The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Trends of 2009 pt. 3
by Greg Orlando
Play Magazine Associate Editor
Play Magazine Volume Eight: Issue Four April 2009
pgs. 20-21
This then, is an accounting of the trends both good and ill, in the year of our lord A.D. 2008. Place a mirror in front of them, and you will more than likely see 2009 looking back.
Positive
I. Wii, the gamers
The day of the arrogant and exclusionary "hardcore" gamer is over and done with and, frankly, it's way overdue. Elitism has no place in video games, and the sneering masses that seek to keep their hobby beyond the reach of others honestly deserve first ridicule, then scorn and finally dismissal.
It's uncertain exactly when it became fashionable to look down on casual games or the people who enjoy them. Conviently forgotten history shows the game industry was birthed -- and grew exponentially -- from titles with a universal appeal and a casual sensibility that were played and enjoyed by everyone: Pong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids. Without these games, there would be no Fallouts, no Final Fantasies, no Metal Gear Solids.
The Nintendo Wii introduced (and, yes, reintroduced) a great number of people to video games, and hardcore gamers reacted as if someone had, collectively, run over their beloved puppies with a steamroller. Their petulance knew no boundaries; they whined and puled like children at the thought of Nintendo offering a platform whose modus operandi was wholly inclusionary rather than exclusionary. Their delicate sensibilities were wounded at the thought someone might seek to increase the sphere of "acceptable" gaming beyond their narrow world view.
Games are for everyone. They shouldn't be defined by the number of hours it takes to level-grind the androgynous waifs for that fourth, and ultimate confrontation with the bad guy. And they sure as hell shouldn't be defined by game fans.
II. Dead, German, and preferably, dead and German
It bears repeating: Nazis and zombies are fun to shoot. Let no one ever forget this, the Golden rule of gaming.
III. More Gameplay, less Gab
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots offered cut-scenes that were at times roughly the length of a Powerpuff Girls' cartoon. The end movie sequence offered players the unique opportunity to leave their sofas, get a sandwich, pursue a degree in medical / dental assistance and, with luck graduate with honors before the final credits rolled.
Metal Gear Solid 4 was an exercise in Hideo Kojima's hubris. It was everything that games shouldn't be and it broke what is, perhaps, the second great rule of gaming:
Games demand to be played and not watched.
Games are not a spectator sport. Neither are they movies, nor sermons on what frightens the lead designer. Thankfully, Metal Gear was the great exception and not the rule, and titles such as Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Far Cry 2, etc., carried the standard for gameplay without an overabundance of hands-off storytelling.
IV. Do-it Yourself Gaming
Giving players the tools to create their own content and build their own experience is one of the simplest, cheapest ways a game can win an audience. Even the lackluster Spore, much hyped and disappointing in its execution, was oddly endearing because it allowed players to express themselves as they hadn't been able to before. And if the expression, in this case, took the form of giant, walking penis monsters, well, at least it was heartfelt.
With developers increasingly seeking to sway players from trading in their games, user created content should see a dramatic upswing. Little Big Planet and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts highlight exactly why this is a trend to be embraced.
V. The Shared Experience
Although it's possible you might go online and experience a host of video barbarians mobbing you and grinding away obscenely solely because your on screen avatar is a spicy little 18-year-old-looking sweet young thing, it still is really good to play together.
Really it is.
Negative
Five Trends for the Trash Heap
I. And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor
Publishers tried to push the big lie that in-game advertising would lower the cost of titles. When that bit of hokum failed, they suggesed advertising actually heightens the realism of certain games. Because, you know, it's not really and truly baseball unless you can aim for advertisements in the outfield or might, magically be convinced of the true-to-life nature of your car as it miraculously keeps on keeping on after leaping a chasm and crashing into a concrete barricade at 180 mph.
II. Ship it Now, Patch it Later
The Patch list for Fallout 3 addressed -- and this is no fanciful exaggeration, but rather an accounting from the publisher -- 22 separate game-related issues, including significant crash bugs that occurred, among other instances, when the game was saved and loaded. It also tackled 11 separate quest-specific issues, yet still failed to concern itself with the ultimate goof of all: the end sequence that failed to take account for sidekicks who were resistant to radioactivity.
Fallout 3 is not alone in its "ship now, patch later" mentality. Titles such as Fable 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, Alone in the Dark, Gears of War 2, and Bully: Scholarship Edition all needed extensive patchwork after the fact. Game fans deserve better than this.
III. Disregard for Backward Compatibility
Both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 promised backward compatibility. Neither has delivered to the extent promised. The Playstation 3 has been produced in five separate models, but Sony discontinued the three that offered backward compatibility. After a brief run of backward-compatible updates, Microsoft has seemingly abandoned the notion that it should hold to its word. The last update for backward compatible Xbox 360 games was released in November 2007.
Microsoft and Sony would say backward compatibility is not a big-issue with game fans. Of course, neither Microsoft nor Sony exists in a world where space in front of the TV set is limited and where, oh, some schlub in a New York suburb might want to sit down and enjoy P.T.O. IV or, say, Crimson Sea.
IV. The Blame Game
Casual games are killing the industry. Casual gamers are killing hardcore gamers. Grand Theft Auto IV is teaching kids how to kill. Used game sales are killing developers. Piracy is why we can't have nice things.
This game has been played out before. And, to be fair, everyone's fingers should be sore from all the pointing.
V. Peripherally Related
Anyone who's suffered through the agony of Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS knows full well the folly of the Bad Game Peripheral. Many games are enhanced by peripherals, but past a certain point, all the guitars, drum sets, balance boards, control holders, faux lightsabers, maracas, steering wheels, gun holders, and so forth seem more like, oh, an attempt by the developers to pay off their mortgages rather than a well intentioned stab at increasing a game's enjoyment.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Trends of 2009 pt. 1 of 7
http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=65616&page=1
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Trends of 2009 pt. 2 of 7
http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=65624&page=1
Heavens to Murgatoids.
