Biggest Disappointments of this Console Generation

Duck in a Pond

Duck in a Pond

CAGiversary!
What was the one thing you were most disappointed with during this console generation. For example, mine is the fact that I have not been able to pilot an X wing yet on console. It has to be the first generation that can say that. For the next gen, bring on more classic star wars games!
 
I can think of quite a few. The Wii is the first one that immediately comes to mind. Medal of Honor being the second.
 
Motion control gaming being shoved down our throats. Its a novelty that wears off very quickly. I wish they would let that die before the next gen comes but it seems unlikely.
 
The Wii. Specifically, not being able to play certain awesome games with a regular old controller. Also, the graphics and the online experience.

My other major disappointment is not having enough time to play everything I wanted to play this generation.
 
Not having more games that I felt like I couldn't live without. Last generation there was just so many games that I felt like really changed things for me (either for my outlook on life or just my outlook on gameplay) and I'd replay them countless times and each hour felt well-spent. I can honestly only think of maybe two games like that in the gen (Dead Rising and Mass Effect) and that's disappointing to me. Then again, I do feel like the single player experience has become more backseat this gen, so I suppose I traded those amazing single player experiences I loved so much last gen for all of the online multiplayer fun I've had this gen.
 
[quote name='Javery']The Wii. Specifically, not being able to play certain awesome games with a regular old controller. Also, the graphics and the online experience.[/QUOTE]

I don't think the Wii was a disappointment in itself. But, I double the controller comment. Dammit, I hope the Pro Controller is a cue they got the hint. Some games I just want to play the old fashioned way and not with some shoehorned, imprecise motion control. Twilight Princess I actually considered finding a used Gamecube copy just for this. And Mario Galaxy 2, one of the later levels with some sick wall jumps REALLY needs a button instead of a waggle to spin.

Great games, but let me play the way I want to play. It is fine to give the option (like in Punch Out!!! or Mario Kart) to have some fun with it, but give us a way to play regularly.
 
The biggest disappointment is that it's still here. This has resulted in stagnation in video game technology. Some of the recent games that have been released do not feel as if they should be running on current hardware, such as Assassin's Creed III.
 
I was not disappointed in the Wii system or games, although there are some franchises I wanted to see make an appearance that didn't.

For me the biggest disappointment was the lost promise (or should I say "false promise") of the Virtual Console. That had so much potential, and it seems Nintendo never truly embraced it.
 
I do think they dropped the ball in that there wasn't anything that was a must have that could only run on the Wii or be played with the Wiimote. The older games running on emulators that they are pushing are useless and an annoying cash-grab, IMO.
 
1. Madden. Why was football so much more fun a gen ago?

2. 3rd party devs failing to optimize their games to run on PS3/Sony making the PS3 so difficult to work with.

3. Getting nickle and dimed with DLC not worth the asking price.
 
Wii.

Big Nintendo fan until this gen. Just couldn't stomache no HD and hate motion controls.

Still had some great games like Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, a couple good Zelda's etc., but easily my least played console this gen and no way I'll buy a Wii U.
 
[quote name='Nico8912']My Xbox 360 breaking 6 times in the course of the first 5 years of it's life cycle.[/QUOTE]

I had a nearly identical experience and I take good care of my electronics.
 
Pre-orders and hardware failures.

I take care of my shit. Simple play does not equate to hardware failure. This is why it is PC game from here on out for me.
 
[quote name='soonersfan60']I was not disappointed in the Wii system or games, although there are some franchises I wanted to see make an appearance that didn't.

For me the biggest disappointment was the lost promise (or should I say "false promise") of the Virtual Console. That had so much potential, and it seems Nintendo never truly embraced it.[/QUOTE]

I second that. The VC alone would have justified the purchase of the Wii just so most people could play those classics on their new TVs without resorting to emulation or dealing with the classic hardware incompatibilities. The fact that the VC output for the Wii this year didn't even count as a trickle was heartbreaking, a sentiment that is amplified by the fact that there were plenty of games on each console that could have/should have been available to us by now.
 
Biggest dissapointment? Lack of good Gundam games in the U.S.

