What happened? A gamer's lament.

Since the inception of gaming as a medium to the extent that MW3 was able to amass a (undeserved?) $1 billion in sales; surely we should be glad that gaming has completely broken into becoming a socially acceptable activity? Gaming is popular now than it has ever been but has becoming popular lessened it's potency? Of course, in terms of graphical fidelity, games have never looked better but one should already be aware that graphics aren't the be all and end all of the worth of a final product. For one thing, a game can have astonishing art direction but ultimately average gameplay a la Dante's Inferno, Bioshock etc.

Inevitable response: But MacDonagh! Bioshock was truly amazing and shows the capability of games to become an artistic medium! LULZ

Let's start with a home truth shall we? Gaming hasn't progressed into becoming an artistic medium because ultimately the gaming genre can only provoke the baser emotions one would expect from a advert. Hell, even some adverts are able to make people cry and how many gamers can honestly say that they've cried over a game? And while Bioshock gave a critique on the dangers of Objectivism and laissez-faire utopias; one should be mindful that the actual game itself fell into the trappings of the cookie-cutter FPS and doesn't deserve to be considered 'art' as ultimately; it's just a shooter with power-ups that is stretching it's anti-Rand premise for something that is essentially gameplay driven. For a game to be considered 'art', it'd have to be a non-game with the thematic messages flowing through it and therefore; not a game.

That's okay. Art is for elite wankers who quaff on canapés and tut at lesser mortals over their lack of knowledge of Monet. Games are meant to be fun and maybe that's all they should be, but lately I've become increasingly jaded by gaming in general. Forcing gamers to purchase DLC for that should've been on the disc, forcing gamers to buy on-line passes to curb second-hand sales, Activision offering a Elite service for £34.99 for a game that looks like CoD4 and plays worse, constant updates, games who think they are films, kinect, tutorials, Blackwater, football games being 'realistic' at the expense of being 'fun', not being able to find the theme setting on the new dashboard but then finding it in by clicking on yourself because you've exhausted every other option.

Honestly, what happened? Perhaps it's the senility talking, but I no longer get much joy from playing games any more; although there are exceptions to that. Listening to Caress of Steel by Rush while playing Skyrim is certainly a worthwhile sensation but I fear that this will by my last generation of consoles. There is no Citizen Kane on the horizon and I've become too indifferent to the new releases in 2012 to give a damn any more. Mass Effect 3? Moar liike Mass Effect FAIL! AMIRITE?! Amy?! A survival/horror game where you play as a girl with autism?! Sounds like Haunting Ground or an escort mission from RE4!!! LUL Fable the Longest Journey?! Yeah, that'll be good.

Before I end this, I will drop a little fact of what the true bane of being popular really means: Led Zeppelin, REM and Depeche Mode have never had a no.1. Rihanna has 10.

As the Russians say; hope dies last.

Oh, this thread is about console gamers.
Sorry, I will just see my way out.

But yeah, console gaming is dead

sounds like you got old and thus have started whining about video games not being story driven, interactive art like the mainstream of society does (i.e. parents and old people)

mass effect has been considered a form of art by MANY critics and artists. also, mass effect 3 will be the furthest thing from fail. if you dont enjoy video games anymore, why make a thread about it? why dont you just quietly put the controller down and move on with your life without making asinine statements.

i will agree with one thing you said: mw3 does not deserve any bit of the sales or revenue it has gotten simply being its nothing but regurgitated, uninspired crap. the only reason why it did as well as it did is because it was a call of duty title which means people were going to buy it regardless because they enjoyed one or more of the other call of duties. but thats fine: mw3 has a huge return rate, at least in this area.

Battlefield 3 for the win. all ive seen in your little OP was how much you dislike call of duty. play something else for once, you might enjoy games again.

this thread is going to cause a lot of bickering and debating. enjoy it.

reply to post by OmegaOwl


says one of the 10 people who play pc games....


console gaming is far from dead. pc gaming is for this reason: YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING YOUR PC TO PLAY GAMES...now go back to your WoW.

profits happened .


When they saw how gullable people are with games like WoW and other mmorpgs

People will pay and dish out for the most pointless and useless things all for a video game , and e-status :p


Video games turned from being fun with friends and family too becoming online community e-famous , with your gamertag and how many points or skill level your at .


