendo didn't lose the "hardcore" market with the Wii; they lost it with the Gamecube.

Second, I agree with the gist of what you're saying, but I don't think game developers are reverting to older genres out of any attempt to capture nostalgia or appeal to more "experienced" players. Until recently, much of the gaming landscape was dominated by grey-brown shooters and stagnant sports franchises, and gamers are growing tired of them. What we're seeing is devs trying to branch out into different types of games, and they're using older genres because they're
(a) proven and therefore a safer investment than a game that's completely novel; and
(b) something that devs already know how to make.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I think it's less that we're seeing a return to the "good old days," and more that we're actually getting some medium sized budgets going. For the better part of this gen, we've had indie games with tiny budgets, and AAA games with huge budgets. Very little in between. Thanks to Kickstarter, we're starting to see some medium sized budgets -- budgets that would have been AAA sized in the old days, but are smaller than that today. What's more than that, even if not a single one of those kickstarter games gets made in the end, they've proven that there's actually quite a bit of demand left in the market for these older genres. That right there is a huge difference.

 

[Occams_Razor]

Personally, no, we're not quite returning to the way things were in the XBOX and PS2 generation. Motion controls aren't going anywhere anytime soon, for a start. The big three have invested way too much money into it, so I don't see them abandoning it just yet. Especially since motion control anything(except the PS Move) seemed to print money at a fairly alarming rate...

Though with things like digital distribution, tablet gaming, kickstarter and indie development, I think we're going to see a lot of neglected genres make a bit of a comeback. Point and click adventure games are almost absurdly well suited to a tablet, crowd funding is what is letting Chris Roberts push for a new enormous scale, Space Sim MMO in Star Citizen. And the indie market is just getting better and better at all times in terms of clever, creative, innovative games(I would buy ten more games like Bastion in a heartbeat).

I don't think we're returning to the way things were, but I think its about to get a whole lot more diverse than it is now.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Snip

You may have hit the nail on the head. The talk of the Dishonored textures taught us "hey, if a game is to play like and have a story like this, then the graphics might not be Crysis or something."

The skyrocketing budgets have really affected the middle games the most, the Killer 7 and Eternal Darkness of last gen. What I wonder though is how a game like Witcher 2, which pushed computers to their limit and still can't really run right with ubersampling, could be made for around 10 million bucks with its size and scope? I guess being your own publisher (right?) and the exclusively PC platform of the time. Dunno.

Personally, no, we're not quite returning to the way things were in the XBOX and PS2 generation. Motion controls aren't going anywhere anytime soon, for a start. The big three have invested way too much money into it, so I don't see them abandoning it just yet. Especially since motion control anything(except the PS Move) seemed to print money at a fairly alarming rate...

Though with things like digital distribution, tablet gaming, kickstarter and indie development, I think we're going to see a lot of neglected genres make a bit of a comeback. Point and click adventure games are almost absurdly well suited to a tablet, crowd funding is what is letting Chris Roberts push for a new enormous scale, Space Sim MMO in Star Citizen. And the indie market is just getting better and better at all times in terms of clever, creative, innovative games(I would buy ten more games like Bastion in a heartbeat).

I don't think we're returning to the way things were, but I think its about to get a whole lot more diverse than it is now.

Welcome to the Escapist, I hope you enjoy it here and I'm humbled to have such a great first post in my thread : )

It's clear that tablets are going to play a large part in this, especially with the Wii U deciding to make that the primary input device. You also hit the nail. With the huge indie success recently, they will receive ever larger budgets than the old indie greats did, and as AAA games continue to diversify and reach these middle markets, the old way is bound to come up more often than it recently has.

My biggest fear is this. I used to be excited for a PS4 with DirectX11/12(?) level graphics that blow our minds. I've since begun to think that the real ramification of that would be budgets so high just for visuals that everything else will be extremely safe to avoid astronomical loss. I think it may be why this generation has lasted so long and why Sony/Microsoft are slow to pull the trigger. Graphics look great now and accomplish their goal, and I'm sure publishers/developers aren't so excited to have to spend future money when they can push the future forward with suggestion.

 

[Launcelot111]

I don't see any great "return to form." The same big players are around making consoles and making big name, big money games. The kickstarter campaigns and X-com revivals are things I'm definitely pleased to see, but they still seem like fairly niche phenomenons to me. That said, while I'm not sure crowd-sourced funding can be a sustained support pillar for smaller developers, I do appreciate the public statement of those genres' popularity.

 

[Occams_Razor]

DrunkOnEstus, thanks! But I'm not quite new here I got locked out of one of my old email accounts, and was tired of having to deal with keeping it attached to that account. So I created a new one. Been loitering around the Escapist for probably three years now

But ya, tablets will most definitely big. I'm interested to see what they do with the Wii U. It has a lot of potential, if used correctly(huge qualifying statement there).

