Great read and I agree completely, I started to feel that way many years ago in the N64/PS era. That's why I hate trailers with zero gameplay and just showing cinemas and stuff like that.

I doubt that Halo nor Call of Duty are particularly good examples for anything negative in the game industry. The fact that the series are improving their sales implies that the userbases of each are quite satisfied with what Microsoft/Activision brings to the table here.

Yes!

I think BIT.TRIP BEAT is one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had this generation.  So simple, anybody can jump in for 4-player co-op, but it's so insanely difficult and fun and has awesome bosses.  Everything I'd want out of a game, and it was made by only 3 people, and only costs six bucks.  And it's doing well enough so they can afford to make 5 sequels to it, but every single one of them is completely different.  Aksys is basically the perfect game developer.  I love 'em.

This is exactly what I've been feeling since the beginning of last gen, but can never put a word into it! And it's so dangerous that gamers from my school, that least one got so brainwashed, he's in favour for the wow-factor, than the gamepay. And I almost fell for it too!

I can see this could be the sole reason why the Atari Debacle had happened. If this keeps up, it just happened again. Only this time they might not call it "A.D.", but call it the "Next-Gen Meltdown". . . :(

as a salesman in real life, this has been here since atari

i had the same feelings you describe in new gen games on the nes

always play a game before you buy it, unless you just cant hold back, though that leads to its own problems too

Yes that's definitely the part I worry about the most.  I give up on furthering the education of customers (cause I work in the sales business for gaming) but I worry more about how these companies will start driving themselves into the ground.  Because it's an all or nothing gamble and msot are going to get the nothing.  That's not good for a growing industry.

... You wrote that.. IN YOUR FREE TIME! Sorry, I am a little amazed, lol.

Well by free time you mean the time when I can't sleep and need something to do then yes haha.  But I type 90 words a minute so actually writing it took about 40 mins if that.  The whole thought process and organization was a work in progress for a good 4 weeks now. 

If you replace the subject header with "marketing" instead of "advertising" I believe it is more accurate. Today, we are faced with games based upon marketing people who detect certain marketing trends, who assemble games that are "safe" (functional/mediocre) in execution, but supposedly hit on a pile of features people want to play. We have a rehashed list of what is HOT and an industry that wants to capitalize on it. Your game projects need to match up to the hot list. And the hot list ends up being done to death.

You have seen examples this year in Darksiders. Wow... Let's see, 2010 is the year of the Apocalypse (hey, 2012 is almost here), so let's have games themed based on that. And then, let's see... people like God of War, so let's go hack and slash with the War of God. Oh yes, and people like Zelda, so let's create a Zelda world for the War of God to be in.

And then there is an outbreak of tower defense games, and it goes on and on and on. Decisions are being made on what to produce NOT from the gamers but people with money who guess what gamers want, and what has had a "track record". The problem with "track record" is that you produce more of the same and that means a lack of novelty or things that are new that would entertain and surprise.

And as the industry grows, look for more and more marketing first and marketing lead, to drive up production costs and pure bland mediocrity (because they MUST sell) are put out, until a number of publishers will collapse under the weight of their own hubris (and bloated budgets).

Look in the Indie arena for innovation and don't get sucked into the hype for this game or that.