| Paperboy_J said: I lost faith in gaming during gen 7 when gamers felt so threatened by the Wii's success that they felt they had to segregate gaming into the pointless categories of "casual" and "hardcore." |
I have thought on this and I honestly thought this is a bigger problem than people recognize.
Over the last couple years, we have seen the growth of two trends in "hardcore" gaming: the desire for open worlds and the desire for increased difficulty in games. Normally, I wouldn't say that trends in gaming like these are problematic even if they are annoyingly restrictive (third-person shooters, 3D platformers, and 2D sidescrollers all had their heyday). However, these two issues in conjunction are problematic. Open worlds are expensive and time consuming and high difficulty levels mean fewer people can play them. Consequently, video game developers are increasing their costs while reducing their revenue -- which, is, uh, not good. And I'll admit it, I have gotten tired of open worlds.
