Where has the WOW factor gone?

[CatmanStu]

Casting my aged and alcohol hazed memory back, I can vaguely remember a time when I looked forward to new games; not the "well that one will kill a few days" kind of looking forward I have now, but the "Oh my god! That looks fucking awesome. I have to own that" kind of looking forward to.

Now I am completely prepared to face the possibility that I am just too jaded to care anymore (or too old, as my inability to play Guitar Hero on any difficulty above medium would imply), but it does feel at the moment as if games and gamers are in a rut. This years E3 was a classic example of developers going over same old ground so they can wave familiar sabres in the air and bluster about how they are still giving the gamer what they want, while at the same time, pushing the industry forward.

They are not.

Granted there was a handful of games that showed something different (De Blob and Mirrors Edge to name a couple) but with most of the games on display being sequels or reinvented franchises, it just has an eerie feeling of inevitability about it.

Are we really heading towards a future where every game thread is dominated by two factions arguing over which is better? Gears of War3 or Killzone3; while Nintendo come up with even more inane ways of controlling the hero of 'Mario Invetro'; the game where Bowser has made himself sub-molecular to infect Princes Peaches and Mario has to go in after him.

The saddest part of this future; we will still be buying the games.

 

[mjhhiv]

You said it. Great post... I mean I am still looking forward to games, but nothing like the days of yesteryear.

 

[Samirat]

Alas, gone are the days when I would play a game for years on end.

Despite that, I think this a thread for an older, jaded generation. I still look forward to certain games' release with that all-consuming desire, with the endless delays burning like poison in my veins. Perhaps the time will come when I too will lose that. But not today.

 

[Wulf Legend]

The main thing I see that get people all giddy is multiplayer. It seems as though if a game doesn't have good graphics or a solid online, it won't be successful. There are some exceptions though obviously.

 

[kyouger]

I agree with you, even though I've only been a gamer for about seven or eight years. I couldn't believe how much I wanted the new Zelda game on the N64 (Yes, I still played it.) or Pokemon Statium, which I wasted god knows how many hours on. Despite that, the feeling of excitement has not faded. Many of the big names at E3 were new additions to older series, but I still feel pretty excited because I missed out on those games as a kid. Now it's my chance to get back in the circle of now-gen gaming.

 

[milomalo]

Casting my aged and alcohol hazed memory back, I can vaguely remember a time when I looked forward to new games; not the "well that one will kill a few days" kind of looking forward I have now, but the "Oh my god! That looks fucking awesome. I have to own that" kind of looking forward to.

Now I am completely prepared to face the possibility that I am just too jaded to care anymore (or too old, as my inability to play Guitar Hero on any difficulty above medium would imply), but it does feel at the moment as if games and gamers are in a rut. This years E3 was a classic example of developers going over same old ground so they can wave familiar sabres in the air and bluster about how they are still giving the gamer what they want, while at the same time, pushing the industry forward.

They are not.

Granted there was a handful of games that showed something different (De Blob and Mirrors Edge to name a couple) but with most of the games on display being sequels or reinvented franchises, it just has an eerie feeling of inevitability about it.

Are we really heading towards a future where every game thread is dominated by two factions arguing over which is better? Gears of War3 or Killzone3; while Nintendo come up with even more inane ways of controlling the hero of 'Mario Invetro'; the game where Bowser has made himself sub-molecular to infect Princes Peaches and Mario has to go in after him.

The saddest part of this future; we will still be buying the games.

How old are u?

 

[thegamesman101]

I agree, I would spend hours playing a game that was fun and intuitive but now I don?t play as much because I know that in three weeks or months my game is going to be left in the dust by other "better? games and it is sad to think that I spent all that money on a game that I thought that was good and have it be over shadowed by some other game.

 

[Lord_Ascendant]

ah the old days.....
....the only game I really want to get is Guild Wars 2. MAYBE EVE Empyrean Age, because my friend is playing it and well, he sometimes lets me look in on his many fleet engagements.

 

[CatmanStu]

How old are u?

Old enough to know better, young enough to not care.

Or 36.

 

[SilentHunter7]

Somewhat related; Whatever happened to games where you could just hop into it, and kill things for 10 or 12 hours? Games with 100 different controls, 2 hour tutorials, and an epic story are good, but they get old after a while. We need more games like the original Doom where they just throw you into a level, put 100 bad guys between you and the exit, and tell you to have fun.

