Do you think the video game industry lacks integrity?

Maybe it's just a sign of the times that not many people are that nerdy and I'm not even sure most people these days even know what a nerd is. But most game makers back in the day were making games out of their basements. Reviewers are no different these days. They give games 10's because it's cool to do that. Game makers keep rehashing the same formulas over and over. First person shooters. OPen world games. Platformers etc.

I was playing dead nation the other day and was surprised how just fun it was to play. It wasn't anything earth shattering but it was fun. That's more than I can say about most games these days.

Games used to be different. They were actually creative.

Put your tin foil hat on please

When nerds started being the cool kids though they stopped being nerds though. I think i'm right in saying that. nerds aren't cool. There are better ways to do things imo.

they just make games that mainstream buys. it's as simple as that. many big publishers are simply afraid of funding visionary new IPs, but then again, for a reason; there's shitloads of money to lose if it's not successful. the profits are not quaranteed. i'm just glad we have Kickstarter...

i bet many talented devs have greater visions, but lack the means (read; money) to make them happen. they are stuck making a CoD after another.

most of these games aren't even geared towards what I would consider nerds either. It's just another form of entertainment now. Too much schmoozing going on. Do you even listen to the gamespot reviews? it's like someone craps in a bucket and they treat it like an art form.

I think "industry" and "integrity" can't go together in the same sentence and that's the problem.

Everything is a rehash if you stop enjoying the subtle differences in games. Titanfall hasnt reinvented the wheel but it has reinvigorated and rejuvenated the genre. Its not the developers who need to change, its the consumer. People bought call of duty in their millions time after time, it would have been foolish not to keep releasing call of duty games. When they stop selling, we will see something new and hopefully something interesting. Its important to remember we have had some real gems these days too...the skyrims, the minecrafts, the TLOU...its a good time to be a gamer. The fact is people are hyper critical because they are spoilt for choice. Numerous platforms...hundreds of devs... free to play games, mobile phones etc.

Start supporting Media Molecule (Little Big Planet etc) if you're tired of the same old same old with no creativity

If your into basement games, PS4 and XBO have several indie games you can choose from.

Well sure. But the Community doesn't have much integrity either.... So it all balances out.

I actually like this. It reminds me of the old days. Simple fun games for free. Like I said Dead Nation was the most fun I've had In a while and it was free.

There was also no hype associated with dead nation either. It didn't get great reviews and wasn't trying to be the cool kid. It was just what me as a gamer wanted at that time. Coop, cool weapons, zombies lots of levels. Fun gameplay. If Dead Nation was in the arcades years ago it would be a classic game imo. It reminded me of that.

@Celtic_34: Well, I think the manufacturers are trying to get as much variety as they can. The business has become less profitable as time has went one. Its kind of nice that Sony and to a degree MS are supporting smaller devs to make non mainstream games. Show your support and buy some of them. They are cheaper.

true. mostly because the community consists of mainstream gamers at large today who don't demand much from their games.

best selling videogame of ALL TIME (after Tetris), ladies and gentlemen; Wii Sports

@ groowagon

Exactly !

Its just an Audience change. And those who truly value video games are no longer the Majority.

Yes

It has as much integrity as any other industry.

What's wrong with Wii Sports? The sequel was also great as well.

This is what happens when something becomes a part of pop culture. Once it becomes big business, there is a major part of it that is geared toward maximizing profit. Integrity? I know many fans don't have much.

Just putting it out there. I have no idea what "Integrity" means in this context.

Wasn't gona let that stop me, though ! ;p

Agreed, for the most part. I 'm not ever going to come down on the masses for liking COD. Its stupid to take that stance in my opinion, because who am I to tell anyone what they should like or enjoy.

So true. And thats the truth with all things that couldve been considered geek, original or underground culture entertainment in history, when it comes to people with big money scanning like the 'eye of sauron' for new social gimmick ideas to put upon us.

Its like the comedian Paul Mooney said in esseence
' You start liking something a lot. "They're" gonna take it from you.'

and by take, meaning pimp-out and drain said 'medium' 'genre' ' or 'product' of its foundational qualities, cleverness, and principles till you barely recognize what remains, or hang around in disbelief. While the remaining carcass is advertised on newer, gullible uninformed markets, who have no idea.

The ol' macro-cultural. Bait and switch,

and every generation who gets older has to sit back and watch this constantly happen to their favorite past times.

I don't either but without knowing that I honestly don't know what to make of this topic. I came in expecting the TC to have an interesting cross-comparison between the games industry and other industries. But yeah...nothing. What am I supposed to be talking about here?

It's what keeps me playing on the PC.

@ Articuno76

Well, heres to faking it till you make it ! ;p lol.

