Was this generation a let down?
- Thread starter GoofsterStud
- Start date
Crash Station
Member
99.88% of the games I play (seriously, that's the percentage I got off backloggery) are Japanese. So yes, I am disappointed that all my favorite series/genres have either died or sunk into a niche dominated by subpar developers like Idea Factory.
I hate to be "that guy", but this generation was amazing to me almost solely due to the resurgence of real RPGs and the death of cutscene-heavy JRPGs.
After the Bioware Baldur's Gates and the rise of WoW, it seemed as though we hit a long ass dry spell. Starting with Oblivion, though, the gravy train just kept rolling. Skyrim and Dark Souls are two of the best RPGs I've ever played, and they came out only a few months ago.
I get that people are annoyed with motion control/3D/whatever, but my genre has been the old school, large scale RPG. And this generation has been VERY kind to me. It hasn't been flawless; Dragon Age II was a horrid shitpile compared to its brilliant predecessor (Bioware's first traditional RPG since Baldur's Gate II, IMO). Still, Mass Effect 1 + 2 were amazing, even if they were a little too linear for my taste.
As for the Call of Duty hate, you people should be WORSHIPPING Activision for that series. It is the game that kids use to make the transition from casual wagglefests into hardcore gaming. No eight year old ever experienced gaming for the first time with Wii Sports, and then in a span of a year was begging their parents for a copy of Dark Souls.
After the Bioware Baldur's Gates and the rise of WoW, it seemed as though we hit a long ass dry spell. Starting with Oblivion, though, the gravy train just kept rolling. Skyrim and Dark Souls are two of the best RPGs I've ever played, and they came out only a few months ago.
I get that people are annoyed with motion control/3D/whatever, but my genre has been the old school, large scale RPG. And this generation has been VERY kind to me. It hasn't been flawless; Dragon Age II was a horrid shitpile compared to its brilliant predecessor (Bioware's first traditional RPG since Baldur's Gate II, IMO). Still, Mass Effect 1 + 2 were amazing, even if they were a little too linear for my taste.
As for the Call of Duty hate, you people should be WORSHIPPING Activision for that series. It is the game that kids use to make the transition from casual wagglefests into hardcore gaming. No eight year old ever experienced gaming for the first time with Wii Sports, and then in a span of a year was begging their parents for a copy of Dark Souls.
GoofsterStud
Member
I just bought Dragon Age I and II for $12 from the amazon sale. Maybe I should play those first, thanks for reminding me.
Heh, this is basically the same as all the "are we in gaming's golden age" threads, just with less ostentatious wording. 
Regardless, I've been playing since I first got a black and white Commodore and I'd have to say, yes ...ish.
The last 5-6 years gave me stuff like Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Catherine, Serious Sam 3, Alice 2, Crysis, STALKER, Vanquish, Gundam EXVS, Xenoblade, Sin & Punishment 2, Mario Galaxy, El Shaddai, KOF13, tons of Cave shooters, and a pile of fantastic handhend games. It's been pretty good for me, but at the same time I can't help but feel like things have gone in a very ugly direction. The death/degeneration of many of the most prolific and high quality franchises and closure of many venerable studios because of outsourcing/changing markets/unrealistic budget-sales expectations, not to mention many of my favorite genres are nearly extinct save for a handful of small scale indie projects. Proliferation of digital download brings some good (steam in general) and lots of bad (strict regional control/censorship - why can't I buy the Russian version of Cryostasis if I don't live in Russia?, account-wide bans, games as a service, etc). DRM, DLC, retailer-exclusive content, paid P2P matchmaking...the list goes on.
Besides the aforementioned games I've actually been spending most of my time in the last few years seeking out older games that I missed from the 16-32 bit generations...and I've been having a great time. I have no interest in many of the AAA marketing powerhouses like Uncharted, GoW, Arkham City and GTA. I spent the first few years of this gen playing these kind of games and realized how shallow and unfulfilling they are for me. I guess most people are just looking for something different in games than I am these days.
