Triple-A Ain't What it Used to Be

[Metalrocks]

pretty much agree that AAA companies do use the media to make their game look good but i cant say that AAA used to be good. just as someone above said, its having top people working on an title.

titanfall is actually a good game and i enjoy it a lot. sure has its cons but i still enjoy it more then BF3. i dont count BF4 since this crap doesnt work anyway.

 

[Casual Shinji]

"Hurr dur durp back in my day games used to be good". That is pretty much what I'm getting from this piece. I disagree completely by the way, every year I play a lot of incredibly good games, and it just keeps on getting better each year.

Yeah, I always kinda break out in hives when I hear talk like that, or the dreaded "I only ever play indie games anymore."

And when Yahtzee made his Top 5 Games of the Year list, weren't at least 3 of those entries Triple-A, one of which taking the top spot? So this just smells like complaining for the sake of complaining.

We've actually recently seen a good amount of examples of not your usual games getting Triple-A backing, like Journey, Rayman, and the Telltale games. Variety seems to be spread out more now than it ever was.

 

[Thanatos2k]

I didn't play the first Deus Ex (or, rather, didn't get past the tutorial - the first one feels like a child's drawing compared to the newer one at this point),

I....wow.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

And Titanfall is only two hours of content? Are you serious? That has to be the most idiotic statement I've ever seen. If you only play each map exactly once and then never touch the game again then sure it's two hours, but this is a multiplayer game. I've already put 50+ hours into it and I've gotten more bang for my buck then I get from almost every singleplayer game.

Just because you played it for 50 hours doesn't mean it has 50 hours of content. It has 2, and you keep replaying the 2.

That's a fairly stupid point considering the variables present in a multiplayer match.

Just because you played it for 50 hours doesn't mean it has 50 hours of content. It has 2, and you keep replaying the 2.

people who can go back playing such games over and over baffle me

its not even real fun...its like an artificial type of fun...

Dafuq? What does that even mean? Fun is fun, you might as well say gaming in general is artificial fun.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

"Hurr dur durp back in my day games used to be good". That is pretty much what I'm getting from this piece. I disagree completely by the way, every year I play a lot of incredibly good games, and it just keeps on getting better each year.

Yeah, I always kinda break out in hives when I hear talk like that, or the dreaded "I only ever play indie games anymore."

And when Yahtzee made his Top 5 Games of the Year list, weren't at least 3 of those entries Triple-A, one of which taking the top spot? So this just smells like complaining for the sake of complaining.

We've actually recently seen a good amount of examples of not your usual games getting Triple-A backing, like Journey, Rayman, and the Telltale games. Variety seems to be spread out more now than it ever was.

Exactly, there is a ton of variety in gaming these days, more than there ever has been. All this cynicism is starting to get on my nerves.

 

[Vault101]

Dafuq? What does that even mean? Fun is fun, you might as well say gaming in general is artificial fun.

well I'm probably just going off my own personal preferences here...

I get a little satisfaction whenever I manage to kill someone but it always feels shallow..like because I managed to get the jump on them, I mean the game itself is fine but its always this "if I go another round mabye I'll kill somone, if I go another round mabye I'll kill someone, if I go another round mabye il level up so I can get a thing, so I can kill somone" it feels more like compulsion than having fun

whereas something like XCOM or even bordlerlands 2...regardless of how important the story is there is a senseof progression..a visible end goal in sight

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Dafuq? What does that even mean? Fun is fun, you might as well say gaming in general is artificial fun.

well I'm probably just going off my own personal preferences here...

I get a little satisfaction whenever I manage to kill someone but it always feels shallow..like because I managed to get the jump on them, I mean the game itself is fine but its always this "if I go another round mabye I'll kill somone, if I go another round mabye I'll kill someone, if I go another round mabye il level up so I can get a thing, so I can kill somone" it feels more like compulsion than having fun

whereas something like XCOM or even bordlerlands 2...regardless of how important the story is there is a senseof progression..a visible end goal in sight

Ok put that way I see what you mean. Personally though I find a lot of satisfaction in pitting myself against other players. It's a challenge you just don't get when you fight the AI in singleplayer games. Plus I'm exceptionally good at these kind of twitch shooters.

One crucial factor you may be missing out on though is that these games are a thousand times better when played with friends. Most of my time on Titanfall is spent playing with a few old High School mates.

 

[hickwarrior]

One crucial factor you may be missing out on though is that these games are a thousand times better when played with friends. Most of my time on Titanfall is spent playing with a few old High School mates.

It's where I tend to fall out of the boat for most multiplayer games. I don't really have friends like that. Then again, I would still think titanfall is a bit pricey for what it gives you.

Then again, I keep playing pokémon. I dunno what's wrong there.

Incidentally, do you play on the same team all the time or on opposites?

 

[Gronk]

The "community" has itself to blame for this. Yes, you, me, everyone. And the key thing here is the fixation with graphics! We have been so fixated with graphics that this is what the developers is putting first, that is where the money and effort goes, not gameplay or story or actual content.

Remember how excited the community was to be lied to about the first "killzone" trailer? A baby could see it was all pre-rendered, but noooo.. everyone insisted it was realtime. Perhaps this is where it all started to go downhill.

