Hello readers, I found something to moan about at the same time I got the urge to write so here we are; WOOHOO!!!
ONLINE GAMING!!! It is, without a doubt, the thing I hate the most about the gaming industry right now.
Let me paint you a picture; but before that let me tell you my thoughts so you can visualise it in your head (I’m so funny)
Gaming, before online capabilities were given to other platforms than the PC, was a very social thing to do, despite what some people may tell you. I can remember going round friends houses often to play video games on ONE console (can you imagine?) and we would be in the SAME ROOM (WOAH, MIND=BLOWN).
And guess what, there was no: swearing, abuse, offensive comments or hearing sexual slurs from kids who haven’t even hit puberty yet. It was a friendly environment and provided much joy in my childhood.
NOW, online gaming on the other hand has, ironically, destroyed the social aspects of gaming. It is a poison to the gaming industry and is creating a generation of gamers who will never understand what true gaming is. Forgive my words, as they may be perceived as an exaggeration of such, but gaming is nothing short of an artform; there are some games that can just…amaze you and leave you feeling nothing but wonder and joy. I haven’t seen that in a while, a game that hits you hard and makes an impression as soon as you hit start (or whatever the hell they’re calling it now, like seriously why change the start button?).
I miss the cable days of gaming, the physicality that linking up had and the friendships gaming used to help you form.
However, there are more aspects to gaming than online capabilities.
In my opinion, the gaming industry has become too ‘adult’. It’s lost it’s creativity. A lot of companies seem to be playing it safe instead of making games that go beyond your imagination and explode into existence leaving aftershocks of pure awesome!
The next gen consoles are a prime example of the loss of creativity. I have no idea who designed the Xbox One but, to me, it just looks like an old video player; it’s boring and bulky. The PS4 doesn’t look much better either.
I’m sure somewhere along the line these consoles will have a few glorious gems to offer but for now I’m not seeing much.
Ah, back to the point of ‘playing it safe’ 1st person shooters are a type of game I think needs to be put to rest for a while; there are just too many and it’s getting a little stale now. I think at least a 10 year break is needed from that type of game to give a chance for something new and fresh to come along. I also think gaming company should try and create new concepts for games now or at the very least revive some old concepts we haven’t seen for a while.
I know my opinion doesn’t particularly matter in all this but I feel it’s something that needs to be sorted. Although I have come across a glimmer of hope from the absolutely brilliant Nintendo. I shall leave you with a trailer for one of the bizarrest games I’ve ever seen and one I think will be unbelievably popular.
Thank you for reading 🙂
Ginge of Awesomeness 
Although I was never that big a gamer, I know what you mean. The same is true of computer languages and computers themselves, the fun and engagement seems to have all gone, in favour of the slick ‘corporate’ image. Ain’t nostalgia a wonderful thing!
Indeed, nostalgia is wonderful. I’m currently planning on collecting all the old consoles I used to own purely for nostalgic reasons and thank you for your comment.
Ofcourse your opinion matters, you are forming the gaming community. I think that the state it is in today is because a vast majority of people stopped taking any initiative and have given themselves into the embrace of technology. I dont know of a blunt example except, if you know it, I used to do random tricks and techie stuff just to get a PS2 game to run on my PS1. Now, people just cash out for a PS4 and complain that it sucks because of :insert reason:
I don’t agree with you at all regarding your opinion of online gaming. It’s pointless to pretend that a few years back people did not swear, tease and harass each other. ive seen many a fight personaly, as well as read stuff on the news, some of these even including as grievious stuff as murders over a load of pixels. It ain’t a tea party with the queen of England you know, it’s a game and some people take it the wrong and bad way, always have and always will. I can agree with you though that with the “advance” of society, people are more free now. I was ashamed to swear when I was 13 and playing games, especialy to other players who are older then me. We preach absolute freedom of speech and don’t teach our kids manners, so ofcourse they swear, harass, bully and yell at other people online. There is not much difference here between them doing it in an online video game or a random forum or a blog, in fact, they even do it face to face.
I also disagree that it is anti-social or less social then it was before. Nothing beats a LAN party, that’s for sure, but none is saying you can no longer make them just because the game you are playing is online, as opposed to in your living room. If you are playing with people from different countries, you can always get creative, make it personal, and make it more social. But,like I mentioned at the beginning of this comment, we expect technology now to do the work for us and we have lost interest in shapping communities.
You also mention everything being adult, but I disagree there as well. Everything is more childlike. Gaming now is a money whore. You dont even need to play, you are showered with pointless achievements for whatever you do in the game including just moving your bloody character and if you can’t beat a level or a boss – voila, pay the developer 30 dollars and you got it. I find it to be massively dumbed down to atract the younger audience, who are as well less resistent to shinies and will spend the families money to buy stuff in game, while the games themselves lack challenges, compelling storylines and need for actual teamwork (Molten Core, anyone?)
If you don’t like first-person shooters how they are now, fall back in love with the classic and come play a round of CS: GO with me 🙂
You do make some good points. However I don’t agree with the games being ‘dumbed down’ for the younger audience as evidence for the gaming industry being childish. Dumbing something down is an incredibly adult thing to do, because they feel that the younger generation aren’t very smart, which is untrue. As a child I loved the games that didn’t offer very much help because the reward at the end was just that more satisfying as a result. The reason I said it was too ‘adult’ was because they’re thinking about everything methodically and they seem to think they have to tell you what to do, whereas in earlier games, such as Shadow of the Colossus, you had to use your imagination to get through the game and it’s that element of imagination that stops a game from being too ‘adult’. You also mentioned games lacking compelling storylines which is something I completely agree with, however, one the reasons I think most games, not all, are lacking those storylines is because developers are focusing so much on the Online aspects of games that they’re not putting in as much effort in the single player experience; which is why I feel games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim did so well. They were excellent games without online features (but still with the inevitable DLC’s disappointingly). My all time favourite game is Super Mario Sunshine and one of the reasons for that is because it was the purest form of gaming you could ever hope to see. It was new, exciting, imaginative and above all, it was subtle in how it guided you through the game; the hints were never obvious about what you had to do. That’s what I feel games are missing now, those aspects that make a game memorable and fill you with absolute joy.
That’s my take on it, thank you for your comment 🙂
I can see your point better now about the adult thing. As for the developers and industry focusing so much on the online gaming, I know it’s true, but it is hard to absorb that when every single online multiplayer is pay2play glitchy pile of “peeeeep”. Seriously, it was easier playing broodwar over the phone, less bugs, so I often think they spent 10 minutes of eating a burrito to come up with the whole thing. This does pose an interesting question as to why are they being so sloppy with single player. The DLC thing is so dissapointing as well, maybe I am wrong, but I was outraged when I found out the expansion for Diablo 3 was only 1 act and it costs a fortune for me. You are right about the hints too, I keep playing new games and expecting some mindboggling puzzle, memorizing numbers and sceneries like a lunatic only to find nothing there. And I hate the saving thing, saying this like a grandma, but back in my day, you could only save on a save point! 😀
They are issues that need to be addressed but it’s getting the right people to ask those questions that’s the problem. If a big name in the gaming industry were to ask about the sloppy single player and the very poor online experience of some games, something would probably be done. Also saving points are something that I miss too however if you go before our day, you just couldn’t save games full stop, it was either you were good at the game or you just didn’t win. I think if someone brought out a game without the ability to save would be interesting to see and could a good thing to see come back.