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[Takamura-San]

This generation has more variety when it comes to gaming.

Name the kind of game that you like and there will be an option out there in this gen that represents that.

 

[black_13]

I found myself playing alot LESS this generation. Many of my favorite game series from last gen, had dissapointing sequels.
-MGS4
-DMC4
-God of War 3
-GTA4
-RE5
-Silent Hill 5(didn't even bother playing it)
-Prince of Persia
-Ninja Gaiden 2
-Halo 3
-Splinter Cell
-Jak and Daxter

And most of these titles had their debut or restarted the franchise last gen, while for this cycle, they were mostly rehashes of the same old. Same reason why most of the last gen version of these games got the HD treatment and released this gen because they were superior.

The main new game series I enjoyed this gen are probably
-Batman Arkham
-Call of Duty (decent last gen, even better this gen)
-Uncharted
-Dirt series
-Assasins Creed (even though its not that great)
-Condemned
-Gears of War (meh series but still ok)


Just look at the new game series started this gen. They don't compare to last gen new series.

 

[Dennis]

This generation has more variety when it comes to gaming.

Name the kind of game that you like and there will be an option out there in this gen that represents that.

lol pretty low bar there.....

Of course you could find every single genre represented at least by one game in an entire generation.

I am sure there is a text-only adventure game out there somewhere.....

 

[Dennis]

I played a lot less games this generation but in fairness this gen started, what 7 years ago, and in the mean time I have gotten busy with my career.

 

[Shig]

It's been great.

Last gen there were more games that looked interesting and called out to me to buy them, but when it came down to actually playing them, a great many of them ended up not keeping my attention for long. I have a ridiculous backlog of last-gen games, but when I browse them looking for something to play, mostly I end up groaning at the prospects.

This gen has a lot less games that will superficially make me say HOLY SHIT I NEED THAT at first sight, but way more that I'll totally get into and even *gasp* finish when I actually give 'em a shot.

 

[Pirabear]

Why do people use indie games to defend the industry as a whole? Indie games don't follow the industry's standards, that's why they're indie games.

 

[test_account]

This gen invented the dawn of indie devs which, at some point are going to overthrow publishers. This gen rocks

I doubt it. People still want games with high production values.

 

[Tain]

All the classic genres came back as indie games. [...] The indie boom erupted on all digital distribution platforms.

whoa whoa whoa. I've been pretty happy with 2D action games this generation, but the "indie" crowd hasn't been responsible for that at all. They haven't made many genuinely great games, let alone come close to filling in all the gaps.

 

[matmanx1]

We've never had as much diversity in the types of games available or in the amount of platforms available to play them on. I've played a ton of great games on a bunch of different platforms these past few years and had a blast doing it. No "gen" is perfect but I am far from disappointed by this one.

 

[Derrick01]

This gen invented the dawn of indie devs which, at some point are going to overthrow publishers. This gen rocks

Jesus I hope not. That's no better than this all motion control future I dread.

I doubt it. People still want games with high production values.

yup. I don't know why people can't be happy with both sides like we have now. I hate indie games but I'm not calling for their death.

 

[eshwaaz]

Jesus I hope not. That's no better than this all motion control future I dread.



yup. I don't know why people can't be happy with both sides like we have now. I hate indie games but I'm not calling for their death.

I'm totally with you (particularly your motion control sentiment). There have been no indie or portable games that have even come close to delivering the kinds of experiences I most enjoy. There's nothing wrong with the two co-existing, however.

 

[Gunmonkey36]

This gen invented the dawn of indie devs which, at some point are going to overthrow publishers. This gen rocks

That's illogical, honestly. A really successful Indie Developer will be pushed into being a full corporate dev studio, if that venture ended up being successful they would then perhaps publish smaller games. Thus your indie devs becomes publishers.

To think otherwise is to say that business itself would change drastically, and that people do not want to make money.

Even if the current publishers do somehow die out. New ones will replace them.

 

[Stumpokapow]

That's illogical, honestly. A really successful Indie Developer will be pushed into being a full corporate dev studio, if that venture ended up being successful they would then perhaps publish smaller games. Thus your indie devs becomes publishers.

