What's responsible for the shortcoming of games this gen?

Last gen there seemed to be a lot of activity and communication between developers and the market, and all of a sudden, everyone's got their tail between their legs. Where are the games we were promised? Is it possible that last gen could've been dragged out a bit longer? Is it possible that last gen hadn't even reached its peak yet? Is it possible that we weren't ready for this gen? This is probably the worst ingtergernational transition there's ever been. At least last gen even when Sony was having a slow start, the other platforms were doing well. This gen, all platforms are doing pretty fucking bad. Games like MGS5 and The Witcher 3 or even GTA5 wouldn't have scored so high if this wasn't the case. Those games are 9s at best but because of how bad other games were in comparison, they were put on a pedestal.

Sony rests on PS4 success laurels and stopped trying hard to make good exclusives. MS exclusives were always crap and the moment they realize they've almost lost we might see something interesting from them. But the multiplats are fine IMO.

But reports are showing that even strong multiplats like CoD and AC are plumeting in sales. What are the implications of these factors to the gaming industry and consumers alike?

I don't know what you mean, the good games this generation are really good.

@five_6: People got tired of COD and AC. There are just no such breakthroughs this gen as CoD4 was last gen. We should probably wait some more.

Shit consoles and lack of new ideas and innovations. Sony is content to put it in cruise control for the rest of the Gen and MS already fucked themselves

Eh? how could Sony know about Ps4 success before it was released? You know make games take like 2-4years so things Sony do today you wont see the effect of for years. Unless it is small indie games.

That said, i have no problems find good games on Ps4.

I just think the devs don't have much of an excuse this gen, and yet we're the ones having to compromise.

I think it is hard to get a game out the door this gen due to the size of development. Look how ambitious The Division is and how long ago it was announced. Other games ship without online modes or other missing content just to get out the door.

Look at the missing levels and areas in MGSV. It probably would have taken another 6 months to a year to get that game where they wanted it.

The industry is becoming over bloated.

This.

AAA game development is taking longer and costs more money.

The AA dev is basically dead, so now we're stuck with indies and (less and less) AAA games

what's responsible? your eyes. you might need to get it checked up.

We're only two years into the gen. I think it's about right and I believe next year is the real breakout year, lots-o-new AAA budget IP's. :D

Your lack of pizza consumption is responsible.

I've enjoyed a lot of games this year. Bloodborne and The Witcher 3 are amazing. MGS V is awesome despite all its flaws. Rocket League is a blast and I don't even like soccer. Arkham Knight, Mortal Kombat X, Dragon Ball Xenoverse and Resident Evil Revelations 2 were really good. Stop expecting every game to reinvent the wheel and just enjoy them for what they are.

@FoxbatAlpha: yeah this is also a huge factor

It cost too much because they focus too much on graphics, give me an average graphics but with creative gameplay just like some Japanese developed games, most western games are just shoot your way from point a to b ( consoles )

Except for the ones that don't. Stop using words like "most" and actually put down some raw numbers.

Developers and publishers placing their fear of public rejection over imagination and experimenting.

Monopolies and a lack of regulations.

Pretty sure I remember the start of the last gen being awful. I mean the PS3 was mocked for having no games until its like 3rd of 4th year. However no doubt this consoles are more of a "polished" version of last gen and not the huge jump forward the previous gen were.

For PS3 yes it hadn't reached its peak and many devs were not trying to max unlike Naughty Dog so derp ps3 had couple more years.

What's with all the negativity these days? This gen is just getting started if you're a PS4/Xbone owner. 2015 was a great year and 2016 looks fucking amazing.

Gamers, they whine and biatch way too much these dayzz. :P

-Conservative triple A space
-No middle tier market
-The indie space is too limited by their tech
-Gamers will be the first ones in line to be responsible for the death of fun in video games

So many studios closed down. We're at the mercy of Ubisoft, EA, and Activision for third party content. That is why this gen sucks.

Unless you own a Wii U and remember what true gaming should be.

"Muh Blockbusters". Support new devs. There is plenty of great stuff out there.

The mediocre hardware of the consoles hurts the multiplatforms and the money obsessed lazy developers are responsible for the "HD" Remakes. Remastering is much easier than making a quality exclusive.

I dont think there is one specific reason, but in all seriousness, we must shoulder some of the blame. Unrealistic expectations and hyping of games. Demanding innovation in gaming when we are locked into buying the same annual releases (even when 'innovative' games are there, they are not as frequently purchased). Massive production costs of AAA titles means developers have to be cautious and give us exactly what the sales figures tell them that we want. Are we only buying these games as this is all there is, who knows, I doubt it though.

Plus, EA.

this has been the best year in gaming in at least 2 years. I dont see what everyone is complaining about. You guys need to spend less time around here soaking in negativity where people hate games in general and spend more time playing them.

Theres been more good games this year than I've had time to play and the year isnt even over.

If there is anything wrong with the industry today, the consumers are the ones to blame. The developers and console makers only go where the money is leading them. And I'm not sure if you all know this, but the money comes from us......

Last generation is why, last generation we saw everybody and their mother race to get a foothold in the market, for many to their detriment, we saw lots of shit games come and go and often with them the studios that made them, studios that once had promise for their celebrated pasts. Hell, we even saw major publishers disappear themselves. The ones that are still around have started playing things too safe. Also the explosion of the used game market last gen has done a lot to hinder revenue streams of games to publishers and developers over time, basically first prints are only prints and used game markets kill sales of most games meaning what they sell on release is it.

It's gonna happen again this gen, Capcom will be the first big one to fall, count on it, hell maybe Nintendo's NX will be a quick death.