Video games are DEAD
by Baron Somebody
Finally, something new to get rid of all of that “War On Expert” bullshit. I’ve been noticing something lately with the next generation console games. They all suck ass. Now, you might think I’m being harsh, or I am biased from my many hours of Medievil, but the fact of the matter is that game companies have no original ideas anymore. Microsoft relies on Halo too much (I’ll go more in depth on this soon), Nintendo, with it’s Wii console (what an appropriate name) has given way for games both designed and developed by and for five year olds, and Playstation hasn’t really had any outstanding titles other than Killzone 2. I mean really, what happened? Video games are really starting to go down the toilet, which other than the occasional Star Wars game I am usually busy playing my older library of games (I only have three actual PS3 games to be exact).
Now, let’s start this bad boy up with Microsoft, which in it’s entirety is the problem altogether. They should have just stuck to making PCs, but no, Bill Gates just saw it as a chance to rub his own fat greedy ass. Can’t they come up with anything better than Halo? Each game is a repeat of the last, except with some graphical enhancements and some newly added (but unecessary) updates. In my opinion any series that goes beyond number three (unless they all had it planned out in advance, like say, GEORGE LUCAS) is just a gimmick for a few dollars more (I am aware of what I just said). A super-soldier goes and saves the world from the extraterrestrial menace. Wow, like we haven’t seen that a million times before. Even worse is that Halo is in first person, which in my opinion completely killed off every other gaming genre except for a select few (racing, which is completely boring, and sports, which are also boring as hell). Are they really that out of ideas that they just keep doing the same thing repetitively, but just with a different name so us dumbass Americans won’t know the difference? Yes.
By god, I really, REALLY hate to say this, but Nintendo has taken it up the ass hard. The last actually decent game they made would probably have to be Super Smash Bros Brawl, and even then it was kinda disappointing. To prove my point, let’s take the Mario franchize for example. Mario’s games will always be some of my favorite, but once the series progressed pass the N64 things just became ridiculous. Super Mario Sunshine? Super Mario Galaxy? What the fuck is that? Whatever happened to Mario just going around jumping on Goombas and Koopas trying to save Princess Peach? Was it really necessary for him to have that dumbass looking Super Soaker on his back? Can’t he just hit one of those question mark boxes without some ancient history lesson of a text box always having to pop up? I think I have said enough about Mario, but the Nintendo franchize that pisses me off the most is probably the Legend of Zelda. How are people entertained by a transsexual elf going to save the same princess from a heroin addicted pig over and over again? I mean, it isn’t even like Link is a cool character or anything, because he isn’t. Now, before you all attack me for liking Medievil, let me just say two things. First, piss off. I think it is obvious which game got more fame in the end. Secondly, at least Medievil switches it up a bit. While I understand the basic premise is him going around saving a town from zombies, at least he gets new weapons in the second game AND it takes place 500 years later. Zelda has no consistent timeline, and the games are a repeat of the one before it, and so on, and so on.
Now, I can’t really say much about Playstation, and it is for one simple reason. THEY DON’T HAVE SHIT!!! Other than Killzone 2 (which is a good game by the way, a nice breath of fresh air within the sarcophagus you all call “First person shooter games”) what games can you name that people actually recognize? Nothing, that’s what.
Like I said before, I may seem biased but you have to realize, the bulk of my gaming took place within my elementary years, and those are the games I hold within the highest regard. Why can’t we bring back Sir Dan just one more time, or Gex, or Glitch, or hell maybe even make a decent Crash Bandicoot game? Why has the platforming genre become extinct? Why have all the imaginative characters been replaced with either the same washed up characters or ones that don’t take us away from the horrors of real life? What ever happened to people having ideas anymore? Really man? What THE FUCK HAPPENED?!!!!!
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Well someone’s in a bad mood. How many of these games have you actually had a proper go on? Whether something’s enjoyable or not is down to personal opinion, I enjoy all the pretty much all the games you complained about.
March 2010: In the end, there will be only chaos.
Uncharted 2 is also looking supremely awesome.
MAG (with 256 players online) is shaping up nicely.
And lets not forget….MODERN WARFARE 2!!!!!
Now, I have played these games that Baron speaks of. And he’s entirely correct.. for the most part.
There are good games coming out, but they get eclipsed by the dross of sub-par cash-ins and sequels to games no-one asked for. Do we need another Madden game… Really?
If I get one person tell me how samey Dynasty warriors game are, and then give any football, rugby, hockey, american football, golf or tennis game as an example of forward thinking games development I will take power of this country and ban said sport. Globally.
Well said Baron, well said. Adn yes, Gex Deserves a sequel
Im inclined to agree with him if its the RTS genre.
Command and conquer 4 looks exactly like command and conquer 3. Maybe some new units but unless they think of something as cool as purifying fire it wont get anywhere.
Relics dawn of war and company of heroes are most likely the best RTS games out there but neither are recent. Dawn of war 2 is a good game but not as great a leap as company of heroes or the original dawn of war.
Bungie seems to have forgotten their roots in the Myth series and gone addicted to Halo ( If Bungie made Halo Wars with the same open mindedness of Myth: the fallen lords then Halo wars would have been fantastic) for those of you who never played Myth 1 and Myth 2, i highly recommend these 2 games, theyre awsome for their time.
Blizzard is getting waaaaaaaaay too much praise for Starcraft 2 before it is even out yet.
The most unique RTS concept so far included alien worshipping aztec natives against Lazer robot using conquistadors or wizards crafting entire armies of phoenixes dragons and genies. This game being Rise of Legends and certainly deserved much better. Especially when it gave me some incredible memories with the family in Lan parties as we gleefully fed gigantic armies of musketeers, Air Destroyers, Ufos, Robot snakes with lazer eyeballs, Dragons, hundreds of zombielike glass golems and so on. BigHugeGames is dead, so a Rise of Legends 2 is merely a fantasy.
Even Empire total war was a disappointment giving too much bugs at initial release.
