Why do you believe that gaming has been going downhill?

I would like to have a discussion with those of you tovbelieve this to get some of your reasons for believing this because I want to see if you share the same reasons as I do, and I would like to discuss why we believe this. It would also be ideal if the people who participated in this discussion were around my age (early 30s) because then it's more likely that we've had the gaming experience in our lifetimes than if I were to have this discussion with a teen or someone in their early 20s.

For those of you who don't believe that gaming has been going downhill, this discussion really isn't for you and it wouldn't make sense for you to respond. Nothing personal. You can believe what you want, but this topic is about why those of us who believe gaming has been going downhill believe this. If you reply to the thread stating that you don't believe gaming has been going downhill, all you'll be doing is derailing the thread and starting an off topic argument. Again, this thread is about why people who believe gaming has been going downhill believe this; it's not asking the question, "Do you believe gaming has been going downhill." (I can't believe I have to explain this).

I can list a few reasons why I think gaming has been going downhill.

1. The technical side of gaming has improved while the creative side has declined; it's seems to be all about HD and graphics than level design and creative gameplay.

2. Developers try too hard to blur the line between a movie and a game to the point where if you were to watch the trailers for some of these games without knowing it's a game beforehand, you'd think it was a trailer for a (bad) movie.

3. Too much focus on online multiplayer with single player being more and more phased out along with offline multiplayer.

Will the mod(s) who keeps locking this topic, please stop. Just because you may not understand the concept of this topic, doesn't mean you should lock it. Nor should you lock it because you simply don't like or agree with the topic. The concept is pretty simple. This topic is NOT meant to be a debate or discussion about whether or not you think gaming is going downhill, so there should be no discussion about that. It's a discussion among those of us who believe this about the reasons why we believe this. Not all of us are going to agree on the reasons. I'm not saying who can and cannot respond. I'm saying it's pointless for people who don't believe that gaming is going downhill to participate in this topic because, again, this topic isn't a debate about whether or not you believe gaming has been going downhill, but rather a discussion among those us about the various reasons why each of us believes gaming has been going downhill. If people who don't believe gaming has been going down here start stating that in this topic, all they'll be doing is derailing the thread and starting an off topic argument. If someone started a thread titled, "Why do you love video games?" and I made a post saying, "I hate video games, I think they suck," I'd be modded for trolling, so how is this any different? It's simple logic really, and if you can't understand this, I feel sorry for you.

Hi ! Its me again.... Didn't you have your last thread locked because you didn't want with people Under 30 ?

Don't Test the mods.....

Allright... If you insist.... But as someone whos been banned more than 5 times now.... I wouldn't expect mods to understand.

if its any consolation... I agree with you... Despite its growth and popularity... Gaming is dying. Ironically... Its not because of Casuals.... Thats been Debunked a long time ago.

I don't.

And ok am I crazy or has this thread been locked before?

@Lucky_Krystal

he Made a new one with some... With clarification...

good to see you back around here again. :)

@Lulu_Lulu: Why thank you :)

I guess I should have read the thread first before replying with something TC specifically asked not to reply with. I honestly thought it was going to be another one of those generic trolling "GAMING SUXS" threads. Sorry TC.

While I don't believe gaming has gone downhill I do miss the days of games that weren't quite indie, and surely not big budget. When it comes to spending money to develop games, the budgets get ridiculous. There's no middle ground anymore, which sucks, because I really like those kinds of middle ground games: they had more freedom to take risks than bigger budget games but were a lot more sophisticated and longer than a lot of indie games out there.

I also miss console JRPGs. There are still some good ones but not nearly enough. Maybe instead of going downhill, I feel like gaming has just gone through some monumental changes, and whether they're good or not depends on the individual.

@Lulu_Lulu: I'm not just looking for people who agree with me on this to tell me they agree. I want to know WHY they agree, So, why do you agree with me?

@Lucky_Krystal

Its a "Paradigm Shift".... I think thats the perfect phrase to describe the change of focus that is good for some and bad for others with alot of undecisiveness somewhere in the middle.

If Ninendo sticks around.... I think I can manage. ;)

@psx2514: I'm 33 years old and I don't believe it's going downhill but I do believe that we don't have the variety that we use to have. The games that are coming out these days are awesome in comparison to what we use to have to play. Now another thing is that your probably too old to be playing video games and that's why the kids love them and you don't enjoy playing them anymore. I myself feel as if I have lost the excitement in playing video games. And these days people just complain because they have it way too easy so either way they wont be happy. And as time goes on people will be less and less appreciative. There is so much more to do these days that we have lost the ability to live in the moment so that people are either living in the past or the future and never enjoying the moment which results in people being unhappy no matter what.

