The 7th Generation: A Big "Meh"?

[shatnershaman]

Huh?

This is the best generation. "Meh" Was the N64 has less "AAA" titles in its lifespan than the 360 has in 2 years.

The N64 had Oot, Super Mario 64, Starfox lylat wars, Banjo Kazoie, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Conkers bad fur day...
But I think this generation has been pretty good, great nintendo games, bioshock, orange box... It's fine.

I'll let these links do the "lists"

http://www.metacritic.com/games/n64/scores/ (44 80% or above)

http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/scores/ (107 80% or above)

EDIT:I am aware of the PS2 games library but then how is it last gen when it still is around and kicking.

 

[tobyornottoby]

It may be because I'm getting older, but it's just not as exciting as it was last generation. Anyone else agree?

Definitely because you get older and more experienced. Do real movie connaisseurs still go to the big holleywood productions? Do real music fanatics still watch MTV? Do real gamers still enjoy themselves with all those next-gen big titles?

 

[jebussaves88]

It may be because I'm getting older, but it's just not as exciting as it was last generation. Anyone else agree?

Definitely because you get older and more experienced. Do real movie connaisseurs still go to the big holleywood productions? Do real music fanatics still watch MTV? Do real gamers still enjoy themselves with all those next-gen big titles?

Some of the big titles have been the most enjoyable for me (Bioshock Halo etc being prime examples), but none of the titles really get me excited. On any platform.

However, Andy Anonymous's post exemplifies all the games that just really don't have the cutting edge of previous gens. (BioShock, Gears of War, MGS4, GTAIV, Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band, Smash Bros. Brawl, Call of Duty 4). Only Rock Band and Bioshock brings something relatively new. All the others are sequels.

Partly, I blame how expensive and complicated it must be to develop for the new technology. No more will we see some of the more independant gems being released, as owing to the complications, there is always some flaw or other.

 

[Nazrel]

Well the last generation saw some notable improvements. What do we get this generation?
Graphic kinda peaked last generation. We get lots of processor power that no one will use. (most games didn't even use the full capabilities of last gen.) Internet connections are now standard, which means you now get to buy half finished games, and will be forced to download the patches at some later date to get them to work.

 

[asacatman]

Meh, this is going to start an off topic argument, but...

Huh?

This is the best generation. "Meh" Was the N64 has less "AAA" titles in its lifespan than the 360 has in 2 years.

The N64 had Oot, Super Mario 64, Starfox lylat wars, Banjo Kazoie, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye, Conkers bad fur day...
But I think this generation has been pretty good, great nintendo games, bioshock, orange box... It's fine.

I'll let these links do the "lists"

http://www.metacritic.com/games/n64/scores/ (44 80% or above)

http://www.metacritic.com/games/xbox360/scores/ (107 80% or above)

EDIT:I am aware of the PS2 games library but then how is it last gen when it still is around and kicking.

Haven't reveiw scores all infalted anyway, so AAA this generation doesn't mean the same as last generation? Or the one before? (N64 generation) How many groundbreaking games are there on the 360? Hmm... braid, portal. On the N64 Oot and super mario 64, goldeneye. they set the foundation for 3-D games! And while portal was innovative, it's techniques aren't copied because in most games they would just mess it up.

 

[Draconysius]

I have to agree. I've been sticking to games from the 90's to early 00's for quite a while now.

 

[SimuLord]

I agree on Fallout 3 it's like a part of my gaming memory is being whored out, I mean nothing in it's storyline even seems 1/10th of how amazing Fallout was. I'm only hoping maybe fans will be able to mod the PC version to something 1/4 the greatness Fallout was in time.

Ten bucks says that the Fallout 3 answer to Wakim's Game Improvements (Morrowind) and Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul will be "the game Bethesda should've made". I'm holding off on buying until a friend in the know tells me the mods are ready.

 

[SeniorDingDong]

Before getting in depth : I am really happy with my Wii, DS & PC combo.

Mein problem ist that I dont like how this whole "HD" gaming is going to -> overbloomed brown and sometimes overbloomed gray, you know. Games like Gears, Resistance or Motorstorm ... I just dont want to play them or the 54th sequel to something got finally boring.

Dropping framerates, bugs and "may be later" fixing through downloadable patches are not what I am locking for when going to play a console game, this problems belong to the PC ;(

The PC became the forgotten child of this generation and even fucks its customers with the well know hard/software problems and now there also brutal copy protections to finally destroy your fun. But mature (no, this doenst mean gore) games, directly made for a special kind of audiance like "Sins of a Solar Empire" have shown where the PCs future should be.

 

[Xvito]

A lot of good games have come out this console generation.
Like CoD 4, Halo 3, GTA 4, MGS 4, Mass Effect and...well I can't think of anything else but you get the point.

 

[SimuLord]

The PC became the forgotten child of this generation and even fucks its customers with the well know hard/software problems and now there also brutal copy protections to finally destroy your fun. But mature (no, this doenst mean gore) games, directly made for a special kind of audiance like "Sins of a Solar Empire" have shown where the PCs future should be.

