Comments on: Dear Gaming World http://www.2phatgeeks.com/hobbies/games/dear-gaming-world/ What geekery is this? The life and times of 2 phat geeks in love. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:02:10 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Melissa http://www.2phatgeeks.com/hobbies/games/dear-gaming-world/comment-page-1/#comment-661 Melissa Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:07:19 +0000 http://www.2phatgeeks.com/?p=296#comment-661 I understand the need to make money. Without the money, they can't pay the people who make the shiny game, to ...make the shiny game. And I don't think that some of the latest releases were all that bad--had they really put some thought into what the hell they were doing BEFORE releasing them and realizing, "oh shit--everyone but these three guys says there's a major game breaking bug. Let's wait six months before fixing it. Add more bling, they'll never notice!" And on my end, I find that there's no middle ground. Games are either simple enough for anyone, ages 1-100 to play, or so friggin hard to figure out you need to be a physicist. I understand the need to make money. Without the money, they can’t pay the people who make the shiny game, to …make the shiny game.

And I don’t think that some of the latest releases were all that bad–had they really put some thought into what the hell they were doing BEFORE releasing them and realizing, “oh shit–everyone but these three guys says there’s a major game breaking bug. Let’s wait six months before fixing it. Add more bling, they’ll never notice!”

And on my end, I find that there’s no middle ground. Games are either simple enough for anyone, ages 1-100 to play, or so friggin hard to figure out you need to be a physicist.

]]> By: LSama http://www.2phatgeeks.com/hobbies/games/dear-gaming-world/comment-page-1/#comment-660 LSama Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:56:27 +0000 http://www.2phatgeeks.com/?p=296#comment-660 Part of the problem is that, to answer your question, yes, game developers *are* trying to target 5 year olds---along with everyone else. The 'casual' gamer has become the majority and as a result, games are, in the opinion of real gamers like you and I, severely dumbed down. Which means that while casual gamers get to come in and try something new, the rest of us are left with games that are remarkably too easy. The even bigger problem is that nowadays, most 'hardcore' gamers are all FPS players. Don't get me wrong, I love FPS games and when F.E.A.R. 2 comes out, you won't see me for at least a week...but FPS is not, nor should be, the be-all, end-all 'hardcore' game genre. What happened to the glorious days of the point-and-click adventure? When's the last time we had a DECENT Castlevania game on a console? I'll tell you when--1997, Symphony of the Night for PSX. Game OverThinker recently did a video in which he states that the video game industry is, in his opinion, about to go down the tubes because it's sort of doing to itself what the comic book industry did to itself in the 90's: It basically black-holed itself by trying to make all of it's comics 'dark' and 'gritty'. I can't disagree with him. There AREN'T any new, intuitive, original games anymore, because the VG industry has stopped targeting what should be it's key audience: Kids. I'm not saying games for adults shouldn't be made, I'm just saying that the gaming industry needs to wake up and realize that there needs to be a middle ground between 'shooters' and 'games so easy that an idiot could play them'. The 'casual' game doesn't target kids. That's the problem. 'Casual' games target adults who've always looked at consoles with fear and dread, not understanding what they were meant to be. TL;DR: Games suck today because VG companies are too interesting in lining their pockets instead of enjoying making challenging, INTERESTING games. It's way cheaper to just throw a game together from a template, after all. Part of the problem is that, to answer your question, yes, game developers *are* trying to target 5 year olds—along with everyone else. The ‘casual’ gamer has become the majority and as a result, games are, in the opinion of real gamers like you and I, severely dumbed down. Which means that while casual gamers get to come in and try something new, the rest of us are left with games that are remarkably too easy.

The even bigger problem is that nowadays, most ‘hardcore’ gamers are all FPS players. Don’t get me wrong, I love FPS games and when F.E.A.R. 2 comes out, you won’t see me for at least a week…but FPS is not, nor should be, the be-all, end-all ‘hardcore’ game genre. What happened to the glorious days of the point-and-click adventure? When’s the last time we had a DECENT Castlevania game on a console? I’ll tell you when–1997, Symphony of the Night for PSX.

Game OverThinker recently did a video in which he states that the video game industry is, in his opinion, about to go down the tubes because it’s sort of doing to itself what the comic book industry did to itself in the 90’s: It basically black-holed itself by trying to make all of it’s comics ‘dark’ and ‘gritty’. I can’t disagree with him. There AREN’T any new, intuitive, original games anymore, because the VG industry has stopped targeting what should be it’s key audience: Kids.

I’m not saying games for adults shouldn’t be made, I’m just saying that the gaming industry needs to wake up and realize that there needs to be a middle ground between ’shooters’ and ‘games so easy that an idiot could play them’. The ‘casual’ game doesn’t target kids. That’s the problem. ‘Casual’ games target adults who’ve always looked at consoles with fear and dread, not understanding what they were meant to be.

TL;DR: Games suck today because VG companies are too interesting in lining their pockets instead of enjoying making challenging, INTERESTING games. It’s way cheaper to just throw a game together from a template, after all.

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