I was thinking about that yesterday and realized currently is just the best era for gaming yet. Seems an unpopular opinion, most people like to think the times when they played as children, teenagers and young adults were the best. I generally see so much negativity regarding the gaming industry, despite being thriving and growing, it saddens me a bit so I created this thread to paint the current industry in a more positive light. A couple of reasons why I think gaming is better now than ever before:

1) Gaming today is more accessible than it used to be, thanks to a mix of technological and economic factors. People often ignore the price of consoles and games went down because the price of things keep about the same while the average income and inflation were up. But that's past the point, nowadays games go on sale quite often and get deep discounts from time to time. There are PLENTY of free options and, of course, subscription services such as Game Pass. It might not satisfy hardcore gamers, but for a low-income kid, an entry-level PC and a Steam account can provide thousands of hours of entertainment they could never experience during the 80s or 90s.

2) Games now can be updated and patched, adding content and solving bugs. The fate of a game is no longer decided by its release. People see this as a bad thing, but I believe this is a great thing. The problem is people are left to the hype and create high expectations on their minds, plus are obsessed with "DAY ONE, ALL THAT MATTERS IS DAY ONE" even when the said people have an insane backlog. Truth is: If you have patience and can wait games that are light on content and full of bugs can become a truly engaging experience after a couple of months. Plus sometimes the added content is just a way to keep the userbase engaged, as a huge Splatoon and Animal Crossing fan the regular updates provided a huge amount of replayability and were very well welcomed, hope they keep deploying that strategy. Platinum/Definitive editions are now offered as DLC. With few exceptions like Persona 5 Royal, most of the games no longer require a full-price purchase to enjoy the added content

3) Sony and Microsoft are making really good transitions and all manufacturers are in a healthy and stable position with their current strategies. Experience and learning how the market works are making hardware makers more conscious than they used to be. Both Xbox and Playstation fanbases seem to be pleased with their current strategies. We now have smart delivery and cross-generation is a thing. I find it to be extremely satisfying to care my old library for new hardware and it's even better to know some of the last-gen games are getting next-gen upgrades often for free. I'm having very high expectations for Nintendo, they have a good story of backward compatibility so I expect a very smooth transition to Switch 2 as well.

4) Third parties turning into multiplatform seems to be the new norm. With few paid-exclusive exceptions, every third party seems to be interested in releasing their games in as much hardware as possible, including PCs. The switch is severely underpowered but it's getting many last-gen ports regardless and if Switch 2 is anywhere closer to Series S in power I think it's not far-fetched to expect a fully committed third arty support again in Nintendo hardware, a thing that never happened since the early '90s.

5) Indie industry is thriving! We now have some successful and profitable indie studios. The digital market and social media help to get worldwide distribution and advertisement, which was unthinkable during most of the 2000s. Because of indies, there are so many hidden games to discover, we are now getting indie games (rightfully) competing for GOTY awards neck-to-neck with AAA games.

6) Information is widely available on the internet. We no longer rely on paid TV/magazine advertisements. Your favorite content creators can give opinions. We can now find out and learn exactly what we want about a game, read a review, browse forums and social media and look what are the game consensus. There are tools to be a conscious consumer like never before so be mindful, don't be a fool.

7) Lastly, great games keep coming! Nothing of that would matter if the games released were bad, but that's not what is happening. Games are becoming generation after generation an even richer media to tell meaningful stories, create immersive gameplay and worldbuilding, and create fun and addictive playing mechanics that can keep one buzzy for hours. There's a reason why gaming audiences are becoming more diverse in gender, age, and ethnic and cultural background: It's because there is a game for everyone, you just need to find yours =)

That's it, that's the thread!

I didn't read but I agree

No that was the 90s. Too much greed, monopolies. bad DLC, MTX creatively bankrupt publishers. I hate this idea ownership is going out of favor. Give me the 90s when we had a rapidly growing but healthy industry that was not risk-averse and full of innovation, new IPs, and arcades.

I agree.

