Time Capsule: GDC 2007 Sony

I watch this probably once a year to remember when gaming actually excited me. It's not necessarily the best representation of that, but it definitely has some beautiful moments. And I thought it would be neat to hear your memories, and how you saw where gaming was going.

It's kinda wild to see how Home turned out, the rise and fall (maybe a excessive) of Media Molecule and how many jobs Phil Harrison has had. I specifically remember watching this after work at the apartment of my friends ex-girlfriend, who was basically throwing herself at me. But I was much more interested in putting a Sony Bravia TV in my Home apartment, and letting friends stream music off my PS3. They ended up getting back together, and now they're married with multiple kids.

I would have to put more thought into it, but I would be hard-pressed to find a better announcement of a videogame than this one for Little Big Planet. I was so excited to build levels, and the childlike feeling I got from the visuals. The game was pretty good, but I don't think I even attempted to make a level. Still, I love that Go Team song, and the Ragdoll Kung Fu theme.

So where were you guys back then? Do you see the same potential in this showcase that I did, or is it a "meh" for you?

Gaming for me started to decline after Sega stopped making consoles. I was excited for Sega's next big console, can't say the same thing about any console released after the Dreamcast.

Miss those days so much. Not good to live on nostalgia, though, so **** it.

You know the big difference between then and now? Sony used to announce video games. Where the **** are the announcements for the PS5? Seriously, am i the only one who is bothered by this? Its been what? A few years ONE GAME was announced? The shit kind of bs is this?

@hardwenzen: The market's about to collapse. No point in announcing shit at this point.

Yeah, but there is a difference between trying to live in the past, and looking at old family photos of good times that you had.

That's a distinction that many people seem to conflate. And even I'm a little confused about it sometimes. The definition of nostalgia is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations", but in my mind that seems different than remembering how you actually felt in the moment. That just seems like... memories. Now with our fallible brains, I could see people possibly enhancing those memories with nostalgia. But when I remember how good it felt when my friends and I won a Halo CE tournament in the mid 00's, that feeling was great then, and the memories are still great now. And to me, those aren't the same thing. But maybe I'm wrong?

No doubt. Hell, I would take that LBP announcement over every State of Play to date, and to come.

When 100% of state of play is nothing but filler indie titles, i too would take LBP, and i am not even into the ip.

@last_lap: Agreed. 9/9/99 was a special time.

Xbox releasing in 2001 felt like a true Sega Dreamcast successor IMO.

@davillain: Yeah it wasn't for me. I just saw it as an alternative to Nintendo & Sony. I grew to enjoy the OG Xbox over time, by for me nothing could ever replace Sega.

I don't see it as a bad thing to remember the past. Heck, there's still a bunch of PS3 and PSP games I never played so I will certainly relive those and hopefully with a mindset befitting of those days.

The main thing in modern days is that game costs have spiraled out of control.

This means that a €70 game is just the base price of entry these days, there are umpteen more expensive versions you can buy, multiple battle passes, an in game store with microtransactions... it never ends. We are now at a point where you play your brand new €70 game only to get greeted with a screen to buy more sh!t.

Gaming in the past seemed to be more "magical" and all about providing people with fun and excitement.

Oh lol, Playstation home. Whenever they were talking of the "metaverse" and how you should "totally get into NFTs and crypto because the possibilities are endless" I was always like:

Hang on a minute, we've already had this: it was called Playstation home.

PlayStation Home was awesome. If Sony was smart they would bring back Home but with VR support.

@R4gn4r0k: Yeah I completely agree.

With Home, I still believe there was potential there, but they just bungled it the whole way. Like with the bowling alley, instead of multiple instances of alleys, they should've had one GIANT bowling alley with at least five hundred lanes. Then have countless pool tables, darts, foosball, etc, and every actual arcade game they could get. You could run tournaments for all the different games, and give out PlayStation bucks for games and peripherals. And since the area would be so big, give a way to earn different vehicles like scooters and go carts, or have unlocks in certain games for their specific vehicles; warhawks, modnation racer cars, twisted metal cars, etc.

I also really liked the idea of streaming my music and videos to my friends. We have to remember, these were the days of Myspace, and having people check out my new music finds was the main reason I even used it. And beyond that, the imperial Senate room for your trophies look fucking awesome! I would spend hours in there. And those frames were you could put your best clips looked cool too.

It obviously didn't work out like that, but at least at the time I could look at with a possibility of something interesting. These days, the quantities are known, and the possibilities are boring or gross.

