3 ms·

Quite right. If there's a golden age of video gaming, we're living in it now. The sheer quantity of quality, innovative games out there is almost absurd.

by Lazare 5y ago

chronolitus 5y ago
I was reminded of this when I ended up on reddit's Unity development subreddit (https://old.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/top/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/top/) The daily amount of creativity, talent and technical ability blows my mind!
AlexandrB 5y ago
I disagree. There are previously popular genres that are either in sharp decline or basically dead (RTS comes to mind). Other genres (MMOs) have been almost completely taken over by games with freemium models and there are few options available if you're not into that. Finally, games on the world's most popular computing/gaming platform in the world (cell phones) are almost all freemium/gacha. This is extremely disappointing. The indie scene is, indeed, vibrant - but there's a limit to the kinds of games that can come from a small team with a small budget. Meanwhile, extensive monetization is creeping into more and more big franchises and studios. See: the recent Gran Turismo 7 controversy.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  But there have been so many games created that it's possible to spend ages just going through one's Steam backlog without having to bother with modern games. I'm currently playing Fallout: New Vegas and the original F.E.A.R. Who needs modernity?
- Lazare 5y ago
  > There are previously popular genres that are either in sharp decline or basically dead (RTS comes to mind). And other genres that are extremely popular that didn't exist a few years ago. Also, there are good new RTS titles out there, even if there's nothing with the popularity that Starcraft or whatever had back in the day. > Other genres (MMOs) have been almost completely taken over by games with freemium models and there are few options available if you're not into that. The most popular MMOs right now is likely FFXIV (not freemium), followed by WoW (not freemium). (Or it might still be the other way around; either way...) There are a lot of freemium model MMOs around, but most of them launched with a subscription model, failed to compete with the dominant subscription model MMOs, and fell back to freemium to try and survive. Taken as a whole, the genre is absolutely dominated by the subscription model; that's where the players and money is. And while no, there aren't a ton of subscription options, that's largely an inevitable consequence of the business model, which has vicious network effects. There isn't a freemium MMO developer out there that wouldn't trade a kidney in a heartbeat to become the next Everquest/WoW/FFXIV. Conversely, if WoW ever went freemium, it would be universally recognised as a sign of abject failure and a last attempt to try and stabilise the game financially before the servers get shut down. > there's a limit to the kinds of games that can come from a small team with a small budget The limit exists, but it seems to be ever receding into the distance. Valheim or Rimworld are both stunning, developed on a shoestring budget by tiny teams. > Meanwhile, extensive monetization is creeping into more and more big franchises and studios. You don't have to play games from the big franchises or studios.
nebula8804 5y ago
There is value in restricting quantity. The N64 being difficult and expensive to develop/publish for had an alluring charm because of how little it had. In the US, 297 titles spanning from September 29,1996 to April 30, 2002. Each game(even made by lesser known studios) was a deep experience that is memorable years later. Sure, this is not for everyone and even Nintendo can't do this model in 2022 but as I was just digging up my old console the other day, I am reminded at how special having so little was compared to today. In fact the amount of software on platforms today has made me think that I am just wasting my precious time and I have essentially given up on video games. I wonder if others feel the same. I guess the Ouya tried to replicate this but the ease of development hurt the console in my opinion. Too much software mixed with the same 24 hours in a day that everyone has leads to much of it never being experienced.

Quite right. If there's a golden age of video gaming, we're living in it now. The sheer quantity of quality, innovative games out there is almost absurd.

by Lazare 5y ago

Quite right. If there's a golden age of video gaming, we're living in it now. The sheer quantity of quality, innovative games out there is almost absurd.

chronolitus 5y ago

I was reminded of this when I ended up on reddit's Unity development subreddit (https://old.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/top/ https://old.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/top/) The daily amount of creativity, talent and technical ability blows my mind!

AlexandrB 5y ago

I disagree. There are previously popular genres that are either in sharp decline or basically dead (RTS comes to mind). Other genres (MMOs) have been almost completely taken over by games with freemium models and there are few options available if you're not into that. Finally, games on the world's most popular computing/gaming platform in the world (cell phones) are almost all freemium/gacha. This is extremely disappointing. The indie scene is, indeed, vibrant - but there's a limit to the kinds of games that can come from a small team with a small budget. Meanwhile, extensive monetization is creeping into more and more big franchises and studios. See: the recent Gran Turismo 7 controversy.

Apocryphon 5y ago
But there have been so many games created that it's possible to spend ages just going through one's Steam backlog without having to bother with modern games. I'm currently playing Fallout: New Vegas and the original F.E.A.R. Who needs modernity?
Lazare 5y ago
> There are previously popular genres that are either in sharp decline or basically dead (RTS comes to mind). And other genres that are extremely popular that didn't exist a few years ago. Also, there are good new RTS titles out there, even if there's nothing with the popularity that Starcraft or whatever had back in the day. > Other genres (MMOs) have been almost completely taken over by games with freemium models and there are few options available if you're not into that. The most popular MMOs right now is likely FFXIV (not freemium), followed by WoW (not freemium). (Or it might still be the other way around; either way...) There are a lot of freemium model MMOs around, but most of them launched with a subscription model, failed to compete with the dominant subscription model MMOs, and fell back to freemium to try and survive. Taken as a whole, the genre is absolutely dominated by the subscription model; that's where the players and money is. And while no, there aren't a ton of subscription options, that's largely an inevitable consequence of the business model, which has vicious network effects. There isn't a freemium MMO developer out there that wouldn't trade a kidney in a heartbeat to become the next Everquest/WoW/FFXIV. Conversely, if WoW ever went freemium, it would be universally recognised as a sign of abject failure and a last attempt to try and stabilise the game financially before the servers get shut down. > there's a limit to the kinds of games that can come from a small team with a small budget The limit exists, but it seems to be ever receding into the distance. Valheim or Rimworld are both stunning, developed on a shoestring budget by tiny teams. > Meanwhile, extensive monetization is creeping into more and more big franchises and studios. You don't have to play games from the big franchises or studios.

nebula8804 5y ago

There is value in restricting quantity. The N64 being difficult and expensive to develop/publish for had an alluring charm because of how little it had. In the US, 297 titles spanning from September 29,1996 to April 30, 2002. Each game(even made by lesser known studios) was a deep experience that is memorable years later. Sure, this is not for everyone and even Nintendo can't do this model in 2022 but as I was just digging up my old console the other day, I am reminded at how special having so little was compared to today. In fact the amount of software on platforms today has made me think that I am just wasting my precious time and I have essentially given up on video games. I wonder if others feel the same. I guess the Ouya tried to replicate this but the ease of development hurt the console in my opinion. Too much software mixed with the same 24 hours in a day that everyone has leads to much of it never being experienced.