 

[mjhhiv]

Casting my aged and alcohol hazed memory back, I can vaguely remember a time when I looked forward to new games; not the "well that one will kill a few days" kind of looking forward I have now, but the "Oh my god! That looks fucking awesome. I have to own that" kind of looking forward to.

Now I am completely prepared to face the possibility that I am just too jaded to care anymore (or too old, as my inability to play Guitar Hero on any difficulty above medium would imply), but it does feel at the moment as if games and gamers are in a rut. This years E3 was a classic example of developers going over same old ground so they can wave familiar sabres in the air and bluster about how they are still giving the gamer what they want, while at the same time, pushing the industry forward.

They are not.

Granted there was a handful of games that showed something different (De Blob and Mirrors Edge to name a couple) but with most of the games on display being sequels or reinvented franchises, it just has an eerie feeling of inevitability about it.

Are we really heading towards a future where every game thread is dominated by two factions arguing over which is better? Gears of War3 or Killzone3; while Nintendo come up with even more inane ways of controlling the hero of 'Mario Invetro'; the game where Bowser has made himself sub-molecular to infect Princes Peaches and Mario has to go in after him.

The saddest part of this future; we will still be buying the games.

How old are u?

Heh, I might ask how old you are, because you sure type like a 13 year old. /kidding... sort of...

Anyways, I agree with SilentHunter7. Even GTA has gone away from the "fun" aspect of killing, in favor of realism.

 

[maxusy3k]

I'm kind of torn over this. I mean, yeah... I don't wait with baited breath for new releases anymore, I'm a semi-rabid WoW fanboy and the concept of the new expansion at most makes me think "that'll be something new to try", whereas for the Burning Crusade I nearly wet my pants with excitement at every screenshot or snippet of information that came out.

I think really I've just got 'better' things to think about. Women, work, finances, that kind of thing. Gaming doesn't play a role in my life anymore enough for me to spend enough time getting excited about it. Spore has changed that a little, I'm really looking forward to that, counting the days the same way I have been for years now, but again, that's now the exception, not the rule.

It's not anything with gaming in particular, I think. It took me ages to get round to playing Twilight Princess, and I have a Triforce tattoo, that's how much I love the franchise... but I just never really felt like making the effort. In the end my mother bought it with a Wii and I didn't stop playing until it was done and dusted, so it's not like I don't enjoy gaming anymore... I just... well, like I said. I just think as I've gotten older, I've got other things to occupy my mind. Games are just that for me now, games, a way to kill time and have some fun.

I think the last thing I bought was Guitar Hero 3 for the PS2. That more or less sums up my gaming priorities now.

 

[vede]

I think this may have something to do with your age. Perhaps the difference between games from then and now, or you becoming more familiar with games and the whole system.

I think that because I am fourteen, got really involved in the gaming world around eleven, and I easily find games that make my heart beat beat doubly fast just at their thought. Currently, it's Fallout 3 and STALKER: Clear Sky. Before, it's been Half-life 2 and it's episodes (Orange Box) and Splinter Cell: Double Agent, as well as a few others.

 

[mjhhiv]

I think this may have something to do with your age. Perhaps the difference between games from then and now, or you becoming more familiar with games and the whole system.

I think that because I am fourteen, got really involved in the gaming world around eleven, and I easily find games that make my heart beat beat doubly fast just at their thought. Currently, it's Fallout 3 and STALKER: Clear Sky. Before, it's been Half-life 2 and it's episodes (Orange Box) and Splinter Cell: Double Agent, as well as a few others.

I don't think it's your age, so much as how long you've been around gaming. I mean, I'm 20, and I don't consider myself "old", though I've been around games for about 10 years now, and thus am feeling a tad bit burnt out.

 

[geldonyetich]

It seems I've found good company. I'm definately in the jaded, "why doesn't anything impress me anymore" demographic.

However, I bring hope:

It seems to me that there are some good "wow-worthy" games, but they're diamonds in the rough. You have to look pretty hard to find them. You might have to be multi-platform to do it, as the PC industry has lost a lot of steam due to piracy and other industry blunders. Don't be afraid to dig around the indy game scene, either.