Before someone tells me to buy i console, i only find joy in ordering large masses of men and machine to slaughter other large numbers of man and machine. The only upcoming game i can find on consoles that fit this is Kingdom Under Fire 2.
And then we go into the RPG genre for PCs.
Neverwinter nights 2 lacked polish and it showed, only 2 of the NPC characters were alive and the optimisation was terrible.
Arcanum, another very original game concept in RPG form (with admittedly bad battle system) is perhaps the only RTS where you can be anything from a gunslinging elf bandit, to a Mad Robot Scientist unleashing unfeeling automations armed with hypervelocity guns to crush barbarians and include magic with a necromancer character summoning undead and opening gateways for demons. The game is that open ended and even allows a combination of the above character classes.
Oblivion and Fallout 3 are great games but seem to focus too much on just the main character and too little on his surroundings. I admit these days i love tossing the random nuke around but i miss the days when side characters had personality, or better yet allow multiplayer compatibility for us Lan party lovers.
Ascendant died with Big Huge games…
___________________________________
The gaming industry seems to be moving too much into game franchises which cannot fall too far from the original and are simply too afraid to try anything new. Big praises to those who try like Relic and Bethesda but i just dont find the same level of polish.
Posting this made me rather sad, i think im going to take the week off
hmm I agree with you for the most part but…I think your overdoing it a bit. oh and ever heard of the COD series?? I will hunt you down and give you a slap if you say that COD 4 is not7/10 or above. well I would send you an angry letter at the least.
As Jwlynas said what about all the sport games that force you to spend £40 each year to get a game that’s not much better than the first?-that’s why I stick to Fifa 05 on ps2.:)
but as I said at the start- Mario has gone waaaayyyyy to far, Halo should never have existed past the first one.
and lastly, I hate plat formers like Crash (well maybe hates a bit to strong but you know what I mean). They just bore me like racing games bore you.
@Battra. GOW3 perchance or motion thingamabob
wow that comment was allot longer than I though it would be.
“Whatever happened to Mario just going around jumping on Goombas and Koopas trying to save Princess Peach?”
So do you WANT a repetitive story?
“Do we need another Madden game… Really?”
This comment is filled with epic truth.
@ “baron” somebody
im gonna try and make a stand for playstation…maybe even xbox. Fuck wii…
Resistance and Killzone are sweet games,shooting cool ass looking mofo’s in the face!!!with cool ass looking guns,in my opinion,can never get old. Then there’s the God of War franchise,testement to the saying “gets better with age” as each installment is kick ass,pushing thumbs and brain cells to the limit.
Yeah sports games do suck quite badly usually.
Oh ya….xbox….
Everyone’s got Gears of War down as a “damn good game” with decent/above average character development,even secondary characters.
Prototype anyone? That game “raped” my mind. Open world with a mutating agent able to transform into several deadly forms…to quote a phrase, “nuff said”
since xbox is a microsoft branch,its fair to include games for windows…right? Mass effect? The original Lord of the Rings battle for Middle earth series (2004;2006)? Bioshock? Tom Clancy Rainbow Six Las Vegas 2 was nice…
All in all,its only a few that tarnish the image of the many. Games still got it
metal gear solid 4 wasnt bad, was it? peace walker looks allright but i dont know about rising (do they need to bring back raiden, urgh)
dune generations looked like a game that we would all revere and unite under its banner of awesomeness, it had space combat rts (allways a win) and it looked way better than half the shit microsoft is spewing out.
but i think i speak for anyone who played the 1st one when i say:
GIVE US A SECOND SINS OF A SOLAR EMPIRE
mabye with some plot this time? sins was awesome, it had everything you would love about homeworld, but then it took one or two things away and made even better things to replace them.
and what about hl2 episode 3? when that comes out, i have no doubt that valve will keep to their normal level of quality (normal for them = pure awesome)
death to bill gates
long live valve and all their games
@sam
yeah playstations future looks bright. So far at least i really hope youre right and it goes well because if it does then the opposition also has to raise its game to compete.
Pc gamers on the other hand….
anyway i decided to add a few videos here for the various games i posted that are much lesser known and most certainly deserve more credit before i left.
This is the rise of legends opening -Rts game.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRh1niAmrkc
This is the game Myth 2, the sequel to the original Myth. both made by the same company that made halo, Yes very surprising, its a pretty old game by now so mind the graphics. *warning, explosives thrown by dwarves tend to make bloodied bodyparts fly in all directions*
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tCvvXQPJpk&feature=related
And heres arcanum, the enlightentment age Rpg only recently leaving magic behind. And yes thats a frickin ogre flying a Biwing.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jvpU6lR5E
i liked all halo games to be honest.but the game is severly overrated to a point it makes me facepalm…its just FPS number 10 billion.but for the most time my Xbox is a nice dustcatcher =/
my wii is the most active i play brawl quite often but the game could have been much more if nintendo actully put some effort in the online play which is half-arsed.and melee whas better then brawl anyway.if i dont play brawl there is either a metroidprime game in it or F-zero GX that game remains challanging no matter what.zelda is good though.yes you are right its the same shit over and over again but its always fun to do.however after youre done with it it ends up deep in a corner where it gets forgotten.
the thing called PS3 isnt even coming into my house.sony has never produced anything remotely that entertains me except for killzone.overpriced overhyped and the choice of games makes me laugh though thats my opinion.
PC gaming is what i do the most though.consoles are fucking up but PC isnt doing that bad.left4dead killing floor bioshock the DOW RTS franchise is very good DOW2 is meh.soon left4dead2 to come though its the same shit with more guns and infected.
2010 has only 3 intresting things for me.metroid other M goldensun DS and that new zelda thingie…
any new DOW game or new F-zero would please me the most.
@ Baron
While I have also seen a dip in quality games compared to the golden age of the nineties and early 21st century, I think your overreacting. You have chosen to only see the past and present, and while the present isn’t that good, you most look to the future.
