Has the gaming industry gone stale or am I in a gaming mid life crisis?
- Thread starter Gimpymoo
- Start date
Caporegime
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- 8 Jan 2004
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I'm in a similar rut, well reviewed titles I just can't get into.
Bioshock infinite - boring generic shooter
Dishonoured - liked the style but couldn't keep my interest
BF Hardline - not for me
But then I've found other games that have hooked me like crack - ARMA 3 Breaking Point was insanely addictive for months. GTAV I loved and actually finished, never finished a GTA game in my life!
I think you just have to try stuff that's a bit different from your usual fare.
Bioshock infinite - boring generic shooter
Dishonoured - liked the style but couldn't keep my interest
BF Hardline - not for me
But then I've found other games that have hooked me like crack - ARMA 3 Breaking Point was insanely addictive for months. GTAV I loved and actually finished, never finished a GTA game in my life!
I think you just have to try stuff that's a bit different from your usual fare.
I know how you feel. The main game I play at the moment is Planetside 2, and that's really only because of the people I've met in the game. Come to think of it, most of the games I play now are played more for the chatter with other people than for the game itself.
It's the games themselves, trust me on this 
There's no sense of exploration or discovery anymore, you generally know exactly what to expect from any new game. You're just old enough to be annoyed by how patronising games have become.
There's no sense of exploration or discovery anymore, you generally know exactly what to expect from any new game. You're just old enough to be annoyed by how patronising games have become.
Associate
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
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- 346
I get the same feeling quite a lot. I think for me it comes down to 2 things.
1 - Being able to buy a game whenever I like. This means that I overload myself and often don't give a game long enough to really grab me. For example, in the last 4 weeks I have bought -
Grey Goo
Cities: Skylines
Pillars if Eternity
I have GTA 5 pre-ordered and The Witcher 3 ready for release.
2 - Having much more real life concerns than ever before (wife, kids, work)
Now, this sounds awesome. But, it's kind of ****. I know, first world problems right? When I was a kid, I knew that my Christmas present (Streets of Rage) would have to last me for nearly a year (my birthday is also in December) that means, I played the hell out of it and completed it over and over. I had no other choice, but to play that game and not many real world distractions aside from School and Football.
These days, I have a wife and kids to worry about, so game time is less than it has ever been, just when I’m trying to shoehorn in game after game.
I have developed a strategy though. I group my games on Steam with simples groups. In play, to be played and completed. I close the completed group so I can't see it and focus on the in play group. New purchases and steam sale purchases go straight into the “to be played group”. Games I don’t like or fail to grab me go into the “completed group”. I don’t add a game from the “to be played group” until the “in play” group has less than 5 games in it.
Now, if I look at a game in the “In play” group and keep putting the game off. I ask myself, do I really want to play it? Grey Goo is a good example for me; I bought it because I wanted a good RTS game that I used to love back in the C&C times. Problem is, Grey Goo is not actually that good but my desire to play a good RTS keeps me from binning it. As I type this, I have decided to chuck in it the completed games group and move on. Cities is not being played much right now, though that’s because I have decided I want to see a decent patch or 2 from the developers before I jump in again.
This way I try and be strict with the games I end up playing, I want to make sure I only give my ever increasingly rare spare time to games I find truly entertaining. I have to deal with the fact that I’ll probably only really enjoy 1 or 2 games out of every 10 I buy, but what’s the point subjecting myself to another generic, half arsed game like AC Unity, just because I like the idea of it and I spent money on it. I have had to use a similar strategy with my Sky planner, the amount of TV shows that I had on there but never got round to watching was getting insane. If I put off watching a show for a couple of weeks, it’s because I don’t really enjoy the show but I like the idea of it.
TL
R – Be more selective with your entertainment, be ruthless with mediocrity and don’t be scared to acknowledge you wasted money on a game. Bin it and find one you actually really enjoy.
1 - Being able to buy a game whenever I like. This means that I overload myself and often don't give a game long enough to really grab me. For example, in the last 4 weeks I have bought -
Grey Goo
Cities: Skylines
Pillars if Eternity
I have GTA 5 pre-ordered and The Witcher 3 ready for release.
2 - Having much more real life concerns than ever before (wife, kids, work)
Now, this sounds awesome. But, it's kind of ****. I know, first world problems right? When I was a kid, I knew that my Christmas present (Streets of Rage) would have to last me for nearly a year (my birthday is also in December) that means, I played the hell out of it and completed it over and over. I had no other choice, but to play that game and not many real world distractions aside from School and Football.
