Gaming was good when it wasn’t as big a culture as it has become now.
Video games used to be considered a luxury where people could put love and care in to making a good video game, but nowadays it’s just as much effort-inducing to make a video game for a buck or two as it is for McDonalds or KFC to come up with a new killer recipe.
It has gotten to the point where video games and their consoles are becoming a necessity. That in itself is one of the most stupidest things that this world could do to such a thing.

Do you watch more TV than you spend time gaming?
Do you watch films at a cinema that you could either watch online or on your own games console?
Snap the hell out of that already. You’re not smart. You’re brainwashed, you filthy pigs!

Surely there are some good things that come out of this, but it only comes to those who are smart enough to know how use it, rather than having false intentions as to what they would do with their purchased products which after a few weeks after misuse or no use whatsoever eventually gathers dust.

1. I can’t quite grasp why developers should be demonized for working for profits? Should they be spending huge amounts of time, man hours, and money to produce games for us out of the goodness of their hearts? Ultimately, they make games because they love it AND, more importantly, to make money. This isn’t a bad thing, and the 1990s developers were no different.

2. There are far more games today than there were in the 1990s. Please don’t delude yourself into thinking there were more options then….

The era of gaming the author of this article speaks of was a messy one. Sega couldn’t decide whether to improve the genesis with endless upgrades or to chuck it for the Saturn, or even if the Saturn itself should be the ultimate 2D machine or a budding 3D one. Nintendo stubbornly stuck with cartridges, a move that arguably cost them the win for that era, and you a lot more than that if you owned one and like to play games with it. The third man in the game was basically faceless because that whole decade was pock-marked with failed console (turbografx 16) after failed console (neo-geo) after fail console (3DO). The industry was just getting it’s shit together and those interested in supporting it, along with their bank accounts, were along for the ride.

Even in the middle of all this, we still had the things Don complains about. We still had a handful of companies dominating the industry, still had indie-devs shut out of the game making process, still had endless sequels of endless clones of endless game franchises. Note that these things are NOT BAD. Gamers then, just as gamers now, would rather buy a game they know they will like and will be fun to play rather than risk blowing their cash on something that strives to ‘innovate’ instead of being fun to play. That is not an artifact of a broken system. It’s a part of it’s obvious function.

Oh of course Don has to trot out the almighty strawman of innovation. Innovation is always good, always gives us what we want and it’s innovation, not making fun games, that the evil for-profit game industry should be pursuing as it’s number one priority. Oh, I forgot, I was supposed to assume, like Don just did, that innovation automagically produces good profitable products. What if it doesn’t? What if we innovate and get something bad?

Anyone remember Tail of the Sun? It’s for the PS1 and is one of those small budget small dev games that Don claims to like so much. Despite his deriding of the industry I doubt he would have played it. Can’t really blame him for that, since it was critically bashed for its insomnia curing non-game-play. On their way to making something totally different, ArtDink forgot to make something totally fun. How ’bout the Virtual Boy? Totally innovative. First console with it’s own 3D display ever. Too bad all that awesome 3D came in only one color; bright red. Owners of Nintendo stock didn’t need a VB to see red everywhere after the dismal sales numbers came in. I could go on digging up innovative gaming failures some more, but it’s not needed since we as gamers have all been there before. Of course, none of this means that innovation is bad or that just copying what we’ve done before is good. It just means that innovation is only a side quest towards what we really want; a game thats fun to play.

Also, enough with this ‘big players don’t innovate’ nonsense. The current console sales champion is living proof of what happens when innovation contributes to making games fun to play. The wii nearly ditched the joystick-button only combo for a wand that gets us closer to a holodeck in terms of intuitive interactivity. Given that, as well as the Move which is here now, and the kinect which is soon to follow, no one has any business bitching about there being no innovation in the games industry.

Speaking of that, we call it an ‘industry’ for a bloody reason. These are not holy talismans worth of our undying love and protection; they’re games being sold as products. If the games industry cannot sell their wares and make a profit, there will be no wares for us to buy. I to this day still don’t know where the indignation for big studios turning big profits from good products comes from. We gamers work hard for our money and want to be sure that what we spend it on will be fun, enjoyable and replayable. Yet here, we’re derided as ‘feeding the beast’ for that. Well, sorry Don, but I’m hear to enjoy myself, not ‘push the industry forward’ whatever that’s supposed to mean.

P.S. What’s this about no RPGs around? Just 3/10s of a second at google instant university turns up an endless list of RPGs for the xbox 360 alone.

“But to me, it’s everything that’s wrong about the gaming industry. The game is part of a major franchise.” – Don Reisinger, 18 September 2010.

You’re a man of many faces, Sir. And with each face, a differing opinion. You are the James Bond of technology blogging. I doth my cap. Your employer confuses me. I fear I shall no longer use your website for fear of being treated as a thoughtless reader. Good day.

But that doesn’t mean it’s all those platforms have to offer.

