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[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I'm playing an old game called Ghost of Yotei.
Still gotta get back to an even older game called Hell Is Us.

 

[xenosys]

That's just the way the gaming industry is nowadays. Too many games fighting over limited real estate.

Even AAA titles, outside of a chosen few, can't hold the zeitgeist for more than 2 weeks at a time.

Death Stranding 2? Ghost of Yotei? AC : Shadows? Everyone's moved on already.

The only one that seems to have any staying power this year is E33, and that's because of the insane word of mouth off the back of an underdog IP.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Imo most AAA releases nowadays are too derivative and play just the same as the last one. There's nothing interesting nor new innovations so what are you going to talk about? You play them, beat them, talk about them for a day or two and move on to the next game.

 

[Signalis]

Yes, we get a reminder in a few week of how many copies have sold and then it fades from memory.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I am in the same boat

I play new releases for a bit and as much as I hate to say it I am already kind of bored of BF6 and ARC Raiders and have been playing more World of Tanks and Hell Let Loose than the new games.

 

[EDMIX]

Yeap algorithms tailoring a unique experience for each user does not help. The 90s culture of everyone watching the same stuff and talking about it at the water cooler is largely dead.

came here to say this.

Some of us are old enough to had saw both sides of that, so I'm happy I got that experience of going into school on a Tuesday talking about Monday Night Raw from WWF (miss me wit dat E shit) lol I'm happy we got that "all eyes on" xyz experience, cause nothing else is like that. With the internet putting everything in little echo chambers, people are stuck in their own little nitches and worlds and imho, they don't get to have that experience of a massive cultural release of something where everyone is talking about it or socially participating in that conversation.

The algorithm is a recency beast, only caring about what the latest is, regardless of quality.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

came here to say this.

Some of us are old enough to had saw both sides of that, so I'm happy I got that experience of going into school on a Tuesday talking about Monday Night Raw from WWF (miss me wit dat E shit) lol I'm happy we got that "all eyes on" xyz experience, cause nothing else is like that. With the internet putting everything in little echo chambers, people are stuck in their own little nitches and worlds and imho, they don't get to have that experience of a massive cultural release of something where everyone is talking about it or socially participating in that conversation.

The algorithm is a recency beast, only caring about what the latest is, regardless of quality.

My friend in high school would listen to the spoilercast thing from the WWE website the day before the show, and then he'd bet people at school on the outcomes . . .

 

[Fbh]

Talking about the latest release generates the most engagement, that's true for both content creators but also forums like GAF. And as much as some people on GAF like to complain about there being no games and everything sucking, the truth is that outside our bubble we are being bombarded with tons of games. Most games only have like 1 week to be in the spotlight before they become old news as something new releases and conversation moves on:

These past 2 months alone we've gotten:
Hell is Us, Silksong, Cronos, Borderlands 4, Dying Light The beast, Hades 2, Silent Hill F, FF Tactics, Ghost of Yotei, Digimon, Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders, Ball X Pit, Pokemon, Ninja Gaiden 4, Vampires The Masquarade 2, The Outer Worlds 2 and probably another 5 smaller games I'm forgetting.

 

[Da1337Vinci]

Talking about the latest release generates the most engagement, that's true for both content creators but also forums like GAF. And as much as some people on GAF like to complain about there being no games and everything sucking, the truth is that outside our bubble we are being bombarded with tons of games. Most games only have like 1 week to be in the spotlight before they become old news as something new releases and conversation moves on:

These past 2 months alone we've gotten:
Hell is Us, Silksong, Cronos, Borderlands 4, Dying Light The beast, Hades 2, Silent Hill F, FF Tactics, Ghost of Yotei, Digimon, Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders, Ball X Pit, Pokemon, Ninja Gaiden 4, Vampires The Masquarade 2, The Outer Worlds 2 and probably another 5 smaller games I'm forgetting.

Damn I forgot Hell is US and Dying Light the beast came out recently. I thought they were next year.
Way too many games.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

To be fair, everything is forgotten in 1-2 weeks. It's how things are these days.

This is my first time being active on a forum in decades and I've definitely noticed it in the OTs I'm in. It makes me a little sad.