I would expand on your point #5. The reason for that is, that development of games has never been that easy. This is made possible by free access to development tools, frameworks, engines and also very important tutorial and learning material. This helps the indie space to explode. And as much as I criticize modern AAA development for being formulaic and chasing with fewer games the niches that sell the most and adding predatory means to gain more money (MTX, NFT and so on), the indie space makes up for the shortcomings of the AAA industry. Indies release games in niches that are abandoned by AAA. Indies also try experimental approaches that lead to new ideas and push the medium. For instance I would say that games like Paradise Killer, Wildermyth or Spiritfarer push story-telling in games more than cinematic games, as they tie story into gameplay and that elevates the games and can allow so much more than copying the style of a different medium (cinema in that case). That is similar to early cinema exploring ideas beyond what was possible in theater and therefore developing into the medium it is today instead of just a mass produced copy of stage plays.

Also I would a point #8: societal acceptance of games and gaming as a cultural product never was as good as it is today. Yes, it could be improved, but it is much better than it was. Mass media has for the most part acknowledged, that games has more target audiences than kids and also tends to see now also positive influences of gaming instead of focusing on negative (or even just claiming negative influences without any proof).

While I agree that parts of the industry take a bad turn, I say it is only a part. The easy access to tools of development and also means of distributing your games allow a flourishing indie space. And this massive growth in indies makes up for the shortcomings and bad developments in the AAA space. So I would argue we have a net positive.

Yeah for me gaming hasn't gotten all that bad or good. It has always been quite enjoyable, and has pretty much stayed at the same level since I started. Of course there was a time when I was addicted to World of Warcraft and in that generation I certainly played the most, but that is due to not having a fully developed brain and a lack of moderation.

The 90s wasn't healthy by any means. Sega bankrupted, arcades were already dying. Nintendo started their decline in console space after the N64. No Microsoft yet. One failed game sales wise and often a studio would close their doors. Gaming development was a quite expensive and restricted market, it wasn't something anybody could enter and compete. 

Not to say the release window for games. Many games never got to be released outside Japan. If you weren't privileged to have born in USA and western Europe you could expected your console to be released 2-3 years late and the games would often not be localized or even released at all. With no proper marketplace to import (considering you have the money to spend) gaming was about playing whatever was released. No reviews, no way to advertise games aside the paid mediums. I was born in a third world country and 80s and 90s were a dark age for gaming. 

Even PC wise, GPU prices are almost back to normal.

Dispite people (reviewers) hateing on things like the RX 6500 XT (a ~180$ gpu, slightly better than a 1650 super), that and a 12100f (or 12400), make for a great budget setup.
You either go super cheap, with a H610 MB + DDR4 3200, or spend a tiny bit more for a B660 MB + 3600 CL16 DDR4.
Get a buget pc case, psu, and a nvme... and you can make a quite capable 1080p gameing pc, for like ~600$ or something.

A PS5 is fantastic value too (esp digital) (compaired to what it costs to build a equal gameing pc).
Lots of old goodies (PS4 titles) for cheap on sales or just low prices.

Price to entry for gameing actually isnt as horrible as many people think.

I was a kid when the N64 was out, and I think I remember seeing them (games) in Toy's R Us, for like 60-80$ a pop. Hanging in rows and rows.
If you convert that to todays money, that is alot for a game.  A quick google of it, says 1$ from the 90's is akin to 2.24$ today (USD).

Games where expensive (esp those cartridges from the n64).

Today with digital games and sales, its def. become alot cheaper to buy and own games.
Yes theres lots of bad DLC and MTX everywhere..... but you can choose not to get it (which is basically what I live by),
let others be exploited if they want too by these games companies.

Hell theres even fantastic f2p games, that dont really require you to invest much for enjoyment of them.
(I rather enjoy Path of Exile, and have played it on and off for years now, without spending too much in it)

The best era, IMHO, was Genesis/SNES. Likely it won't ever be touched. Amazing games. No subscriptions, no DLC, no MTX. Just straight up great games. Turbo 16 was solid as well. Arcades were alive and well too.