I just don't dig the Dynasty Warriors Gundam games. The last time I played a decent Gundam game was Encounters in Space for the PS2, which I'm currently replaying just to get my fix. Sieg Zeon, indeed.
 
No open world 3D Pokemon game for the Wii. I knew it was a long shot and probably was never gonna happen but damn how I wanted it.
 
DLC and console marketplaces in general.

I wouldn't even have a major problem with DLC and downloadable games (On consoles), if prices dropped over time, like regular markets. As it stands now, if I want DLC for, say, Mass Effect, it's still full price despite the game being released 5 years ago. Or if I want an older XBLA game like Rez HD, it's still the same goddamn price as day 1. Pretty bullshit if you ask me.
 
I guess... the overall trajectories of Blizzard and Bioware?

I kinda feel like I'm cheating with that answer simply because of how god damn big an answer that is.
 
The fact that CoD, Battlefield, and Medal of Honor type FPS games with experience point systems are still so popular. Sorry, I'm an old school Unreal Tournament player. We never needed experience points as a reason to keep playing that game. We played for fun.
 
Not enough original IP's. Probably like this with every generation but I feel like everything that comes out is like the 7373726 iteration of call of duty
 
Yay. I get to be the first to mention Lair and Haze. Two formerly amazing developers – where did it all go wrong? :cry:
 
The fact that game development budgets for your average on-disk retail release have gotten so astronomically high that cool, risky games on consoles are a rarity. This is why we have so many sequels, and also why most new JRPGs are released on handhelds. Thank goodness indie games blew up when they did.
 
For me, I would say the fact that multiplayer is taking over (I rarely touch multiplayer, with a few exceptions) and they keep taking away from the story. I would take a high quality story with enjoyable gameplay (Uncharted, Assassin's Creed 2, etc.) over a top notch multiplayer experience any day. Also, download only games. I much prefer having a disk.
 
Two disk Xbox 360 games

Repetitive sequels very single year... Assassins Creed, Call of Duty etc.

3-4 hour single player games with multiplayer
 
1. SquareEnix and JRPGs in general.

2. Diminished quality control standards in the industry. It never ceases to amaze me that a brand new AAA title requires you to download a patch/update prior to playing it.

3. Not having enough time to play all my games.
 
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One off the top of my head is DLC. I get that its great to be able to continue and enrich a game after release, but the fact that its used to nickle and dime the crap out of you is ridiculous. Not to mention that in some games, to be able to really compete online you HAVE to download the latest greatest DLC depending on the game
 
[quote name='HumanSnatcher']One off the top of my head is DLC. I get that its great to be able to continue and enrich a game after release, but the fact that its used to nickle and dime the crap out of you is ridiculous. Not to mention that in some games, to be able to really compete online you HAVE to download the latest greatest DLC depending on the game[/QUOTE]

DLC is a good one!
 
[quote name='WV Matsui']DLC is a good one![/QUOTE]
Lets not forget the debacle of Street Fighter X Tekken. Honestly, I haven't played that game any because I'm not paying to unlock whats on the damn disk to begin with. The only way I'll ever get the extra fighters is if I ever bought the Vita version for dirt cheap new to get them on my PS3
 
[quote name='Duck in a Pond']For example, mine is the fact that I have not been able to pilot an X wing yet on console.[/QUOTE]

I can definitely sympathize with this disappointment. The reason for it is fairly obvious. The developer who was responsible for the excellent X-Wing games on the N64 and GameCube took a crack at making Lair for the PS3 and bombed hard. (speaking of disappointments...Lair) That failure of a game sank the studio.

And LucasArts themselves have been circling the drain for years. (yet another disappointment, the Force Unleashed games) So now we live in a world where some of the most capable Star Wars game developers are out of business.

Aside from game and studio-related nitpicks like the ones above, I don't have much to be disappointed in. It helps considerably that I'm single and have a steady job with regular income. With my Cheap-Ass approach to game shopping, I can afford far more games than I can actually play. I was able to find solid, desirable experiences on all the various platforms. Here's hoping that the coming hardware cycle will be equally as solid.
 
Gamers.