If you were to ask me, flawed but extremely daring and unique niche games is a much better alternative to an aggregate of extremely polished yet highly homogenized and overproduced ones.
Regardless, I've been playing since I first got a black and white Commodore and I'd have to say, yes ...ish.
The last 5-6 years gave me stuff like Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Catherine, Serious Sam 3, Alice 2, Crysis, STALKER, Vanquish, Gundam EXVS, Xenoblade, Sin & Punishment 2, Mario Galaxy, El Shaddai, KOF13, tons of Cave shooters, and a pile of fantastic handhend games. It's been pretty good for me, but at the same time I can't help but feel like things have gone in a very ugly direction. The death/degeneration of many of the most prolific and high quality franchises and closure of many venerable studios because of outsourcing/changing markets/unrealistic budget-sales expectations, not to mention many of my favorite genres are nearly extinct save for a handful of small scale indie projects. Proliferation of digital download brings some good (steam in general) and lots of bad (strict regional control/censorship - why can't I buy the Russian version of Cryostasis if I don't live in Russia?, account-wide bans, games as a service, etc). DRM, DLC, retailer-exclusive content, paid P2P matchmaking...the list goes on.
Besides the aforementioned games I've actually been spending most of my time in the last few years seeking out older games that I missed from the 16-32 bit generations...and I've been having a great time. I have no interest in many of the AAA marketing powerhouses like Uncharted, GoW, Arkham City and GTA. I spent the first few years of this gen playing these kind of games and realized how shallow and unfulfilling they are for me. I guess most people are just looking for something different in games than I am these days.
If you were to ask me, flawed but extremely daring and unique niche games is a much better alternative to an aggregate of extremely polished yet highly homogenized and overproduced ones.
goldenpp72
Member
Nah, this was a great generation. It brought us amazing original ip like Bayonetta, Infamous, viva pinata, cool concept motion control games like kinect sports, wii sports resort and dance central, great unified online, xbox live arcade/psn titles which revived genres like the beat em up and 2d shoot em ups to some extent, while it has been winding down a bit recently, so much good came that some of the bad can be overlooked.
Or even better - Play Halo CE:Anniversary and hit the back button.
funkystudent
Member
its been ok.
The introduction of digital distribution was really this gens greatest gift.
The one thing I will knock it for is there hasnt been anything anyone could say is the greatest game of all time or a big game changer or instant classic that will be remembered for generations to come.
Last Gen had Resident Evil 4, Ico, SOTC, Halo, Final Fantasy X, GTA 3 and a bunch of other classic games...... nothing on that level this gen.
The introduction of digital distribution was really this gens greatest gift.
The one thing I will knock it for is there hasnt been anything anyone could say is the greatest game of all time or a big game changer or instant classic that will be remembered for generations to come.
Last Gen had Resident Evil 4, Ico, SOTC, Halo, Final Fantasy X, GTA 3 and a bunch of other classic games...... nothing on that level this gen.
My backlog is too immense to properly judge whether this gen was a let down, but I am leaning towards no. The biggest let down is Japan being Lebron, just not showing up. Boy do I miss JRPGs, the only RPGs I played this gen were Fallout 3, Dragon Age, Demon/Dark Souls. Very sad as that is my favorite genre.
Fallout 3 was fun as hell and classic IMO, but I prefer either traditional turn base or FFXII/Dragon Age action w/a gambit system.
Fallout 3 was fun as hell and classic IMO, but I prefer either traditional turn base or FFXII/Dragon Age action w/a gambit system.
Finaika
Member
Which western game is that 0.12%.
YES! Well you have/bought it... which is usually the hard part. I recommend playing it, it's the best obscure game I have ever played.
a Master Ninja
Member
Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360. Portal.
And I imagine people will nostalgia hard for COD4 for a long time. It will be the Goldeneye/Halo equivalent for younger generations.
Portal? Fallout? Mario Galaxy 1&2? Saints Row 2? GTA side stories? Demon's Souls/Dark Souls?