To think otherwise is to say that business itself would change drastically, and that people do not want to make money.

Even if the current publishers do somehow die out. New ones will replace them.

But when those Indie Developers become publishers (Indie Fund, Mojang), they don't operate the same way traditional publishers do.

 

[NemesisPrime]

-No real revolutionary improvements in gameplay

Are you serious??????

 

[Manmademan]

Survival Horror places more emphasis on surviving. In re3 for example you spend a lot of time running from lickers, zombies, nemesis and so on. Often times you have to choose between fighting or fleeing. In Dead Space 2 you can just kill everything in your path and it's always the best decision. Both are great games but different enough.

Disagree. I always had more than enough ammo in RE to kill literally everything if I chose. Being skillful with headshots helps, but it's rare you're totally out of luck.

On the other hand Dead space (especially on higher difficulties) can be very stingy with ammo- especially if you're not smart about dissection- and if you got to the last section of DS2, your only option is really running like hell.

So it's all about how you play the game. There is no significant distinction here.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Survival Horror, fighting, Shmups, music, RTS.

Take fighting as a random example.

In the PS2 generation, there were several Street Fighter games, Marvel vs Capcom 2, several Guilty Gear games, some SNK stuff, Melty Blood, a few Tekkens, a few VF games, a few Dead or Alive games, two Soul Calibur games, and a bunch of Mortal Kombat. I'll also include Smash Bros just to sidestep that debate. I'm sure I'm missing a few things (Arcana Heart comes to mind), but just let's call this a representative sample.

Street Fighter -> Still around, 4 considered a renaissance of sorts by many
MvC -> still around, more prominent than ever
Guilty Gear -> Did exist for a while, decline, ASW now working on BlazBlue
SNK -> Less of a player but still around.
Melty Blood -> I'm pretty sure they're still releasing these.
Tekken -> 123 = PS1, 45 = PS2, 6 = current gen. TTT1 = PS2, TTT2 = current gen. If you count the PSP spinoff/port/whatever of 5 as last gen, and count the 3DS one as this gen, that's equal. Plus SFxT and TxSF.
VF -> Fewer installments, but VF5 is current gen
Dead or Alive -> Still exists current gen
Soul Calibur -> Still exists current gen
Mortal Kombat -> Fewer SKUs this gen, but MK2011 generally well received.
Smash Bros -> 1 last gen, 1 this gen.

Besides BlazBlue, Skullgirls will be a new fighting IP this generation. There's a lot of quantity, and many of these games have been pretty high quality. I'm not a fighting fan, so maybe you liked some of the older stuff better than the newer stuff, but in terms of quantity and reception, seems pretty on par. I guess Capcom is doing less low-tier stuff (no more Rival Schools, Darkstalkers, JoJo, etc) but I don't think you can conclusively say that that means fighting has dropped off as a genre.

And then there's the elephant in the room. Most fighting games are online now. Which is kind of a big deal.

 

[Manmademan]

Take fighting as a random example...

games, etc

outside of some "not a big deal" omissions like Mortal Kombat vs. DC universe (remember that?) and King of Fighters XII and XIII, you're spot on here.

that particular complaint made no sense, as I pointed out. Fighters are in the middle of a renaissance. no one in their right mind is complaining about lack of fighters.

Music games suffered from an OVERSUPPLY at the wrong time. There is no shortage, and if you count dance games (michael jackson: the experience, dance central 1 and 2, etc) continues to be a horrendous surplus- far more than in all previous gens combined.

Shmups have been dead since the 16 bit era and even then they were kind of on life support. Their heyday went with the death of the arcade. There's been one or two worth paying attention to per generation (einhander on ps1, Ikaruga on gamecube) but that genre is dead as a doornail.

and RTS? on a console? please. never should have even been mentioned.

 

[Deadstar]

The worst thing about this generation is that it is so expensive to create a new engine that every game uses the Unreal engine and has the same physics (HAVOK), graphics etc. There are exceptions of course but many of the games that came out this gen feel the same just with a different paint of coat. It seems like last gen you had games that did things no other game did, or physics that worked differently than any other game. It made the games better in my opinion.

