Actually, yes. Games are staying on the fun route as always, and becoming more mainstream so I feel less like a loser. :P

No, not really.

Fun, or entertainment, does not seem to be the main focus. The industry tends to be obsessed with technology, or realistic graphics. More often than not, they take it to a level where any improvements do not make the games any more fun, especially when other elements of the game suffer for it. It has also been pushing development costs to unsustainable heights, which is why we're stuck with all sequels and no creativity. Nobody wants to take "risks."

Local multiplayer is still ignored. Halo's multiplayer is still unmatched in shooters, which makes little sense to me. I mean, Halo 2's multiplayer is still leagues above the shooters nowadays. Gears beats out Uncharted for me because its campaign revolves around 2 people - we don't see nearly enough of this. I rarely play games with nobody else in the room, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I suspect we don't see more, because developers are obsessed with making their 3D world as pretty as possible.

Why is 2D ignored? Where are the high quality non-Nintendo arcade style hits? Why aren't there more games like NSMB Wii? I shouldn't be stuck with download only titles like Castle Crashers, Mega Man, or Castlevania Rebirth (as awesome as they may be). We deserve full retail games like this. These games sell well, so I'm positive the demand is there. Do developers simply lack the talent, or the desire? Do publishers think 2D can't sell nowadays?

The industry is trying to milk us, the customers, for all we're worth. DLC attached to games to lower resale value, Digital distribution eliminates resale value, DLC content on discs to artificially raise the game price, etc. I'm disgusted with these practices, and will avoid supporting it at all costs.

Activision. No, seriously, just looking at their practices shows us almost everything wrong with the current industry. They're not the only guilty ones, but they're the most flagrant example. Removal of dedicated servers, anyone? Even Blizzard seems to be guilty of industry bullshit, looking at Starcraft II - the game is split in 3 (hooray, we get to pay 3 times for one game), and there's no fucking LAN play, even though it's obvious to them that it's in demand.

The sad part is, even with all the technology we have nowadays, things were actually better years ago. Thanks to the lower development costs, creativity flourished, the industry didn't bend over backwards to try to screw us over, and I generally always felt like I was getting my money's worth. Remember the spawn installations in PC games? On many RTS games, and even Diablo, it allowed for a single copy of the game to play multiplayer with multiple PC's. What a deal! Now, forget about spawns, Blizzard won't even give us LAN! It's truly insane how things have turned out...

It feels to me like most of the industry seems content with the amount of customers they currently have, so now they think we're easy money. They feel they have the gamers in their control, instead of the other way around. If they want to go to war with me instead of fighting for my dollars, I'll spend my money elsewhere.

i mostly agree with c0rd.....only i would replace the halo 2 comments with perfect dark 64. i also hate this gen because it killed free radical,these so called hardcore gamers are blinded by all this HD nonsense that theyy cant see how brilliant the Wii is (im talking about software).

its only going to get worse imo.

Umm. How do you define a "hardcore gamer"? Is it a gamer who happens to prefer PS360 over wii? Maybe they have to right to think that the wii isn't as brilliant as their console of choice. You know, like you are doing.

Yes and no.

I am happy with the games that concentrate on the gamer having fun.

I am not happy with the games that concentrate on being the next "epic blockbuster".

@FENIX
not at all im talking about the gamers who HATE the Wii and act like theres no fun to be had on the console and every game announced is garbage before they even try it just because its on Wii . come on not one ps3/360 game can come out without being hyped as the second coming of it respective genera. god forbid someone says uncharted is just 007 everything or nothing next gen (just an example).

dont mind me its late

More or less.

I'll start with Nintendo. I'm disappointed with them and their fans. Do you really think they actually care on making fun games for you? That Miyamoto is on this business due to some ideology or so? Poor dude. The fun factor is perceived only by your mind and nothing more. Nintendo found a way to release cheap games and still make a lot of money.

Of course, that's an epic win if you see gaming as what it really is: an industry. Poor Sony and Microsoft! Both fell in the wrong side of the market, so to speak. Countless hours of developing movie-like storyline and graphics to please your audience! Much harder than Nintendo's strategy, isn't it? But still they shall keep on it. Why? Even taking longer to profit, both companies know that would be almost impossible to throw away the hardcore tag and jump into the casual market like Ninty did. First, there is a chance there isn't room for two Wiis in the market. And second, should one of them leave the hardcore market, the remaining would see a tremendous increase on sales and profit due to monopoly.

I'm no bloody expert in this shit, but that's what I perceive. Nintendo should keep diving further in the casual market, forsaking third parties, selling gangbusters and all that kind of sick stuff that causes meltdowns on these forums nowadays. Sony and Microsoft should keep on the HD market, with hyped high-budget games based on graphs and complexity and such, with the subtle but important difference that profits should start coming with more ease.

And that's the harsh reality of the gaming market dudes. If you want to play games based only in the developer's desire to innovate and bring fun at the same time, then go play these small titles on celphones, arcade, wiiware, psn, pc etc.

Or I could be wrong and this all and Natal and Gem succed on blending the two markets, drawing the way to three similar next-gen consoles based motion controls and graphics. Both funnuy party and blockbuster games coexisting in harmony. Ah, my wet nerd dream. Who knows for sure?

Nope. Day of reckoning is coming and long overdue.

- games plain stink and are getting dumber and dumber every generation. This will eventually lead to stagnation and eventually a huge market shrinkage a la Atari era.

- no innovation in game design and gameplay aside from possibly the Wii but the games havent really been revolutionary imho. Fun in multiplayer perhaps but they dont have any games I would enjoy solo except maybe Zelda but I havent bought it yet.

- Graphics do not a good game make. Nor should graphics weigh so heavily in reviews which bring me to:

- Journalism is extremely corrupt and inaccurate (for the record it was always somewhat this way but lately its been blatant). It has become a hype machine for any paying company and has no integrity whatsoever. There is no such thing as a "gaming" expert or a non-biased "professional" review.

The only saving grace for gaming this last decade has been a few decent companies like Blizzard, Bioware, Bethesda, Stardock and a few others that have unfortunately gone under because they couldn't afford to pay off reviewers or pay for professional fanboys to monitor every major game forum on the internet.

No.

HD consoles ruined the whole thing. They are neither hardcore like PC games, not simple pick up and play like the Wii. They are a no-man's-land and completely ruined games. To demonstrate, the Best game since '06 or so would have to be World of Goo.

Well I think this gen has been a great gen. Possibly the best since the SNES days.

There are so many quality titles on the HD twins that marks it as such.

As for direction. Things seem to be at a tipping point.

The new ground being broken by Natal the Wii and the Sony Wand Gem or whatever they wind up calling it seem destined to drive a knife into one or more companies and further fracture the market.

Its risky. Nintendo have little to fear they have made oodles of cash from the word go and can survive pretty much anything.

As to MS and SONY neither can afford their motion detection option to fail.

SONY seem to be taking a slightly bigger risk IMHO. The PS3 has now at last taken off but it is still losing them money every unit sold (trust me if it werent SONY would be screaming the fact from the rooftops)

If Natal fails MS will lick their wounds and launch into the next gen early again. Like it or not their software division is a monster which can act as a huge safety net.

Sony on the otherhand have Blu Ray which is slowly but surely gaining market share and will be a longterm cash cow but if the wand fails it could have a negative effect on the PS3.

I hope they all win but I worry the market only has room for Natal or GEM to be a success story.