Yes the extra fees , online play and what not , upgrades for maps . Totally unacceptable.


Trying to even cut into the used games market by taking a profit .


I feel you buddy , games don't excite me like they used too . The magic excitement is not like it used to be.


Just remember if you got a snes , n64 , ps2 console it can stil bring back good times hehe

Mario Kart FTW

We've seen this sort of thing before. Video games were at one time a medium for doing something new and exciting, and around about the NES days we saw a dramatic shift. Truckloads of games being put out simply to make money, not because they were good or tried anything new, but because they knew they'd sell reasonably well.

When the Playstation first came, we saw a revival of experimentation. CDs were still a young medium, especially for consoles, despite having been used in former consoles like the Sega CD and the CDi (which were abject failures). Remember when the Playstation first came out? All the great games? We had Twisted Metal 1 and 2, Final Fantasy 7, Resident Evil, Jumping Jack, Battle Arena Toshinden, Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey, Intelligent Qube, just to name a few. Heck, one of the most bizarre experiments in gaming history, '___', came out on the Playstation (released in Japan only though).

Since then, the true art of games, which in my opinion is making a game that is not only fun, but is unique and stands out among the rest, not like a sore thumb, but a peacock amidst the rotten thorn bushes of the industry.

Instead, these days, we basically get the same old, same old. Rarely do we get a true precious gem. The Bioshock series was great, Fable 1 and 2 were great, Oblivion, Skyrim, the Fallout 3, and (dare I say) the first Modern Warfare. But those are few and far between. Fable 3 was a complete waste, Fallout NV just seemed like a rehash of Fallout 3, and now we've got Call of Duty games being released almost every year with nothing interesting added on and a whole lot of bugs and issues that, after (what, two months?) still haven't been worked out.

Keep your eye on the indy developers and their games. That's where the magic is happening now, not with the big gaming companies that are only interested in sucking the money out of their customers.

reply to post by XelNaga


You don't have to upgrade for a long time if you are smart in your purchases. The negative side is that you actually have to research and intelligently put components together instead of just getting the complete package in a box.

Nevertheless, whatever floats your boat.

I have been a gamer for the last 27 years, despite the gameplay getting poorer and poorer while the graphics got better and better. How did i manage?

I quit playing the mainstream games. Only the mainstream games such as those you descripe, have poor gameplay (but usually the best graphics).

There are also the indie games, those usually have very poor graphics but better gameplay. I usually cannot stand to play these, because i like the combination of gameplay and graphics.

What you need to do is find the middle ground. There are alot of games that are not well known, never at the front pages of websites or magazines, but usually vastly superior to the sponsored games.

Here i will list a few that i particularly like, you should try them out if you want good graphics with awesome gameplay. None of these games are FPS, since i find those generally have poor gameplay, i prefer games with more depth and scope, where tactics and strategy matter more than twitch. Brainpower over Reflexes.

Space pirates and zombies.
Star wolves 3: civil war.
Space rangers 2.
Elven legacy.
Kings bounty: the legend.
Sword of the stars
Armada 2526

while many games are just average money sucking junk, there are some diamonds in the rough. (Dark Souls)

MW3 is exactly what i expected it to be and i do enjoy multiplayer.

I don't think console gaming is dead, you just have to wade through the BS to find the gems.

the first bioshock was great IMO and I am really looking forward to the new one!

i like to balance my gaming between pc and xbox, the best of both worlds.

DLC is crap, but they will continue to do it if we continue to buy it

I would disagree in opinion anyway,

I think BF3 is one of the best FPS there are..

Where else do you get to blast an Apache attack chopper out of the sky with a T-90 Russian tank?

(or a Kasatka with an Abrams)

No where.

That said, the lag compensation annoys me to no end...

Video games Market = Hollywood

You can see it all the time, sequels with minor changes and some polished graphics and template storyline are enough to justify a full retail price.

There are still some inovative games out there, albeit rare and sometimes underfunded. The indie market is an interesting area to explore, theres some damn creative people out there. EA games would never hire them though since they're entire company would probably collapse if they released a game that hasn't got anything to do with battlefield, medal of honor, the sims or need for speed.