Though we did get Demon's/Dark Souls, so by default, this is the best generation of all time since these are two of the best games of all time.

 

[TheSpoiler]

Take fighting as a random example.

In the PS2 generation, there were several Street Fighter games, Marvel vs Capcom 2, several Guilty Gear games, some SNK stuff, Melty Blood, a few Tekkens, a few VF games, a few Dead or Alive games, two Soul Calibur games, and a bunch of Mortal Kombat. I'll also include Smash Bros just to sidestep that debate. I'm sure I'm missing a few things (Arcana Heart comes to mind), but just let's call this a representative sample.

Street Fighter -> Still around, 4 considered a renaissance of sorts by many
MvC -> still around, more prominent than ever
Guilty Gear -> Did exist for a while, decline, ASW now working on BlazBlue
SNK -> Less of a player but still around.
Melty Blood -> I'm pretty sure they're still releasing these.
Tekken -> 123 = PS1, 45 = PS2, 6 = current gen. TTT1 = PS2, TTT2 = current gen. If you count the PSP spinoff/port/whatever of 5 as last gen, and count the 3DS one as this gen, that's equal. Plus SFxT and TxSF.
VF -> Fewer installments, but VF5 is current gen
Dead or Alive -> Still exists current gen
Soul Calibur -> Still exists current gen
Mortal Kombat -> Fewer SKUs this gen, but MK2011 generally well received.
Smash Bros -> 1 last gen, 1 this gen.

Besides BlazBlue, Skullgirls will be a new fighting IP this generation. There's a lot of quantity, and many of these games have been pretty high quality. I'm not a fighting fan, so maybe you liked some of the older stuff better than the newer stuff, but in terms of quantity and reception, seems pretty on par. I guess Capcom is doing less low-tier stuff (no more Rival Schools, Darkstalkers, JoJo, etc) but I don't think you can conclusively say that that means fighting has dropped off as a genre.

And then there's the elephant in the room. Most fighting games are online now. Which is kind of a big deal.

To add, as a big fighting game fan, these games have vastly improved for the most part.

SF4 is one of the most balanced games when you get to Super and AE. MK9 finally put the series in the serious light, and SCV is the first game in the series to have balance.

Last year, more than 1 million new viewers joined the EVO streams, and places like Chicago (where I live) have even more fighting game events.

Oh yeah, there is a Persona fighting game coming out by ArcSystem, and a new GG is possibly in the works. SNK MIGHT be down with another CVS when they cobble up the cash (since Capcom is still interest in doing so).

Darkstalkers players have to show that they want the game, but when that happens you can be sure Capcom will be all over that.

This is the best gen for fighting games in the actual gameplay sense, and that's what matters most.

 

[entremet]

In terms of Hardware QA is has been a disaster. PS3 phat--YLOD; 360 elite EC4. Wii still going strong.

 

[Atomski]

I put it down to lazy developers with dwindling imaginations.

... are people still ignoring indie/lower budget games?!?

 

[TheSpoiler]

In terms of Hardware QA is has been a disaster. PS3 phat--YLOD; 360 elite EC4. Wii still going strong.

The YLOD was never common and the Wii had some problems with games not reading the disc.

 

[squidyj]

I've been more disappointed with gamers this gen than I have been any other gen. Does that count?

 

[Manmademan]

In terms of Hardware QA is has been a disaster. PS3 phat--YLOD; 360 elite EC4. Wii still going strong.

YLOD has nothing on the PS2 Phat "Disc read error" debacle.

Or going back even further, remember when you had to turn the PS1 upside down as the drive wore out and died? fun times.

 

[Stumpokapow]

outside of some "not a big deal" omissions like Mortal Kombat vs. DC universe (remember that?)

Hah, I actually bought that a while ago and I still forgot about it, ahhaha

 

[TheSpoiler]

I've been more disappointed with gamers this gen than I have been any other gen. Does that count?

Funny, I'm writing an article about that right now.