I also loved the physics based gameplay possibilities of LBP. That and the charm was intoxicating to witness.

@uitravioience: Just imagine hanging out with your friends and watching e3 together in the biggest theater ever. They also could've done screenings for upcoming movies, and give out free tickets for completing challenges and whatnot.

They also mentioned stores where you could buy real stuff. Imagine going to Foot Locker and designing and buying a pair of shoes. Then you get shoes in real life, and a digital pair for your avatar. I don't really care about that stuff, but someone does. Or a MEGA music store, where you could stream the Sony music catalog (and possibly other companies through deals), buy real cds, get digital copies to stream in your Home apartment. It should've been so much more.

Well...back then Sony used to announce game concepts*, not actual games.

I remember how hyped System Wars was for games like Final Fantasy Versus 13, Agent, and that totally fabricated Killzone trailer. Meanwhile, the only games actually coming out were mediocrity and multiplats.

People watch old gaming events? Hmm.. interesting. I mean don't get me wrong, it might be nice to harken back to better times, but shouldn't we just demand more now?

Ironic considering LBP was very much an indie title. lmao

Sony E3 2018 Headliners: Last of Us 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Death Stranding, Spiderman.

Sure there's been some other games. God of War, Horizon, Ratchet, etc.

I would argue Sony is still stuck there.

"pretty much" ain't one.

Around 2018 is the last time we actually saw them announcing and showing stuff. Its been half a decade and what have they shown? 2023 is almost over, and they haven't shown a single new game, not even some early gameplay for that Wolverine game i couldn't care less for. Its like they exited the gaming industry or some shit.

IMO, the New Coke debacle of '85 along with Sega from the mid 90's should be required study material for anyone getting into business. How Sega sank its own ship is embarrassing.

Are they mutually exclusive? Why can't we do both?

I thought it would be cool to see what people thought of the announcements, where they were at that point in their lives, what they thought about gaming back then, how different the presentations were back then, etc. It can also just be a snapshot of gaming history; for those who forgot, or weren't around yet.

But you do raise a good point. Would my mind wander back to this if current gaming actually satiated my desires? I'm not sure. I would love to be as excited for gaming as I was back then, but I also enjoy the whole history of what's happened. I would probably be less apt to post about it if I was busy playing something I loved. I would probably be going "check out this great game" instead.

I've been demanding better gaming for the better part of a decade, and I'm not sure they're listening to my awesome opinion 😁 I haven't bought a new game in four years. I haven't bought a console since PS4. I cancelled my PS+ subscription two years ago. I'm not sure how much harder I can vote with my wallet.

I dont remember gdc 2007 but I do remember e3 07 and tgs 06.

Im pretty cynical about gaming these days and thought the sky was the limit back in those days.

It baffles me a bit that people rub their faces in the sands of nostalgia so often. Some people like to say "gaming used to be so much better", but I personally view it as gaming is constantly getting better. The past is the past, and we can always go back and play those old games, so why sit in a gloom and reminisce about it?

I feel like many people just fall into a rut of not enjoying where they are in life and develop a depression of sorts. I don't think it has anything to do with gaming--instead, they are attempting to fill a void in their current state of life by going back to those golden times. But, that's just the armchair psychologist coming out, and may not be true for a lot of people.

I actually remember the later 2000's being a sort of dark time for gaming, a drought. Not a lot of console releases and the industry sort of transitioning to microtransactions, and us more or less OK with it, not really knowing what was coming in that regard.

Admittedly, I tend to look at nostalgia with harsh judgement as I find that even your run of the mill AAA open-world title, something mediocre and common in this day and age, is leagues better than the best games of yesteryear. It might not have the same impact on you personally as a game did in 2007, but you can't deny that games are so much better now than they were then.

While true, gamers prefer to complain and reference their ignorant experience from yesteryear as a benchmark for their current less ignorant self. It is fun to read.😂

@DragonfireXZ95: Again, I think this argument is confusing the truth. At least in a part. I'm not saying nostalgia doesn't exist, and I'm not saying everything in the past was better than now. There are countless things of the past that were rightfully discarded. But there are plenty of great things that we've lost for the sake of progress.

If a parent watches a video of their child's birth, and relives the feelings they had at the time, is that nostalgia? Is remembering the first concert you ever went to, and how you felt, nostalgia? Is my playing of Super Metroid for the first time twenty plus years after it's release and loving it, nostalgia? I'm sure there can be nostalgic elements to those examples, but to say it's ONLY nostalgia seems disingenuous, and incorrect.