These days, I have a wife and kids to worry about, so game time is less than it has ever been, just when I’m trying to shoehorn in game after game.
I have developed a strategy though. I group my games on Steam with simples groups. In play, to be played and completed. I close the completed group so I can't see it and focus on the in play group. New purchases and steam sale purchases go straight into the “to be played group”. Games I don’t like or fail to grab me go into the “completed group”. I don’t add a game from the “to be played group” until the “in play” group has less than 5 games in it.
Now, if I look at a game in the “In play” group and keep putting the game off. I ask myself, do I really want to play it? Grey Goo is a good example for me; I bought it because I wanted a good RTS game that I used to love back in the C&C times. Problem is, Grey Goo is not actually that good but my desire to play a good RTS keeps me from binning it. As I type this, I have decided to chuck in it the completed games group and move on. Cities is not being played much right now, though that’s because I have decided I want to see a decent patch or 2 from the developers before I jump in again.
This way I try and be strict with the games I end up playing, I want to make sure I only give my ever increasingly rare spare time to games I find truly entertaining. I have to deal with the fact that I’ll probably only really enjoy 1 or 2 games out of every 10 I buy, but what’s the point subjecting myself to another generic, half arsed game like AC Unity, just because I like the idea of it and I spent money on it. I have had to use a similar strategy with my Sky planner, the amount of TV shows that I had on there but never got round to watching was getting insane. If I put off watching a show for a couple of weeks, it’s because I don’t really enjoy the show but I like the idea of it.
TL
R – Be more selective with your entertainment, be ruthless with mediocrity and don’t be scared to acknowledge you wasted money on a game. Bin it and find one you actually really enjoy.
The majority of new titles, be they AAA or Indie, are interesting me less and less.
So that means, either I am being a fussy old sod or the industry is in a state of flux.
Not sure which
Its because the major publishers/developers are just recycling old concepts and designs, with a new face and skin. They are not producing or offering anything new, innovative or interesting. We no have to rely upon the starved and corrupt indie market to make these changes.
Gaming used to be about fun, engrossing stories, complex and challenging mechanics and value for money. I remember buying Soul Reaver for the PS1, was £30, lasted me ages and I've never been so engrossed in a game for a very long time.
I'm currently playing Dragon Age Inquisition and it just feels a lot of the time like I'm playing a relationship simulator where I'm constantly trying to win the approval of the people around me and the story/game is secondary to this fact.
Then you have games like Call of Duty/Assassins Creed which produce 1 game a year, look and feel exactly the same and barely add anything new and they charge you £60 for the game, remove half of the game and then resell it back to you as £20 DLC which offer a mission and a new hat.
MMO's used to be my main focal point, but they've all turned into Free 2 Play / Pay 2 Win cash grabs from the publishers, offering pretty much the most bland gameplay i can imagine and sell you it. There hasn't been a proper meaty MMO since SWG and Vanilla WoW, with the depth, complexity and freedom for a long time. The more this genre develops, the more restricting and single player they become. Instances separate the players from each other but we still call them MMO's.
The current gaming market is so big and so corporate that we get what we are given and not what we want. And i feel the only solution to this is to create a new "Industry" which is where games can really grow and develop away from massive corporate interests and profits.
I feel the same as you Gimpymoo, and im younger
I am utterly bored with this era of gaming, the few games that I have played over the years I have lost interest in them. Battlefield, fifa, pes, golf games.
It's just the same old rubbish, year after year.And it doesnt help when you have publishers like EA who destroy franchises like Battlefield and Konami with PES.
I have recently got into the dark souls series so that is my primary game along with the golf club.I am also sick of devs hyping their game about how a revelation it will be, like what the golf club devs said about the golf club.Its a decent game but nothing special.
There isnt any game coming out soon that has my interest.
I am looking forward to VR headsets as I think that will reignite some spark for me, but I have my doubts.
I am utterly bored with this era of gaming, the few games that I have played over the years I have lost interest in them. Battlefield, fifa, pes, golf games.
It's just the same old rubbish, year after year.And it doesnt help when you have publishers like EA who destroy franchises like Battlefield and Konami with PES.
I have recently got into the dark souls series so that is my primary game along with the golf club.I am also sick of devs hyping their game about how a revelation it will be, like what the golf club devs said about the golf club.Its a decent game but nothing special.
There isnt any game coming out soon that has my interest.
I am looking forward to VR headsets as I think that will reignite some spark for me, but I have my doubts.
Associate
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
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- 346
There are gems out there, they are just harder to find. DA: Inquisition is a great example of a developer giving us exactly what they think we want, they were wrong.