Graphics became the way to get attention. Pics generate hype, But pics don't show gameplay. And how important is really what kind of post-effects they use, or what polycount they have, or what shiny lighting they have? Shouldn't gameplay be more important?

So they built the ps3 and xbox360 to be able to push as much graphics as possible. Not to be able to make a good AI, because that isn't visible in the screenshots. And from what i hear, they are continuing this trend with the ps4 and xbone.

And good graphics take time to make. All the models, particle effects and lighting effects take up time from programmers. So perhaps this is why Titanfall has so little content? Because if you're going to make it look that good in a few screenshots, you can only do it for so much content. If you boost something that much, other factors will suffer.

Better graphics is what the public gets hyped on, so that is what we get.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

One crucial factor you may be missing out on though is that these games are a thousand times better when played with friends. Most of my time on Titanfall is spent playing with a few old High School mates.

It's where I tend to fall out of the boat for most multiplayer games. I don't really have friends like that. Then again, I would still think titanfall is a bit pricey for what it gives you.

Then again, I keep playing pokémon. I dunno what's wrong there.

Incidentally, do you play on the same team all the time or on opposites?

We play on the same team. With the way matchmaking works in the game, I'm not sure if it is possible to end up on different teams.

 

[Griff_LI]

Surely the fix for this problem is to set-up an independent committee that gives games a rating "AAA" to "EEE" (?) based on how it plays. Game manufacturers would get to display the rating if they chose to - no need to force the issue (would you buy a game NOT displaying their rating?) The committee gets to display the rating on their website so people can find-out if they want to.

Ensuring the independence would be one tricky issue, connected to this would be who would sit on the committee (I'm thinking gamers get to vote and I nominate Yahtzee ). Current reviewers would be a good call since they have to play the games to review them so adding their rating vote wouldn't be a big ask. If others are keen to get in on the action they could nominate themselves (and you could have some "hopefuls" who don't contribute to the rating but get to give their review in order to gain support for the next committee vote).

 

[Nazulu]

Exactly, there is a ton of variety in gaming these days, more than there ever has been. All this cynicism is starting to get on my nerves.

That couldn't be any more fucking wrong. I haven't been able to find any thing of real interest to me for ages. I can find things to just pass the time sure, but nothing really worth a damn.

The cynicism comes from disappointment, we're far past basic nerves here.

 

[WarpZone]

Triple-A Ain't What it Used to Be

The decline in quality of AAA games has been a gradual process, and it is everybody's fault for letting it happen.

Read Full Article

So don't be complacent, and also don't criticize corporations on the internet. Okay. Got it.

*throws rocks at his copy of Halo 4 for a couple of minutes* Wait. How is this helping?

 

[Fasckira]

Honestly it's not the "do each mission and mode" that makes it fun. It's the possibilities of approaching each objective/obstacle as to where I get my 60$ worth out of it.

Nothing has felt more rewarding than single handedly taking down a human-controlled Titan as a human myself with nothing but a Side Winder and a few Arc Grenades and the jet pack that allows me to parkour.

I think the waters have been muddied between "is this game good" and "is this game worth $60". Titanfall to many players is highly enjoyable, but is it worth the high price tag? Does that price tag reflect the level of work the devs put into the title, or does it reflect the hype machine that says "Its AAA, therefor its $60 regardless of development costs"

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Exactly, there is a ton of variety in gaming these days, more than there ever has been. All this cynicism is starting to get on my nerves.

That couldn't be any more fucking wrong. I haven't been able to find any thing of real interest to me for ages. I can find things to just pass the time sure, but nothing really worth a damn.

The cynicism comes from disappointment, we're far past basic nerves here.

Sounds like it's more a problem with you. I could list a whole bunch of excellent games from just the past twelve months.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Yahtzee I don't mean to be rude but there is a "Classic" tab underneath Campaign which gives you MORE things to do. Right?

Honestly it's not the "do each mission and mode" that makes it fun. It's the possibilities of approaching each objective/obstacle as to where I get my 60$ worth out of it.

Nothing has felt more rewarding than single handedly taking down a human-controlled Titan as a human myself with nothing but a Side Winder and a few Arc Grenades and the jet pack that allows me to parkour.

Finally, someone else who understands the appeal of Titanfall, the pilot mobility creates practically endless possibilities for how to tackle an enemy/titan/objective. It's like they've opened up a whole new dimension of movement.

And the moment to moment gameplay is just full of "wow!" moments. It's non-stop fun.

 

[Nazulu]

Exactly, there is a ton of variety in gaming these days, more than there ever has been. All this cynicism is starting to get on my nerves.

That couldn't be any more fucking wrong. I haven't been able to find any thing of real interest to me for ages. I can find things to just pass the time sure, but nothing really worth a damn.

The cynicism comes from disappointment, we're far past basic nerves here.

Sounds like it's more a problem with you. I could list a whole bunch of excellent games from just the past twelve months.

Very happy for you. We could discuss what is excellent, but the point of my post is not everyone is satisfied with the choices. And I'm glad you revealed your the type that believes he's so right, that those who disagree must have a problem.