Fucking nostalgia lovers need to get a grip
GoofsterStud
Member
Portal? Fallout? Mario Galaxy 1&2? Saints Row 2? GTA side stories? Demon's Souls/Dark Souls?
Fucking nostalgia lovers need to get a grip
Those games didn't have a WOW factor. They were..awe a cool game at best.
While evolving, they weren't revolutionary.
This gen has had Red Dead Redemption, Portal, Uncharted 2, Bioshock, Mario Galaxy, etc. Plenty of modern classics have been released over the last few years.
I mean, I think last gen might have been slightly better for my tastes, but only barely. This gen has still been pretty amazing.
None of the games on funkystudent's list had any wow factor for me either. So what?
Crash Station
Member
God of War 1 2 and 3, Flower, Heavy Rain, Limbo. Not complete though as it doesn't include some Rare games on SNES and N64.
Anyway, the point is I rarely play western games outside of Nintendo's 2nd/3rd party devs.
DidntKnowJack
Member
For me personally it's been a letdown in one certain area - NO FUCKING RALLY GAMES. Sega Rally Revo was cool and all, but I was hoping for at least one serious rally game on one of the current gen systems. Dirt came close, but had too much BS in it to count. And don't even get me going on the new Gymkhana trend for that series. Or whatever the hell it's called.
AzureNightmare
Banned
This generation has only been a letdown if you don't enjoy great games.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
This has been the first gaming generation that has been purposely not built upon the foundations of the last. Granted, this has been the first generation were "bigger, prettier, faster" hasn't been the main path, as well.
Apeopleman
Member
The companies spending millions of dollars on nonsense like Home, move, kinect, etc made me say, "hmmmmmm. This money could have gone towards some great AAA games. But no, waste it on useless stuff".
Why cant a developer just focus on the controller in hand, and the games made for it?
Also, online passes are very, very annoying
Why cant a developer just focus on the controller in hand, and the games made for it?
Also, online passes are very, very annoying
Or if you like RPGs. Its been kinda dry in that aspect...
fixed
Haunted
Member
There's been great games. Some genres have risen in popularity, others have fallen by the wayside. Speaking just about the games and game quality, it's as high as it's ever been. Production values have grown considerably in the last years. The industry has grown (though not yet matured).
Some of the directions the business part of the industry has headed into are worrisome. The decline of the Japanese industry. Two of the three manufacturers losing billions of dollars. The death of the B-tier title. Anti-consumer tactics (DLC, unlock keys, online passes). The number of studios that had to close down. The rise of the mega-publishers.
But even on the business side, it hasn't been all bad. Steam gaining traction and the indie scene explosion are fantastic. mobile phone and social gaming gaining traction are either great or disheartening, depending on your viewpoint.
It's such a complex industry, and there's so much to cover... it's very hard for me to sum up my feelings and observations in a simple forum post.
I think this generation was interesting at least. That's worth something, right?
edit: on a related note, I think it's very telling that people are ready to "look back" on this generation, yet both MS and Sony are trying to extend it further. We are ready for new consoles.
Some of the directions the business part of the industry has headed into are worrisome. The decline of the Japanese industry. Two of the three manufacturers losing billions of dollars. The death of the B-tier title. Anti-consumer tactics (DLC, unlock keys, online passes). The number of studios that had to close down. The rise of the mega-publishers.
But even on the business side, it hasn't been all bad. Steam gaining traction and the indie scene explosion are fantastic. mobile phone and social gaming gaining traction are either great or disheartening, depending on your viewpoint.
It's such a complex industry, and there's so much to cover... it's very hard for me to sum up my feelings and observations in a simple forum post.
I think this generation was interesting at least. That's worth something, right?
edit: on a related note, I think it's very telling that people are ready to "look back" on this generation, yet both MS and Sony are trying to extend it further. We are ready for new consoles.
