This is my first thread/post on VGChartz, after being a reader for several months, and i'd like to say a few things before i get properly on topic.
I'm aware the VGC forums have a huge problem over console-war arguements, over which console has better games, technology, and which will sell better, so to be part of the solution, I'm going to avoid as much console-bias as possible in this thread, despite supporting one console dev far more than the others. Which company I support is for personal reasons that i think are important to games, it's not some important part of my being to be made present whenever i voice my opinion on something, and it's not a banner to wave in hate at those who do not agree.
And i'd secondly like to say thank you for reading, now time for the damn topic.
Like probably many people here, I have been playing video games for most of my life, and because of the young age i started playing, one of the many things i didn't notice about games for a long time was their ability, and some what rare occurance to be a fantastic art form, and theres many games i'd compare to great writings, paintings, musical works, and films, such as Shadow of the Colossus, Half Life 2, Psychonauts, and some obscure adventure games I won't bother to mention here.
The best experience I've ever had with games are games that push the boundaries of fiction, atmosphere, gameplay, strategy, and imagination, and when I started to look for these traits in games I noticed I was enjoying games far more than I had before, because these games were always far more interesting to play. It became obvious to me, that sadly, most games are either just plain bad, or not that great in the sense that they're not particularly notable, for a long time this never bothered me, why complain about what I didn't encounter?
But more and more recently I've become upset with the gaming industry in its pratices, and how most people will just go along with it. Game Publishers are turning into Record Labels, in that they will refuse, ignore, and fear games that are ground breaking, original, and take risks, because they fear it'll flop, so instead they go for guaranteed and already existing market places, such as war-time FPS, fantasy MMORPG, and sports games.
The effort put into these games also worries me, many consisting of characters as flat and non-existant as possible, and with atmospheres as bland as you can get without making everything grey and monotoned. A game doesn't have to be mentally challenged or beautifully written for me to like, I liked Serious Sam because it created a fun exaggerated atmosphere, it realized that FPSs can be more fun if they dump realism and bland-plots for silly exaggerated monster-hoard killing, and it worked.
Many would say minimal effort of production and selective-marketing are part of business and making money, but games are an ART, so it should be irrelevant.
But what angers me the most is most of the games that will ever be popular are like this. This will be the only Pro or Anti any console part of this post: I am not happy with what Nintendo has done with the Wii, its become a breeding ground for the most minimal effort, sub-par, unimaginative, boring, and un-involving crap i've ever seen, so far most games that people have reccomended i should play when I say this are games that annoy me because they're just franchise binges, like SSBB, TLoZTW, Super Mario, I bought all of these, and I was happy with Super Mario Galaxy, just. And since I've decided to not buy any game that nintendo makes thats just a rehash of what i already have. But of course its still the most (commercially) successful console this gen.
And I'm starting to get worried that with the increasing market of gamers who are "Just in it to kill time" or "Just want to play something." because sooner or later 99% of the gaming industry won't take risks or spend that extra money to fund that game buffing off some issues, because you can sell "Just good enough" games. It'll turn into hollywood, where the only reason anything is done is for the money.
And I don't want that to happen, Because I love games, they've played a huge part in my life, I want them to keep moving forward, not staying the same. I want new break throughs and new goddamn ideas. And surely by being here, you must love games, you must want them to be good, and yet so many people here will go out and buy "Shooting Things: The Un-needed, Un-impressive Sequel" and "Generic Fantasy Land 12", but will never play Psychonauts or The Secret of Monkey Island.
So I wanted to ask some other gamers, what do you think? Do you think sooner or later the game industry won't have the time or money for art? Do you completely disagree? In which case I'd love to hear your opinion. What'd also be great, reccomend some games that you think are/will be great art, those things need more exposure. And what do you consider when you buy a game? The Designer? The Company? The franchise? The Publisher?
Hopefully theres not too many typos etc. :)
