If you go and read video game blogs around the web (which you obviously do since you’re reading this), chances are that you’ve come across several "gaming is doomed" types of articles. It’s easy to look at the sales, blame the economy and call it a day, but maybe the current climate in the industry can be blamed on something else. We’re all gamers, and if anyone’s pulse needs to be checked to explain what’s going on, it’s ours. That’s exactly what I’ll attempt to do here- an exercise in introspection.

The importance of the hardcore gamer

I just briefly looked at my current library of games, and 99% of my most recent purchases are either older titles that I hunted down on craigslist, HD collections of old classics, or somewhat recent releases that I bought on impulse during a sale. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I bought a game at its usual price point. I just can’t justify it anymore. Is it because of the economy? To be honest, it’s not. It has nothing to do with it. The fact is that I don’t get as excited about most new releases anymore. Am I losing my passion for gaming? I was wondering about that for a while, but why is it that I still spend countless hours reading about video games? Why am I still so genuinely excited about The Last Guardian? Why did I love Dishonored so much? I didn’t lose my passion for gaming; the industry simply forgot what it is that I actually want. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those overly nostalgic people that just won’t shut up about the past, I’m actually all for the progression of games as a medium and as a form of entertainment. In fact, I was quite happy to see the huge leap forward the industry took with the arrival of this generation; Games had finally reached a point where they could offer experiences for everyone. The main problem is that BECAUSE a new wave of people were introduced to gaming, the industry gave them a huge chunk of their attention. It’s probably a good thing, those new gamers will eventually progress and become hardcore gamers who love the same kind of experiences as you and I do, but in the meantime we find ourselves waiting for these people to catch up. Games that are supposed to be  for the “hardcore” crowd hardly are anymore. They make compromises to accommodate this new wave of gamers that still aren’t used to the least “mainstream” concepts of gaming, those that used to help push the industry forward. Sure, the simplified mechanics can be seen as a good thing, but it’s important to differentiate accessibility and simplicity. Sure, it’s easy to pick up and play a game such as Uncharted or Resident Evil 6 which both play out like interactive movies; Taking the controls away from the player and replacing them with cutscenes, scripted events or QTEs. However, hardcore gamers are likely to find themselves missing having full control of what happens on screen.

What can be done about it?

For one, this generation of consoles is way too long, and I believe that it’s getting to the point where it holds the industry back. I’m sure there are many developers out there who have a ton of great ideas that simply can’t come to fruition given the limited power of current consoles. Usually, a console cycle lasts about 5 years. This generation started 7 years ago with the release of the Xbox 360. Sure, the Wii U is coming out very soon, and that may be the best catalyst to push the entire industry forward, but the new generation won’t truly start until all 3 systems are out in the wild. The casual gamer market seems to already have moved on from Wii Sports to mobile and social games, but some of these gamers will look for something more sooner or later, and that’s where Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo come into play. One of the things they could do is simply separate the remaining market into two categories. Reposition the current consoles as “transition” platforms; their limited power is enough to introduce these new gamers to the complexity of hardcore games. Instead of offering multiple SKUs in the next generation, they could simply keep two generations of platforms on the market at the same time. Next-gen powerhouses could be the expensive machines that offer me what I want, while our more casual, curious gamers could opt for the cheaper alternative that will prepare them to make the jump. To do that, though, companies need to start lowering their prices. 9 for a 7 year-old system is an outrageous price if you ask me, and at .99 a game, not many casual gamers will make the jump from their 99¢ experiences. The gap is simply too wide. At -9 a system, with a .99 price point for most new releases, these consoles become instantly more attractive to someone new to gaming. For me, on the other hand, I’ll be happy to pay 400 bucks for a powerful system and 60 dollars for a game that offers the innovation and wow-factor that I look for these days. Hear me out, publishers and console-makers; this is what most hardcore gamers want. Try it, take the risk and you may just find out that you STILL have the power to empty our wallets, you just have to offer us the compelling, new experiences we all crave.

I’d like to ask, though, how do you feel about the current state of hardcore games? Are you in the same boat as me? Are you content with what we currently have? Don’t hesitate to join the discussion!

http://www.gamefocus.ca/blogs/232.html

Wasn't under the impression it was.

They made themselves disinterested with their own obsession.

I've definitely been less interested in new games the last number of years. Everything is turning gritty, realistic, explosive, and story-driven. I miss the older style of video games. If it weren't for PC gaming I wouldn't be playing video games at all right now (aside from the new addictive Pokemon game, that is...).

The article in the OP is very well-intentioned, but I have to disagree with a lot of it.

The hardcore gamer (by which he/she means hobbyist gamer, I think) just isn't that important. The amateur gamers are much more important. Why do movies like Avatar and The Avengers make so much money? It's not because all the movie buffs united and saw it 50 times each. It's because those movies, through advertisements and word of mouth, attracted the highest number of ordinary people who like going to the movies. Why do Wii Sports and Call of Duty sell the most copies? Not because all of the people who love video games to death decided to purchase 8 copies. It's because they attracted the most people who are only marginally interested in video games.

The hobbyist is very much the core of the industry. We love the games more than anyone, we have been playing the longest, and we buy up as much as we can afford. But the average video game players are the ones bringing in the profits.

Also, I don't agree about a lack of innovative, stimulating titles out there. How many users here have hefty backlogs because they simply can't play all the new games they want to? Every year we get 5 or 10 great games, some of them all-time greats. In the last 3 years, we've gotten Skyrim, Uncharted 2, and Skyward Sword. I know many here consider those some of the very best games ever made.

PS3/360 have been on the market too long for hardcore players and things are getting stale that's all there is to it.

Once PS4/720 come out, the hardcore gamers will migrate there. Nintendo will probably get a little more with Wii U as well.

If the SNES/Genesis were still on the market in 1996 and 1997, people would've gotten sick of that too.

No time to get bored, there's too many games to be played.
But I have to admit that I have been playing more HD collections this year then new releases.
Steam sales and old consoles are to blame too. My 3 year old PC can run many multi platform titles better, with more options, for 20% of the price.