Out of curiosity, did you actually watch all the videos, or did you just comment? I'm not trying to attack you, and I know most people probably don't care to 16 year old video game conferences, but I am curious if the people claiming nostalgia actually watched it all. I just can't fathom how someone can watch the LBP reveal and not acknowledge the talent, passion, possibilities, etc; even if it's not a game of their tastes. Hell, I bought the game and didn't particularly love it or anything. But even having that knowledge and experience, I still get excited with that presentation. The live nature, the flubs, the human interaction. It was a human experience, and something this world severely lacks.

Part of why I even made the post was to have something other to talk about than Starfield and pronouns. I wanted to see where people were in their lives at that point, and how they perceived the world. It seemed more interesting than... almost anything current.

But that doesn't mean your armchair assessment is completely invalid. I've definitely had depression for years; largely because the things I loved (music, movies and games) basically fell off a cliff for me. They mostly turned into garbage that I don't care about. I mean, I'm literally sitting here watching my friend play FF16, and I couldn't care less. Maybe im misjudging it, but it just bored the hell out me. But that doesn't mean everything is terrible. The last game I loved was Subnautica, and that was great. But like most modern bands, I can find a good single here and there, but finding a full album of gold is basically impossible. And there are a lot of reasons for that. Point is, I think your mostly correct on the depression aspect, but I also wouldn't be looking at the past if something hadn't gone awry. The time I felt truly happy was around 2015. But even with life being pretty good, those three pillars of entertainment still sucked in my eyes. And for the most part have only gotten worse. I could reverse the armchair and say that there is a clear front of toxic positivity that many are throwing up. Refusing to see the problem has its own problems. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, but I have definitely seen people hide their problems with a fake smile. Which in my eyes is worse. At the end of the day, I just want cool stuff for everyone to experience. I just think our current path isn't the best way there.

@mrbojangles25 said:

I actually remember the later 2000's being a sort of dark time for gaming, a drought. Not a lot of console releases and the industry sort of transitioning to microtransactions, and us more or less OK with it, not really knowing what was coming in that regard.

Admittedly, I tend to look at nostalgia with harsh judgement as I find that even your run of the mill AAA open-world title, something mediocre and common in this day and age, is leagues better than the best games of yesteryear. It might not have the same impact on you personally as a game did in 2007, but you can't deny that games are so much better now than they were then.

Thank you. You actually gave a representation of how you felt and what is was like back then. I still had some fun back then, but I specifically remember taking up running and got a girlfriend because I was bored with the current releases. But it did start to pick up soon after. As much as I loved this presentation, both Home and LBP were relatively unimpressive. Still, I like the potential of what could've been, and the origins of what someone like @PAL360: used to get into game creation, with Dreams. I think it's interesting to see the good in the bad.

I hear what you're saying about nostalgia, but a lot of what I'm trying to represent with this is not that the past was better in every way, but rather that there was good stuff in the trashcan 😄. I think this is a wonderful presentation in a lot of ways, despite the outcome not being that great. And I find interesting to see how it turned out, what happened in the careers of the presenters, the mishaps, working through them, Phil Harrison going from Sony to Atari to Google, etc. There's more to appreciate about history than just how we felt. Think about SOCOM having voice controlled commands for your squads. They could probably find a cool use for that in a modern game; like a general issuing commands in an RTS or hybrid RTS/fps. Especially with how much that tech has improved since then. It's a possibility that's lost in time, or never even known for the majority of modern gamers. Seems like a waste to forget, or worse dismiss because of nostalgia.

And I agree that games are probably objectively better in most ways, we have a whole new set of negatives that didn't exist back then. And if they're not getting better, then what the **** are we doing?

I think most parents would think "OH thank christ we are past that and I don't have to change diapers any more and I can sleep" 😋

But to your point, I would argue that is more family history than nostalgia. When you look back fondly on something but don't wish for it to return, that is not nostalgia.

I think nostalgia--and this is my personal connotation--is something a bit more active than basic fond remembrance. I think it tries to suck you back in. It's a 1950's-style diner in the year 2023 that serves stereotypical American food. It's your record collection that takes up two walls of your home (yes I know vinyl sounds different lol) despite there being essentially infinite more music on the internet at 98% of the quality.

It is basically asking you to trade in modern progress for a regression to older times. And that's fine, nostalgia has its place, especially with retro-themed video games (Sea of Stars, anyone? As someone that doesn't like JRPG-style games, I really enjoy that game).