Two companies, Stardock and Paradox Interactive, should get some kind of medal for treating their paying customers like valued clients and not like convicted felons. Valve deserves some points on this front too, as Steam's authentications are quick, painless, and (this is key) server-side. No malware, no bullshit, just "here's a way that we can make life harder for pirates while still giving our paying customers what they want and not inconveniencing people who had the decency to haul out their credit cards."

 

[Xvito]

A lot of good games have come out this console generation.
Like CoD 4, Halo 3, GTA 4, MGS 4, Mass Effect and...well I can't think of anything else but you get the point.

Meh, we've already seen these games created in past generations. They just have shinier graphics and everyone buys them.

I don't remember seeing any good, well balanced shooters, set in present day before.
Also, all of those games have changed much more then just their appearance.

PS: I forgot Asssaa...assi..."kill a guy" creed.

 

[Chiasm]

Ten bucks says that the Fallout 3 answer to Wakim's Game Improvements (Morrowind) and Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul will be "the game Bethesda should've made". I'm holding off on buying until a friend in the know tells me the mods are ready.

That is what I am hoping for myself, a major fan made mod that just makes Fallout 3 actually play able for older fans.

Half-Life was better than Half-life 2. Do I feel like my gaming memories are being whored out? No. Stop whining.
On top of that, how much of the story do we know? "You go out to find your father" is it. Guess what, Fallout 1 was "Go out to find some water". But of course, I'm guessing nostalgia shields your view of that.

True,Though it's not so much whining as facts the game has changed, Gone is the humor of Fallout no more will I come across the random encounter of the Monty Ptyhon knights, Gone is the way of cafe of lost dreams. Also is gone the way of drugs,total freedom,And major side missions and most of all the fuzziness of good and evil.

Fallout's choices were not just good or evil like Fallout 3 is becoming but a shade of gray where becoming a slaver or selling yourself sexually for cash were all options but maybe not the best options but you had them.Also Fallout 3 is far more combat focused then original Fallouts which gave us ways where I never needed to fire a bullet if I did not want to.

I still play Fallout 1,2 to this day and is impart why I became a gamer so the games mean alot to me,Even if they keep the setting it seems Bethesda is missing the soul. Though I will admit there was issues but the writing for the game was just so ahead of it's time in how it made you feel.Much like how Baldur's Gate 2 had done to many players as well.

It's like if someone remade all of the Flying Circus episodes it would still have the same laugh material but it wouldn't have the same energy and soul that Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Terry Gilliam gave it.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

You people with money are spoiled. Bitching about your new games. *blows dust off his PS2* I -WISH- I had the money for new games I wasn't excited about.

Let the game come out before you render judgement.

 

[Andy Anonymous]

However, Andy Anonymous's post exemplifies all the games that just really don't have the cutting edge of previous gens. (BioShock, Gears of War, MGS4, GTAIV, Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band, Smash Bros. Brawl, Call of Duty 4). Only Rock Band and Bioshock brings something relatively new. All the others are sequels.

I think what you're seeing this generation is more blurring of the lines between genres and a lot more crossing over of gameplay elements: RPG elements being mixed with beat-em-ups and shooters, fantasy elements added to , and so on. It doesn't always combine into something that feels new, but many times I happen to feel that it does.

I don't buy the argument that being a sequel is an automatic disqualification for offering something new. Not all of those titles I mentioned are "cutting edge", but several of them do new things with the genre they belong to: CoD4 and Mario Galaxy both differ in significant ways from their predecessors and mix up the formula to a degree, while GoW is a fairly unique mix of gameplay elements in its own right. Additionally, as I mentioned before, the download environment has created a wellspring of creativity, with some really unique stuff being released such as echochrome, Braid, flOw, Castle Crashers, and a host of other titles.

Perhaps the change is in you simply drifting away from gaming, rather than in the games themselves.

 

[shMerker]

I got a feeling kind of like this on the show floor of PAX. Most of the games that were attracting a lot of attention were either part of some established franchise like Starcraft, Fallout, or Battlefield; or were based on some well established idea like Left 4 Dead. Everything seemed to have this component of safety to it. I'm used to people in the games industry saying they're going to change everything, but this year nobody seemed to have that as a goal.

 

[GreatVladmir]

Meh, only game I have at the moment, that is current gen, that I like is Euro Truck Simulator, yeah, a truck sim. I'm considering Spore, only to occupy myself till Red Alert 3, then I will only play that because of the Russian armoured attack bears.

New games, in my own opinion just lack the imagination we had just 10 years ago, I mean, look at Deus Ex, that game was fakin brilliant! and now compare that to your latest FPSRPG BioShock and I'm left saying, wow, I want to play Deus Ex again. Developers need to take some risks, they need to push the boat out of the sand and into the fakin water before they set sail.

I got a game idea right here, a time traveling half-human, half-robot business man travels to the time of the Egyptians to kill an evil lion-mummy hybrid from space, there, you see a simple, mindless action game everyone will love.

 

[Andy Anonymous]

How is GoW unique in anyway? It wasn't the first game that allowed you to hide behind walls and take cover, and it wasn't the first game to let you kill someone with a chainsaw(since thats its most lauded feature).

A game is more than just the sum of its individual parts and whether or not it was the first to do any single one of those elements; a game's quality lies in how it combines its various elements into a cohesive whole. Gears of War was simply a new implementation and combination of all the elements from previous games that it incorporates.