What are the reasons games seem to be getting worse in Quality?

[Magusigne]

I just wanted to get some opinions.

In the early days of gaming...the sierra franchise..and the general gaming world circa 1990's it seems like the games were at least 10 times better than they are today. I'm wondering if anyone feels the same and has an opinion as to why this is? I have two hypothesis'

A) I am just getting burnt out and growing out of games and therefore the current generation of games is looking inferior to old school games

or

B) Developers now focus more on graphics rather than novel systems and storyline as in the past (early fallout series and D&D) because graphics were fairly standard across the board.

 

[Maximilian]

EA is the core problem. They wrecked many of the good franchises of 10 years ago.

 

[Xavier434]

I think that at least some of the reason has to do with how much the consumer base has changed over the past 15 years alone. The devs need to appeal to that base a lot more now and in a different way. In general, a lot more people are playing games which means it is a lot harder to create a title that appeals to most of the base.

The other reason I believe is that there is a much greater influence from stock holders on the publishers now. It has always been about money but not nearly as much as it is today. Just look at how the music industry was 30-40 years ago and compare it to today. The video game industry is following its own path which is not to say it will follow the exact same one as music, but the reasons that the changes occur is quite similar.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: Maximilian
EA is the core problem. They wrecked many of the good franchises of 10 years ago.

I think this might be a large part of the problem..that and the fact World of Warcraft was created. Blizzard..one of the last makers of good games today has a clinch on the market and holds onto developing and producing SC2 and D3 until the WoWer's lose their addiction.. there only competiion is there one games I think.

 

[Genx87]

I am in the same boat. I think a lot of it falls into my getting older. But also it comes down to all of these games have the same basic gameplay with better graphics. COD4 so much different than COD3 or 2 or the original? Same basic idea, different look.

MMORPGS are really bad at this. How many non-fantasy based MMORPGs are there?

EVE
Planetside
City of Heroes\Villains
??????????

The rest are all the same basic dwarves, trolls, humans, elves fighting it out.

 

[9mak9]

i think a huge problems is when all of these new movies come out (i.e. Iron Man, Hulk, Transformers, etc.) and the industry rushes these games to come out by release date and they just suck so much.

-Some of the problems are repetitiveness in so many games creates boredom
-Quick releasing causes so many problems that a patch is the only way to make the game playable
-No innovation, if it ain't broke don't fix it motto. Which is true if something works leave it alone but with the Fallout 3 example people don't want a repeat of Oblivion and thats what many people see
-Too many problems with DRM and illegal downloads are turning fans away and sales are dropping, making industries try and stay away from PC
-Games now all seem to be graphics first everything else second...graphics add a nice feel to the game but are low on my list of what I want in a game

A lot of the time companies make games and then hardly take a second glance...Blizzard has stuck with their 3 games and bring out quality all for each of them while other companies make a dozen inadequate games a year. What CDproject did in upgrading the witcher for free (if you owned it) is what others should def look into, and I respect them for it.

 

[waggy]

1) lack of competition. but when a company has a hit it seems to be baught out by EA who pops out a shitty game every eyar

2) more interested in eye candy then a good game (also a problem in console games)

3) drm (and pirating)

 

[Modelworks]

It is a shift in focus to bigger titles and money over quality.
Back when gaming was at some of its finest, you had maybe 3 or 4 guys sitting around working non stop to produce a game they had a passion for.

Now its teams of 60 people who get paid a salary , with 50 people that could care less if the game play is great, as long as they get a paycheck.

There are exceptions. Look at smaller developers and Indie game developers and you will find that there are a lot of games that still show the passion for making a game that is fun .

Then you have the publics expectation that every game must have excellent graphics or they will not even give the game a try.

My favorite quote I heard from a publisher" I need great graphics , I can't sell game play on the back of a box."

Unfortunately the pc doesn't get that many games released compared to consoles so when a bad title comes out it really hurts the perception of the pc as a gaming platform.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

They've been bad games since I've had memory (aprox 21 years), and there will continue to be bad games. I suspect that the rate of good games has stayed the same while the overall rate of games being made has increased. Also, EA using slash and burn tactics with every good game development company it could get it's hands on doesn't help the situation.

 

[emilyek]

Early video games were made by true nerds; the kind who went to MIT, who were the sons of astronauts, who often had tabletop roleplaying and strategy games in mind when they went to program, and who read books.

They grew up as a select bunch and catered to a select audience. The PC was then a number cruncher, a learning tool, and a word processor owned by above average folks-- it wasn't just another piece of household entertainment equipment.

As a result, early PC games all participate in a nerd elitist ethos un-self-consciously and without embarrassment. It's what makes them great.