Gaming has definitely reached a larger demographic during this console generation: while it sounds like fun to play Wii bowling with the entire family (even Grandma!), I think it's actually done a fair share of harm... bringing us the casual/freemium model, the resurgence of shovelware and the overall simplification of gaming.

Somehow, despite gaming being bigger than it ever has before, console gaming seems to really be hurting. Many developers are closing up shop, or going Grapes of Wrath on our asses and moving to the casual gaming/mobile scene to stake their claim. There are still lots of people buying games, but most of those games are Call of Duty, or used games from Gamestop... so now we have publishers changing their games to fit the CoD crowd (Resident Evil 6), and introducing all sorts of digital purchase models (episodic content, online passes, DLC) to try and recoup the costs they lose to the used market.

As much as we like to blame Activision for their yearly, derivitive sequels or Capcom for their whacky DLC plans, the real cause of all of this are the consumers, the gamers. We speak with our money, and the gaming industry listens. I've still mostly enjoyed this console generation(so I'm partly to blame), and I think we've actually improved on a lot of things in this generation too, but when I reflect on the current situation of gaming, and what's to come if things stay this way (I've seen more than a few big-wigs talking about how free to play is the future of gaming), I definitely feel dissapointed.
 
DLC and downloadable games. Last generation, you could get a compilation disc with a lot of games for $20 (Midway Arcade Treasures for example), now you are expected to pay $5 a game. I don't like DLC because I feel like a lot of the DLC content is stuff that should have been included in the first place especially DLC on the disc from day 1 of the game's release.

Besides that and the forced motion control for Wii games (I gave up on Mario Galaxy because of the controls), one thing I don't was mentioned yet was the installing and updating games. I rarely play PC games and like console games because you took the disc or cartridge and started playing the game. Now when you get a new game, half the time you either have to wait 20 minutes to install part of the game to the hard drive or download a system update. Not to mention it's annoying if you have an earlier system with not a lot of hard drive space, you are going to be constantly installing and deleting games with a 20GB or 40GB hard drive when 1 game can take 7GB to install. Too add to that, there are also way too many games being released that are buggy. Now with updates, a company can rush a game out and release a patch later. How about making sure the game works right before releasing it?

Also for some reason, the games from this generation seemed less fun to me. I used to follow the industry very closely back in the N64 and PSX days and mostly during last gen. Now I almost don't even care, maybe because each game seems so similar. Yeah there were some great games released but it seems like there were far less compared to past generations and that is part of the reason I am going to wait a while before getting an new console when the next Playstation and XBox are released.
 
[quote name='iamsmart']As much as we like to blame Activision for their yearly, derivitive sequels or Capcom for their whacky DLC plans, the real cause of all of this are the consumers, the gamers. We speak with our money, and the gaming industry listens.[/QUOTE]

Actually, I think your ire might be misplaced. A large reason for the current state of the console market is actually the spiraling costs of development, not the growth of the casual market. The core demographics for more traditional console gaming never went away, and they didn't shrink. Even more people are buying and playing hard-core console games than ever before.

The difference isn't the growth of casual games, it is how expensive AAA games have become to produce. Where the average game of prior console generations would usually require a studio of twenty to thirty core developers, they now require multiple studios with hundreds of full time employees. The radical costs of modern game development are the reason why publishers have become so wary of any experimental concepts.

Casual and mobile game development simply provides a market where lower cost development is feasible. In many ways, these outlets are helping to save the game industry.
 
[quote name='Drizzt']The fact that CoD, Battlefield, and Medal of Honor type FPS games with experience point systems are still so popular. Sorry, I'm an old school Unreal Tournament player. We never needed experience points as a reason to keep playing that game. We played for fun.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you 100%

It's weird that there are so few good online shooters. Don't get me wrong, as a console gamer I'm thankful this gen has brought proper online multiplayer to living rooms, but where's the variety and imagination?

Killzone 3 and Battlefield 3 are my two favorite online shooters but this is out of necessity and the lack of choice is strange. COD or Battlefield or basically the choice gamers have if they want full lobbies.
 