 

[Punished Miku]

These past 2 months alone we've gotten:
Hell is Us, Silksong, Cronos, Borderlands 4, Dying Light The beast, Hades 2, Silent Hill F, FF Tactics, Ghost of Yotei, Digimon, Battlefield 6, Arc Raiders, Ball X Pit, Pokemon, Ninja Gaiden 4, Vampires The Masquarade 2, The Outer Worlds 2 and probably another 5 smaller games I'm forgetting.

I'll be quietly leaving some continued impressions for Bounty Star, Little Rocket Lab, and 1000xRESIST in obscure threads.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Concord is not.

 

[Deerock71]

Ocarina of Time remake is coming. That won't be forgotten.

 

[BigBeauford]

I feel this more in 2025 because there have been so many bangers released this year, which doesn't feel like I could say the same about the previous few years.

 

[John Bilbo]

Try to free yourself of the hype cycle

 

[The Cockatrice]

I havent forgotten a lot of big titles, quite the contrary, Cyberpunk played it every since its release, same with ER, BG3, etc. You move on from some games and you remember others, it always has been like that, you're all just getting older.

 

[nemiroff]

I don't get it. How is this quantified, what is the impact, what are we or the market supposed to do. This is more about perception than anything measurable. I grew up without internet, games had a shelf life back then too, word of mouth faded fast unless something stood out as special. Now we just see that cycle play out in real time. Doesn't mean much, just that attention moves quicker.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Quite the opposite. In the PS2 era, sales would be near zero after a few months post release. Nowadays games go on to sell for years and even decades. Look at Switch games, GTA5, Red Dead 2, etc.

 

[DreamcastSkies]

I feel like the heart of gamers are largely Millennials and Gen X-ers (no offense to our brothers and sisters a bit older than that or younger than that, you all matter too) and I think we're just busier than we used to be plus more content (in general, beyond games) is made.

 

[WaterOnix]

Yeap algorithms tailoring a unique experience for each user does not help. The 90s culture of everyone watching the same stuff and talking about it at the water cooler is largely dead.

That's definitely part of it, the concept of "Must-See TV". You watched or did something because literally everyone was doing it. You did it even just for discussion's sake. Media is much more fragmented now, which has upsides and downsides.

Another part of it I think is most media directly incentivizes pushing the new over the old, even among recently released games, because it's solely driven by money rather than being even partly cultural or for genuine love of whatever topic is covered. e.g. the bastardization of sports media over the past few decades. Every year there must be a new, hot QB that's the second coming of Joe Montana, only to be ignored and replaced by the new fresh narrative next season. The degree of exaggeration has gotten ridiculous. So if all that matters is getting eyeballs for ad dollars, the new thing will always win out. Part of what I like about gaf is that older OT threads can be bumped for quite a while, but we're a forum and not conventional media.

 

[KàIRóS]

Millennials finding out for the first time Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren't like them.

 

[JayK47]

Well 12 new games come out every week. One or 2 of them being notable. Then gaming forums and influencers are only going to talk about the latest shiny thing. Then gamers only care about the latest shiny thing. By time I finally play a fully patched fully finished game, nobody is talking about it. It sucks, but I do not want to pay $70 for a new buggy feature incomplete game. It is crazy to me how many people rush out to beta test games, paying a ton for the privilege. And the obsession with concurrent players. Good grief. Like I need to play a game when it comes out.

 

[dorkimoe]

this is exactly why all these multiplayer games constantly are a bad idea, people cant play everything

 

[kpopSuperstar]

Absolutely, we are just a few months away from Switch 2 lanching with a new Mario Kart and even that feels old by now.

 

[nemiroff]

came here to say this.

Some of us are old enough to had saw both sides of that, so I'm happy I got that experience of going into school on a Tuesday talking about Monday Night Raw from WWF (miss me wit dat E shit) lol I'm happy we got that "all eyes on" xyz experience, cause nothing else is like that. With the internet putting everything in little echo chambers, people are stuck in their own little nitches and worlds and imho, they don't get to have that experience of a massive cultural release of something where everyone is talking about it or socially participating in that conversation.

The algorithm is a recency beast, only caring about what the latest is, regardless of quality.