Starcraft 2 (if it’s as good as the original, it will be worth it)
God of War 3 (I can’t wait to literally rip a god’s head off)
MAG (Total war is coming)
Modern Warfare 2 (self explanatory)
Uncharted 2 (now with more swearing… and less fish people hopefully)
Space Marine (self explanatory)
These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, but come on! The death of video games is a pretty blown up charge when all we’ve hit is in essence a speed bump.
why is nobody exited about hl2ep3?
if anything, rise of legends proved one simple fact
MAKE MORE STEAMPUNK GAMES
steampunk gunz = win
steampunk tanks = win
steampunk warfare = win
steampunk = epic win
I can’t say i agree with you about Galaxy Baron, have you played it? It’s a great platformer that takes the idea of changing gravity and plays around with it quite a bit. The only reason why I prefer 64 to it is that galaxy is way too linear. Other than that… it’s a great game.
The metroid prime trilogy is a great example of a relatively “new” series of games that are awesome. The ideas in that game were not just clones of others, as Halo was. Pikmin is another example of a relatively new franchise. Sure it’s sortof like an RTS, but it’s quite original and fun to play.
Overall, I would agree with the opinion that new games are worse than older ones. That’s why I have downloaded more VC games than buying new Wii ones.
“Space Marine (self explanatory)”
Explain myself? Never! *Jumps into small two feet tall bushes that do not conceal the marine very well*
www.angryalien.com/0905/highlanderbuns.asp
Interesting article.
I suppose I can see where you are comming from, but as a video gamer that has been playing longer than (perhaps) you were born, I will respectfully disagree. I have seen console gaming evolving from their simplistic Pong roots, to magestic operas such as GTA4.
I completely disagree with your take on the Wii. This console has already revolutionized gaming, and we can only guess what sort of crazyness developers will cook up. I fully enjoyed SMG, MP3:C, Brawl, Boom Blox, and yes, even Wii Sports/Fit.
In any case, I will respect your opinion on these games. This is too individual a point of view to fully debate.
As far as the actual article goes, I enjoyed it. However, consider toning down the foul language in the future. There are only a handfull of instances where those words are appropriate on a front page article, and your piece has none of them.
I can say that I do see the quality of many games declining. I certainly blam Halo for the regen health “feature” seen in just about ever single FPS that is released now, and I hate it. A WWII soldier does not need regernative health. He is not Wolverine. At the same time though I don’t think all of gaming is going down the drain.
I personally loved Galaxy. It was way too much fun to screw with gravity and see how many times you could orbit a platform or two.
Zelda games are more diverse now than they ever were before. Up till MM every Zelda game was the same [except Z2 & CD-I, but we don't talk about those]. Save the Princess, defeat Big Bad. MM added the time element that made the game not quite linear. Since then the Zelda franchise has branched off into multiplayer with the Four Swords, introduced more Big Bads with Vaati and Belum, put up radical new settings like the WW’s water world, is adding a full blown steam powered train in Spirit Tracks. Really the only reason for seeing the Zelda series as unchanging is because of willfully not seeing the changes. Sure some games keep the regular stuff too like TP which added pretty much nothing but some decent horse combat, but even that game had a much larger world than most other Zelda games which itself is a sign of a change in the formula.
On the RTS front… well I don’t like many RTSs. The old Westwood ones were pretty sweet, but anything after the Golden Year of RTSs, 1998, not many RTS were released that I truely enjoyed. I loved Total Annhilation, but that was ’98. Since then the C&C games became less fun, Total War games were over my head (still fun), Age of Empires 2 was too complicated for me because of all the resources, AoE3 was too watered down, The first Lord of the Rings RTS was pretty fun, never got the 2nd… that one looked fun. I have Rise of Legends, I didn’t like it too much.
When it came down to it I had to go back to my old favorite of RTSs, Chris Taylor, with his Supreme Command series:
SupCom: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpIGKK1p4PY
SupCom:Forged Alliance: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkvoVnWahIU&feature=related
2010 release SupCom 2: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQMEOBM9fBQ
Okay, I’m a mech nut. At least my Krogoth will beat your Clockworkmen.
“why is nobody exited about hl2ep3?”
I for one am chomping at the bit.
While Baron makes good points about games going downhill, as long as Valve is around at least they will put out good games while Bungies stagnates, Rockstar keeps losing sight of what made GTA great, Capcom abandons the Resident evil plot, and EA keeps beating the dead Madden horse.
Although I do have to thank EA for arranging the Orange box for ps3.
Whn everyone runs out of ideas for an original game . Lets hope no person will complain over repetitive gameplay,and story . That day is inevitable . That is if anyone would want to go over the top and cross some boundaries that no one would dare cross over with their “imagination”.
When everyone runs out of ideas for an original game . Lets hope no person will complain over repetitive gameplay,and story . That day is inevitable . That is if anyone would want to go over the top and cross some boundaries that no one would dare cross over with their “imagination”.
sorry about the double post
I think Mata, someone who has lived through most if not all of the gaming generations, has a better sense of reference.
It makes perfect sense for Baron to look back to the Ps1/N64 days with good nostalgia, I constantly do so as well. But if you ask the average person what their favorite gaming systems are, there is a good chance they will say whatever system they “grew up with”
For example, although my family once owned a NES and a Sega Genesis, I only really became an avid gamer with my N64, which I still adore. With classics like the original smash bros, Mario 64, Zelda OoT, Mario kart 64 among others, I can fondly recall this system as my favorite.
But someone who is 8 years old now, may very well make the same argument for the wii in about 10 years as well, with classics like the original Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda TP, Metroid Prime 3, among others.
However, being someone who NEVER owned a Super nintendo, I do feel the need to say that the SNES had an amazing library of games. There is no nostalgia factor when I played Super Metroid for the first time (after the more modern 3 prime games) and it blew me away. Add that masterpiece to dozens of other great SNES games and you have a gaming system worth remembering.