But I may not even submit that considering how angry people get when you point at them.

 

[AzureNightmare]

five...no three years from now I'm willing to bet good money that there will be a thread claiming this generation is better than the next generation of consoles.

Funny, I'm writing an article about that right now.

But I may not even submit that considering how angry people get when you point at them.

Now you HAVE to publish that article. I really want to read it.

 

[Nemo]

But when those Indie Developers become publishers (Indie Fund, Mojang), they don't operate the same way traditional publishers do.

.

Unless publishers change their business models fundamentally they're going down the drain

I doubt it. People still want games with high production values.

As these developers grow, higher production values will come. It's growth has already been apparent in such a short timespan

 

[J-Rock]

Not to me.

Gaming journalism has been though.

 

[phisheep]

Oh good gracious me, no. We had everything going on all at once.

A whole host of interesting new approaches (Flower, Wii Fit, the stripped-down serenity of Endless Ocean); the whole revolution in motion controls being played out end experimented with before our eyes and in our hands, and three or four times over (Sixaxis, Wiimote, Kinect, Balance Board, Move); interesting takes on old genres (No More Heroes, Little Kings Story, Deadly Creatures); experiments that either worked or didn’t (Wii Music, Shaun White Snowboarding on Wii); massive graphical improvements (except on Wii, but including the 3DS); massively improved online.

We had clear distinctions in strategy and mindset between manufacturers and a bunch of real market tussles, probably the most exciting NPDs we’ve ever had until they stopped, a huge increase in market accessibility for smaller devs (Wiiware/XBLA etc) the return of old favourites through the Virtual Console, a massive increase in the number and demographic spread of gamers and a whole host of perpetually bemused analysts and increasing enraged and apoplectic journos.

Plus, in Link’s Crossbow Training we got the true spiritual successor to Duck Hunt.

What’s to not like?

EDIT: plus the return, big time, of local co-op - anyone for tennis?

 

[SouthernDragon]

Wait, did someone argue that fighters as a genre dropped off right when fighters are experiencing a resurgence? Am I taking crazy pills?

 

[TheSpoiler]

five...no three years from now I'm willing to bet good money that there will be a thread claiming this generation is better than the next generation of consoles.


Now you HAVE to publish that article. I really want to read it.

You got it. I'll post it up if this topic survives one more day.

EDIT: This has sparked a continuous feature. I'm starting to write for Bitmob (community writer, nothing special), so maybe they'll pull up my rants on the front page a few times. I'd like to start with the journalist, since they generally fuel (and sometimes start) the fires.

 

[Limanima]

I'm just curious what your thoughts on this generation were. I personally feel disappointing.


Followed by:
PS3/Xbox360/Wii
+Moderately Improved Graphics (sometimes PS2 games emulated with higher internal resolutions and filter effects looks as good)

What? The step from ps2 to ps3/X360 is huge.
Put a plus on physics.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

As a person who mainly plays Japanese RPG's and other JPN games.

Home Consoles: Yes
Handheld Consoles: Absolutely not, it has surpassed all my expectations.

 

[Manmademan]

As a person who mainly plays Japanese RPG's and other JPN games.

Home Consoles: Yes
Handheld Consoles: Absolutely not, it has surpassed all my expectations.

That's the thing. JRPGs aren't what they used to be, but gaming is bigger than just JRPGs. If that's all you play then yeah, you're in for some disappointment. But that's the way the industry goes- some genres explode and get a lot of attention, while others drop off. Shmups, Beat-em-ups, Mascot Platformers, and tetris clones used to be everywhere but gamers and gaming moved on.

Willing to branch out? play some wrpgs, some fighters, some music games, some open world games, some indie titles, some classic arcade, some stylish hard action?

There's no WAY this generation is a let down.

 

[test_account]

yup. I don't know why people can't be happy with both sides like we have now. I hate indie games but I'm not calling for their death.