Sathsquatch
Member
I don't see how you could be disappointed in this generation unless you are only interested in JRPGs on home consoles or schumps or something like that.
Most genres have fared pretty well this generation.
Fighting games saw a revival in SF4, MvC3, BlazBlue, VF5 Online, KOFXIII, and Mortal Kombat.
WRPGs were strong with many games that both reviewed well and sold well. Not too long ago, many wrpg studios went out of business (like Troika and Black Isle). Now, Skyrim is one of the best selling games of the year.
Action games were maybe a little weaker than last generation, but we still had Bayonetta, Bastion and Vampire Smile.
There were also several good platformers with SMG, Rayman Origins, Braid, Limbo, and New Super Mario Bros.
Most genres have fared pretty well this generation.
Fighting games saw a revival in SF4, MvC3, BlazBlue, VF5 Online, KOFXIII, and Mortal Kombat.
WRPGs were strong with many games that both reviewed well and sold well. Not too long ago, many wrpg studios went out of business (like Troika and Black Isle). Now, Skyrim is one of the best selling games of the year.
Action games were maybe a little weaker than last generation, but we still had Bayonetta, Bastion and Vampire Smile.
There were also several good platformers with SMG, Rayman Origins, Braid, Limbo, and New Super Mario Bros.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
I miss JRPGs, but I'm going to be honest. I didn't finish half of the ones I bought anyways.
A smaller selection has actually been good for me.
Other than that, this gen has been freaking awesome besides all the DLC and Online pass bullshit. I hope that falls by the wayside.
A smaller selection has actually been good for me.
Other than that, this gen has been freaking awesome besides all the DLC and Online pass bullshit. I hope that falls by the wayside.
Rahxephon91
Banned
We get great games every gen, this is hardly a deciding factor. Disappointing doesn't mean bad.
DarkAkatosh
Neo Member
This is probably beating a dead horse but I'll be writing a long post here.
I would like to start by saying that this generation was not great, as last generation is probably something that cannot be topped in my eyes with the sheer quantity of great games that came out. Of those that stood out to me were SSBM, SA2B, The Jak & Daxter games, SSX, Star Wars Battlefront I and II, and the list goes on. That being said, this generation was still good.
Thanks to PSN, I can get retro style games that replicate the experience back in the day. Examples being Super Stardust HD, Soldner X 2, The Gundemonium Collection, Hard Corps: Uprising, Critter Crunch, Shatter, and the list goes on. If it wasn't for PSN I wouldn't own quite as many games, and wouldn't you know it, these games can offer a similar or better experience for the stuff that retails at $60.
Yes, graphics advancements are great, but it's the games that are the most important, and quite honestly, 90% of the retail games that have come out are utter, boring crap. In games like Infamous, I just run around the open world questing away with no real penalty for screwing up, even on the hardest difficulty. Why? Because there are so many checkpoints. Dying has virtually no effect on your progress. Just get back up and start murdering again. I don't need to be extra careful. I don't have limited lives or anything of the sort. There are no game over screens. You see, as an old school gamer I always felt rewarded for completing a worthwhile challenge, and while I acknowledge that challenge has not completely dissipated, it has become a lot more scarce.
As alluded to earlier, the dickery of companies has been dragging gaming down as a whole, from 100kb on the disk paid DLC to online passes to stupidly restrictive DRM. Companies will tell you that it's doing business. But it's not. It's simply avarice. It does nothing but poison the experience of the end user.
Most of us would have probably agreed that DLC was a good thing as it was being introduced. But it's safe to say we all didn't anticipate the scam age we were entering. It's unfortunate it had to be this way, because this factor has lost companies SO many sales from me it's almost absurd. For example, I love Castlevania. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair has come out on PSN. A demo finally came out (I like to try before I buy, as I've been far too disappointed on too many occasions by impulse buying), I liked it, so I go and check the add-ons, and they appeared to cost more than the game. You know, if I want to buy something, I want the meat and potatoes and the side item all in one, hearty portion. I don't want to add on the potatoes and side item for a couple of extra dollars each. That said, I didn't buy the game, but I'll definitely reconsider if they bundle everything together. There are some exceptions though, like Disgaea 4 because once you become OP, the DLC is basically worthless as you'll max out those guys in no time.