There are lessons to be learned from the past, I just don't think what we have already done should have much say in where we decide to go. The things I wish to see return have less to do with game design and more to do with the business surrounding game development (for example, more risk taking, smaller studios and budgets, more new IP's, etc).

Oh, I totally agree.

For example, Alpha Protocol is an amazing game, warts and all, and is better than original Mass Effect. That is a hill I will gladly die on. Come at me, fools 😁

@mrbojangles25 said:I think nostalgia--and this is my personal connotation--is something a bit more active than basic fond remembrance. I think it tries to suck you back in. It's a 1950's-style diner in the year 2023 that serves stereotypical American food. It's your record collection that takes up two walls of your home (yes I know vinyl sounds different lol) despite there being essentially infinite more music on the internet at 98% of the quality.

It is basically asking you to trade in modern progress for a regression to older times. And that's fine, nostalgia has its place, especially with retro-themed video games (Sea of Stars, anyone? As someone that doesn't like JRPG-style games, I really enjoy that game).

There are lessons to be learned from the past, I just don't think what we have already done should have much say in where we decide to go. The things I wish to see return have less to do with game design and more to do with the business surrounding game development (for example, more risk taking, smaller studios and budgets, more new IP's, etc).

....

Haha, maybe I'm just an odd duck, but those specific examples don't work for me. Number 1, I love diner food. There seems to have been an explosion of food fusions and trends over the past few years, and in large part I absolutely hate it 😊 It feels pretentious, and elitist. I'm not against the natural fusing of culinary culture in general, but many times it feels like they're trying to stand out, rather than making good food. But that's just my opinion. I just prefer solid simple good food. We have these silly **** highbrow grilled cheese restaurants where I live, and I would take a simple plain grilled cheese over anything they have to offer. It's better tasting, and it's a tenth the price. Same goes with burgers. I'm sure many person favor their parents/families cooking, and I'm not different. I've yet to have a burger better than my Dad's, but the difference is he was a professional chef. But it's not like he used fancy ingredients, or secret techniques. He used simple ingredients with solid fundamentals.

But with the diner example, what's wrong with someone enjoying what they like? Is there something inherently wrong with a person who grew up in the 50's wanting to relive that in a small way? It was a slower time that was somehow good enough to get us to this point. So if now is so much better, why don't they embrace it? I'm sure there are a litany of reasons why, but I don't think they can be swatted aside with a simple claim of nostalgia.

The record one is pretty funny too, because my roommate is literally in the process of cleaning and digitizing his collection right now 😄. He's got a batch in the sonic cleaning bath, and is stuffing them in anti-static bags and stuff. We've recently been sitting down and actually listening to full albums, which has been really fun. Of course you can still do that with streaming, but you would probably be more apt to do that in the background, while doing something else. I fear we are teaching the youth that this type of entertainment is disposable, and not worth the effort. When it actually can be extremely rewarding and enjoyable.

"There are lessons to be learned from the past, I just don't think what we have already done should have much say in where we decide to go"

I think this is exactly what enforms where we go. How could you know what's better if you have no basis to compare? We obviously can't just sit down and stay still, but always running blindly into the fog seems too reckless for me. If someone can't show me why the new thing is better... then I'm not hoping on board.

You're a cool dude, and a reasonable person, and I really like that. Even with our differences, I would love to hangout drinking and bullshit all night. And I don't really even drink anymore 😜. It's so much more entertaining to have a chat like this than just throwing snarky quips. Thank you, sir🎩

@mrbojangles25 said:@dimebag667 said: @DragonfireXZ95: ...

If a parent watches a video of their child's birth, and relives the feelings they had at the time, is that nostalgia?

...

I think most parents would think "OH thank christ we are past that and I don't have to change diapers any more and I can sleep" 😋

Haha 😂

@dimebag667: Nah, it's all good, you do you man, I just didn't know people did that. I have fortunately found games to like from every generation. Sure, most AAA games these days are dumbed down and over hyped, but especially right now for the next couple years I feel like we are FINALLY back to a good spot in gaming after feeling as though the industry was just kind of spinning its wheels and not doing much for a few years. I have a list a mile long I'm interested in releasing within the next 3 or 4 years.

What kind of games Interest you? I have a good feeling with mid gen consoles refreshes and next gen. A LOT of high quality ga,es have been cooking for a long time and are getting closer to release. A PS5 Pro could be the answer you're looking for... just saying. (Or if Xbox releases one too).

