The future of online gaming... more payment?

[Will]

Oblivion...Fallout 3.  Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.  Morrowind.  Mass Effect 1 & 2.  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2!  Yes, I've played those games, and it is possible to make them.  The current market trend, however, is for video game companies to make games that make them money based on your average gaming consumer; ie: average being males between 18-25 who want nothing more than a casual gaming experience rather than an in depth, immersive game with high replayability (like those listed above).  And those who crave a great storyline, well rounded characters, and (God forbid!) good game play are the ones left scratching our heads at the crap that lines the store shelves of Best Buy and Walmart.

The problem could be fixed.  But it won't.  Instead, we'll come out with games that take four hours to beat or their replayability is entirely in an online basis (and thus was born the dreaded MMO).

That's, like, your opinion, man.  /Dude

Seriously though, "the crap that lines the store shelves" must be appealing to someone, or it wouldn't be selling like hotcakes.  The industry is going downhill from your point of view, while from the point of view of those casual gamers you talked about, it's getting better all the time.  It isn't a "problem" for everyone.  I guess time will tell if it's a problem for enough people to cut into the developers' profits.

[Jude]

I think I probably got the title wrong--it's been a long time since I played any of the old WRPGs, but there were a lot of them that are basically the ancestors of the Elder Scrolls and other modern WRPGs.  Quest for Glory and Ultima are probably better examples (they even had character importing).

[Jude]

That's, like, your opinion, man.  /Dude

Seriously though, "the crap that lines the store shelves" must be appealing to someone, or it wouldn't be selling like hotcakes.  The industry is going downhill from your point of view, while from the point of view of those casual gamers you talked about, it's getting better all the time.  It isn't a "problem" for everyone.  I guess time will tell if it's a problem for enough people to cut into the developers' profits.

Actually, video game sales are in decline, especially by casual gamers.  It's starting to look like the casual gaming market is about as reliable as the housing market.  Bubble burst.

EDIT:  I guess we'll see for sure in 2 months when Kinect and Move come out, but I'm predicting they'll be massive failures.  Why would someone pay nearly the price of a Wii just for accessories that make the Xbox and Playstation act like a Wii?

[Inkidu]

I'll agree that they're totally over-saturating the market. Guitar Hero is like the Starbucks of the video game world. There's probably going to be a small bubble bursting of some franchises but that's the great thing about video games. When one franchise goes it's rarely going to crash the whole market. Id, Bioware, EA, 2K, Faraxis, hell even Lionhead are probably going to live. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are going to come out smelling like roses.

What I think is happening (despite market spamming) is that the gamer generation is growing up, like I said earlier, we're not kids anymore we can't devote the kind of obsession we used to (the average person mind you) so I think the market is just reacting to how much time the (average person) player wants to spend playing a game.

[Wolfy]

All that I know is this Shovelware crap needs to stop.

And I'll tell you why.

Look at this.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=77932&loc=dsslider3

Yes. you are seeing that right. It's a Chuck E. Cheese game.

Gentlemen...I do believe the gaming industry has hit Rock Bottom...and went further down.

[Inkidu]

But Chuck E. Cheese was started by Noland Bushnell the founder of Atari. So more like it has come full circle... creepy.

[Wolfy]

O_o...That is some Zen stuff right there, man..o-o

[Nyarly]

Yes. you are seeing that right. It's a Chuck E. Cheese game.

Gentlemen...I do believe the gaming industry has hit Rock Bottom...and went further down.

Gentleman...I think you are talking bullshit.

I mean what is this? Some random licensed (Apparently. I have no idea what this Chuck E. Cheese stuff is.) party game consisting of some mini games, which is probably bad.

[SarcasmMode]Wow. Something like this never existed before. It just has to be the death of video games.[/SarcasmMode]

[Hemingway]

Paying for online play?

Ha-ha.

I'd probably pay to play Call of Duty: Black Ops - for about a month or two. I mean, it's an insult. You're selling a product, and because you're not selling enough, you're going to increase the price to make up for it?

I'm glad I prefer single player games to begin with.

[Wolfy]

It's not the fact that it's a bunch of branded mini games...it's the fact that the branding comes from a 'restaurant' of all places...