I just want to find some ADULT games that aren't all about killing everyone & everything!
I'm so sick of the 1st person shooters, gang violence, destroying everything, better guns and rockets, blah blah blah.... though it was kind of fun beating up the hookers in the GTA series. What drives me nuts is when my friends start buying crazy guns in real life because they are Call Of Duty junkies!

Does anyone know of any decent 360 adult games that aren't so demoralizing to humanity while stimulating to the intellectual individual? All my games, except the trivia type, are about death and destruction, and we wonder why the past 15 years generation is so apathetic and inhumane.

reply to post by XelNaga


A lot of people upgrade their PCs because they want to play new games on the highest possible settings or just because they are enthusiasts. The truth of the matter is, consoles severely limit the technical capacity for development of games. Almost all the games released today are designed to work with 7 year old hardware thanks to consoles. You're right that console gaming isn't dying off, in-fact it is booming. This is quite unfortunate for people who would like to see the gaming industry actually progress in terms of content instead of just shoveling out the same old crap that works across all the OLD (PS3/X360) platforms just to make an extra buck.

Edit: I suppose my main point to your statement would be that most PC gamers don't actually HAVE to upgrade their systems. Most new bargain basement PC systems are capable of playing games at the same default settings as their console grandparents.

Originally posted by MacDonagh
Of course, in terms of graphical fidelity, games have never looked better ...

And that is one of the problems in itself.
It now costs so many millions to make those fantastic graphics that the game manufacturing companies cannot afford to take any risks. They have to be conservative and present something that they know will be a good seller.
Thus - a copy of stuff that has sold before with just enough difference as to not be sued for copying.

And yet, stepping to smartphones for a moment, the biggest selling games are Tetris and Angry Birds - both games with absurdy simple graphics but FUN to play. That last bit has been forgotten.

Originally posted by XelNaga
reply to post by OmegaOwl

 

says one of the 10 people who play pc games....


console gaming is far from dead. pc gaming is for this reason: YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING YOUR PC TO PLAY GAMES...now go back to your WoW.

Untrue.

With a PC, I can add more RAM and better or more (SLI or crossfire) video cards.

A console goes obsolete faster than a PC, take it from a dedicated PC gamer who was probably gaming before you were born.

Games can be downloaded for free, modded (you have played an Elder Scrolls game until you have modded it), run of resolutions much higher than a console, have better graphics and so much more.

Yes, it is more expensive in the long run, my PC cost easily three times what a console does, but my graphics blow the best console away. I've got the money I want the best, not a childs toy.

How are games not art? Its like painting a movie or painting a reality. I think its the ultimate form of art because with these graphics and animations you can create any thing your mind can think of. You said something about some games using to much resources on graphics and not enough on game play. While I do agree with you, I all so think that these games need to be made in order to advance faster. A company might have the money to develop a game with graphics and crappy game play or a game with crappy graphics and good game play. They will probably sell more if it looks good thus expanding the company so that it can afford to make a better game future. Most people will tell you that counsels are holding back the industry because they use old generation hardware. I do think that, but in a way its doing allot more good then we realize. Its forcing developers to make intense graphic games such as BF3 and make them playable on old generation hardware. Witch can only lead to us learning how to optimize our game so they perform better. All though I hope that the next counsel generation is upgradeable.

Most games these days are crap. Allot just copy and change the story. All FPS single player campaigns are the same. You know their is something wrong when a game like call of duty is one of the best selling games on the market. mw3 looks like a updated version of COD4 and plays crappier then COD4. I think the industry's will make progression slow in order to make the most profit. Lets say nvidia finds a way to make a GPU that can max out any game 1000FPS, they are not going to release it because they would lose a ton of money. They would make more money releasing a card every 6 months that are slightly better then the older card. I was watching a movie posted on ATS yesterday about how all industry's use the "new and improved" tactic to make the most money and keep jobs for people. Most of the stuff that has been invented can be improved to last 100's of years but is not because people would not need to buy as many things = less jobs.

Consoles are 5 year old hardware and games designed for both PC and console have to be toned down to appease the whinging xbox and ps3 owners.