The score system needs doing away with. It's literally just a tool to grab page views, i've seen plenty of reviews that don't even match up with their score.

Reviews are opinions and please don't go down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole regarding scores. There are enough tinfoil hats as it is these days.

I wouldn't say there is a lack of integrity. The industry itself has become dysfunctional. Insane budgets force publishers to stick with successful franchises, gameplay mechanics, and platforms. Most games that are developed don't make their money back. With the current multimillion dollar budgets associated with AAA development, the risk associated with taking a chance on something new has increased exponentially. If something that took 100 million dollars to develop were to fail, it could prove fatal to a developer/publisher. Back in the days of the 5th and 6th generation consoles, budgets were significantly smaller and thus more risks could be taken without the possibility of killing the company. This is why we see so many experiments in past games and less today. Demands for graphical fidelity have gone up, which increases the number(and/or size) of textures and number of polygons associated with a particular model, which requires increased staff to get the product out on time, and this leads to larger budgets.

OH MY GOD ! ARE THOSE HALO DORITOS ? WTF MAN !

@ghostwarrior786 said:

Maaan oh maan. Bet that one's not going in the Keighley family album. It's like his eyes are saying

"This never happened to Roger Ebert."

This industry needs more 'Don Drapers' to advertise video games. So reviewers have more freedom for distance and impartiality.

@ghostwarrior786 said:

^ ^ Pretty much sums up where the gaming industry is these days.

And look at the Expression on his face, like he thinks this isn't fucked up at all. Thats commitment right there ! Thats god damn conviction !

Games are generally higher quality the more time goes on.

More money, more skilled devs, better tech = generally better and better games as time goes on.

I reckon just about every genre hit new heights last gen.

People just get bitchier and whinier and remember their childhood games as gold plated classics.

Sarcasm? He looks like he's absolutely disgusted to me.

@ locopatho

Looks serious to me. But I take your word over it than my own. I can't decipher white peoples expressions.

So well said. Look at Metal in the 1980's, and Hip Hop now. So commercialized that its sickening drivel, compared to where it started from. There are a few lanterns in the mist, but for the most part, pop culture sucks it dry, then looks for something new.

lol

it's casual fun, nothing wrong with that, it's just that i think we can all agree that it's not the kind of game we "hardcore gamers" are usually looking forward to.

@ghostwarrior786 said:

this is pretty much what i think when i think of console gaming.

sounds like you're not very good at finding games. there is more variety now than there ever has been in the industry. sounds like you aren't a real gamer and only stick to AAA titles. your loss

shouldn't even count either. It only got those numbers because it was in every wii box. it's no different than knack dominating in japan.

I wasn't aware that there was a specific set of games that I was suppose to be looking forward to. What games should I be excited for?

Also handssss is right. the reason for the high numbers was due to bundling with the Wii although Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit both managed pretty good numbers (31.89 million and 22.67 million) and both were pretty great mini-game collections.

Nope, you can still fine people who are passionate about games and their hobby as a whole and this goes into their making of video games.

Why do "hardcore" gamers hate casual games? Some kind of elitist mentality?

@ hoyalawya

I understand the Hardcore/Casual rivary. I take part in it some time, but Just for shits and giggles. I got nothing against casualls.

My real beef is with people who celebrate cutscenes more than they do the gameplay, this can happen even in Hardcore games like MGS 4 or Uncharted.

Seriously... Hate those bastards. But if my sister wants to squeeze in a quick game of Bejewelled or Kinect Adventures before work then shes totally as much of a gamer as the guy who sunk 300 hours into Dark Souls.

Every industry lacks integrity, especially when shareholders are involved.

It's a business......do you think business has integrity?

This is why you can't really label hardcore gamer and casual gamer. I would say what I like about video games is that they are like interactive novels/movies. I was one who sat through just about every single line of dialog throughout all 3 mass effect games. I wouldn't classify myself as a casual gamer as I typically buy 20+ games a year, will usually choose hard difficulty, try to complete as many side quests as I can. But in general when it comes to action games and such, I'm not that very good at them, I tend to choose easy or normal difficulty on those. I only played devil may cry because I though Dante was cool and the back story was interesting (my main beef with cap com is while they have cutscenes, they are so convoluted and don't make much sense and are horribly written). I think the main difference is is that my favorite genre is RPG's (be it WRPG, JRPG or SRPG), which are extremely cutscene and dialog heavy. This is why other genres don't bother me for having it and in fact give me more interest in the games since they focus more the on the story now.

And i'll be honest, I don't typically care for the gameplay in Metal Gear Solid, it's very clunky. But the story sucked me in and is the reason I played the games. 4 made the game more enjoyable by making it less clunky, but again I still mainly played for the story.

I like my interactive soap operas lol :P