Indeed. I have hardly checked out any indie games during the last few years, so i dont hate them, but i want both sides to excist =)

As these developers grow, higher production values will come. It's growth has already been apparent in such a short timespan

I dont think that we will see i.e Uncharted type of production value in indie games. It is pretty much impossible to get ~100+ people to work 40+ hours a week for 2-3 years without getting any salary. You need someone to pay them salary, and that is what publishers does.

What is wrong with publishers today by the way?

 

[Vrakanox]

Disagree. I always had more than enough ammo in RE to kill literally everything if I chose. Being skillful with headshots helps, but it's rare you're totally out of luck.

On the other hand Dead space (especially on higher difficulties) can be very stingy with ammo- especially if you're not smart about dissection- and if you got to the last section of DS2, your only option is really running like hell.

So it's all about how you play the game. There is no significant distinction here.

I usually just play on what ever the default setting is. Usually normal, although with re3 I remember the choices were easy and hard and I picked Hard. With games like Dead Space I guess I'll just have to up the difficulty to get that feeling. Someone posted this picture awhile back. I don't know where I saw it first but I always thought it did a pretty good job of showing the difference between the two genres.

 

[TheSpoiler]

I usually just play on what ever the default setting is. Usually normal, although with re3 I remember the choices were easy and hard and I picked Hard. With games like Dead Space I guess I'll just have to up the difficulty to get that feeling. Someone posted this picture awhile back. I don't know where I saw it first but I always thought it did a pretty good job of showing the difference between the two genres.

That picture is a bit wrong, in my opinion.

Parasite Eve wasn't really that scary. The monsters were disgusting and horrific, but I wasn't scared out of my mind since the combat was fairly easy and all about shooting stuff once you got into combat.

Silent Hill constantly gave you weapons. You even got a sub-machine gun! The atmosphere was scary, but that was toned down by getting lots of ammo. I never felt like I had to run like in 2.

I would say that Condemned 1 and 2 are pretty much on the horror side, the first more so than the second. You hardly get to use your gun, and when you do, it can be useless to the bum rushing bums that don't care. That bear sequences was stupidly scary, and the mannequin sequence was NOPE.JPG.

Other than that, I agree with most of the games on both side. Neither are the "correct" way, as I like both types.

 

[Cipherr]

This gen had Portal.


Stop complaining.

 

[Vrakanox]

Parasite Eve wasn't really that scary. The monsters were disgusting and horrific, but I wasn't scared out of my mind since the combat was fairly easy and all about shooting stuff once you got into combat.

I actually almost brought this up myself. I wouldn't have put either Parasite Eve game on there honestly. They were more like Horror RPGs which was cool but not really the same as survival horror. I just kind of use that list as a rough representation of the genres.

 

[dark_prinny]

No, It´s not. Gaming since 1982. I think is the best gen, so far, but we tend to think any past time was better which It´s totally wrong.

 

[Rahxephon91]

No, It´s not. Gaming since 1982. I think is the best gen, so far, but we tend to think any past time was better which It´s totally wrong.

So it's only right to think the future or present is the best?

Ok....

 

[dark_prinny]

So it's only right to think the future or present is the best?

Ok....

Nope. Just try to judge things acording at the time you´re living.

 

[FateBreaker]

This was definitely the best generation of gaming. I am a huge fan of JRPGs, and that was the only point that disappointed this gen, but it still can't top the insane amount of greatness coming from the past few years.

 

[Nemo]

What is wrong with publishers today by the way?

Publishers stifle innovation, unless it's a surefire way to sell, which pretty much means it's included in a package that's already proven itself before

I dont think that we will see i.e Uncharted type of production value in indie games. It is pretty much impossible to get ~100+ people to work 40+ hours a week for 2-3 years without getting any salary. You need someone to pay them salary, and that is what publishers does.

Sure, I won't deny it's impossible to have this on a grand independent scale right now, but on the other hand it's definitely possible for companies to grow into this with their own assets that they can use to fund

Other than that, you'll mostly see Uncharted type of production value in Uncharted type of games

 

[Rahxephon91]

Nope. Just try to judge things acording at the time you´re living.

Yes and in that way this gen is a disappointment and last gen was better.