@Lucky_Krystal: I think the "big studio" games are afraid to spend the money to try some original and different because they don't want to lose a cent of revenue. Therefore, they just keep regurgitating games that do well with focus groups and have been successful for them in the past.

Either that or I am lol. I'm just not as interested anymore. The most recent game I find myself playing over and over again is Resident Evil 4. And I play a lot of games one to two gens before that. I think I'm just turning into one of those old guys who can't leave the past. I just remember when everything was all new and trying different genres. A lot of the new games just borrow from old stuff, or we're seeing a sequel/prequel/whatever every single year. I'm not saying the games are bad. I'm just bored.

I don't know about you but old games from say nes snes genesis were all pretty much the same 2d side a scrollers as well with maybe different weapons abilitys and characters.

@RimacBugatti

I have a theory about peoples less apreciative attitude towards games today.... They have no Intrinsic Value to them like they use to back in the day.....

I won't go into too much detail... But I think what you're seeing is called the Overjustification Effect (Google it), its what happens when your Extrinsic Value towards something Outweighs your insrinsic Value towards it. I think its safe to say that in these days people Play Video Games Extrinsically.

@psx2514

I know how you feel, been struggling to find somebody to go into detail about Naruto's lore and the Complexites of Ninjutsu.

Anyway.... My theory on why gaming is going downhill is because people don't particularly like Gameplay....

As I've already told RimacBugatti, instrinsic motavation (doing something because you like doing it) to play games has been on a serious decline, Extrinsic Motivation (Doing something for reason other than you like doing, or doing something for a reward) on the other hand is going up.....

Its diffictulty to explain what gameplay is and even harder to explain why we love it.... Gaming requires thought, and effort, its really not for everone

Other mediums are much much easier to take part in, theres no trick to Reading, TV, or Music all you need as Eyes, Ears and an Ass. The content is beemed directly into your mind with zero effort on your part, they entertain and evoke power full emotions and meaning in the simplest ways possible... Its got the lowest entry requirements for users to have to enjoy them.... Its why they are the most popular forms of Entertainment... Video Games, on the hand... Not so much, I won't go into detail why, its too long to explain.

Its no coincidence Video Games began to build reall momentum when technology allowed them to have cutscenes (Since texts didn't quite catch on, everybody knows reading is not cool :p). Video Games owes its mainstream popularity to non-game related things, by including concepts from other mediums that lower the requirements necessary to enjoy games, it broaden its appeal. And ever since then gameplay has been taking the back seat to more and more Concepts like Story, Graphics, Artstyle, Immersion (This one is the most stupid), Voice Actors.... Etc.

truth Be told gaming isn't going down hill, Like I told Lucky Krystal, a more fitting description would be its going through a Paradigm Shift, its a gradual massive collective change of Conciousness/Perception. However the transition is anything but smooth, besides the obvious faction of people who miss what gaming was really about, theres the majority of people who, as I've said before, game for reason other than gameplay. Even if one does like gameplay, if one still needs something to go along with the gameplay then they leave themselves at risks to overjustification, the desire for more things and better things to go along with the gameplay increases yet their desire towards gameplay remains the same or slowly dwindles. This is what you've been seeing in the industry when Developers focus on graphics and stuff like that, they are trying to keep up with the gamers increasing extrinsic desires.... Eventually they're gona reach the end of their rope. I got the idea from a blogger, Richard Terrel.

Because gaming isnt about new ideas, being bold, trying to serve up a great idea to a niche market anymore. It is all about trying to appeal to the mass market. it is all about the money, money, money, and more money. The game industry's consumers are treated like disposable cattle rather than respected customers.

Look at how many games shove large amounts of DLC down our throats with season passes. Look at how many games have different preorder stuff depending on where you buy it from. We are starting to see full-priced games now include microtransactions.

It is all about trying to be Call of Duty, or Grand Theft Auto. it is about trying to get as much polygons as possible out of the hardware, so much so that gameplay and quality of everything other than graphics is sacrificed and a lot of modern games can be completed in one day.

Gaming has been going downhill since 1990, and again since 2001, and again since 2004, then again in 2008. We really thought it was going downhill in 2012.

Yes but that's just has been the trend.

Money, and the new generation of kids that like games--which freely spend money on nonsensical dlc/subscriptions--which necessarily isn't there fault as they know the industry no other way. In the past if a game was bad, nobody bought it, and reviews came out before the game which would let people know if the game was garbage. An example I just noticed today; the little Watchdogs ad on this site. Not taking the game in question, but the ad itself. It will flash one word hyperbole like "amazing" "incredible" ...etc...terms i'm sure were COMPLETELY taken out of context.

Again, you don't get to choose who does and doesn't respond to your threads on a public forum. Knock it off.