Battlefield 3 is the prime example. A wonderful game that was butchered all in the name of pleasing a bunch of 13 year old console noobs.

Originally posted by XelNaga
reply to post by OmegaOwl

 

says one of the 10 people who play pc games....


console gaming is far from dead. pc gaming is for this reason: YOU HAVE TO KEEP UPGRADING YOUR PC TO PLAY GAMES...now go back to your WoW.

You dont have to keep upgrading. The thing about a PC is, you can get a 100 dollar graphics card, put it in your home PC and it will run games better then a xbox. The only reason people spend 500 dollars on a graphics card and 400 on CPU is because they want to have the best possible experience they can. PC gaming is not just gaming its a hobbie. As for the counsel, if any thing its holding us back. We are still developing games like its 2007 because Xbox and PS3 cant handle any thing more. Take the game crysis 2 for example. It could have been allot better, physics, game play, graphics, AI ect.. but they wanted to be able to sell the majority. The majority is Xbox and Ps3 because people are no informed about PC. Nothing to do with prices.

Once again you can buy a 100 dollar card 9800gtx witch will out perform a xbox and put it in your home PC.

Consoles: They destroy the game development. they anchor for many years the development and growth of the industry to instead be segmented towards whenever the new consoles are released. This means that instead of developers trying new things that may be outside of the scope of whatever crappy consoles are out today, they flush their creative endeavors until the next release that may or may not accommodate their desires...

I dropped consoles years ago for good. PCs rule, period. You keep upgrading a PC -because you can-. You can't upgrade a console, you just have to deal with the specs until the console overlords will allow you to purchase their new version (that will be redundant tech in 18 months).


Art: Define art. You can't. Art is the mona lisa, and it is someone whom simply smeared feces and some blue paint on canvas...in the eye of the beholder type thing.
So, what is "Game art" to me? Skyrim is a good example of a artistic style...it is a convincing world with soo many points you can simply stop, look at, and take a snapshot that could end up being a wonderful painting.
Same with many other games, from Crysis 2 on max settings, to even minecraft (but you would need to be a bit of a geek to appreciate that as a painting on your wall).

Artistic emotional draw? hmm...well, this is actually a really good point. Yes, most games makes you feel for the characters about as much as you feel for a random twig on the ground. no personalitys, no real dynamic aspects to themselves (stop saying the same damn thing over and over), etc...and rarely do games achieve outside of that scope (dragon age origins and games like that..kotor..etc, they tend to focus on good character development and giving a crap about people).

So, when we go into the smaller artists..and why PC rocks
Modders...

Modders are the actual proper artists (starving artists) of the digital age. Consider the emotional draw question...now, take a popular game Fallout New Vegas.
Fun game, beautiful devastation landscape, etc..but one minor issue
You feel about as close to people, including your own companions, as you would a dishrag. just run forward and absorb damage so I don't die..thats all your good for.

Then some modder makes a mod called "Willow". a companion mod with 600 voiced lines, habits, and all sorts of odd quirks. Suddenly, your travelling the wasteland with what feels like an actual companion (and potentially more if you want to push it..its a rated R mod...not X, but you get the point..can be a girlfriend mod).

some will suggest this is just for people whom can't get girlfriends, how sad, etc...no, to those people, well, they are idiots. Its about making a form of art that enhances the experience..I would feel just as happy if it was a quirky guy following me around whom I felt had lots of care and focus on his creation.

About MW3 and the like...meh...nice visuals, but they are focusing in on playing the game, winning the game, buying the next game, period. it is a corporate process now verses a individual prideful work of art for every piece.

So ya, you need a PC to truely appreciate the art that is games..that is because you can find the odd mod that truely enhances the world to its max potential..on a console, your stuck with corporate idea of what art is and thats it...love it or leave it...

So yes..drop your consoles into the sea.

SfX

I'm not too thrilled with the the latest releases. My favorite is Battlefield 3, but even then it is still quite a disappointment to me. There really isnt alot of content to keep me playing the game aside from playing with my friends. Then there's games like CoD. Flat out the game is a turd, it's a joke. Two games that i'd like to check out are Journey and the Shadow of the Colossus remake.