The Dark Side of Modern Video Gaming

[MadMAUL]

I've been primarily a console gamer since Original Xbox & my how things have changed along the way. There are some really great things about modern gaming such as graphics, the amount of time you can get out of an open world game, ease of access with digital, etc. But with the upsides there are downsides.

- My games are now dependent on the internet. Gone are the days of purchasing a complete product without the need for internet & updates.

- Digital Games are typically more expensive than their physical counterparts. Only at launch do they match in price. Digital prices are ridiculous.

- Cost. While you can game on the cheap if you need to. There are costs now that you have to be considered for a broader experience . There are the games themselves that offer extras (DLCs/MTs) that really hurt resell value of physical discs & the games as services model. If you want to play online there are subscription costs that aren't that much in the short term but add up long term. Larger HDDs also can come into play with the size of modern games as your library grows.

These are just somethings from the dark side of Modern Video Gaming that sometimes make me ask "Is it worth it?." "Does the good really outweigh the bad?" "Am I really getting the level of fun & enjoyment that justifies the cost, time, effort & dependencies required?"

I know Video Games is a unique medium but there are other forms of gaming to invest in.
What do you guys think about all this?
Do you ever question weather modern video gaming is really worth it? Are you completely satisfied or maybe somewhere in between?

[Cyruss]

It's true gaming in general is in a bad place with publishers ruining companies with high demands on profits. This is opening the door wide open for indie teams to push their products through for an acceptable cost while offering an acceptable amount of content.

The whole get profits quick scheme of "ship it now, fix it later" is ruining games and consumers aren't helping. We used to preorder to reserve out copy at the store, then we preordered to show support and get bonus content, and how we are so beaten down we preorder just to test the game for them. You'd think it couldn't get any worse but people are also taking dangerously low paying jobs for these companies just to make the game for them all out of the passion for the hobby.

Publishers need to go, and more of the casual/trendy gaming population needs to step down and not support terrible practices. As far as cost, well some states are now including "entertainment" taxes and AAA isn't going bite that bullet they'll pass those costs right along to us where it will hurt the console market the worse and we are going to the times of paying $70+ for a single game, that's not even finished, that locks off content demanding micro transactions, while telling you that you wont' get the complete experience unless you pay for the season pass.

[MadMAUL]

I haven't preordered a game in a long time. I don't see any point unless I really like the developer & that's a rare thing now days. I really wouldn't mind paying $70 for a game & I really don't mind DLC when it's done properly. Paying $70 & then I see loot crates & MTs all in the game would be a huge turn off.

[fenrif]

The main thing that kills me is that so many of these games, nearly all the AAA ones at any rate, are made with no artistry in the gameplay design. Sure there are artists who work on these games, making cutscenes and textures and scores and all sorts of tangental art that goes into the game. But the actual design of gameplay is far far too reserved. It's like modern movies. The stuff that doesn't matter gets constantly improved. The CGI gets better. The stunts get more exciting. The action scenes are more brutal. But the plotlines are derivative to the nth degree. The acting is cookie-cutter. The dialogue is predictable. Games have gone the same way.

Especially with third person shooters. I think Previously Recorded said that third person shooter is the "who cares" of genres. I feel like this is the pitch meeting for every third person shooter game:

"We have a cool idea for a story, it's a really great story. So many characters to meet. Things to do. This story will blow your mind!"

"Ok, but what do you do in the game?"

"Oh... Erm... I dunno. We haven't really thought about it. Third person shooter I guess?"

[MadMAUL]

Just to argue from another perspective & to make some points off of both of your comments. It's really hard to make a great film & probably harder to make a great game. Everything is derivative.
Film is a collaborative art & games are too. They are made to make money but in that process we still get a gem produced occasionally where "magic" happens & enough things come together to form a satisfying whole.
Movie Studios "interfere" with films & directors but that is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it is beneficial & after all, it is their product being made. Can't the same be said about publishers?

[King_Nothing]

Double edged sword, you used to get games and if they had a bug it could never be fixed on consoles, now you get games with bugs from the start which can hopefully be fixed (unless you’re Bethesda then they never get fixed until by a third party mod/patch). With games companies pushing deadlines to the absolute limits instead of delaying games like they should be doing, massive day one patches are just going to become even more commonplace.

[MadMAUL]

But they had no internet to rely on after release. It had to be as ready as they could make it. A finished product. Any bugs would become an unintentional part of the game for good or bad. I don't remember any game breaking bugs pre internet but games weren't as big & complex & I wasn't a heavy gamer then. Now days, internet reliance is maxed. I mean, it's understandable to a certain degree but is the current level really acceptable? It didn't have to be this way.

I'll add another to the dark side.
- Freaking huge downloads & patches.
Just an annoyance for some but what about those with data caps?