As for games I am looking forward to in the future, New Mario Bros wii and Mario Galaxy 2 among others (cant wait for Yoshi) although I have to admit… I am anxously waiting for Sonic and Knuckles to be released on the VC…
@Marche
All I was saying was that they have taken the story of Mario too far
You know what story was taken too far?
Sonic.
I will agree, Sonic is a game I completely forgot about…and yes, they did take it too far
I think your overreacting. I have high hopes for the future. When I was young playing Super Mario Bros and GI JOE for the NES I thought that was the best games were going to get. What happened because of the Console War of that time. Games moved forward because of that war. The names were differentback then (Minus Nintendo) but the outcome was the same everything moved forward the same will happen again one game and one system will change it all again that is the nature of Video Gaming.
I think y’all are overreacting. 90% of the games released back then were shit, and 90% of the games released now are shit, it’s just how it works. When remembering the “good old days” everyone always remembers their favourites, and completely ignore all the junk the same timeperiod carried with it. Face it, there are at least as many brilliant games now as there were back then. The game industry is still young and full of potential, and as long as developers still make many off of their products, I don’t see this ending anytime soon.
@ Dago
At least this generation of video games is not responsible for E.T. the game. /shudders/
@Kenny C.
Or Superman 64 for that matter…
dont worry, after halo reach bungie said they will think of something new….
but it is responsible for Ninjabread man (wii) and Anubis 2…
@ Fooby. and the next game after we finish will be
HALOOOOOOO, we were going to do something else but then we thought, why take the risk when we can continue creating crap that idiots will buy
-some bungie guy.
/facepalm.
can i just say something?
while HALO and WW2 games and sh*t like that are overused, there is one area of stuff that has barely been payed attention to for years, and only one game i know of has used this at all
WW1/the great war/the war to end all wars
whatever youcall it, i liked necrovision, i like bolt action rifles.
oh and one other thing
DEATH TO EA, FOR THEY RUINED SPORE
“WW1/the great war/the war to end all wars”
Their is a reason WWII is overused and the only WWI game in recent memory is one of an alternate reality.
“Oh whats this? Baron crying over a spilled milk?”
What? Get a correct sense of English metaphors, because quite frankly that was a fail of epic proportions
@ Baron
Give her a break man, this is her second language… I think.
@ Chewie
Didn’t Bungie orginally say that Halo 3 was going to be the last Halo game they were going to do?
After Halo Reach comes…. Balo, the game that has you play a space marine fighting slightly differnet color aliens on the world of Beach
“Their is a reason WWII is overused and the only WWI game in recent memory is one of an alternate reality.”
Call of Duty: Trench Warfare
Sounds intense.
“Oh whats this? Baron crying over a spilled milk?”
“What? Get a correct sense of English metaphors, because quite frankly that was a fail of epic proportions”
Baron don’t be a dick. I think what she is trying to say (And Diana correct me if I’m wrong) that your article sounded like whining and crying.
Now this is what my main problem with your article. Granted you did make some good points however they are covered with a strong coat of whining and I can barely sees the points you are trying to make. The whole thing came off as Whining and Crying.
I guess I didn’t look into the future enough, and I had totally forgotten about Resistance and Fallout…other than those three flaws I see nothing wrong with it except for the fact that I haven’t played Mario Galaxy or Sunshine
“Balo, the game that has you play a space marine fighting slightly differnet color aliens on the world of Beach”
I would play that.
@ Marche,
You would…
Can you think of a better game?
No,no you can’t.
@ Marche
I CAN!!!! You’re a space marine in the Eye of Terror that must enlist the aid of the orks to battle the deamon worlds… with a Chain Sword made by the Emperor himself and a gun that shots black holes.
@ Baron
It’s good to have an opinion, it’s just that the majority of us think you’re wrong. If this was a demcracy, we would have this article voted out and made fun of, but this is a dictatorship and admin is Hitler. (kidding!)
@The One Sin
“Call of Duty: Trench Warfare
Sounds intense.”
- That would be an awesome game if they did it right. Like…. if they add in chain swords?
@Kenny C
Don’t you mean that your opinion differs from mine?
@ Baron
No I mean that most of us think your particual view on current video games are wrong, the degree of error is up to the indivdual posting and person.
… Majority Rules
Baron how can you say Mario Galaxy sucks when you haven’t played it…
It’s a great throwback to Mario 64, you would probably like it.
@Cpt Olimar
Well you got me there lol although I did find that stupid Super Soaker ridiculous
so he goes from stomping acorns to feeding baby stars… *cough*GAY*cough*
@Article
You’re serious about this whole thing aren’t you?
The problem is Oversaturation. The bar for a ‘good game’ is constantly being raised further and further, and as the masses approach that bar, the population whines ‘nothing new!’.
But honestly, I almost thought this was a joke until I read the comments. You want innovation?
www.littlebigplanet.com/
www.namcobandaigames.com/games/beautifulkatamari/
How bout games with a little bit of something new to make it interesting?
wet.bethsoft.com/
I whole heartedly disagree with your entire article. The main point of disagreement? The entire freaking point. You titled it ‘Video Games are Dead’, but take a look at some statistics man: 2008 had a record breaking Video Games revenue of $21 billion. Compare that with the ‘Golden Age’: forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=15831
The Gaming Industry is booming! Even during a recession, it’s still estimated that the 2009 year will generate $41 Billion in Revenue.
The problem is that 10 years ago, gaming was new. A brand new game that had all these revolutionary mechanics was a big deal. It was ‘ZOMG! A GAME DID THAT?!’ But now, it’s become common place. Take Batman Arkham: Asylum. Have any of you even played that game? That was friggen amazing! The game had style, story, characterization and a billion little goodies that I still haven’t had the time to go around and find. You’re tired of the same old thing? Metroid is about to have a major mix up with Metroid: Other M, and Final Fantasy XIII looks absolutly spectacular. Want a bit more of the same old stuff? Starcraft II looks like it’s shaking up to be a fantasic game that doesn’t forget it’s roots, and the same goes for Diablo III.
