Disappointment...

I had fun making a thread over a year ago on GotGs ( http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=214574 ) and it got me thinking about what game I could call GotG for this gen. I ultimately settled on September 2014's Destiny.

I find Destiny noteworthy considering how disappointing the title was despite the backing of gaming giant Activision and a Bungie of Halo fame. Bungie bringing their talents to PlayStation for the first time but in the end, Destiny was no Halo:

Destiny would prove only one among a great number of disappointing developments for a gen off to a mediocre start.

The WiiU launched late 2012 with a stupid name, a fat and wide controller, and lackluster titles. Ultimately, the thing sold like a dumpster fire and reached nowhere near the numbers the Wii managed to pull in. The XBox 1 launched a year later but not before damaging the brand's reputation with highly unpopular policies in place, a mandatory kinect device, and a $500 price tag. The PS4 fared best among the big three launching with a '4theplayer' tagline. Sony, despite now charging for online, promised to push back against the WiiU and especially XBox 1 and did so successfully for the most part. I can't call all the things Sony has done to be in the best interest of 'theplayer'.

Overall, only a third of platforms having mass appeal doesn't sound like a healthy industry to me.

And then more disappointments: Watch Dogs was meh, Halo MCC launched with a broken online, Gamergate was a toxic thing, FF15 finally launched after a decade and underwhelmed, No Man's Sky was an epic debacle, Konami parted ways with Kojima and cancelled a very promising SH revival, ME Andromeda was a mess, Call of Duty was still Call of Duty, Federation Force was a game no one asked for nor wanted...

The list goes on which is why I feel 'disappointment' is the word to best describe the gen. I consider Destiny GotG, a game that seemed to show such promise but rather than impress like Halo CE did over a decade ago, it set the tone for a disappointing generation. On a related note, Destiny 2 is currently reporting slower sales. Seems appropriate.

What do you guys think? Did you find the gen disappointing or am I being a little too pessimistic? Was the PS360Wii era equally disappointing or was it better? What would you consider this gen's GotG and why?

And I'm not asking which game you enjoyed the most, I'm asking for Game of the Generation. It's a heavy title to hand out so consider your choice carefully.

It released during the current generation.

Loot.

Destiny was a 7th and 8th gen game. Still an 8th gen game.

Knack 2, as fantastic as it may be, released too late for it to be an 8th gen GotG contender.

Destiny sucks. Far from the GOTG.

...Loot?...

For me, GotG is not about a game being good or bad. It's more about 'noteworthiness'. See OP for vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=214574

I don't really see this generation being any different from any other in terms of games that end up disappointing people. Every console generation has its share of titles that for one reason or another end up being underwhelming or disappointing, so labeling the 8th generation as a disappointment because of games like Destiny doesn't really feel fair to me, especially since Destiny was never in any way interesting to me anyway.

And saying that only one platform holding mass appeal isn't healthy means that the PS1 and PS2 eras were also not healthy since they were the only home consoles that experienced great sales success during those times.

The games industry has always been filled with disappointing games, poor practices by publishers, failed consoles, and many other such things. The current generation really isn't all that different in that regard from any other. The sources of the disappointments are just different.

There's been a lot of disappointments this gen (even from games which were good at the core like MGS V) but what exactly does "GotG" mean? A system defining title that also sold very well?

In the case of PS4 the first thing that comes to mind to me is Uncharted 4.

Bloodborne.

It reminded me when I was first discovering videogames 25 years ago. Nothing else comes close this gen. When I played Bloodborne I felt like a teenager, playing Batman on NES for the first time.

GTA V or any Calls of Duty would fit the bill better even in terms of noteworthiness.