mainstream gaming

[nettkenneth]

i have a love/hate relationsship with mainstream games
they destroy everything that resembles innovation but then again they are kind of fun

am i the only person that feel this

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I'm always curious why mainstream is automatically assumed to be bad. I mean if a bunch of people like something why do other people have a feeling to reject for solely that reason. I'll admit it, I find GOW to be an entertaining game.

 

[nettkenneth]

i don't say that it's bad its just wrong when every game that comes out resembles each other

 

[SyphonX]

It's not about hating the popularity. It's the same thing as a popular movie franchise. Perfect example is the Saw movies. The first one being somewhat innovative in a modern sense, but quickly falling into the shitty franchise category. The movies have no substance, no identity or plot.

I played the first Halo quite a bit because it was easy to pick up and play with friends. The physics were a blast, literally.

Gears of War 1 was pretty good, though I never finished it because I planned on a cooperative play finish.

That being said, I'll never have interest in the sequel(s), because they're just franchise money machines. They all seem to lack a sort of game identity, something you try to put your finger on and can't quite get comfortable with.

 

[nettkenneth]

It's not about hating the popularity. It's the same thing as a popular movie franchise. Perfect example is the Saw movies. The first one being somewhat innovative in a modern sense, but quickly falling into the shitty franchise category. The movies have no substance, no identity or plot.

I played the first Halo quite a bit because it was easy to pick up and play with friends. The physics were a blast, literally.

Gears of War 1 was pretty good, though I never finished it because I planned on a cooperative play finish.

That being said, I'll never have interest in the sequel(s), because they're just franchise money machines. They all seem to lack a sort of game identity, something you try to put your finger on and can't quite get comfortable with.

well i played uncharted drakes fortune because i wanted to try something new that required me to think not just battle my way trough waves of enemies and biggest thougth is mashinegun or rifle

 

[SmilingKitsune]

I don't mind the main-stream, games like Gears of war and Uncharted are some of my favourites.
Though I'm all for smaller, indie endeavours like The path.

 

[nettkenneth]

i thougth resistance fall of man where good it knew what it was and wanted to be and did't dissapoint.
but resistance 2 where inconsistent and dissapointed like i have always been in sequels exept for mercs 2

 

[Twilight_guy]

I think some of the mainstream games are fun. They're not art of course, nothing mainstream ever is. They're mostly unoriginal but that doesn't make them not fun. Its nice to play some of them but others are inevitable stupid and you should play other games too, for a deeper experience then the often shallow mainstream.

 

[Slash Dementia]

I'll play whatever game appeals to me, be it mainstream or not. If a lot of people play it then it'll have a big or decent size online community (of course, those with that feature).

If a game is popular then of course other developers are going to have a go at an idea similar to it, but it's going to happen and there's really no use complaining about it because we can't control the games they're shipping out.
I say if you don't like it, there's no reason to hate it...just play something else.

 

[Kirosilence]

I play -good- games, I don't really care if it's mainstream or not. A good number of good games are mainstream, and a good number of good games are indie. Innovation comes from everywhere people, not just the garage programmers.

 

[JokerGrin]

If it's a good game, I really couldn't care less about media buzz or whatever surrounding it because it would still just be ME playing it and hopefully enjoying myself. For the record, I love Gears of War 2.

 

[Valiance]

i have a love/hate relationsship with mainstream games
they destroy everything that resembles innovation but then again they are kind of fun

am i the only person that feel this

Nope.

But "kind of fun" sums it up completely.

I will try my best to not name specific titles, but nothing that is new and shiny really catches my eye. Nothing as mainstream as most 360 releases or certain PS3 releases that I care little for because they were supposed to be exactly like certain 360 exlusives.

There is the occasional new game that I find wonderful, but I still feel that I appreciate it differently than most players. Like I know people who played through Fallout 3 doing no side-quests, got lost on the way to Galaxy News Radio, and finished the game in about 14 hours of play-time and considered it difficult and fun, while I have 140+ hours logged in the game, and in the save I care most about, I still haven't finished the main story arc.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I will not pay for a Call of Duty, but if I'm hanging out with my console-only friends who think it's the greatest achievement mankind has every imagined, sure, I'll play it and 'kind of' enjoy it because it's still an FPS that I'm playing multiplayer with my friends.