 

[boardman1000]

the most original game that has come about is... is... ummm... bioshock. even that was a stretch. gotta say being the faceless silent hero is good and all but even it had its downfalls like everything else. what i would like is something where you can create powers for you to use in a modern day setting in an alternate world where everyone is some sort of googily eyed blob and you could create a power where you can turn them inside out and light them on fire with one button. or perhaps a game where you play as the bad guy in inevitably lose. because if you are the bad guy and win you then become the good guy. originality please! no more star wars. less FPS's and how about an action adventure focused more on puzzles and really fucking hard button timing sequences that actually test your reaction time. no more mario or zelda. really now.

 

[Spleeni]

.>
I guess being 17 is not exactly old, but I remember a time when Dungeon Keeper still worked on my computer without having to muck around with DosBox or anything else.

I don't think that we are so much losing our creativity; but as with all industries, you can only come up with so many new ideas. When was the last time you've seen a movie that did something different from anything else? A book that did things differently? Anything?!

Since gaming is a new industry; there's new ideas all the time, different ways to do things, and in general, progress. Where do you think that gaming will be in the next 20 years? 50? 100?

 

[ZakuII]

In my case, things definitely seem to be losing the "WOW" factor on the whole. I'm currently 19 comming up 20 so the feeling of being a proverbial 'kid in a candy store' whenever i used to be a game shop is still fresh in my mind, having faded only a few short years ago. Personally i do think it's industry related rather than a personal growth/problem. I'm basing this on the fact that there are still games out there that make me go "Wow", as well as some that give me (suitably cynical) hope for the future.

Currently i'm playing Ninja Gaiden II and i have to say, it's something i've been waiting for since i was at least 11. A game where dismemberment runs rampant, where losing a limb opens a fatal hole in your enemies defense (pun intended....because they'll die anyway from blood loss...get it? No? Shut up.) To stop things straying off topic, let me say that that may be a weird personal taste. To want to see blood portrayed realistically, and for the weapons to have realistic effects (e.g. dismemberment/crushed limbs). Regardless, the fact that any game exists which i can point to, and say "That's what i want to see from more games" gives me some small hope against the sea of crap that is the current market.

Either progress gaming with innovative ideas, or polish what conventions we already have until they shine like the sun. A lot of games these days seem lackluster in both areas, content to be unpolished clones of clones, which i think is the root problem of our missing excitement.

 

[tobyornottoby]

I think this may have something to do with your age. Perhaps the difference between games from then and now, or you becoming more familiar with games and the whole system.

second that, both points. You get older, and you get more experienced (been there, done that). What would make a REALLY interesting research, is whether the new gamers of today are as enthousiastically about future releases as we were in the old days.

My thesis: NO

I think that in this new era of internet, people have so much access to different titles, that there won't be any real big standouts anymore.

Take music. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but the way I get it, Elvis & the Beatles were THE WORLD in their days. Could you see that happening these days?

maybe the same could be said about games. These days there are so many different games in all sizes and shapes, it's hard to idolize one

maybe

 

[ZakuII]

I think this may have something to do with your age. Perhaps the difference between games from then and now, or you becoming more familiar with games and the whole system.

That really seems like less of a problem with us and more of a problem with the 'system' being too predictable. Uninventive story, unfathombly poor graphics, the return of the same features you've seen ten thousand times before and literally nothing new.

Second that, both points. You get older, and you get more experienced (been there, done that).

Speaks for itself don't you think? It's the lack of something new to experience that's creating this tedium rather than age.


In the past, we likly would of thought having a lot of access to titles was a good thing. Like i said earlier though, it really seems like the problem is games are content to be clones of clones rather than their own game.

Comparing music and gaming is sort of flawed, but i'll say World of Warcraft. That's some peoples world right? I idiolized Dark Messiah of Might and Magic for a time because it was so fresh and new. A medieval FPS with a refined and polished combat system. There's something i hadn't seen before. Thus began my quest to become the 'best' knight in multiplayer (resutling in winning two offical tournaments, one 1v1 colliseum format, the other a clan war). Direct results of how interesting the game was to me personally. First time i'd won physical prizes for playing a game to boot, and i never stopped being 'wow'ed'. When The Crossing by the same developers comes out, i'll have a copy preordered because they've proven they know how to make something shine. It remains to be seen if they'll do it again of course.

I just reckon a few strong developers are needed in each area (such as Team Ninja). A studio bringing new ideas to FPSs or polishing the old ones, one for action games, one for horror etc and so on. Then we'll all have something to look forward to instead of Halo 10, or "Captain Blands Monotonous Adventure."