I completely agree on the console generation. As it stands, companies tend to lose money on the physical hardware of consoles more often than not. If Sony and Microsoft can avoid having to push out a new console, and just sell games(with a much larger profit margin), they'll be all the happier. And like you said, graphics look amazing, so there really isn't as much drive to push it further.

Really, if anything is going to push the release of a new console, is simply that the Wii U is coming out. So Sony and Microsoft need to have a new console to be part of the perceived 'current generation' of consoles. I'm not overly excited for a new console generation, since the hardware capabilities are fairly good as is. It just means we need to deal with another year of mediocre release titles while studious adjust to new systems. Well....that got bleak in a hurry.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

The kid needed some snips after that long post. (You hear the voice, admit it.)

I see, that e-mail crap can get jumbled quickly. I too am excited to see what the Wii U can do, and it sounds like they're pushing less for a "use our new crazy input device or don't bother" attitude to 3rd parties, which may help creativity outside of their normal repertoire of expected titles.

It won't be so bleak, Supergiant has to be working on their next title in the meantime, right?

 

[Kopikatsu]

I don't see any great "return to form." The same big players are around making consoles and making big name, big money games. The kickstarter campaigns and X-com revivals are things I'm definitely pleased to see, but they still seem like fairly niche phenomenons to me. That said, while I'm not sure crowd-sourced funding can be a sustained support pillar for smaller developers, I do appreciate the public statement of those genres' popularity.

XCOM has been a top seller on steam for weeks now.

Its mainstream now. In fact, it etched out dishonored on sales. The only thing that beat it was borderlands.

Keep in mind XCOM had no advertisements what so ever. It was still a top seller.

XCOM had no advertisements? Were you running an adblock without realizing it or something?

I've never seen so many advertisements for a non-AAA game in my life.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

On The Escapist?You call that an advertisement? You might get, what, 2 people?

I am talking about TV ads. The big boy ads for big boy AAA games.

Dishonored has ads out the ass on TV. XCOM didn't, and yet XCOM still sold more on steam.

And to me its such a huge statement. That there was a very high number of players who said "FINALLY!" and handed over their money in droves without it being shoved down their throat. There's people who make decisions who's job it is to notice a game like that at the top and do something in response. That could bode very well for us even outside of the tactical turn-based genre.

 

[Guffe]

BRING BACK DUCKHUNT!!!!

Yeah well I think just like with everything there are seasons for everything and maybe someone noticed a increasing popularity in old school stuff.

 

[sammysoso]

The industry isn't going back to "the good old days" (not that those ever really existed, nostalgia is a dangerous thing). Rather, it's expanding. Kickstarter and the rise of indie titles is bring more genres into the fold, but AAA gaming is still making quite a bit of money.

What we really need is the return of the mid-range budget games (not indie, not AAA). That's where creativity can be mixed with some production values to create amazing work.

 

[pumuckl]

The industry isn't going back to "the good old days" (not that those ever really existed, nostalgia is a dangerous thing). Rather, it's expanding. Kickstarter and the rise of indie titles is bring more genres into the fold, but AAA gaming is still making quite a bit of money.

What we really need is the return of the mid-range budget games (not indie, not AAA). That's where creativity can be mixed with some production values to create amazing work.

spot on sir, spot on. if the next generations focus on making mid-range budgets more accessible to developers (as it seems to be with the Wii U, though only time will tell on that) it will open up options much like the PS2 did, which had something for literally everyone.

I personally like what Nintendo is doing with the wii U. it doesn't seem to be pushing the graphics into budget nightmare mode. I'm hoping the tablet on it will improve UI and free up some buttons for some additional gameplay options. the controller or tablet interface seems like a good place to start for strategy, point and click, or mmo developers to push into the console market like never before. with the xbox live arcade and additional methods of play, i believe we may be heading towards a gamer golden age. A golden age where mmo players are gathering resources for strategists who are building bases for first person shooters who are overtaking other bases for a civ game.

ultimately though, the masses will be a focus and we'll continue to see the good and the bad with each console and each innovation.

 

[Mr. Omega]

I have a very long bit on why I'm cautiously optimistic about the next gen, but instead I'll just put in this bit about hardware:

With Sony's cross-play with the Vita, the WiiU's gamepad and Microsoft's Smartglass, I'll bet money that all three next-gen systems will have a touchscreen involved somehow. And the backash and whining will be priceless.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I also expect the tablet market to eat into the console market as well and the pc and macs to keep pottering along like they always have

I think there's people feeling the heat from that. The Ipad can really do some amazing stuff speaking strictly from a gaming perspective. Although lacking real tactile feedback is something I've yet to overcome, some genres such as point and click adventures and ARPGs are very will suited to the interface. The graphics are also catching up, with games like GTA3 and Max Payne (1 gen behind).

I want to say that Nintendo is taking the kind of quick-thinking stab that Microsoft did with the Metro interface for Windows 8, but the Wii U controller really doesn't seem like something you would take out of the house with you like an Ipad, and I'm not sure what it could actually do on its own without the console. Simply offering the touchscreen interface isn't really enough to prevent loss to that market.