There are big games from every main genre releasing soon. RPGs the list is a mile long, sports they're bringing back NCAA, fighting games are still going strong after a second wind a few years back, multiplayer gaas, mmos, and finally some competition for CoD and BF, indies and AA are coming back strong, and the industry is FINALLY getting the memo that consumers expect more.

Games like BG3 and contenders for the long time staples breed competition, competition breeds originality, and originality breeds new genres, ips, and studios.

If you want a list of the games I'm looking forward to I can send it to you. I've been keeping up with a LOT and keeping a close eye on the industry. Right when I thought we were closer to a 2nd video game crash than ever it seems as though we are turning the corner.

@DragonfireXZ95: I feel you man. I try to keep up with the times as much as possible, and I usually find something to like in a game even if it's bottom of the barrel.

I feel as though there are games out there, but with so many games releasing now it's often times hard to keep up with the ones that might interest people of certain tastes.

The unsung Heroes (hidden gems if you will) come and go and 80 to 90 percent of people pass on those games because they've never heard of them or because some dumpster fire with a 50 million dollar budget was somehow passed off as the 2nd coming and people fall into the trap of large publishers using influence and social media to push their games.

@WitIsWisdom: Yeah, no worries dude👍. I rewatch old stuff all the time. I've done it with this with basically every console announcement. The 360 MTV reveal, PS3 $600 reveal, PS1 $299 reveal, Saturn "we're in stores now, Xbox one TV, TV, TV, Ravi drums Wii, PS4 " this is how we share games ", etc. Hell, I just spent all week watching 9/11 videos, and that's definitely not nostalgia. I just find the past interesting, and think it's not something we should forget. But with this post, I also wanted to hear people's opinions about gaming back then, were they excited, were they cynical, what else influenced those thoughts, etc. But instead, most people just came here to yell "NOSTALGIA", which is an argument that I hate. That doesn't mean I hate the people saying it (quite the contrary), but I feel like people are just regurgitating an idea/explanation without really thinking about it. I'm not denying that I prefer a lot things about where gaming was versus where it is, but that doesn't mean I can't see what has improved, and what should be left in the past. But when you go "hey, how does this spaghetti taste?", and their response is "I hate your mother!"... I think that says more about what's in their head, and less about the actual question. Oh well.

Haha, I honestly hate the idea of mid-gen "pro" consoles. Now this could definitely be a old way of thinking that I need to shake, but I prefer the leap in quality from gen to gen. And mid-gen refreshes make the difference less pronounced. But it's been diminishing returns since the PS3 era, so I'm not sure how much that matters anymore. Maybe they'll finally put something out that gets me excited, but it hasn't happened yet. It's just such a weird place to be in. Minus the PS1, I've been there for the launch of every PlayStation until this one. I just don't haven't seen anything that makes me want it. I hate the look, I don't really like the controller, and the games don't interest me. But hell, I pretty much felt the same with PS4. I've watched my roommate play hzd, tsushima, Hogwarts, miles Morales, elden ring, Subnautica, trek to yomi?, maybe more, I can't remember. And besides Elden ring (which I'm burnt out on souls) and Subnautica (already played on PC), i don't want to play any of that. With the quantity of games coming out, I'm sure there's something I would like, but I'm so tired of searching. It's way easier to play something from the past that I overlooked. That's also where I've found my best new music finds as well.

It sucks not being into the new stuff, but it just doesn't move me. My favorite games would be StarCraft, Diablo 2, LttP, Demon's Souls, Galaga, Halo CE (MP), Super Metroid, Fallout 3... to name a few. But I would love to see a new SOCOM, jet moto, an old-school mk, arcadey SSX, etc. They don't necessarily have to be those brands, but a little more arcadey fun games with leaderboards, a cool third person non future third person shooter that isn't cod or bf, a mk with old digitized graphics and no more x-ray attacks. But I also want new ideas that are not like any of those. You mentioned mk1, but that looks off-putting to me. It's a weird alternate reality scenario, that muddles with what I already know or love. It's similar to the Logan movie. I was never that impressed with the X-Men movies, but Logan took those characters and shoved them in a different world. It's like waking up as a kid and all of a sudden your mom is wearing an eye patch, has different color hair, and Garfield is now a bird that likes boots. It's similar, but different enough to feel foreign.

You mentioned bg3, but what other games have you loved from this gen?

This gen has been severely limited due to last generation consoles still getting games.. hell even the XSS is losing support already, and its only a matter of time until this gen actually starts.