[quote name='tukai']Lack of great final fantasy games and dragon warriors/quest. Square - Enix overall[/QUOTE]

Make a decent (not fantastic) FF - sell millions

Make one of the best, if not the best JRPG this gen - sells like shit, shut the studio down (Nier)

Lost Odyssey also didn't sell well, which really broke the cliché of Japanese characters. Another fantastic game (which wasn't SE)

I don't blame SE. I blame RPG gamers.
 
Pretty pleased with Square myself. Lost Odyssey was good but I'd say Mistwalker was a huge letdown overall considering Blue Dragon and Last Story were so mediocre.
 
Super Smash Bros Brawl online play being absolutely atrocious + no further updates for the game from Nintendo... :(

The introduction of Playstation Move, the Kinect and Nintendo's focus on the casual gamer. Really disappointing.

The introduction of the "online pass" system.

RE 5 (huge letdown coming from RE4 imo).

The Fable series. Monotonous, extremely boring games.

PS Vita. Really don't know what I was expecting from the system. Game library was a huge bust coming from the amazing PS3 game library.
 
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[quote name='Abear21']1. Madden. Why was football so much more fun a gen ago?
[/QUOTE]

B/C they had competition from NFL 2K and Visual Concepts. Not entirely EA's fault as the NFL loves their exclusivity deals but that's why.

This gen may be seen as the beginning of the end of sports gaming as all sports games are essentially exclusive now to one publisher, be it EA for most things, 2K for basketball, Sony for baseball, and Activision for NASCAR. Don't like the game, don't buy it, but then we won't make another one so enjoy your old sports game sitting on the shelf at GS for $30 used years later (see NASCAR 09 and NCAA Basketball 10, hell NASCAR 11 also.)
 
[quote name='ID2006']Yay. I get to be the first to mention Lair and Haze. Two formerly amazing developers – where did it all go wrong? :cry:[/QUOTE]

At least their story is less crazy than Silicon Knights. RIP Eternal Darkness.
 
Agreed on the multiplayer focus of the current gen games.

Also, game length is a issue in and of its own right. I don't mind a fantastic 6-7 hour campaign. If a game pads it out to seem longer (or cuts too much to make it short) it all feels unnecessary, or alternatively a jip. A game like tales of graces should and usually is 40 hours long. Whereas the average FPS is like 6. My disappointment stems from the FPS games try to be 10-12 hours long and the RPGs try to be 100 hours long.

Uncharted, which is undoubtedly my favorite series of this gen especially uncharted 2 is the perfect length that it doesn't feel cheap or overstay its welcome
 
Unfair to Nintendo as it is, my biggest letdown was the Wii by far. To be fair I expected nothing from the HD twins and boy did they deliver. Outside of the Souls games and a few digital games on PSN, the HD twins were boring as hell.

Anyways I got a bad feeling in my stomach the minute I started playing Wii and realized it wasn't true motion gaming even though it was fun. The software lineup didn't compare personally the same way that the Gamecube's library did. It was heartrending watching all that potential waste away.
 
Blatant DLC Nickle and Diming
The creation of the Season Pass and the idiots that justify its existence
Lack of a Jade Empire sequel, console KoToR or next gen Star Wars Battlefront
Developers taking their core audience for granted and insulting them publicly
Every closing title of a trilogy this year and last year (Gears of War 3, ME3, AC3, etc.)
Bioshock Infinite being delayed
The swift merciless death of RPG elements I enjoy for throat forced streamlining
The ridiculous "BALANCE/NERF ALL THE THINGS" mentality that bled into co-op gaming to artificially lengthen games while coddling whiny "pros" who refuse to play anything else

The list is far too long to bother continuing.
 
[quote name='62t']Mass effect3[/QUOTE]

Mass effect started this gen so your in order for 3 to have been your biggest letdown this gen 1 & 2 must have been your best.

for me its:
- Wii - got one at launch & just kept taking hit after hit of dissapointments.
- DLC nickel & diming/ on disc locked content/ constant patching and then no patching if the game is not doing well enough
- Online passes/ Developers bitching about used games & not getting enough money. Talk to your boss. I, the customer, don't wanna hear it.
- Multiplayer shoehorning. Not everything needs multiplayer.
- Harware failures / ROOD/ YLOD- In all my years of gaming i have never had a console break down on me & it seems like they deem it acceptable
 
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