I still have those cultural watercooler talks with people at work even today. TV, movies and games are brought up across the lunch table all the time, like f.ex. Squid Game. But yeah, I get it, the frequency and chance of other people having experienced the same shit it is of course lower.

 

[Alebrije]

I'm playing an old game called Ghost of Yotei.
Still gotta get back to an even older game called Hell Is Us.

Still playing those!!???

 

[Northeastmonk]

I love new games, but I get where you're coming from. It's not like we are still talking about SILENT HILL f or Ninja Gaiden Ragebound. Borderlands 4 was like some weird dopamine hit for the wastelands and now it's crickets. Khazan was being played a lot and now nothing. Final Fantasy Tactics was amazing, but it's crickets. Ninja Gaiden 4 was awesome, but what else is there to say about it now? It's almost like this online clout did itself in.

There's 2026 stuff that I'm excited about like NiOh3 and RE:R. That's not coming out for a few months. Why do I have to fast forward everything? I'm still enjoying games these days and there's a ton to play.

Influencers are all over the place now. You've got your sports influencers, your multiplayer shooter influencers, and then just random people bringing up whatever. They all beat to the sound of the same drum and then they move on. The publisher pushes out free copies, it gets some exposure and then it's onto the next hot game. You end up losing money if you didn't get to play it or you only bought it cause of their overhyped attitude.

What sucks for the industry is you've got games taking years to make, get lost in the pile because you made the decision to buy another game that looks better. What I don't want is fake hype or some influencer saying BS just cause that's what's sponsoring their channel. It's like, "wait a few weeks and this won't be talked about at all".

I remember when the Call of Duty team used engagement to defend the comment during the TGA about it being a short campaign. Yeah it's cool for them to say that, but it isn't making gaming great when your product has such a short shelf life. Your game could be copy/paste but gain a million players. It didn't make gaming great. It just meant they got paid this week.

 

[calico]

Fascinating how many apparently did not understand Exp33.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

True it seems every game even big ones come and go throughout this year like AC Shadow, Death Stranding, even Mario Kart among many others. E33 seems to be the only game that's still being talked about awhile after release and I'm not even into E33 so never pay attention to it yet I see it being bought up time and time again.

2026 will be the year when games actually won't be forgotten since the true big and great games will be coming out that year like GTA VI, RE9. Midnight. And then follow up with Witcher 4 and Elder Scrolls VI for the year after and Half Life 3 will either be 2026 or 2027. All these games will definitely have a lasting effect.

 

[rm082e]

When I try to have water-cooler-talk with my co-workers about games, they're talking about a bunch of titles on Steam that I've never heard of, in genres I don't typically play. The only thing we really connect over are games we played in the distant past when there was more of a monoculture.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Clair Obscur does this with ease.

SW2?

That the bizarre thing... if you compare with the games i cited... not even close. Im not questioning the quality of the games or SW2 for that matter (heck, Ill start to play TOTK on my SW2)... but post launch hype looks a think of the past (and again... that's is strange to see :-D)

 

[Liopleurodon]

I can say a thing, or two about some games, but overall, I am just not in mood to argue, or discuss stuff with people.

 

[RCX]

Yep, there's too many games.

Stores need to build higher barriers to entry. 90% of whats released on them is crap

 

[Grildon Tundy]

In a lot of ways for many people, marketing IS the product. You are buying into hope of a fulfilling future based on manufactured hype. Then the game hits, and, for some people, the hype carries over into the lived experience of playing the game, overlooking its flaws.

That residual hype is still there, until the spell of marketing wears off and reality sinks in.

I miss that anticipation sometimes, but once I started thinking of marketing as a form of persuasion/suggestion/hypnosis not necessarily for my benefit, the illusion broke.

 

[NeverYouMind]

At some point everything worth discussing about a new game has been done to death so there is little point. Due to front loaded sales that point is reached sooner. It is hopefully still being played in private though.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

 

[viveks86]

Thanks, TikTok!

 

[Hari Seldon]

I never understood why people willingly become slaves to marketing. Like you guys realize you are being manipulated right?

 

[Kacho]

At some point everything worth discussing about a new game has been done to death so there is little point. Due to front loaded sales that point is reached sooner. It is hopefully still being played in private though.

this

There's only so much to discuss after the first week or so. Enjoy your games in private at your own pace.