Look at the variety of Popcap games on all platforms, or quantity of Facebook games. Recently on IGNs GirlFight podcast, they stated “how can you say Farmville is just a casual game when people set their alarms for the middle of the night to tend to their crops”, this made me think – yeah those people are pretty hardcore but it just shows any game, even Halo can be treated as casually or as hardcore as the individual likes.

I agree that there is sometimes a lack of originality but the RPG genre isn’t the shining light of originality, I eagerly await the announcement of Elder Scrolls 5 and whilst I hope it has the same technological leap that Oblivion had over Morrowind, I do hope familiar aspects like interface and fighting remain much the same. Why are there so few RPGs? I don’t know but when the Elder Scrolls franchise is what other games of the genre are compared to, it must be a daunting task to go down that road! Look at Two Worlds – doesn’t even come close.

The 80′s and 90′s were no different when it came to franchise sequels, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros, Super Mario World, Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, Ultima 1-9, Ultima Underworld 1 & 2, Ultima Online, Doom 1 & 2, Quake 1 & 2, Cybernoid 1 & 2, Turrican 1 & 2, System Shock 1 & 2, Descent 1 & 2, Sonic 1-3, Sonic Adventure 1 & 2, StarStrike 1 & 2, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter, Final Fantasy 1 to a million, Eye of the Beholder 1 – 3, Dungeon Master 1 & 2, Tetris, Pacman, Space Invaders – They just keep coming!

If you are looking for something different, indie games are everywhere, whether browsing the net, on the iPhone and even on Xbox Live – there’s a massive selection out there and thanks to sales on the latter two platforms – some indie companies are turning a profit, helping them grow and realise some of their unique visions.

In the end, if you can’t find something you want to play, that’s your problem!

Way to go Don, I think it’s time for you to go back to writing slashfic where you blow Steve Jobs until you get lockjaw. Leave the journalism to the professionals.

Not only are they around, but they have evolved (just as Halo has). Like I read in one of the comments -talking about Bungie “I can’t think of a gaming company more dedicated to their fans and to their fan’s wants”, and this is as true as that you are a moron. You saying that Halo is what’s wrong with the gaming industry today, and getting to that conclusion from your “criteria” (or lack of it) means you talk about these as well:

Mario, Sonic, GTA, Zelda, Gran Turismo, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Splinter Cell, Donkey Kong, Resident Evil, Age of Empires, Diablo, Battlefield, Ghost Recon, Half Life, Prince of Persia, Gears of War, Ace Combat, Hitman, and I could keep going, but you get it, right?

As for the consoles, I have never seen greater support to small companies. PSN and LIVE! have been of huge help for all the smaller companies to make a game that otherwise, you would’ve never heard about. You want diversity? Take a look around and you’ll find more indie games that you could ever play.

What really pisses me off is that you wrote these article with such arrogance, without knowing what the hell you were talking about.

The problem with the industry is that there’s so much money being put into games and companies will only invest all that money to a tried-and-true formula. Halo started the “FPS Renaissance” and since then, companies only put their money in FPS’s. That’s why the games industry is so bland. I will always gladly buy a Halo game, but I will not buy a FPS other than Halo.

TL;DR Halo isn’t what’s wrong the the games industry. It’s the games publishers themselves. And the advancement of technology.

Besides there are a ton of classic games on the XBLA, PSN and Wii Virtual console. So where is the problem at?

Seriously though, it’s a hard balance to find, you can spend millions developing an engine as good as halo’s, then release 2 or 3 games based upon it (tweaking as you go), or you can spend hundreds of thousands on an engine that (99% of the time) produces 1 mediocre game.

It’s finding the balance between spending so much on an engine that you want to use it again (if it sells well), and being inovative and taking that risk.

As much validity as your editorial may have, you’re proving something else. You’re the classic individual that needs to go against mainstream enjoyment. You obviously wanted to be different by having an Anti-Current Gaming stance in order to generate heat and involvement in your editorial… but really, do you think you’re the only person that has ever tried to do something like this? Not to mention, your editorial is boring, tedious and a general waste of time. At this point while I type this, there is a -88 rating after 280 votes on your editorial, and for good reason.
The fact of the matter is that gaming today is exactly what people ask for and play. Developer, producer and publishing companies such as Bungie, Activision, Treyarch, LucasArts, THQ, Ubisoft, EA, etc… they all listen to the masses. They build, create, test and distribute games, story lines and play abilities that are requested by their millions of followers. Everything evolves, everything has change. Video gaming is not immune to change.

With that being said, I will agree with you that certain titles are dragging out and killing genres of games. Certain companies [namely small companies that develop video games based on movies] are only kicking around to make a few dollars. C’mon, Reach is not a place to be sticking your anguish. The Halo franchise was the first, and most successful franchise to be released for the XBOX, both original and 360. It paved the way for one of the game types that you’re whining about. When Halo hit the shelves, it was something new and interesting, but there’s only so far they could’ve taken it. There are only so many advances in video gaming today, and quite honestly I believe Halo has already surpassed many of those advances.