Of course, it'd be in the back of my mind that real arena FPS games don't have dogs, artillery, martyrdom, 3 overpowered weapons that completely outclass other weapons designed to do their purpose, instant-kill melee, and huge lack of mobility.

Translation: I'd rather play Quake 3 with CPMA on, as I find it to be a more satisfying experience.

If someone else likes that shit, that's fine, and yeah, it's still fun and it's a good social time and the game is alright, but it's not as amazing as everyone claims. And I feel that way towards a lot of new games, especially FPSs.

 

[scotth266]

It's not about hating the popularity. It's the same thing as a popular movie franchise. Perfect example is the Saw movies. The first one being somewhat innovative in a modern sense, but quickly falling into the shitty franchise category. The movies have no substance, no identity or plot.

I played the first Halo quite a bit because it was easy to pick up and play with friends. The physics were a blast, literally.

Gears of War 1 was pretty good, though I never finished it because I planned on a cooperative play finish.

That being said, I'll never have interest in the sequel(s), because they're just franchise money machines. They all seem to lack a sort of game identity, something you try to put your finger on and can't quite get comfortable with.

This whole thread is hilarious to me, as I think that some sequels are better than the originals: Gears 2, for example, is far superior to its predecessor. Everyone is just so quick to call sequels unoriginal, but what do you expect really? After all, if the third Star Wars movie had Skywalker fighting force-using panda bears, wouldn't that be a truly crappy movie? Original yes, good no.

To be honest, there are very few non-mainstream games because of a simple reason: DEVELOPERS MUST SELL GAMES. And that means they'll fall on mainstream stuff when they want the cash. Besides, the people all talk about wanting innovation, but then they punish it: look how people disliked Mirror's Edge and pirated the crud outta World of Goo, for example. If you take risks these days in the industry, you need to be able to expect some reward, otherwise you're just wasting time and money.

 

[TaborMallory]

I'm always curious why mainstream is automatically assumed to be bad.

Once anything becomes mainstream, the publishers usually stop caring about quality and uniqueness.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

It's not about hating the popularity. It's the same thing as a popular movie franchise. Perfect example is the Saw movies. The first one being somewhat innovative in a modern sense, but quickly falling into the shitty franchise category. The movies have no substance, no identity or plot.

I played the first Halo quite a bit because it was easy to pick up and play with friends. The physics were a blast, literally.

Gears of War 1 was pretty good, though I never finished it because I planned on a cooperative play finish.

That being said, I'll never have interest in the sequel(s), because they're just franchise money machines. They all seem to lack a sort of game identity, something you try to put your finger on and can't quite get comfortable with.

You're missing out, Gears 2 takes everything the first did and does it better. Give it a try and I bet you won't be disappointed.

 

[NeutralDrow]

whats mainstream gaming?

Whatever a lot of people play. I know, I'm confused, too.

 

[EndlessMayhem]

I remember telling someone that Bioshock was supposed to be a spiritual successor to System Shock.
They looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said "No one has heard of System Shock. It is probably rubbish."

Watch out people, the mainstream will suck you in and blind you to anything that isn't being played by Tom, Dick, Harry and their respective dogs.

 

[Roamin11]

i have a love/hate relationsship with mainstream games
they destroy everything that resembles innovation but then again they are kind of fun

am i the only person that feel this

Ditto...

 

[SimuLord]

i have a love/hate relationsship with mainstream games
they destroy everything that resembles innovation but then again they are kind of fun

am i the only person that feel this

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't give a rip about innovation, in fact nine times out of ten innovative usually means "fixing what ain't broke and cocking the whole thing up."

I'd rather play a variation on an old theme (or better yet, just play the old game from whatever genre that got it right the first time) than play something new that doesn't appeal to me just so I can keep up my snob appeal cred.

 

[Jonny The Kay]

I personally think mainstream gaming destroys the industry.