 

[mckmas8808]

Just a general observation about the AAA scene in 2025, without any particular title in mind.

The hype cycle for every major AAA game remains strong in the months before release, but once the game comes out, all major discourse around it just ends abruptly, usually after most of the day 1 buyers complete their first run. And apart from the most hardcore fanbase and your typical YT "why <X> killed the franchise" or "<X> is secretly genius" it barely gets mentioned later on unless it's prime for the GOTY awards.

Are there just too many games to play nowadays? Too many disappointments? Or is our attention span getting shorter?

It's just you and others that are "online" too much. Get out the house and smell some fresh air. Talk to humans every once in a while. Real people aren't forgetting games after 2 weeks.

 

[mckmas8808]

Yeap algorithms tailoring a unique experience for each user does not help. The 90s culture of everyone watching the same stuff and talking about it at the water cooler is largely dead.

Comments like these are why I love GAF. It's something I never get on Twitter. Literally the PERFECT response to the OP.

I never understood why people willingly become slaves to marketing. Like you guys realize you are being manipulated right?

They have no idea man. Especially if they are under the age of 25.

 

[Platinumstorm]

There are oodles of games. I am a decade "behind" on playing games I've purchased.

The proliferation of maintenance gaming where we're stuck doing tasks for various old games masquerading as content is also unhelpful and cannibalizing to the industry.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

That's how it was back in the day. Sales would tank after like 2 weeks until the first price cut.

 

[Lokaum D+]

It was on the level of "it's all a dream" or the St. Elsewhere snowglobe finale. Hack writing.

If you think E33 has bad writing, 99% of other games must be peak retardation by your standards.

 

[Danjin44]

Maybe you guys have short term memory if you forget about games you played this quickly?

 

[LavitzSlambert]

Rhat's not just you but I've been noticing this for 4 or 5 years now and it may have begun longer ago. That's the problem of having an industry where there's too much game releasing all the time. Unless your name is hollow knight or elden ring, you get some hype for one week and then it's over.

Even some of the biggest games don't seem to have a ton of lasting impact. Elden Ring was a phenomenon and I'd expect to see a lot more discussion a couple years later.

Many people prefer the anticipation. Once it is out you need something new to anticipate.


Personally I am still working through SILKSONG. and I post in the thread with my progress.

I'm with you, I tend to arrive to the OTs before release but then show up as I play through. So many people rush through the game right upon release and move on within a week or two, where as I'm still in the middle of my first playthrough and enjoying it. It's nice to have others who are working through at that pace to discuss with (or even to lurk and read about) - so thanks, and keep it up!

Yeap algorithms tailoring a unique experience for each user does not help. The 90s culture of everyone watching the same stuff and talking about it at the water cooler is largely dead.

Too many games and very specific markets. I think it's a good thing overall, there are many games that wouldn't have been greenlit. That said it does mean we aren't all playing and discussing the same games the way we did when there were only a handful of worthwhile releases per year like back in the N64/Gamecube days. Even the PS2 had a huge library, but there were tentpole games that everyone was playing and talking about.

When I try to have water-cooler-talk with my co-workers about games, they're talking about a bunch of titles on Steam that I've never heard of, in genres I don't typically play. The only thing we really connect over are games we played in the distant past when there was more of a monoculture.

I see this happen all the time, and it seems to skew to a younger audience and those who are being "influenced". It's a flavor of the month rotation for games that are kind of neat but lack staying power. Recent examples like Lethal Company, Peak, Ball x Pit, etc.

 

[dragonyeuw]

Yes and its the same with movies/ TV nowadays. Everything just feels like a wave of endless content constantly fighting for your attention so it takes something really special or unexpected to be more than a fortnites talk( like Ex33 fo.r example). And we've more or less conditioned ourselves to always be looking for the next thing or just take your time and appreciate what's immediately in front of you.

 

[Alan Silvestro]

Too many games.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Millennials finding out for the first time Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren't like them.

No need to make the distinction between generations. Even on places like Gaf, hype dies down quite fast for every release and i'm sure most people in here are millenials and gen x i'm sure.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Lots of great games released this year. Personally i cant even keep up.