The big-corporate-ization of the industry (like EA, Activision, Vivendi, Ubi, etc. ) has killed that spirit. It's all now a huge egalitarian money machine, egalitarian because it wants everyone's dollars.

Also worth noting: a desire for games to seem more like movies and the graphical capability to support that desire has intersected with this big business aspect.

So while games used to have roots in DnD and books and learning software and math apps, they are now being designed with aspirations to be the next summer blockbuster. This moviefication is already triumphant and is irreversible, so soon we will have (if we don't already) a situation perfectly analogous with Hollywood moviemakers versus independent filmmakers, with brainier people feeling unserved by the stuff that is churned out by big studios.


It's my pet theory that in the years to come, and probably sooner than later, semi-independent European developers will be making the best PC titles. They will be slightly wonkier than the next inevitable installment of the 50m dollar Space Marine vs. Alien Invader cinematic shooter, but they will resemble true PC games more than the cross-platform ports that pass for them here in the US. PC gamers will flock to them, and the big publishing boys won't really understand it, since they've totally lost sight of their roots.

And if this reaction is big enough to hurt their wallets, the EAs of the world, when they catch wind of it, very well may make a half-assed attempt to cash in on it by whipping up phony 'independent' studios to cater to PC gamers.

It will be mocked, and fail, rightly.

 

[ViviTheMage]

it's getting to corporate, everyone's trying to make a quick buck....even if it means destroying a good franchise, or acquiring another company and changing how the game is.

 

[Schadenfroh]

1. Demand for graphics quality over game quality: Pretty graphics sell well for the 360 / PC / PS3 group.
2. Dumbing-down of games: Most people do not like to think when playing games. This is why you see arrows pointing to the place you need to go for your quest (like Oblivion) instead of journal entries and other clues about where to find your objective. Regeneration in shooters like CoD4 and Uncharted : DF cause considerably less thought to be placed on conservative battle tactics. If you get hurt, just hide for a few moments and you will be healed again!
3. Shorter Games: Games are getting shorter as the population's attention span shrinks.
4. Games for everyone: Companies are increasingly catering to non-traditional gamers in an attempt to increase sales, alienating traditional gamers.
5. Ship now, patch later: This is starting to occur on consoles in addition to the traditional problems on the PC. As more people get broadband access, publishers can save money / time on a title by shipping it before it is finished and patching it later if it is a hit.
6. Cut content: Similar to #5, except it usually does not get patched in and if one is lucky, it will come as a $30 expansion pack (or $5 DLC for a piece of the cut content) a year later if the game did well in sales.
7. Franchise milking: Sequel / prequels to existing IP rather than creating new IP. This is perceived as far safer since the franchise recognition is already in place and they can use a formula that they know will work.
8. Quality control: Similar to 5 and 6, but this is an extreme case of both. This occurs when the game should have never seen the light of day. This is usually closely associated with #7.
9. Cannibalization: Focusing on action and "casual" games more than all of the other genres (aside from sports) combined by a large margin. Action and casual games are easier / quicker to make than (real) RPG or (non-action) Adventure games. All the developer has to do is add randomly generated levels to an action game to increase the length of it.

 

[Rakewell]

All excellent points.

My hope is that the industry will school on the success of projects like Bioshock, whose success came out of nowhere in the industry, IMHO.

 

[PeanutButter]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
1. Demand for graphics quality over game quality: Pretty graphics sell well for the 360 / PC / PS3 group.
2. Dumbing-down of games: Most people do not like to think when playing games. This is why you see arrows pointing to the place you need to go for your quest (like Oblivion) instead of journal entries and other clues about where to find your objective. Regeneration in shooters like CoD4 and Uncharted : DF cause considerably less thought to be placed on conservative battle tactics. If you get hurt, just hide for a few moments and you will be healed again!
3. Shorter Games: Games are getting shorter as the population's attention span shrinks.
4. Games for everyone: Companies are increasingly catering to non-traditional gamers in an attempt to increase sales, alienating traditional gamers.
5. Ship now, patch later: This is starting to occur on consoles in addition to the traditional problems on the PC. As more people get broadband access, publishers can save money / time on a title by shipping it before it is finished and patching it later if it is a hit.
6. Cut content: Similar to #5, except it usually does not get patched in and if one is lucky, it will come as a $30 expansion pack (or $5 DLC for a piece of the cut content) a year later if the game did well in sales.
7. Franchise milking: Sequel / prequels to existing IP rather than creating new IP. This is perceived as far safer since the franchise recognition is already in place and they can use a formula that they know will work.
8. Quality control: Similar to 5 and 6, but this is an extreme case of both. This occurs when the game should have never seen the light of day. This is usually closely associated with #7.
9. Cannibalization: Focusing on action and "casual" games more than all of the other genres (aside from sports) combined by a large margin. Action and casual games are easier / quicker to make than (real) RPG or (non-action) Adventure games. All the developer has to do is add randomly generated levels to an action game to increase the length of it.

