Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

[Vicman]

Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

Gaming IS mainstream. This is a fact that no one can reasonably deny. Yet many so called hardcore gamers cry that the quality of games has suffered because of this fact. Do you agree or disagree?

As a person who has been playing games since 1983 (that's 21 years for you youngin's) I think the charge that games are of lower quality due to the industry going mainstream to be utterly absurd. The advent of the casual gamer has brought gaming to heights unthought of. Due to the hoards of people who casually play & buy games the industry has exploded. Over time these casual gamers develop a love for gaming similar to other mainstream social interactions, movie going, sports watching, etc.
More and more games are coming out everyday and at such a rapid pace we can't keep track. And while there are tons of games, I find that these games instead of being of lower quality, as some might expect, are instead of great quality. So many awesome games are out and are coming out each month. The more gamers I talk to the more I find that they can't keep up with purchasing all the worthwhile titles that are heaped on them by developers. Gaming has never been better. Sure we pine for nostagic days of old but when you look at them with objective eyes you reckonize that it's your own bias and not the actual aesthetic value of the games that have changed. As an individual with nearly 300 games spanning 20+ years I feel secure in letting gamers know that they should cherish what's around them for there's never been a better time to game!

 

[SkyFinch]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

I think games have never lacked quality. But it all comes down to who makes them. One thing is certain, the video game industry is blessed with the fact that they’re rejuvenated every 5 years with the advent of new consoles. Unlike movies, developers only have those 5 years to “prove” themselves, and so, they do anything, and everything to make sure their games take full advantage of the technology. This usually translates into quality.

 

[pukka]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

its been pretty much the same, except with the whole mainstream thing, it means big coorporations dominate and the little man has no outlet. just like what happened with the music industry.

 

[Nastyman!]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

Well the reason there are more crap games now is because there is MORE GAMES being produced then ever before, your percentage of crap is going to raise as the over all percentage of titles being spit out every month increases. PC games have been doing this for a long time, for every 10-shit PC games made there is 1 good one. It's just how it works when you have so many people being available to develop for something.

 

[radiohead]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

i agree with your post vicman, but ive been gaming only from the days of the NES.

 

[skyjester]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

i think gaming industry is coming up. nowsaday children spend alot of time playing console game, online game compare to children in the past.

 

[Nastyman!]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

i think gaming industry is coming up. nowsaday children spend alot of time playing console game, online game compare to children in the past.

It's actually "coming up" becuase the adults of today are playing games and spending thier money on them, we all grew up with gaming and will probably be gaming for the rest of out lives. The adults before us however did not grow up on games and are more reluctant to play any.

 

[Smiley]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

I think that what with on-line gaming, that video games have indeed gone mainstream.
However, I can argue that the prettier a game gets, graphic wise, it seems to suffer in other areas. Like gameplay, controls, etc.
Back in the day, with the 2600 and colecovision, companies didn't care about how pretty the graphics looked, and focused on making a decent game....


Remember back in the early days of gaming that industry people predicted that computer would replace the home console?
This was of course back during the 2600 days, when Atari had killed the industry with poor games, and old console technology repackaged as 'cuttiing edge'

 

[Nastyman!]

Re: Gaming IS mainstream. Your opinion!

I think that what with on-line gaming, that video games have indeed gone mainstream.
However, I can argue that the prettier a game gets, graphic wise, it seems to suffer in other areas. Like gameplay, controls, etc.
Back in the day, with the 2600 and colecovision, companies didn't care about how pretty the graphics looked, and focused on making a decent game....


Remember back in the early days of gaming that industry people predicted that computer would replace the home console?
This was of course back during the 2600 days, when Atari had killed the industry with poor games, and old console technology repackaged as 'cuttiing edge'

That happens becuase of dev time, the art department usually suffers. So when they are the main focus of the game the programmers suffer. A perfect game balances both the art department and the programming department equally so that the most time by each is spent on the title.