As for your article, you contradicted yourself mid article, and I’m surprised nobody else pointed it out: I paragraph 1 you openly chastise Bungie/Microsoft for making more of the same with Halo: “A super-soldier goes and saves the world from the extraterrestrial menace. Wow, like we haven’t seen that a million times before”
But in Paragraph 2, you critisize for Nintendo FOR being creative and making changes: “Mario’s games will always be some of my favorite, but once the series progressed pass the N64 things just became ridiculous. Super Mario Sunshine? Super Mario Galaxy? What the fuck is that? Whatever happened to Mario just going around jumping on Goombas and Koopas trying to save Princess Peach?”
… Really dude?
If you’re going to go on a rant, at least get something to back it up and don’t turn yourself into a hypocrite mid-article.
As a closing statement, I do say that Halo is rather overrated, particularly Halo 3. But it’s not a bad game, and it does a fantastic job at what it does. I love the music, the story, and the game play. The Matchmaking Engine is superb, and I haven’t run into any major glitches like I have in say, COD5. My personal favorite is Halo 1 however, and they are definitely milking every penny they can. But can you blame them? Especially when people cry for the good old days and they want more of the old stuff, is the logic flawed? ‘I want more!’ Ok! We’ll make more!’ ‘OMG TOOMUCH STFU’ “??????” Besides, you totally neglected the fact that Video Games are multi-million dollar projects, and that money has to come from somewhere. If you have a smaller company, it needs to churn out a dozen bad games to even produce enough cash to attempt to make a new one, or hoar itself out to a large company and be subject to THEIR deadlines and THEIR rules.
It’s really not fair. You have every right to play your archive of older games, and I long to get some of my older games back. But I do play Halo 3 about an hour a day, and I rent newer games regularly. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a lot of fun, I enjoyed CoD5… Nazi Zombies is brilliant! Batmam: Arkham Asylum is amazing! Metroid Prime 3 was flat out awesome. Super Smash Bros. Brawl was a fantastic game. Everybody needs to understand that the better games get, the more we’re going to nit pick them, and while that’s all well and good, it’s totally unreasonable to completely overlook the games strong points and point out the negative ones. Super Smash Bros Brawl for example, yes the Multiplayer could be better. But that doesn’t change the fact that I can invite 3 people over and have a hell of a good time for a couple of hours. The number of items and game styles as well as the stages available make even the newbies be able to compete with the more experienced players. And I rather enjoyed the single player, having an actual plot that tied all the Nintendo Characters together was rather interesting, and some of those cinematics were flat out Awesome! Samus’ Gunship, The Falcon Flyer and the Halberd all in one video? My TV almost exploded with the awesomeness.
Another example is Tomb Raider: Underworld. I had my own nitpicks, like the lack of a final boss fight and any real resolution. But the sprawling areas were absolutely beautiful. I found myself simply stopping just to look at the scenery. This goes for all 3 Metroid Prime games and again, Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Anyway, the point of all this is that you see what you want to see. If you choose to have a negative outlook on all modern video games, regardless of how good they may be and stick to nostalgia, then that is what you will see. A bunch of wasted potential. I however look forward to the future of video gaming. With such a saturation of good games, the bar is constantly being raised, and sometimes the over hyped games turn out to be worth every ounce of anticipation. I was not disappointed at all with Arkham. With this, innovations are being forced, and that means that the bar is going to continue to be raised and newer and better game are going to continually come out. If you choose not to be part of that, that’s you’re right, but you’re missing out.
@Skrunks
I have never played Little Big Planet nor did I remember to mention it…several people have informed me of how good it was but I haven’t looked into it
As for me contradicting myself I meant that they have taken the story too far
“After Halo Reach comes…. Balo, the game that has you play a space marine fighting slightly differnet color aliens on the world of Beach”
I would buy that.
“Baron don’t be a dick. I think what she is trying to say (And Diana correct me if I’m wrong) that your article sounded like whining and crying.
Now this is what my main problem with your article. Granted you did make some good points however they are covered with a strong coat of whining and I can barely sees the points you are trying to make. The whole thing came off as Whining and Crying.”
I kinda got that feeling. But anyways I do respect your views, but I disagree. Almost everything Valve makes is an awesome game. And about the Halo Franchise, I know people on Factpile really dislike it, but you cannot denie its sucess. Although I considerd Halo 3 a fail. I loved Halo Wars abd ODST. Which I consider fan service. But I respect your views.
Dreamcast for the world
@baron somebody
I can agree with alot what you said Nintendo is has gone down alot Nintendo should have noticed there was a problem when the 64 was better the the game cube. Actually everything was better then the game cube.
We all know Bungies riding on Halo I thinks its a great game and I can see why you hate games so much if you dont like FPS’s. When the first halo came out i hated it and still do to do this day i could handle the first person aspect and well the game was and still is a piece of shit.
As for Platform jumpers what do you expect them to do. just make more they wouldnt make any money. If they wanted to make sales they would have to make major changes and then they would kill it. do your really want that.
Playstation has never been a good system with the PS3 the only things they got right were to get their fingers into that whole blue ray thing and a few games that Xbox cant get.
As for Link at first glance he s not that cool and maybe even looks like a child molester in a sephiroth sorta way. But alteast for ocarina of time Link was cool and the story line was good.
And finally I just want to mention some games ive played and think are quality. and I want Baron Somebody to tell me some major flaws in them if he believes there is one.
GodOfWar 1-2 have not played 3.
Halo 2-3 Halo 2 i can still enjoy but its not actually that good a game.
KOTOR 1 have not played 2 but i know 1 is better.
Smash Bros Brawl its got a few flaws but its the best nintendo has done since the 64.
Soul Caliber 2 I loved this game ihave never played another soul caliber but im sure they are all great.
Warcraft 3 I suck at RTS’s but I loved the story line and the online play. World of Warcraft was a huge sell out for blizzard. They make way more money but ruined there series.