One last thing because I'm tired. I didn't see anyone allude to this (or maybe I'm just dumb), but the cost of game development is absolutely ludicrous. Thanks to the exorbitant costs, more and more studios are closing. You need to sell more copies then ever in order to turn a profit. The best thing that we can hope for in the future is that these costs somehow go down, then, the developer has more money to make games, quality games could come out at a faster rate, and the consumer has more money to spend on games, because they could possibly be cheaper. The cost is the biggest factor for me in the future, because that is what allows developers to take risks in the industry. We all know this, one bomba = lots of lost dollars, lots of lost jobs, and lots of disappointment on both parties.
Note that I'm not condemning this generation as a whole. I had lots of fun with it and continue to do so with this day. I'm hoping, and it's probably a stretch, that all the downs I mentioned fix themselves in the near future, in order to provide a much better experience to the developer and the gamer.
Thank you.
I would like to start by saying that this generation was not great, as last generation is probably something that cannot be topped in my eyes with the sheer quantity of great games that came out. Of those that stood out to me were SSBM, SA2B, The Jak & Daxter games, SSX, Star Wars Battlefront I and II, and the list goes on. That being said, this generation was still good.
Thanks to PSN, I can get retro style games that replicate the experience back in the day. Examples being Super Stardust HD, Soldner X 2, The Gundemonium Collection, Hard Corps: Uprising, Critter Crunch, Shatter, and the list goes on. If it wasn't for PSN I wouldn't own quite as many games, and wouldn't you know it, these games can offer a similar or better experience for the stuff that retails at $60.
Yes, graphics advancements are great, but it's the games that are the most important, and quite honestly, 90% of the retail games that have come out are utter, boring crap. In games like Infamous, I just run around the open world questing away with no real penalty for screwing up, even on the hardest difficulty. Why? Because there are so many checkpoints. Dying has virtually no effect on your progress. Just get back up and start murdering again. I don't need to be extra careful. I don't have limited lives or anything of the sort. There are no game over screens. You see, as an old school gamer I always felt rewarded for completing a worthwhile challenge, and while I acknowledge that challenge has not completely dissipated, it has become a lot more scarce.
As alluded to earlier, the dickery of companies has been dragging gaming down as a whole, from 100kb on the disk paid DLC to online passes to stupidly restrictive DRM. Companies will tell you that it's doing business. But it's not. It's simply avarice. It does nothing but poison the experience of the end user.
Most of us would have probably agreed that DLC was a good thing as it was being introduced. But it's safe to say we all didn't anticipate the scam age we were entering. It's unfortunate it had to be this way, because this factor has lost companies SO many sales from me it's almost absurd. For example, I love Castlevania. Castlevania: Harmony of Despair has come out on PSN. A demo finally came out (I like to try before I buy, as I've been far too disappointed on too many occasions by impulse buying), I liked it, so I go and check the add-ons, and they appeared to cost more than the game. You know, if I want to buy something, I want the meat and potatoes and the side item all in one, hearty portion. I don't want to add on the potatoes and side item for a couple of extra dollars each. That said, I didn't buy the game, but I'll definitely reconsider if they bundle everything together. There are some exceptions though, like Disgaea 4 because once you become OP, the DLC is basically worthless as you'll max out those guys in no time.
One last thing because I'm tired. I didn't see anyone allude to this (or maybe I'm just dumb), but the cost of game development is absolutely ludicrous. Thanks to the exorbitant costs, more and more studios are closing. You need to sell more copies then ever in order to turn a profit. The best thing that we can hope for in the future is that these costs somehow go down, then, the developer has more money to make games, quality games could come out at a faster rate, and the consumer has more money to spend on games, because they could possibly be cheaper. The cost is the biggest factor for me in the future, because that is what allows developers to take risks in the industry. We all know this, one bomba = lots of lost dollars, lots of lost jobs, and lots of disappointment on both parties.
