I'm a bit confused on this last bit. Do you mean companies losing a lot of business? If that's what you mean, the only outcome I see are the big gaming companies possibly taking a hit, then bouncing right back like nothing ever happened. Wish that weren't the case, but it's what I tend to see a lot of lately across industries.
There's still quite a bit I want to discuss, from enshitification and saturation of the gaming market, to the idea of a gaming crash in the future. I don't see that last one happening though - not in my lifetime at least. I also want to talk about the indie game scene, since I've rarely tried that many indies.
So, does anyone have thoughts on:
- Enshitification
- Game Genre Saturation
- Possible Gaming Crash
- Indie Games
- Patented Video Game Mechanics (Shadow of Wars Nemesis System)
I threw #5 in there as I just remembered this happened. It was a surprising news story when it first happened, and I'm definitely not for these type of restrictions on creativity. With all that out of my system, and to add to some positivity to any readers here, Persona 3 Reload... Yeah, I bought it the day it came out, and it's
so sick. I highly recommend that JRPG to any fan of the genre.
In reality, most consumers have their eyes on the next game not the last. So, changing content on older titles won't get much attention. Companies like Square-Enix have been doing all sorts of questionable things, but their products sell. I feel like the company-consumer relationship in the industry now mirrors Hollywood and moviegoers.
It didn't used to be like that. The
PS2/
Xbox/
Gamecube days were fantastic. The
Wii/PS3/360 age was more like the bad later seasons of your favorite TV show.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots wasn't fun to play compared to Snake Eater. That trailing mission took up over an hour of what was already about six hours of actual gameplay.
Resident Evil 5 didn't have Shinji Mikami, but
Resident Evil 6 really didn't have the magic.
Sonic '06 spoke for itself
Uncharted was a barebones game that sold on its graphics.
Both
Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and
Perfect Dark Zero were seen as missteps for long-awaited sequels.
Dead Space 3 and its microtransactions
Final Fantasy XIII did not enjoy good word of mouth, and i think XIII-2's ending was locked behind DLC.
Duke Nukem Forever finally came out, but, oops, nothing from the 90's trailers is in it.
SEGA fans got
NiGHTS: Journey to Dreams, but it didn't resonate with the audience.
Assassin's Creed was the collectathon's dream game. It put me to sleep, no joke.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 launched with all the content in a day-one patch.
Several glitchy compilations, but
Silent Hill HD Collection is pretty bad.
The PS3 version of
Lost Planet 3 had no framerate to speak of.
I know I have a ton of hot takes. Feel free to tell me your thoughts.
I have thoughts on other stuff, like genre saturation, but i've already written too much. Until next time!