Age of Mythology another RTS loved it for the same reasons I love Warcraft 3.
SW Battlefront 2 A Classic burned alot of hours on that game
Fable Great Flaw being too short
ANd finally Oblivion I used to think it was the greatest game ever made its only flaw is you eventually experiance everything and the world gets smaller on you.
And finally Id just like to say if you cant enjoy games anymore I feel sorry for you if you cannot find something you enjoy thats not gaming.
IF you have not played any of the games on my list I reccomend them.
“SW Battlefront 2 A Classic burned alot of hours on that game”
They need to make one for the current consoles
This article really doesn’t work for two reasons:
1) Subjectivity: The success of video gaming will always be the market variety it presents; after all there is no one type of video game, there is no one type of interactivity, there is no one way to tell a story or immerse the players in the world presented.
So you didn’t enjoy Halo 3? Well sales and reviews demonstrate that a lot of other people did, and whilst this does not reflect upon your own personal choices there are many others available to you in many different formats. Why not pick up a copy of Katamari Damacy (THE most inventive game of all time in my opinion), Little Big Planet or immerse yourself in the classics such as Lemmings or Oddworld (the complete opposite of the FPS) and experience something completely different.
But ultimately what doesn’t work is that you have the audacity to eschew other genres simply because you personally dislike them, proceed to decrying a company for making a handful of series based installments over the course of a decade (five games in ten years is not a lot of Halo games), whilst simultaneously lamenting over the loss of another genre that has already been saturated by continuous sequels; Crash Bandicoot alone has spawned seventeen games since 1997, never mind the likes of Spyro (thirteen games in ten years) or the damned fine Ape Escape (thirteen games in ten years). Heck, Mario fortified the foundation of the genre alone, yet apparently something went wrong following his N64 incarnation, a matter that you have yet to elucidate.
I agree with Skrunks on this, you are begging for your cake, eating it and then criticizing the chef for both allowing you to both have AND eat your cake (a rare thing in life). New and interesting games are coming out all the time, along with the classic staples that sell, along with the occasional expected tripe and along with the rare gem that simply blows you away (each Metal Gear Solid did this to me – the fourth installment was no different) with sheer quality and ingenuity. The problem is that you’re just not probing enough beyond the surface level.
Instead of “Video Games are Dead”, this article should re-titled “I haven’t picked up a decent game in some time, have any suggestions?”.
2) Objectively speaking, the gaming industry is booming.
- – -
Editor’s notes:
Just a few things I wanted to point out.
“They should have just stuck to making PCs, but no, Bill Gates just saw it as a chance to rub his own fat greedy ass.”
Didn’t Sony make enough money from CD’s, VCR’s, DVD players, televisions, the Walkman, audio systems. MP3 players, tapes, cassettes, Hi8, DTS, memory sticks, flash cards, Blu-Ray and robotics? Why do they have to make the Playstation?
Because that’s how a capital market works. If a company is safely and efficiently capable of releasing products that sell, then they have the right to do so regardless of how great their current net worth is (we aren’t communists after all) – thus we have a market of products that range from home consoles, hot dogs, microwave ovens to star spangled butt plugs that play the American national anthem. Capitalism works.
“Can’t they come up with anything better than Halo? Each game is a repeat of the last, except with some graphical enhancements and some newly added (but unecessary) updates.”
Just like a (faintly remembered) series about an animated Corpse saving London that saw the release of a sequel within a year of the first game hitting the shelves?
A sequel cannot radically alter the direction of the series overnight, since both the fans and the developers have to change their entire mindset as to how perceive the new world and somehow in the process coherently link it to a previous experience that made the fans enjoy the previous games. Halo Wars for example takes place in a separate avenue of canon continuity, introducing us to new characters and events that justify the radical overnight change in genre (it isn’t really a change since Halo Wars isn’t a sequel) that could be accommodated by another studio (Bungie has no experience with the RTS genre).
How do you think fans would have reacted if Halo 3 was introduced as an RPG or an RTS? Bungie would have been staring down the barrel of a loaded gun since they would have completely overshot their boundaries by removing the facet that garnered them so many fans in the first place.
Such positivity on the internet, I’m quite shocked. Its almost as if people are positive about the future.
The bottom line is people have different tastes. Some people prefer the gameplay of older games, or different genres. Me, I can’t stand “gritty” first person shooter games, Jrpgs, Sports games or the latest adventures of any of the Nintendo mascots. I’ve played the games (one or two of them), they didn’t suit my style.
Western rpgs are… good. But where graphics become more impressive, and games become more of a commodity, with greater emphasis on story, they lose the charm that made them the poure escapism that they once were. Grand theft auto is a grand example, but Assassins creed was much the same. A potentially fantastic game set around assassinations, rooftop battles and a hooded, oddly western master killer. And they added the future aspect and a quick time event style fighting system?
Platforming games have become either overly child-friendly, or movie cash ins. There are no games with the charm and single minded fun of the old sonic, the crash bandicoots, the spyros, the original Mario games. Jax and Daxter, Ratcher and clank. God forbid the original ideas were worthy enough for a modern market, they had to change, become moodier.
Games like Brutal Legend, and the two religious looking GoW games have potential, but against God of Wars, Devil May Cry and those sorts, will they go far, or will they get lazily developed, being mere copy and paste games?
The future is bright indeed. But sometimes a Bright future merely means you’re heading towards an oncoming train.
@ Diana
” 4.) If you don’t like chess then grab a latest copy of MAXIM magazine and lock yourself in your room. ” – I really don’t think that masturbation can take up all the time that I usually use to play video games.
@ Jwlynas
Great post, but I disagree with your view that adventure games shouldn’t get darker after the first installment. I believe that give the series a little depth and not just another kid’s game. However, if they fuck up Uncharted 2 by making Drake emo…. I’m going to be very angry.