Note that I'm not condemning this generation as a whole. I had lots of fun with it and continue to do so with this day. I'm hoping, and it's probably a stretch, that all the downs I mentioned fix themselves in the near future, in order to provide a much better experience to the developer and the gamer.
Thank you.
Kitschkraft
Member
Overall I'm disappointed. The industry still feels pretty immature overall and when you also consider all of the annoying dlc and unlockable and pre-order etc stuff and it just feels like we've lost more than we have gained from a consumer perspective. Some of the netflix/HBO go stuff on live is fantastic but when it comes to what you got for your dollar for games only...I feel concerned about next gen.
Content wise, like I said, immature. So many avenues that could have been taken, developers are certainly polishing the existing genres, but does anyone else feel as though we've seen pretty much all where going to get out of this current crop of "heavy hitters"? I know the game had many issues, but I can't stress enough that Heavy Rain felt like one of the few games this gen that was trying to go for something a bit higher than a Michael Bay level of entertainment. Losing the adventure genre really hurt from this perspective. We are destined to shoot/drive/fight forever.
I don't want to sound overly dramatic, and I know that nobody has any reason to care, but since the topic is on our thoughts about the current cycle with a bit of future looking as well...I can honestly say that I probably won't be interested in next gen consoles until HEAVY price drops, assuming we get the same kind of content that we're getting now. I can't be fucked to play just another flashy army shooter.
Edit : Thinking about it some more, Mirrors Edge also gets some special recognition from me (I don't care what they say, that game was meant to be played without shooting anyone). Portal as well. Limbo actually wasn't that revolutionary gameplay wise but atmosphere and tone was amazing.
Content wise, like I said, immature. So many avenues that could have been taken, developers are certainly polishing the existing genres, but does anyone else feel as though we've seen pretty much all where going to get out of this current crop of "heavy hitters"? I know the game had many issues, but I can't stress enough that Heavy Rain felt like one of the few games this gen that was trying to go for something a bit higher than a Michael Bay level of entertainment. Losing the adventure genre really hurt from this perspective. We are destined to shoot/drive/fight forever.
I don't want to sound overly dramatic, and I know that nobody has any reason to care, but since the topic is on our thoughts about the current cycle with a bit of future looking as well...I can honestly say that I probably won't be interested in next gen consoles until HEAVY price drops, assuming we get the same kind of content that we're getting now. I can't be fucked to play just another flashy army shooter.
Edit : Thinking about it some more, Mirrors Edge also gets some special recognition from me (I don't care what they say, that game was meant to be played without shooting anyone). Portal as well. Limbo actually wasn't that revolutionary gameplay wise but atmosphere and tone was amazing.
Yes and no. This is the first console generation I actually experienced first hand, having never owned a console before some of my friends convinced me that I should buy an Xbox 360 at launch. Initially, it was okay, I loved PGR3, but the rest of the early games were rather terrible for the most part. Graphically it wasn't nearly what I thought it would be either. More disappointing than that was the pricing of everything, the 400 for the console wasn't so bad, but then you had to pay for Xbox Live, and all the accessories cost a ton, and the games are expensive as hell etc. How anyone can use cost to argue for the Xbox 360 is still beyond me, because in my mind, unless you rarely play them or stick with one game a year, gaming on a 360 gets expensive as hell.
Okay, so initially sort of disappointing, after that, it got worse. My 360 broke, sent it back under warranty of course. When I got a replacement back it was a console that was clearly already broken, the DVD drive would scratch anything in the drive. Thankfully it was just Dead Rising that got destroyed, a game I had no intention of finishing anyway. Sent it back again. Got a console back after that that worked fine for half a year or so, until it broke as well. Due to MS being flooded with other broken consoles on an unheard of scale at that point it took weeks for them to get it back to me, although they did give me a free wireless headset to compensate (which turned out to be rubbish quality). The console I got back after that lasted for a year and a half before it broke, by then out of warranty.