[Firebrand]

One noteworthy fact to consider: development of many original modern games requires a lot of time, effort and money. Marketing an upcoming game takes a huge chunk of any potential profit before a game is released.

That's one of the reasons modern games are often replicas of past titles: anything semi-original must be based on past performance or have some other profit avenue such as microtransactions/dlcs. I doubt this safe approach to modern game design will change.

This methodology also requires direct to consumer delivery (Steam and the like), and releasing games prior completion due to competition and having always online models/constant updates to rekindle interest, as gamers are fickle.

[MadMAUL]

Good points I haven't really thought through completely. I'm somewhat spit balling thoughts here.

[isturbo1984]

The "leaders" of the industry and the general community. I remember championing my favorite editors from IGN back in the early and mid-2000s. Now, everyone with influence is seemingly a fanboy or a (how do I say this without violating the no politics rule...?) an idiot. I can't get the truth on whether or not a game is good anymore or look up a quick faq or wiki without getting F2P nonsense shoved down my throat. I've been forced to become my own "journalist" and news source if I want anything truthful from anyone in the community these days.

[ethansito]

One way to save money and increase your enjoyment of gaming would be to switch to PC. I don't mean to be that one PCMR guy, but it really is a much better experience than what the xbox has to offer.

[Verhoven 69]

I love how you can"mod" stuff on certain games in the PC

[isturbo1984]

Exclusively Games has done a good job at taking politics out of gaming... but I see there is still no shortage of Pokemon avatars telling you not to buy PlayStations and Xboxs.

[ethansito]

isturbo1984 It's almost like there are reasons not to buy them or something.

[metalspider]

the internet has definitely helped game companies who care more about quarterly earnings ship a semi ready game and then fix it later.
that along with multiplayer only games being easier to push micro transactions into.its easier to sell some players an edge over other players then to try and make them buy stuff in a solo experience.
EA makes most of their money from micro transactions that take almost no work.
as for DLCs etc those are just another way to get more money out of the more stubborn players who dont go for micro transactions,very rarely are they truly something new and worthwhile.

the 2 biggest single player games this year seem to have only been possible to make because they were console exclusives which in itself is a very scary thought to me as a pc gamer first,i did end up buying a ps4 for spider-man but i still much prefer to game on my pc.

[MadMAUL]

I really like my PC but I don't like windows. I switched to Linux years ago & really enjoy the freedom it provides. I'm never going back to windows OS no matter what games are there. So, while I can game on Linux & there are a lot of games for it now. I always buy them for PS4. Most of the AAA games are windows only & leave out Linux.
I have a Linux machine that serves me well & I have a PS4 Pro for gaming. It's worked out pretty well for me the past five years minus the dark side of things . For me, windows is way darker.

[metalspider]

you can always dual boot,or even run a vm with a passthru to the graphics card i guess.
windows has gotten pretty good imo and pc games have some advantages you just dont get with consoles like high refresh rate displays,mouse aim in FPS games.and its generally a more open system since peripheral manufacturers and programs in general dont need to go through the console makers hops.

consoles on the other hand really do just work 99% of the time and are cheap relatively.

[Verhoven 69]

Incomplete games like FFXV. "Episodic" games like supposedly FFVII remake (cash grab . Don't mind delays but make it COMPLETE! The investment will be recovered if you release a AAA COMPLETE versionSE!

[Verhoven 69]

I also want to point out this idiotic "dark side" development in Street Fighter V in the consoles etc. Cammy, our favorite amnesiac leotard wearing SaS agent. For those in the know, she doesn't wear anything underneath her leos so sure as the sun rises there's gonna be some "markings" of her anatomical parts on her clothes (specifically her mammary glands). Nothing to "wank off it" but when released, those parts were kind of visible in a tasteful way.

Well an "update" to the game got rid of that. What the heck? Has it gone to a point that even the original artistic integrity/representation of a character gets "disinfected"? When I played SF, I play to kill the opponent CPU. The extra "details" are just bells and whistles yet now Capcom suddenly updates the game to erase those details!

Even R.Mika's victory poses had to be "updated". Geez! Can't they (you know who you are) not leave well enough alone?

[Juan-ton_Soup]

It is indeed unfortunate the tide that has swept gaming. Back in the day, you purchased a game, and that was it. Now, you buy a title and it's unfinished, DLC is released shortly after a release, and predatory microtransactions riddle titles. However, like many others said, this has opened the door for Indie creators to find a market. Sometimes they make it to the big leagues. At the same time though, I do miss the quality in Triple-A games. I don't necessarily care if I'm giving my money to a large corporation or Indie guys, as long as the game is good. Hopefully, one day, we'll see a increase of quality (and consumer friendliness) between both ends of the market. There is still hope.