The best part though is that video games as a medium offer a near finite amount of directions from which to approach the format as an audience.
Movies have to be watched from beginning to end to work, books can only be opened and closed, a painting can only be appreciated in the static form and food can only be eaten, enjoyed and then digested into a fine brown paste which you deposit from your rear end.
As an art form (and they are an art), video games allow you to approach a world in a dynamic fashion that has yet to be experienced in any medium seen in human cultural history; do you want to shoot aliens in their faces? Hunt Dragons with sixteen other friends from across the world? Drive a tank through Berlin? Solve obscure puzzles with the use of excessive flatulence? Beat a prostitute for a few dollars or rule your own virtual universe? Video games offer a state of immersion where the audience is given a vibrant palette of polygons, pixels and high resolution images and we as the audience express ourselves as the ultimate art form. The game itself becomes the greatest form of artist interaction, with entire worlds drawing to them the necessity of a players interest to even exist.
Video games have a place in the future, don’t worry about that.
This article is just a bunch of bitching. When it comes to games its subjective to the person playing. Some may like it some don’t. As for Microsoft milking halo I fail to see it. 5 games in 8 years is not milking. You want to see milking then direct your attention to the ever famous and money making Mario who currently has had his face on over 200 games since his creation in 1988. That means over the course of 21 years or so 9-11 games were released a year with his face on it. That’s some guinnes world record shit right there.
“2.) Its never easy to develop a globally competitive game…Even if Starcraft 2 would look like a shit being wipe in a pale ass because of its dissected Episodes and no LAN gaming, its still not a joke developing it.”
I gotta say that Starcraft 2 is looking to be a fantastic game. I jumped for joy when I found out it was being split into 3 Episodes, that means that there are two already planned Expansions to further the greater story and a grand total of around NINTY single player missions. I challange you to name one other RTS that has anywhere near that many. And I don’t get the big deal about the LAN thing. Everybody and their mom has ADSL and a router these days, and it’s a way their building Battle.net 2.0, not a ‘I DON’T WAN YOU GUYZ PLAYN LAN GAMZE’. Honestly, I’ve never looked forward to a game so much.
i wasnt joking about trench warfare! think about multiplayer! have multiplayer focusing in on the “over the top” moments
who knows? having british civilians play ww1 games might convince us to return to being as badass as we were back then?
i doubt it, too many chavs in england for that now
and that brings me to th other problem, stupidity, only companies like valve have the intelligence and intuition to invent good games, EA and microsoft are full to the brim with faggots. the only good game that EA made lately was dead space.
oh and, again: EA FUCKED UP SPORE
@chosen one,
I hate you.
“And finally I just want to mention some games ive played and think are quality. and I want Baron Somebody to tell me some major flaws in them if he believes there is one.
GodOfWar 1-2 have not played 3.
Halo 2-3 Halo 2 i can still enjoy but its not actually that good a game.
KOTOR 1 have not played 2 but i know 1 is better.
Smash Bros Brawl its got a few flaws but its the best nintendo has done since the 64.
Soul Caliber 2 I loved this game ihave never played another soul caliber but im sure they are all great.
Warcraft 3 I suck at RTS’s but I loved the story line and the online play. World of Warcraft was a huge sell out for blizzard. They make way more money but ruined there series.
Age of Mythology another RTS loved it for the same reasons I love Warcraft 3.
SW Battlefront 2 A Classic burned alot of hours on that game
Fable Great Flaw being too short
ANd finally Oblivion I used to think it was the greatest game ever made its only flaw is you eventually experiance everything and the world gets smaller on you.
And finally Id just like to say if you cant enjoy games anymore I feel sorry for you if you cannot find something you enjoy thats not gaming
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is one of my all time favorite games, Soul Calibur 2 was good but I have Soul Calibur 4 and it is better, God of War I have never played, Super Smash Bros Brawl is also really fun, I really hope one day I will play KOTOR but I haven’t been able to find it, Halo 1 is ok I guess and the rest I haven’t played…
So there Chosen One I don’t hate all games (quite the contrary actually) I am really just getting sick of most FPS…does anyone remember Timesplitters 2? One of my favorites of the genre
“hell maybe even make a decent Crash Bandicoot game”
Please tell me what you’re trying to imply here because I’ve played a few Crash Bandicoot games before and thought they were pretty addicting and good.
“They should have just stuck to making PCs, but no, Bill Gates just saw it as a chance to rub his own fat greedy ass.”
People benefit from Bill Gates rubbing his greedy ass. For one almost everyone I know owns a 360, loves it, and has and enjoys Halo 3. When rated on ew.com it was given an A-, the WII B+, and the PS3 B. So I think everyone shoulld take pride in Bill Gates rubbing his greedy ass.
Oh and as for your Sir Dan games. I hate to burst your bubble, but I highly doubt another Sir Dan game will be made. Pay attention to the ratings and popularity of games. Games like Medievil are just not what gamers want right now. Right now gamers are more into hardcore and yes first person shooters.
@Dante Chief
I am talking about the newer ones, the old ones are some of my favorite games
@Baron Somebody
Please explain exactly which ones you hate.
Other than halo being overated it’s a fair game. I just hate the halo fanboys who make people like me and others look bad . Sorry this had nothing to do with the article
@dracosphinx I thrive on the hate man keep it coming.
“Why not pick up a copy of Katamari Damacy (THE most inventive game of all time in my opinion)”
I can’t properly describe my reaction to first playing this game, besides that the music killed my ears, the songs are really bad imo. The game looks so dumb and stupid, but it has an impossible addicting quality, something that is constantly, and rightfully so, compared to the original craze of tetris. It is so messed up, but it works so well.
As for Little Big Planet, I’d love to get my hands on and play it (only have a wii for next gen… dang prices) but by what I have heard, it’s editor system is by far inferior to War3 Frozen Throne’s. I have literally played an FPS using War 3… that’s nuts. While I certainly haven’t played every game with an editor system, I can say that War 3′s is the strongest I’ve seen… and Brawl’s is sadly the weakest.