Because despite the failures I had been enjoying some 360 gaming, like Gears of War (yay co-op), Crackdown (yay co-op) and Saints Row 1/2 (yay co-op), PGR4 and Forza 2, I did buy a replacement console then. Felt like more of a waste not to do anything with all the accessories and games I owned by that point. The elite I bought then (RE5 pack, boy was that the wrong choice) has been working fine ever since. That said, as the number of good (console) exclusives kept dwindling, I've been playing on it less and less. Nowadays, I would say that 90% of my 360 on-time is use of its media centre extender functionality. With only a small number of good exclusives left and being completely outdated graphically, I just don't see much of a use for my 360 right now.
I will say however that, perhaps foolishly, I haven't really checked out XBLA since the first year or two. I just feel like I get enough small indie titles via Steam, at considerably lower cost to me. Never got Kinect either, because I'm fairly confident that even with the Nyko lens thing, I'd have space issues. Some Kinect stuff looks pretty fun though. Oh, and I have to definitely give praise for the 360 controller, which is just so comfortable to use. I've used dualshocks and Wiimotes at friends, but I hate using the dualshock for anything, and I hate using the Wiimote for pretty much anything that isn't Wii Sports (Resort). 360 controller is good enough that I regularly use it for PC games that could be played with mouse/KB just fine.
I don't know if I'll buy a console again next generation, but if I do, I'm pretty sure it won't be a Microsoft console unless they really change things up. The main impression I get with the 360 is that cutting corners is like the corporate philosophy of the Xbox team, and there are few things I hate more than that.
Okay, so initially sort of disappointing, after that, it got worse. My 360 broke, sent it back under warranty of course. When I got a replacement back it was a console that was clearly already broken, the DVD drive would scratch anything in the drive. Thankfully it was just Dead Rising that got destroyed, a game I had no intention of finishing anyway. Sent it back again. Got a console back after that that worked fine for half a year or so, until it broke as well. Due to MS being flooded with other broken consoles on an unheard of scale at that point it took weeks for them to get it back to me, although they did give me a free wireless headset to compensate (which turned out to be rubbish quality). The console I got back after that lasted for a year and a half before it broke, by then out of warranty.
Because despite the failures I had been enjoying some 360 gaming, like Gears of War (yay co-op), Crackdown (yay co-op) and Saints Row 1/2 (yay co-op), PGR4 and Forza 2, I did buy a replacement console then. Felt like more of a waste not to do anything with all the accessories and games I owned by that point. The elite I bought then (RE5 pack, boy was that the wrong choice) has been working fine ever since. That said, as the number of good (console) exclusives kept dwindling, I've been playing on it less and less. Nowadays, I would say that 90% of my 360 on-time is use of its media centre extender functionality. With only a small number of good exclusives left and being completely outdated graphically, I just don't see much of a use for my 360 right now.
I will say however that, perhaps foolishly, I haven't really checked out XBLA since the first year or two. I just feel like I get enough small indie titles via Steam, at considerably lower cost to me. Never got Kinect either, because I'm fairly confident that even with the Nyko lens thing, I'd have space issues. Some Kinect stuff looks pretty fun though. Oh, and I have to definitely give praise for the 360 controller, which is just so comfortable to use. I've used dualshocks and Wiimotes at friends, but I hate using the dualshock for anything, and I hate using the Wiimote for pretty much anything that isn't Wii Sports (Resort). 360 controller is good enough that I regularly use it for PC games that could be played with mouse/KB just fine.
I don't know if I'll buy a console again next generation, but if I do, I'm pretty sure it won't be a Microsoft console unless they really change things up. The main impression I get with the 360 is that cutting corners is like the corporate philosophy of the Xbox team, and there are few things I hate more than that.
a Master Ninja
Member
I really thought fighting games would look a lot better than they do.