Speaks the truth!

 

[BladeVenom]

Microsoft and The Xbox are one of the major culprits. They have influenced many PC game designers to make console games, so half the PC games now are dumbed down since they are also for consoles. They bought up several studios and franchises and now have stopped making PC games to concentrate on Xbox exclusives now. They have also stole a fair share of the PC gaming crowd by making console games more PC like, thereby reducing the number of PC gamers. They use to push PC gaming, now they are pushing console gaming at the PC's expense.

 

[Canai]

Originally posted by: Rakewell
All excellent points.

My hope is that the industry will school on the success of projects like Bioshock, whose success came out of nowhere in the industry, IMHO.

Bioshock, the spiritual successor to System Shock 2? Bioshock was utter shit compared to SS2.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
Microsoft and The Xbox are one of the major culprits. They have influenced many PC game designers to make console games, so half the PC games now are dumbed down since they are also for consoles. They bought up several studios and franchises and now have stopped making PC games to concentrate on Xbox exclusives now. They have also stole a fair share of the PC gaming crowd by making console games more PC like, thereby reducing the number of PC gamers. They use to push PC gaming, now they are pushing console gaming at the PC's expense.

I agree. Except Microsoft is now pretending they care about PC Gaming because they have a new operating system to sell. The trouble is, they've already pretty much salted the earth.

 

[9mak9]

this is part of the reason i play adventure games because i like the challenge and they are not dumbed down (some of them). I mean if you are playing a game and they tell you exactly what to do is a reason why games are shorter because you just follow the quest sheet and you are done...if quests took longer and were more difficult to finish then you would spend more time playing.

 

[LumbergTech]

I believe that the problem is a market saturation. I don't mean that there are too many games in relation to the number of players, what I mean is that the competition between companies is causing them to released half baked products. Games of the past used to be true adventures, and some still are, however, many of them are clearly someones vision that was never fully fleshed out.

 

[Rakewell]

Originally posted by: Canai

Originally posted by: Rakewell
All excellent points.

My hope is that the industry will school on the success of projects like Bioshock, whose success came out of nowhere in the industry, IMHO.

Bioshock, the spiritual successor to System Shock 2? Bioshock was utter shit compared to SS2.

I don't think it was "utter shit" next to SS2. There are similarities to both games; While Bioshock wasn't innovative in FPS structure, it did involve an unusual premise (1960 post-world war 2 era, with captivating atmosphere and storyline).

Besides, I cannot remember the last time morality has been an issue in a videogame successfully.

Bioshock is a helluva lot more entertaining than some of the other new crap that is out there.

 

[teb468]

I'd add achievements to the list. Some of the achievements are good and can actually cause you to play the game (differently/more then once) you have Achievement whores and crappy games that cater to them. Since most games have a decent amount of achievements that are easy to get, the more games you play the more you'll get even if the games suck.

 

[9mak9]

Originally posted by: teb468
I'd add achievements to the list. Some of the achievements are good and can actually cause you to play the game (differently/more then once) you have Achievement whores and crappy games that cater to them. Since most games have a decent amount of achievements that are easy to get, the more games you play the more you'll get even if the games suck.

Like in FO3 you collect the bobbleheads and they also keep track of everything you do, not sure if you get anything from it but its nice to see what you did. If games were as detailed as say GTA, you can play them for a long time.

A game like Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a very good game but it has so much replay value; you have so many characters to choose from, a specific mini game per character and then after you beat the game you can continue the game from the beginning at a higher level and increase your stats even higher.

 

[Martimus]

I am getting bored with the lack of variety. Nearly every game that is released is either a first person shooter, or a isometric view real time strategy game. Thos are fine, but I don't need 10,000 different versions of each. I have two options for a modern 4X game: Civilization 4, and Galactic Civilizations 2. I don't know of any modern adventure games, although I think Sam and Max might be one. Role playing games are rare, but a few have been released over the last couple of years, so at least that is coming back. Space fighter games like Wing Commander haven't been released in years. Mechwarrior has been released a little more recently, but even the last one of those was a few years back. So, if you want to play a FPS, you have as many options as you can think of, and if you like RTS, then you also have a good variety. For anything else, you need to buy an old game, because they just stopped making everything else for some reason.

 

[pontifex]

there have been several space fighter sim games released lately. Dark Star One is one of them that I can think of.

 

[Oyeve]

This happens every generation or so. Dry spells until the developers and publishers just fire all the boring uncreative people and then hire new talent. I was just thinking about this this morning when I was reading an old PC format mag from many years ago and there were adverts on flight sims, space sims, a bunch of genres we dont see anymore.