That was probably the biggest disappointment from brawl for me, I was expecting to be able to modify everything in brawl, with moving destructible platforms to enemies in the background attacking you…*sigh* Well it is still my favorite fighting game.
Despite all the great new games out there, I still find myself enjoying “old” games more. While I really only attest to Nintendo games, to me it seems that some of the inspiration of old has passed, or at least the meticulous attention to detail. While the Metroid Prime series sure has a lot to say against that (thankfully) many other Nintendo titles aren’t up to it. Whenever I compare Twilight Princess to Ocarina of Time, for example, it is hard for me ever to be in TP’s favor. Is it just because as a kid, I was more easily enthralled and captured by the environments and the story? Maybe.
Certainly Sega can attest to having more problems with their next-gen games… despite having solid sales. I’ll never understand why they sell so well.
I didnt read all of the comments… but how can we say, any game past y sucks
dont forget we have like 21 Final fantasies and im stoked about the next… (sidenote: x sucked but x 2 rocked… WTF??)
And i do blame developers…. WTF happened to starcraft ghost… I hand you a perfect back story and give you a world of possiblities to be the greatest stealth game ever and you drop the ball… WTF Same with the LotR series…. worlds of opportunity… piss poor execution??
and most of the problem lies with parents letting their kids play MA games and ruining my COD4 beat down with a snively whiny kid saying… “hacker this, lagger that” do you think i got the gold cross in that stupid game because i suck at FPS??? please…
Also Resistance rocks…
and viva pinata was an awesome concept… minus the homosexual color scheme and a few other things that were blatantly gay…
“WTF happened to starcraft ghost”
I too was waiting for that game and it never came I mean just look at this and say it would have been a great game
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVsTrLW_04U
“Desire of flesh will never be vanquished”
Ain’t that the truth
so no ones standing in the trenches of the western front alongside me?
well fuck…
still: SYSTEM SHOCK 3!!!! PLEASE?!
no? how about…
WH40K: the dakka chronicles (play as an ork, unleash a shitload of dakka)
mabye not?
FAGGOT HUNT: THE OPENING SHOTS
(a game concept i thought of myself, the objective is to massecre any and all supporters of the parliment in the most gruesome manner possible, and then kill the prime minister, devolving britain into an anarchistic paridise)
i for one would play that! sorry for trolling and spamming bad ideas…
Here is a List of games the DONT suck
Time splitters 2
Bioshock
Call of duty 4
Assasins creed
Gears of war
Odst (yes its halo, but its the only one that dident suck)
Prototype
Batman arkyam asylum
Dead Space
Destroy all humans
Diablo 1, 2 and expansion
Empire at war ( while this game Dose suck their are some mods that make it one of the best Rts game ever made)
Heres a List Of games that DID suck
halo 1, 2, 3 , wars
Anything that the the words” The Video Game” in the Title
Turok (2007 version)
Destroy all humans 2 and 3
Everything related to CD-I
and too many moar
“Everything related to CD-I”
this needs a very, very special category for a very very special series of games.
“And i do blame developers…. WTF happened to starcraft ghost… I hand you a perfect back story and give you a world of possiblities to be the greatest stealth game ever and you drop the ball… ”
Actually, Blizzard wasn’t developing Starcraft Ghost, and that was the problem. They contracted Nihilistic Software to make the game, but they failed to meet any of the deadlines or expectations, so Blizzard brought it over to Swingin’ Ape studios, just before Blizzard purchased the company. Afterwards, the game was put on indefinite hold. As far as I know, neither company was producing a product that Blizzard deemed up to par, so I thank them for canceling it. I would have shot myself in the head if the game was released after all that and it sucked. Besides, Starcraft 2 looks like it’ll more then make up for it.
any new DOW game or new F-zero would please me the most.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hoz6QSmffYM
halo 1, 2, 3 , wars
Halo 1 was actually good until it got spammed with sequels and halo 3 by is one of the best multiplayer games. Any other game that’s been out for nearly 3 years would be lost under the matress but halo 3 is still decent. People are looking at halo 3 from the campaign not the multiplayer which is the whole game was built around. Halo wars and halo 2 tried to clean up the story abit and fucked up big time.
You also forgot dawn of war 1, 2, and potentially 2 chaos rising (DC,SS, and WA all sucked)
Microsoft aren’t that addicted to Halo.
Xbox has many good exclusives live Left 4 Dead and Fable.
@ Well said Baron, well said. Adn yes, Gex Deserves a sequel
Word on this matter, entirely.
I miss Gex, for crying outloud!!!
Although that said, i thought each new Zelda game is still getting better and better.
“but the Nintendo franchize that pisses me off the most is probably the Legend of Zelda. How are people entertained by a transsexual elf going to save the same princess from a heroin addicted pig over and over again? I mean, it isn’t even like Link is a cool character or anything, because he isn’t.”
Ahem……..so many mistakes…..first of all you’ve probably never EVER played a Zelda game in your whole life. Link ain’t no elf, hes Hylian. Theres a damn difference!!! Hylians are a race of humans with long ears that allow them to hear special messages from the gods. Not even once in the entire series is the word elf even mentioned!!! Link also isn’t transexual, everybody knows that if Zelda gave Link the chance he would definetely “get on that” if you know what I mean. No offense Baron, but at least Link ain’t dumb enough to get killed in the first barrage of arrows like a certain skeleton was. Besides Link would see Sir Dan as just another Stalfos that he has to kill. Basically Link is a cool character….people could say that Dan isn’t a cool character, I mean….hes just a skeleton. You know who else is just a skeleton? Paris Hilton thats who!!! Anyway how that HELL did you come to the conclusion that Zeldas addicted to heroin?!? Thats pretty much all I got to say.
the only thig i miss about the older gen of games is the abundanceof awesome rpg’s seriously FF has gone down since number 9, parasite eve, jade cocoon1 (not 2) and about a billion others