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As someone who grew up in the Golden Age of video games, this makes me sad. You are no longer the player and the thing in your hand is not the game. The player

As someone who grew up in the Golden Age of video games, this makes me sad. You are no longer the player and the thing in your hand is not the game. The player is the company the game is you. Maybe it was always like so, and I was young and having too much fun to realize. It really does seem like the idea of painting rich immersive worlds with challenging skills to learn and master has been tossed aside, in favor of simplified Skinner boxes with the minimum required skinning of a game and pay to play. Even more sad is how successful these "games" are. A reflection of the times I suppose - no time for dawdling about reading story or exploring worlds, quick information and quick rewards please, because time is too important to waste.

drzaiusapelord 13y ago
I think its obvious that mobile is a ghetto. The touch based controls don't really lend themselves to anything complex gaming-wise and high-information gamers aren't ignoring their PCs and consoles for them. It just leaves low-information casuals who jump into whatever skinner box time-waster is popular today. In the meantime, the PC master race is having a renaissance of sorts and the new batch of consoles look pretty good.
- luckyno13 13y ago
  I have made an effort in the recent weeks to try to explore the popular titles, and even some obscure ones and I have to agree. I have always said that gaming on the go is not really anything I care about, as my PC is where I want to game. But with some life shifts I have found myself on the go a little bit more with some spare time and honestly, the Play marketplace offers a bunch of half assed efforts imo. There are games that are free, but pay to win. There are games that cost, but no way to know if they are worth a damn other than buying and going after your refund quickly. We wont even go into totally free stuff. So while you obviously arent on par with popular opinion, I agree with you. I for one am hoping that the shift to PC architecture in the new consoles will speed up our renaissance ultimately. Ive been having the most fun gaming single player lately than I have in a long time.
jbranchaud 13y ago
"... time is too important to waste" as we piss it away playing Candy Crush et al. So much effort has been made to streamline our lives and make every task as efficient as possible (if not eliminate it all together). We then suddenly find ourselves so bored that we have to fill it with hours of brainless smartphone games and low-quality television. We'll call it entertainment!
wpietri 13y ago
> The player is the company the game is you. This is great. > Maybe it was always like so, and I was young and having too much fun to realize. No, I don't think so. One way to look at it: previous generations of game companies were playing a cooperative, positive-sum game with their audience. By creating lots of fun and value, they could get high dollar-scores. Now, they are playing negative-sum games with the audience: by creating stress, compulsion, and addiction, they can extract money. If you haven't read it, you might like the book "Finite and Infinite Games". It's not about games in the sense we're discussing here; it's more looking at social philosophy through the lens of games.
- pirateking 13y ago
  Thank you for the book recommendation. I will check it out!

drzaiusapelord 13y ago

I think its obvious that mobile is a ghetto. The touch based controls don't really lend themselves to anything complex gaming-wise and high-information gamers aren't ignoring their PCs and consoles for them. It just leaves low-information casuals who jump into whatever skinner box time-waster is popular today. In the meantime, the PC master race is having a renaissance of sorts and the new batch of consoles look pretty good.

luckyno13 13y ago
I have made an effort in the recent weeks to try to explore the popular titles, and even some obscure ones and I have to agree. I have always said that gaming on the go is not really anything I care about, as my PC is where I want to game. But with some life shifts I have found myself on the go a little bit more with some spare time and honestly, the Play marketplace offers a bunch of half assed efforts imo. There are games that are free, but pay to win. There are games that cost, but no way to know if they are worth a damn other than buying and going after your refund quickly. We wont even go into totally free stuff. So while you obviously arent on par with popular opinion, I agree with you. I for one am hoping that the shift to PC architecture in the new consoles will speed up our renaissance ultimately. Ive been having the most fun gaming single player lately than I have in a long time.

jbranchaud 13y ago

"... time is too important to waste" as we piss it away playing Candy Crush et al. So much effort has been made to streamline our lives and make every task as efficient as possible (if not eliminate it all together). We then suddenly find ourselves so bored that we have to fill it with hours of brainless smartphone games and low-quality television. We'll call it entertainment!

wpietri 13y ago

> The player is the company the game is you. This is great. > Maybe it was always like so, and I was young and having too much fun to realize. No, I don't think so. One way to look at it: previous generations of game companies were playing a cooperative, positive-sum game with their audience. By creating lots of fun and value, they could get high dollar-scores. Now, they are playing negative-sum games with the audience: by creating stress, compulsion, and addiction, they can extract money. If you haven't read it, you might like the book "Finite and Infinite Games". It's not about games in the sense we're discussing here; it's more looking at social philosophy through the lens of games.

pirateking 13y ago
Thank you for the book recommendation. I will check it out!