rda_Highlander said:
Well, this certainly applies to all RPGamers and Strategy fans.
No. No it doesn't apply to them.
Nevermind that the term "RPG" is so nebulous that to even include it would encompass a HUGE range of games.
I play rogue-likes and I love them, but I would never compare Nethack to something like, say, Persona 3. I play both of those for very different reasons.
Super Meatboy-style scrollers should shut up all old-school fans out there and those craving for first-person action - well, Serious Sam HD came out already, and I really don't think that this particular genre was simplified a lot. Regenerating health is stupid, sure, but it's another talk. Also, Crysis 2 is anything but simple.
Shooters have over-saturated the market to the point where I don't even think niche' appeal could save them. Just my opinion.
Though I do agree that Super Meat Boy was a step in the right direction, at least from a purely gameplay/design standpoint.
I guess I just want to say that even if there are many simple games around, and even if your particular favorite franchise turned simple, it doesn't mean that industry as a whole suffering from it.
Oh but it is. At least the AAA industry is. The problem stated here is that gamers would like quality production in their titles, but alas, in order to ensure that such a costly production doesn't flop in sales (or rather, fail to meet the exceedingly high revenue/returns the investors are expecting) the developers intentionally dumb their titles down to ensure NOBODY ever feels anything but triumphant, and if they do fail, their loss is minimized.
They've become so addicted to this formula that ANY innovation is being stifled at the source. These AAA game developers don't want to risk the
potential loss in desirability, so they follow what works to a T, innovating only if marketing tells them to.
Then there's the painfully stupid line of thought: "older design elements = outdated and useless".
Nostalgia aside, there is much to be learned from older game models. There's a reason why Mario platformers are still selling strongly after 25 years. There's a reason why there are so many more Lets Plays of Megaman and Metroid games than Halo.
(People love to play the Nostalgia Card as a magical copout argument here, but these same people never ask "why did these games work when other games like them failed?"
Why? Because they're afraid of being wrong. And you can never be wrong on the internet.)
Making something accessible does NOT equate to adding quality to a product.
Would Left 4 Dead be even half as difficult or fun if you tacked on regenerating health?
No, it wouldn't, yet that trend became popular because, hey, Halo did it and Halo sold really really well.
