No, not really.
Fun, or entertainment, does not seem to be the main focus. The industry tends to be obsessed with technology, or realistic graphics. More often than not, they take it to a level where any improvements do not make the games any more fun, especially when other elements of the game suffer for it. It has also been pushing development costs to unsustainable heights, which is why we're stuck with all sequels and no creativity. Nobody wants to take "risks."
Local multiplayer is still ignored. Halo's multiplayer is still unmatched in shooters, which makes little sense to me. I mean, Halo 2's multiplayer is still leagues above the shooters nowadays. Gears beats out Uncharted for me because its campaign revolves around 2 people - we don't see nearly enough of this. I rarely play games with nobody else in the room, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I suspect we don't see more, because developers are obsessed with making their 3D world as pretty as possible.
Why is 2D ignored? Where are the high quality non-Nintendo arcade style hits? Why aren't there more games like NSMB Wii? I shouldn't be stuck with download only titles like Castle Crashers, Mega Man, or Castlevania Rebirth (as awesome as they may be). We deserve full retail games like this. These games sell well, so I'm positive the demand is there. Do developers simply lack the talent, or the desire? Do publishers think 2D can't sell nowadays?
The industry is trying to milk us, the customers, for all we're worth. DLC attached to games to lower resale value, Digital distribution eliminates resale value, DLC content on discs to artificially raise the game price, etc. I'm disgusted with these practices, and will avoid supporting it at all costs.
Activision. No, seriously, just looking at their practices shows us almost everything wrong with the current industry. They're not the only guilty ones, but they're the most flagrant example. Removal of dedicated servers, anyone? Even Blizzard seems to be guilty of industry bullshit, looking at Starcraft II - the game is split in 3 (hooray, we get to pay 3 times for one game), and there's no fucking LAN play, even though it's obvious to them that it's in demand.
The sad part is, even with all the technology we have nowadays, things were actually better years ago. Thanks to the lower development costs, creativity flourished, the industry didn't bend over backwards to try to screw us over, and I generally always felt like I was getting my money's worth. Remember the spawn installations in PC games? On many RTS games, and even Diablo, it allowed for a single copy of the game to play multiplayer with multiple PC's. What a deal! Now, forget about spawns, Blizzard won't even give us LAN! It's truly insane how things have turned out...
It feels to me like most of the industry seems content with the amount of customers they currently have, so now they think we're easy money. They feel they have the gamers in their control, instead of the other way around. If they want to go to war with me instead of fighting for my dollars, I'll spend my money elsewhere.
