The industry is perfectly fine. Yes, there are season passes, DLC and whatnot, but guess what: You don't have to buy that stuff. You don't like, just don't play it. The diversity in gaming is so damn MASSIVE these days that there is something for everybody. There are more quality games without any DLC, always-online or whatever stuff than you could ever play. So stop whining and find yourselves some good games for your taste!
It also wasn't better back in the days. It was actually worse. We had much much less games to choose from and there was a shitload of crappy licensed games. As a kid, you didn't know jack about the games, there was no internet where you could get info about it and the Club Nintendo magazine just hyped every game. So I saw The Lion King for SNES in the store and I was like "OH MY GAWWWD, I SO NEED DAT GAME!!". My mother paid 150 DM for that sucker, which translates to about 75 €. That's more than a game today and guess what, the game sucked pretty hard. Ok, it wasn't an absolute disaster, but it also wasn't really fun at all. And that's just one of many games I regret buying back then.
Today? No problem whatsoever. If I'm not sure about a game, I can research the living crap out of it. I can be informed about every little detail of a game way before I even think about spending money on it. Whether it's with Let's Plays, Livestreams (which I have directly on my console today, no need for even a PC) or magazines, I know what a game is about. No more blind buying.
I could go on and tell you stories about shareware, Add-Ons and whatnot, but I think you get my point. Gaming has never been better. You just need to open your eyes and take off those nostalgia glasses.
Official member of VGC's Nintendo family, approved by the one and only RolStoppable. I feel honored.
