What's wrong with me?

[Hong Meiling]

The bigger the games get, the more room there will be for mistakes and rough edges.
That and marketing your game to the 'rabble' of today makes you a shitload of cash if they dig how 'mature' it is (Something like that.).

I guess the problem is that games have become too 'big'. But hey, that's why indie titles are nice.

Try spelunky! It's frustratingly hard, but you'll come back for more.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I'm feeling down. I read something that made me realize as much as I love the video game industry, I'm feeling more and more detachment towards video games themselves. Even worse, the most beloved existing titles and most anticipated future ones are those which ultimately resonate with me the least.

I was told I "very well may never find any game with more sense of wonder and euphoria anywhere on any console at any time than you will while playing Uncharted 2," and all I could think is "Uh, that game seems cool, but it's not really my thing. . ." This in turn, reminded me of when I first learned of IGN's enthusiasm over the then upcoming Conduit, and my subsequent disappointment when I watched game footage and realized it was just another FPS.

Lately, I feel I've been rejected somehow or a part of my identity has been removed. Not only that, I feel like the industry now caters towards the kind of people that used to pick on me for playing video games when I was a kid. . .And now, those people are "picking on" me again because I just don't care for the games they do, which coincidentally now represent the industry. How the hell did this happen?

As much as I hate to admit it, I know part of what's bothering me is a silly self-entitlement issue; that because "I was here before them" and "put up with a lot of crap," that somehow makes me more important. I know that's an incorrect way to think, though, because many of these people supporting games now were just like me when they were younger.

Yet somehow, not only did they grew up differently than I did, they wound up shaping the face of gaming. What is it that I'm not getting?

What's wrong with me?

you may feel comforted by this web comic,

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=282

 

[Actual]

I don't have much to add, just wanted to say that I liked your post. It was well writeen and though I'd never thought of it this way before, I do agree with you.


It's become a mass marketed shite fest. So many over hyped, under delivering games marketed towards the uneducated lowest denominator.

I miss the days of my youth where I had quality games and the idiots now buying all the rubbish available just stuck to playing sports and bullying the weakest kids in class.

 

[lenneth]

[quote="Hong Meiling" post="9.153411.3686426"
Try spelunky! It's frustratingly hard, but you'll come back for more.[/quote]

reminds me of the days when games were made to beat you.

if you're feeling gaming has gotten stale (i have a bit lately) try something in a new genre that you may have not conidered before like the proffesor layton games or find killer7.

as (im pretty sure it was) Yahtzee said "plaay the games that try something new and stumble rather that the games that polish the same turd to a mirror sheen (prolly not word for word but you get the point)

 

[Zac_Dai]

Theres more to gaming then console AAA titles.

Its like music, if you went by the top40 pop chart you would despair too.

 

[Julianking93]

That sucks.

I think you've got what Game Trailers (I think) calls Game Abandonment Syndrome (G.A.S.)

I had it for a while earlier in the year. I just couldn't find any game I liked anymore. Fallout 3 was good and MGS4 is my personal favorite but I just couldn't help but feel that I couldn't relate to any game anymore.

Just wait. You'll find a good game that will bring you back in the gaming world eventually. It took playing Arkham Asylum to get me back.

*snip*

you may feel comforted by this web comic,

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=282

That's funny! I love Stephan Colbert. Oh, and yeah that is comforting and would prove useful.

 

[Nerdfury]

Now I won't make reference to age or to gaming experience, because I know nothing about you but it sounds like a version of what I have, which is disenchantment with the things you used to love. Now, it's not that something's getting worse - it's that your tastes change.

It's like anything in life - you might really fucking love cheese, but as you grow and try new types of cheese, eventually Kraft Singles just don't damn-well cut it anymore. The friends who used to make you laugh by farting and saying 'cock' loudly are pushed aside for people that will go to the theatre with you. Those days of old where you used to collect underwear catalogues for personal pleasure suddenly disappear, when you realise you need more than just a naked woman and some giant titties to get off.

And the games you used to think were awesome now start to all look the same, and before you know it, it takes more and more to impress you. Even new and exciting games show their flaws to you, and you start seeking greater and greater perfection to be satisfied.

Like me - I can't play a lot of games now, because I need better and better games. Better plots, better game-play and more interesting graphics and music. I can't play some old games because I see their flaws, their bad plots, their crappy music, their graphics that are trying to be badass but fade with time and just look ugly. The music is just done on a synthesiser and sounds harsh. I need plots that snag my personal interests. The game play needs to be perfect.

Thank fuck Arkham Asylum and Brutal Legend came out now, or I'd be screwed.

 

[MissAshley]

Thanks for all the responses, folks. I take some heart in knowing at least some of how I feel isn't entirely foreign.

To answer or comment on some assorted responses:

1) I am 28, started with an NES at 7, and I indeed grew up with Nintendo, with a PS2 being my only non-Nintendo system right now. It was purchased at the start of the Cube's rut. XD

2) I played WoW for about two years and raided for only half of that. I go back in from time to time for events, new content, leveling alts, but I have no inclination to seriously raid again. I have started playing Dungeon Fighter Online, enjoying the beat-'em-up combat. I hope the community and the rest of the game catch up its quality, though.

3) Concerning indie games: I'm finding some solace in knowing that there are developers doing something different in ways that seem more like an evolution of the concepts and genres I enjoy. A friend of mine showed me Spewer and it made me exclaim "How has someone not made something like this before now? This is awesome!"

4) Just knowing someone coined the term "G.A.S." makes me feel a little better.

5) I've got a major issue going on in my life right now that eats at my emotional availability and financial flexibility. In truth, there's dozens of titles I missed out on in the first half of the decade that I'm dying to play, but time and money constraints make it hard to finally catch up. For example, I only started Ratchet and Clank 2 several weeks ago. (The latest PS3 title excites me, by the by.) Part of what bothered me was wondering what I really had to look forward to once I do adequately catch up on those titles.

Again, thanks for the all the responses, folks. They certainly picked me up. (Including the ones about "maintaining perspective." )

 

[Nerdfury]

Part of what bothered me was wondering what I really had to look forward to once I do adequately catch up on those titles.

Again, thanks for the all the responses, folks. They certainly picked me up. (Including the ones about "maintaining perspective." )

That, of all things, makes me think you're suffering from what I, to a lesser extent, suffer. At least in part! Same thing happens with me and books. I hate getting to the end of a book, because I know it's one less book in the series, which will eventually come to an end and then I wonder where I'll go from there. Same with awesome TV series and awesome games as well.

But, take solace in knowing that there will always be awesome games. Yes, they'll be in between generic shooters and poorly designed action-adventure games, but they'll always be there. If you haven't played it already, Okami on PS2 or Wii will literally make you swell with happiness the whole time you play.