Subscription games and throwaway culture

d_brennen · 1 May 2021 at 18:28

Have had Game Pass for a while now, was tempted by the 99p offer and haven't cancelled it, despite not having much I'm interested in. Anyone finding they are installing a game they are vaguely interested in, playing it for a short time and deciding you CBA to continue? It's almost like because you CAN have it, you don't really care. I used to buy games and try to play them.

Just can't find anything I want to play in general

Donnie Fisher · 1 May 2021 at 22:00

Perhaps also that you personally aren't interested in gaming as much as well, and its not just that games are readily available to try. There was another thread recently along similar lines, and I find I'm not really into games as much any more either.

As a result, I've tended to find that games I try seem to fall into a few categories. First being single player, but short, and once ended, little point to complete again. So delete/move one. Second, solo play, but need long investment time to reach reward ... I'm thinking along the lines of Elite Dangerous etc so you try it, dont get far, move on. Third, online play (battle royale type)... where there are others who just shred you in seconds, leaving not much of a game before you're back out starting another play ... little success, move on.

So, maybe a combination of all 3. Easy to discard game and move on, not really games available that fit what you want to play, and you not wanting to play in general.

Bazzards · 1 May 2021 at 22:07

I found that with game pass, I wasn’t giving games enough of a chance before I moved on. Similar feeling to the steam sales, bought loads of games for cheap but not played any to completion and just lost interest.

robfosters · 1 May 2021 at 22:11

My most played game is on GP. FS2020

Unseul · 1 May 2021 at 22:14

Got it originally for stuff to play with my son on Xbox, we play every weekend together, mostly stuff on game pass. I've played a few games on it for PC too. Gears tactics, tried the new jedi knight, playing star wars squadrons right now. Know I've played a few other things too. I don't know if I'll eventually get my moneys worth, but it makes it much easier not having to think about which games to buy or not, and I suspect I will get a fair bit of worth from it.

robfosters · 1 May 2021 at 22:15

Gaming is just so saturated now. At least with films, you’re done in a couple of hours, most games take many many hours to complete and many can’t even be completed. It’s just a case of too much to do in too little time.

HangTime · 2 May 2021 at 00:08

This isn't really a subscription service phenomena, many players have reported a similar malaise for years since the likes of Steam sales piling more games into our ever-growing backlogs. Decision paralysis and/or short attention span fuelled by endless choice. I have over 1000 games on Steam, of which I would guess I've only played perhaps 15%. Of the remaining 85%, I imagine 50% I will never play, 20% I will try briefly and maybe the remaining 15% I will get to at some point.

Pricing does come into it of course, when I was a child if I bought a game I made damn sure I played it to death, they would cost like 2 months pocket money or whatever. We simply didn't have the luxury of loading up a catalogue of hundreds of games.

Logically, the best approach for me would be simply don't buy games unless you REALLY want them, and don't worry too much about the pricetag. What I tend to do is end up buying 10 games because they are cheap rather than the 1 AAA game that is probably better than all of them.

As for game pass, I do with they gave a bit more warning for games getting removed, as that's quite a good motivator for me to get games played. e.g. if they announced 6 months ahead of time I would know what games to focus on and have a chance of completing.

The_Arbiter · 2 May 2021 at 09:37

My thinking is that this is the sole reason to have Gamepass. Just read Streets of Rage 4 is on GP, and i want to play it. But sadly i don't spend a lot of time gaming so i don't have GP. I will pick up SoR4 when i'm ready to invest my time and enjoy it.

I don't enjoy too easy or too hand holdy games or that require little investment. Short quality single player is certainly enjoyable however, quality over quantity.

I don't think there's anything wrong with blasting out a few hours and then moving on, provided you've enjoyed it.

I research my purchases heavily, but still get a few bogey games that i've not enjoyed as much as i thought. Metro 1 redux i recently played, wasn't impressed, but i kept with it, started to enjoy it and then it ended.

There's that many games out there that you should be able to research for some hours to find something great. I recently played Duke Nukem 3d 20th Anniversary for the first time, i really enjoyed it. Best graphics