Pillars of Eternity is much closer to the mark. What I really want to see is a game like Pillars, with the same sort of team that made it, but with a much bigger budget. Stop feeding us shallow crap that costs 100's of millions of pounds just because you want to "Michael Bay" the experience, spend the money on gameplay and story as well as graphics.
Pillars of Eternity is much closer to the mark. What I really want to see is a game like Pillars, with the same sort of team that made it, but with a much bigger budget. Stop feeding us shallow crap that costs 100's of millions of pounds just because you want to "Michael Bay" the experience, spend the money on gameplay and story as well as graphics.
You'll find your spark again, maybe just need a break for a while. I was similar last year and I got Alien: Isolation and loved it, playing it pretty much nonstop. It reignited my interest and I started playing more games again.
So I guess just wait and see which game will reignite that spark.
So I guess just wait and see which game will reignite that spark.
Associate
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- Ipswich
I have one night a week where some of the midlifegamers forum meet up and play bf4. It keeps the game fresh and fun, especially when we are all on ts3 giving it large.
The game I have enjoyed for a while is shadow of mordor,yes it can get very repetitive,and once you power up you became godlike. The game has kept me coming back for more ,that's the sign of a half decent game right.
Looking forward to vr headsets after trying on the rift at last year's summer i-series. This is the next step in gaming or porn
which way you want to look at it.
The game I have enjoyed for a while is shadow of mordor,yes it can get very repetitive,and once you power up you became godlike. The game has kept me coming back for more ,that's the sign of a half decent game right.
Looking forward to vr headsets after trying on the rift at last year's summer i-series. This is the next step in gaming or porn
which way you want to look at it.( cut down for size but agree with it all)
I think this pretty much sums it up, the likes of EA, Activision, etc have destroyed the gaming market by milking it, anything new & interesting is soon snapped up by these big companies, & turned into dross.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 20 Dec 2004
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- 7,309
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- Tamworth
Part of the problem is too much choice.
Most of us have a massive Steam library of games we picked up in the sales and deciding what to play is impossible.
Back in the days of cartridges and CD games, you were lucky if you more than two games to choose from. Mostly down to the relative high cost, so you chose games wisely and played them to death.
I spend more time playing retro games now than anything else, other than iRacing.
Most of us have a massive Steam library of games we picked up in the sales and deciding what to play is impossible.
Back in the days of cartridges and CD games, you were lucky if you more than two games to choose from. Mostly down to the relative high cost, so you chose games wisely and played them to death.
I spend more time playing retro games now than anything else, other than iRacing.
I feel that way as well, I've played so many games now that its difficult to get excited for anything new. They've all started to look the same to me. The game that I've had the most enjoyment out of recently has been Homeworld Remastered Collection. The original was released back in 1999...
I have high hopes for the future of VR gaming though, and Microsoft's Hololens looks like it could be amazing.
I have high hopes for the future of VR gaming though, and Microsoft's Hololens looks like it could be amazing.
Yep this is my grief as well. I'm sick and tired of games coming out filled with game stopping bugs and day 1 DLC. The industry is shooting itself in the foot.
Agree with both of these points, I've found myself recently completing games just to get them "out of the way", Shadow of FarCry's Creed_Dogs is a good example of a very generic game... it is virtually the same game just reskinned
The problem seems to be, the developers find an idea that's successful, and then just milk the **** out of it until it becomes mindless tedium (along with all the copycats).
We're on Assassin's Creed...8? (not including DLC/expansions) with 9 already announced, and other than a few tweaks to some of the climbing and combat mechanics, the game hasn't changed since the first (except for the ship parts which were a breath of fresh air!).
It was a great formula back in 2007, but it's getting very stale, especially with all the clones like Shadow of Mordor, Watch_Dogs, Far Cry...
It's the same with CoD, MoH, Battlefield - basically the same game but with slightly updated graphics - more explosions and shiny-ness; even the settings/storylines are practically identical!
And don't get me started on DLC - I'm not going to pay £3-4 for an extra couple of weapons, which are basically just new skins and a couple of numbers tweaked in an ini file, give me a new mission or something and I might be interested...
Agree with some of the above posters about too much choice though, I have about 50 games in my Steam library which I need to play through, so I've banned myself from buying anything new until that number has dramatically dropped, but when there are sales for games for £1-2, it's hard to resist!! (I've also made an exception for the Witcher 3
)I had a similar feeling when I played CS GO, That's all I played, Stopped playing it due to the amount of cheaters and griefers, Now i'm playing a variety of single player games.