 

[TheTowel]

Here's how I see it. Last generation to me was centered around the original Xbox and before that, the Dreamcast. With Xbox Live and the advent of online gaming, excitement was in the air. Sega going from 1st party to 3rd party was exciting. What could they do with their IPs on more advanced and established hardware? How would more powerful machines deliver a better online experience?

I'm not disappointed to say the least. I've enjoyed this generation thus far. Online play is well established, franchises I liked (Elder Scrolls, some FPS) are here to stay, ect.

But with everything gone mainstream, the games are incredibly streamlined. With no health these days, old strategy is out the window. Games like COD have stolen the market from the likes of Ghost Recon and the old Rainbow 6 series. Those old franchises, as they were in the past, are dead.

So there's good and bad here. Not a disappointment as a generation, but it did present disappointments.

 

[Gaborn]

I think people are too short sighted with motion controls. Have there been problems? Absolutely. But judging by the OP there is a lot of forgetfulness about past generations as well. Gaming tends to go through cycles of evolutionary generations and revolutionary generations.

Starting where the OP started, the 16 bit generation was evolutionary for the most part. It was a logical continuation of and perfecting for 2D and the very earliest start of 3D though not "true" 3D. The next generation was revolutionary, 3D was the standard and there were a lot of growing pains that came with that. Have we already forgotten the "camera buttons" on the N64 controller? Mario 64 was a wonderful game for the time but by modern standards the camera would make it unplayable much of the time. It was hardly the only game with camera issues either, it plagued the entire generation even though the technology mostly worked and showed it's potential. The next generation? PS2, XBox and GC all built on the strengths of last generation. 3D was "perfected" in gaming. Camera concerns were mostly gone and it became a lot more about what looked better, was frame rate smooth, etc. That's pretty much an evolutionary generation.

Now, talking about the current generation this SHOULD have been a revolutionary generation, and for one company it was that way from the start. Nintendo introduced motion controls as the standard for their system to give games a different feel, to open up new genres and to (hopefully) make some games play even better. Sometimes their games worked GREAT with motion controls, sometimes people panned them.

I think that the disappointment comes from Sony and Microsoft to be honest. Yes they introduced motion controls in their own ways late but really, everything feels too similar to last gen from them. Some people wanted (and in some cases EXPECTED) Nintendo to epically fail and "go third party" Can you imagine where the industry would be if that had happened? We'd be looking at a huge contraction of the industry if the 360 was the market leader with it's current world wide total right now. Nintendo saved the industry because Nintendo went in a different direction and didn't try to give consumers the same but moreso.

I think you can see that basic philosophy in Sony today in Vita. It's a great system technically speaking but then so was the PSP. I don't think it does things substantially different to add anything much to the industry to pique people's interests that DIDN'T care for the PSP. It just gives people more of the same they either liked or disliked.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Monster Hunter. It's the sole reason I own one. (two).

Eh thats not really the kind of JRPG I'm looking for, if it even is one. It's like recommending Demon Souls when I'm asking for more Final Fantasy X.

 

[Manmademan]

I think you can see that basic philosophy in Sony today in Vita. It's a great system technically speaking but then so was the PSP. I don't think it does things substantially different to add anything much to the industry to pique people's interests that DIDN'T care for the PSP. It just gives people more of the same they either liked or disliked.

Good points, but here I disagree.

It's become blindingly obvious that portable gaming is going to be dominated by the model that iOS and android are pioneering, and Sony is positioning the Vita to go after that market, and hard- where nintendo isn't.

Look at the philosophy with game distribution: Sony pushed hard for day one digital downloads on all games (where they didn't with the PSPgo), and is discounting them over retail. Keep in mind also that PSN has been developed substantially since the PS3 launched and is FULL of games playable on Vita *and* PS3, and available cheaply. Hell, Playstation Plus doles out games for *free* monthly, as long as you keep up the subscription- if you don't think that program was developed with an eye towards the $.99 games flooding the app store and android market, you're taking crazy pills.

The hardware is impressive, but there's a lot going on with the distribution and ecosystem that's been tooled specifically to compete with smartphones, and it's not just "more of the same".