Very soon more and more games will ONLY release on next gen consoles and this generation will start rolling into full production. There are an extremely limited amount of next gen only games to this point. There is a list of games releasing between now and the estimated release of mid gen refreshes to make a purchase make a lot more sense by waiting to jump in until the refreshes drop since there will be a growing library of games that can only be played on current hardware.

In my opinion people that don't already have a next gen console should just wait until the mid gen consoles and then jump into the generation like that's the start of the new gen since that is when games actually designed for the new hardware will release.

The only plus side of new consoles now is loading times and a little better performance, so you might as well get the full experience and just wait for the games that were designed to take advantage of the extra power and bells and whistles by getting the consoles that push the most power and features when that time comes and they aren't held back by the lowest common denominator.

Soon however games like BGIII will be the norm as far as only releasing on next gen. The amount of titles releasing on last gen is only going to get more and more rare and within a year or two most games will only be on the PS5 and XSX... like I said before they are already getting major pushback on even the XSS.

There is a list of games releasing between now and two years from now a mile long that are next gen only, so you might as well jump into the generation strong and with the best hardware at a time when there is already a small backlog to choose from while you wait.

Just remember to thank the beta testers like me.... lol.

Next gen hasn't really even started yet in my personal opinion, but it's right around the corner. If anything the generation should have started around the time the PS5 Pro is rumored to release since by that time everyone will be on par with SSDs and we won't have to wait for last gen consoles to catch up.

Hell, even in games like CoD it's all too apparent that last gen consoles just aren't cutting it anymore. My son still has a PS4 Pro and he spawns in about 10 to 15 seconds later in a round than anyone on next gen hardware. That is unnaceptable.

If anything the PS5 and XSX are basically held back by last gen and feel more like double downs on last gen rather than the start of a new gen. That will all change when most games stop releasing on last gen and focus on maximizing the features of this gen like actually taking advantage of faster loading times, but that can't happen until everyone is playing on next gen consoles. Last gen is severely hampering this generation, but thankfully not for much longer.

@WitIsWisdom: Even if I don't like the idea of mid-gen refreshes, I absolutely agree that the holdover-gen transitions suck. But I'm sure it's quite lucrative, so it probably won't stop. I miss when buying a new console meant you were entering a new level of possibilities, and now just incremental improvements. But is that just the state of gaming technology? How long have we been in the realm of diminishing returns?

Not sure when Sony first teased PS3 but I remember the original prototype controller looked gigantic.

This goofy nonsense? I like the silliness of it, but I'm glad they didn't go that route.

@dimebag667: I mostly agree, but this mid gen refresh makes me a little more excited since it means that we can leave last gen behind. The SSDs don't make a difference of they can't be used online. I look at this generation of gaming a mid gen updates a little more important than the last couple. We won't see and feel the differences until nothing is holding the next gen consoles back.

@WitIsWisdom: What are they gonna add to the pro version that will make games not boring? I just don't see it, but I would love if you are right. All I want is for us to have awesome entertainment.

@dimebag667: Well, they won't be adding anything for say other than finally getting some next gen games running on new engines... finally. Faster loading/seemless loading, more on screen, etc. That helps with immersion, so I truly feel as though many devs are holding their games back for that reason. There is almost no chance in hell SONY isn't stockpiling content... at least I would hope since we haven`t seen much in the past 2 to 3 years...

@WitIsWisdom: I hope you're right 👍

Mannn Playstation Home hahaha this brings me back. I enjoyed playing that back in the day. Really enjoyed my time with the Playstation 3 back then. SOCOM, Metal Gear Solid 4, Motorstorm, Resistance, etc.

@qui-gon-milk: Same here. Warhawk, Pain, Super Stardust HD, MAG, and on. People like to rag on PS3, but I had a blast.

Warhawk & MAG...man I really enjoyed playing those games as well. I loved Killzone 2 as well. Good times for sure

The 'magic' in gaming, the studios' passion to create games, began to die out when microtransactions became a thing. Major corporations began to buy out gaming studios, treating its developers as disposable numbers on a spreadsheet, and began to control and regulate every single thing these studios made in order to acquire the most revenue as possible in order to please shareholders.

Cyberpunk released in a terrible state because shareholders wanted their bonus checks before years end. Battlefield is dead. So is Halo.

Watch documentaries on the making of Oblivion, Halo 2, or Quake. Those were the glory years. Bungie devs actually wore Bungie shirts in public because they were actually passionate about the studio and what they were creating. Now, studios hire contractors to create assets for 6 months and then let them go where they then float to a new studio. The magic is gone.

@theam0g: It's sad.