If you don’t like it, go outside.

I use newsmap to skim through the daily news and this piece of trash had the most hits in the technology section. As I read through this it was pretty clear to me that this clown-shoe blogger has no idea what he is talking about. I confirmed that by reading his other posts. In no way does he ever describe/explain how or why games were better.

Until I see a list of amazing games over the past 20 years that were free of charge… I think you need to stfu.

Using the biggest game of the year to get web hits on your blase’, passive aggressive, clearly Apple motivated articles; is both dirty and quite frankly pathetic. Don I’m all for you not liking Reach or hell… bashing it for not having what you’re looking for, but to use it as an example of how “back in the day” things were better is just plain sad (not to mention ignorant). As a recent commenter stated, Bungie was also cutting their teeth right around the time your supposed “golden age” of gaming was going on. They were right in the thick of that supposed “better time”, and yet you fail to mention/recognize it in your poorly written article.

Sir you serve as a perfect example of what’s TRULY wrong with the industry today. You’re nothing more than a blogger hoping to make a quick buck, and will sell his opinion to the highest bidder. It really is a sad and dark time in journalism when someone like you has the audacity to call themselves a journalist. You sir are a hack, and nothing more. I for one hope people read this/your other articles just long enough to recognize you for the fraud you truly are.

In closing: While my love for Bungie/the Halo franchise is quite rabid, I unlike you can take a step outside my own opinions and look at things objectively. The sad thing is, I’m not even a journalist. Then again, neither are you.

How about instead pointing fingers at small time developers making games based off movies? (who don’t give a rats arse if the game is ‘fun’) Not after a now dismantled company that made a few ‘playable’ games.

I’m seriously wondering who paid this writer to post this article. That person, and this writer, is a crackpot. Sure the industry has changed a little, but there are still companies out there who believe ‘good games sell.’

For Mass Effect to get even remotely counted as an RPG they would have to indicate to the player in *advance* of the mission what kind of capabilities he’s going to need.

There is about zero tactics in that game, although the dialog choices are sometimes a bit tricky (but mostly still arbitrary/inconsistent)

I’ll never understand how people could call this an RPG.

Collecting resources on planetes might be the most idiotic task I ever had in a game. Even more dull than walking to remote areas on a very large map.

In the 90s, every “creative” title involved scrolling and jumping on platforms, and people reminisced about the beautiful and purist gameplay of the 80s. Then there warcraft2′s amazing reviews, and everybody made an RTS. And then Duke3D and Quake were in competition for best marks, and everybody made a shooter. And then WoW surpassed the sales of every previous MMO…etc.

This article reminds me of expertise of the guy who declared in the 1990′s that the internet could never support commerce or replace printed information sources (really stupid opinion).

Let me take you back to the 1990s. During that decade, the internet was a much different space. And yet, it could very well be the golden era of the internet. It was a time that was led by extremely unique and fun websites. It was also a time when the allure of corporate profit gave way to the desire of a handful of people in a room to create a groundbreaking site. Indeed, it was still a business. But it was one that still coveted and cultivated originality.

Today, the internet industry is nothing of the sort. It’s dominated by a handful of companies that want to quickly turn a profit. And they feel that gadget blogs are one of the best ways to do that. In the process, they have effectively forgotten about the unique, fun websites of the past and stuck with what readers know.

That’s precisely why a word like role-playing games will be displayed as a hyperlink in an article, but will link to unrelated advertiser content and upon mouseover will display a popup ad for a cell phone or IBM instead of anything remotely to do with role-playing games.

Admittedly, there are other elements to this argument. Major web publishers will only stick with franchises that do well. And, for the most part, gadget blogs, celebrity blogs, and other topical news blogs have been selling advertising well. Thus, publishers are feeding the beast.

It’s also worth noting that there are still unique and fun websites in the wild. But as far as I’m concerned, there aren’t nearly as many as there should be.

There’s hundreds of “unique and fun” games out there for people to play….and they’re not hard to find.

Bungie and Halo are what’s right with the gaming industry. They listen to their fans, keep them updated on the happenings, and then give them exactly what they want.
I’m not even a Halo Fanboy, but this makes absolutely no sense.

Take a look around. If you think there were more unique and fun games back in the 80′s you’re fooling yourself. I was around in the late 70′s and the gaming boom in the 80′s and I’d be curious as to your list of “unique and fun” games list and I’ll counter it with a much better one from today’s games.

Bungie is in it for a quick profit turnover? Reach has been in the works for years…. I can’t think of a gaming company more dedicated to their fans and to their fan’s wants. Yeah, they obviously want a profit, but give me a break..

Basically, you’re saying that if a game isn’t “groundbreaking”……or “not a FPS” don’t bother..

Color me confused after reading this as I go put my deposit down on CoD:Black Ops.