CambriaRising
Member
I really had a lot of fun this gen. I definitely bought and enjoyed more games than I did before. Of course this is the first gen where I had my own disposable income to spend on basically any game I wanted, when I wanted it. I think a lot of people are in the same boat as me and because they can get any game whenever they want now, it loses some of the charm.
I definitely have not spent as much time with individual games this gen than last gen for a few reasons, and not even one of them being because they were lacking in content, or weren't good.
I definitely have not spent as much time with individual games this gen than last gen for a few reasons, and not even one of them being because they were lacking in content, or weren't good.
ChiefofCitadelSecurity
Member
Nah, not really. There's been some hella good games this gen
Assassins Creed
Mass Effect
Deus Ex: HR
Uncharted
Red Dead Redemption
Valkyria Chronicles
Batman
and more
Like others have said, it's probably disappointing if you care about certain japanese games. Those guys had a huge hold on my library last gen with most of them being jrpgs. I gotta give the western devs their dues. They showed their ass something fierce this gen.
I didn't give too much of a shit about these guys last gen but now?
Assassins Creed
Mass Effect
Deus Ex: HR
Uncharted
Red Dead Redemption
Valkyria Chronicles
Batman
and more
Like others have said, it's probably disappointing if you care about certain japanese games. Those guys had a huge hold on my library last gen with most of them being jrpgs. I gotta give the western devs their dues. They showed their ass something fierce this gen.
I didn't give too much of a shit about these guys last gen but now?
Kitschkraft
Member
I felt this way as well. It seems like they should be damn near photo-realistic by now, with so little going on, on screen. Obviously, this would create it's own problems (Characters floating up in the air for 3 seconds looks silly enough, the more realistic the games look, it will probably get worse).
Imagine Naughty Dog making a fighting game...would look incredible.
DICKS AHOY
Banned
Besides the death of a few studios I loved growing up with and the advent of shady DLC dealings, this was probably also my favorite generation. Resurgence in platformers (and fighters, though I only really got into them this generation), tons of franchise revivals, still a lot of great experimental games like Portal and N&B and personally it's the first generation where I've gamed just as much on my PC as I have on my Wii/360/PS3.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
It´s funny how the op does not even mention small independent developers who released many great games on different platforms. I think that was the biggest plus of this generation. These small studios brought a lot of innovations to games. It´s very wrong to dismiss this important positive change this gen.
I guess you'd be disappointed if you wanted the same pace of progress as before. there has been a lot of great games but nothing really fresh or new in the mainstream. The great 'blockbusters' are mostly following trajectories from previous gen, with all the effort put into presentation and making it a better experience. The are many small indie games that are great, but apart from Portal, there aren't many where i see ideas that filters through and change the medium as a whole.
It's not fair to expect the leap that there was in PS1 and N64, in Mario 64 and OoT, but the maturity in the tech isn't replaced by other leaps forward in gameplay. the dominant genre isn't anything new; compared with GTA or Halo even, CoD seems a bit like a regression.
The Wii and also the iOS has changed the gaming landscape, but looking at things now, i don't know if gaming with offer anything fresh enough in the next ten years to keep me from getting bored with it.
It's not fair to expect the leap that there was in PS1 and N64, in Mario 64 and OoT, but the maturity in the tech isn't replaced by other leaps forward in gameplay. the dominant genre isn't anything new; compared with GTA or Halo even, CoD seems a bit like a regression.
The Wii and also the iOS has changed the gaming landscape, but looking at things now, i don't know if gaming with offer anything fresh enough in the next ten years to keep me from getting bored with it.
Mushroomer25
Member
I'm sure it's been brought up at some point in the last 4 pages, but what generation HASN'T been a let down?
Promises for consoles, and their respective AAA titles will always be massive, and they will ALWAYS fail.
Promises for consoles, and their respective AAA titles will always be massive, and they will ALWAYS fail.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
I dont know really but I know the end of it is disappointing the next year or 2 seem bland as fuck.