I mean really..that is an all time low. o-o

The only thing that I can remember that was similar was the old NES Mcdonalds game.

[Wolfy]

Paying for online play?

Ha-ha.

I'd probably pay to play Call of Duty: Black Ops - for about a month or two. I mean, it's an insult. You're selling a product, and because you're not selling enough, you're going to increase the price to make up for it?

I'm glad I prefer single player games to begin with.

Tis why I'm sticking with Halo: Reach for my Online Shooter. That or Medal of Honor...if EA can get their damn "Dedidicated" servers working right. >_>

[Will]

Chuck E. Cheese is an American thing Nyarly, and yeah, it's actually pretty odd that they made a game for it. O.o  Though, the old 7-up Spot game was similar in oddness.

[Inkidu]

O_o...That is some Zen stuff right there, man..o-o

Karma's a bitch and then you die. (Not the Karma, just karma.)

[Nyarly]

It's not the fact that it's a bunch of branded mini games...it's the fact that the branding comes from a 'restaurant' of all places...

I mean really..that is an all time low. o-o

The only thing that I can remember that was similar was the old NES Mcdonalds game.

Believe it or not: That wasn't the only one.

I can remember a time, where you had to pay for most such advertising games. Granted they were mostly much better...

Like a platformer based on Kellogs, a German adventure game trilogy (which actually promoted acceptance to foreigners), an action-adventure based on... Tobacco or something like that or a Froggers-clone from a bank.

Ah, the nostalgia...

[Lady Annabelle]

Though, the old 7-up Spot game was similar in oddness.

If I remember correctly, that was actually a pretty good game.  It had some good music on it.

Yeah, licensed games have been around since Kool-Aid Man and probably before...

[Will]

If I remember correctly, that was actually a pretty good game.  It had some good music on it.

Yeah, licensed games have been around since Kool-Aid Man and probably before...

*nodnods* I enjoyed it.

* Will thinks about finding the rom.

[Inkidu]

Then there was the Checks Cereal game that used the Doom engine. From what I heard it was fun. My family never bought Checks so I never got to play. Games have been selling out since the Atari.

[Nyarly]

I played that one. Is quite good, but sadly very short.

[Inkidu]

I played that one. Is quite good, but sadly very short.

Well what do you expect. It came in a cereal box. :D

[Nyarly]

I downloaded it from a site. This brand of cereals doesn't even exist in Germany.

[Jude]

Restaurant gaming doesn't get any better than Yo Noid, though to be fair Yo Noid was something else entirely in Japan and when they ported it they changed it to the Domino's mascot theme for some inconceivable reason.  That was on the NES, so it's not like older generations haven't seen partially-commercialized piles of crap.  Still, the same thing happened on the Atari and was a sign of things going to crap (then again last-gen and early this-gen there were Burger King games).

[Inkidu]

Restaurant gaming doesn't get any better than Yo Noid, though to be fair Yo Noid was something else entirely in Japan and when they ported it they changed it to the Domino's mascot theme for some inconceivable reason.  That was on the NES, so it's not like older generations haven't seen partially-commercialized piles of crap.  Still, the same thing happened on the Atari and was a sign of things going to crap (then again last-gen and early this-gen there were Burger King games).

Thanks Jude, I had almost wiped those creepy B.K. games from my mind. Thanks a lot...

[Nyarly]

Well, there were a lot of other crappy games, which contributed to Atari's demise and the American video game crash. While the E.T. game is the most famous of them, there were, for example, many horrible "porn games" (if you even can call it such with graphics like that). Like a certain game called "Custer's Revenge"...

[Inkidu]

I know that marketers are pushing the limits of what a person is going to spend on games and gaming paraphernalia and I wouldn't be surprised if there was another micro-crash. Just look at Star Craft 2. They're making people pay sixty bucks for each campaign as they release them (we all know how sketchy Blizzard can be). They're not going to get any real new blood in the franchise and the hardcore can only take so much strain. 

[Jude]

Unless each contains different online offerings, everyone will only buy 1 of the 3, then pirate the other two.  I guess it's understandable though, why they're going for that, PC gaming just isn't that profitable because of piracy.