FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT VIDEO GAMES.

- I'm tired of 3D and high res graphics. Its a total drain on game budgets (which are ludicrously high now), makes publishers risk-averse, requires that everyone has a Pentium 8 with 6 GB of RAM and a 1 Gb dual-graphic card just to play (or an overheating console). So the only games we get are Street Fighter 12 and Soul Calibre 18 and Madden 2009 and Generic FPS #13427 and other "safe" franchise games. Or, on the flipside, shitloads of Peggles and Zumas and other 1970s era "mini"games which are overpriced, generic, bland and more common than gophers on the prairies.

The industry is becoming Hollywood Jr., but without all of the commercial outlets that movies have (Theatres + 2nd run theatrs + rentals + retail + TV rights)

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1683.msg26603#msg26603 date=1218059736
-It's really too bad that the Dreamcast sank when it did. It was ahead of it's time in a lot of respects; online support, VMU, awesome concepts for games, and even it's controller design. It was Sega's last great song, in my opinion.

Too bad they forgot about the copy protection, a lesson learnt years ago over here. The cost of hardware (CD burners and the like) may have meant something for earlier systems but not when the Dreamcast appeared.

(Plus the Dreamcast didn't have Segata Shanshiro as its mascot, who is the most fucking awesome mascot ever conceived)

author=Feldschlacht IV link=topic=1683.msg26603#msg26603 date=1218059736
-It kinda sucks that all of these great games are being released for the DS, when the PSP has much better hardware. I guess there's a good reason for it, but it still kinda sucks. Maybe I'm just not much of a handheld gamer.

I don't think the most powerful hardware has ever won a generation war, at least post-NES. Plus I heard many horror stories about the PSP on its first releases (and Sony's then-usual headuptheass response) to the point where somebody threw their PSP against the wall because the DPad wasn't working and it fixed it.

author=kentona link=topic=1683.msg26609#msg26609 date=1218060460
Thank god for Megaman 9.

Still not sold on this. The Rockman no Constance MM2 hack was incredible and was a by far funner game than the later Megamans (and harder. God damn was it harder. Fucking Wily tank...).


Bionic Coommando Rearmed on the other hand...

- Radiata Stories is underrated. It was adorable and had fairies, plus the environment had a lot more character than most RPGs give theirs, probably because of how small it kept the world and how it kept an actual clock.

- Why are games like Metal Gear Solid, which from what I can tell eschew the elements of video games in favor of (mediocrely) stealing elements of movies, are held up as examples of the potential for video games to be art, but games like Etrian Odyssey, which seem to be all about genuinely creating a compelling gaming experience for people who enjoy video games by people who enjoy video games, are not?

- Everyone always whines about companies whoring out old IPs. But they never buy new IPs until it's already too late to save the companies that made them. Case in point: Okami. Clover's gone, though Capcom absorbed some of the employees and maintains the license and even released a Wii version....that no one bought. We will probably never see another game like Okami, because no one would buy it. Probably not TWEWY either.

- If I never hear the word "gimmick" applied to a video game again, I would be very pleased. It's gotten as bad as "cliche." In fact, it's gotten to the point that I basically stop reading someone's opinion about a game as soon as they say it. Half the time it seems to be a complaint about games that focus more on exploring an unusual gameplay mechanic....which seems like exactly what games are supposed to be about. You know. When it's not about hours of prerendered cutscenes.

- It's really a shame that most games based on movies or TV shows are such utter trash. There are plenty of cases where the concept is ripe for amazing games, but because the companies involved are so concerned about exploiting the license fast enough to capitalize on the volkgeist of the other properties in the franchise, they all end up being crap. Nickelodeon's Avatar has great material to work with for making some pretty awesome games, but I'll bet we won't see one (especially not while THQ has the license). Unless someone picks up the property for nostalgia in ten years or something. While on the subject of TV/Movies and Video Games: I wonder if the Muppets are going to make it into Kingdom Hearts at some point, since Disney apparently owns them these days?

author=kentona link=topic=1683.msg26607#msg26607 date=1218060307
- I'm tired of 3D and high res graphics. Its a total drain on game budgets (which are ludicrously high now), makes publishers risk-averse, requires that everyone has a Pentium 8 with 6 GB of RAM and a 1 Gb dual-graphic card just to play (or an overheating console). So the only games we get are Street Fighter 12 and Soul Calibre 18 and Madden 2009 and Generic FPS #13427 and other "safe" franchise games. Or, on the flipside, shitloads of Peggles and Zumas and other 1970s era "mini"games which are overpriced, generic, bland and more common than gophers on the prairies.

The industry is becoming Hollywood Jr., but without all of the commercial outlets that movies have (Theatres + 2nd run theatrs + rentals + retail + TV rights)

author=kentona link=topic=1683.msg26609#msg26609 date=1218060460
Thank god for Megaman 9.

I find it humorous that you bitched about companies only making sequel or retro games and then praised a retro game on its ninth iteration, not counting off-shoots.

author=Darken link=topic=1683.msg26639#msg26639 date=1218085850

author=Shadowtext link=topic=1683.msg26628#msg26628 date=1218074140
- Why are games like Metal Gear Solid, which from what I can tell eschew the elements of video games in favor of (mediocrely) stealing elements of movies, are held up as examples of the potential for video games to be art, but games like Etrian Odyssey, which seem to be all about genuinely creating a compelling gaming experience for people who enjoy video games by people who enjoy video games, are not?

Wait... Metal Gear Solid is a game?

That comment hurts me, though I do have to say that MGS4 had a large amount of time devoted to cutscenes. Including a subliminal messaging commercial with a pink octopus attempting to rape japanese girls who fire a harpoon at it.

author=Darken link=topic=1683.msg26621#msg26621 date=1218069230
-There also needs to be more CO-OP games, it gets pretty boring owning your friends (or your friends owning you, depending on who owns the game) on competitive multiplayer. And not the CO-OP games like Contra where it just seems the 2nd player is there for extra firepower (though they're still fun), but rather CO-OP play where the 2nd player is NEEDED to plow through (like giving your pal a boost over a huge wall). Stealth co-op games would be rad too.

Its called Splinter Cell, great stealth co-op mode that spawned the famous Bob and Steve series. Bob,"I am Thoraxe God of Thunder" Steve,"Thoraxe, isn't that a part of an insect?" Bob," Feel Thoraxes wrath! (Throws a load of flash grenades)"


-Also, I wish that there would be a Kotor 3

-And, damn EA and Activision stole a giant portion of my PC games by taking over all the RTS companies, dispanding them, then continuing on with their series completly ruining them. I miss my Westwood, the least I can say is atleast they reformed into Petroglyph studios and their new headquarters is in sniping range of the old Westwood building (Now EA Pacific Studios).

-Its becoming way to hard for new small game making companies to form and make new games and still get a profit out of it, and its absolutely impossible for them to meet todays extremly high graphical standards that all the big companies make or for the most part make actual games for consles that aren't 5 dollar downloads in the online consle stores, and any good ones that form are taken over by EA(Last seen trying to take over Take2Studios so they can get the Grand Theft Auto Series). That needs to change.

I wish RPGs would focus on more artistic aspects that don't need a focus on graphics.

Storytelling method for example. It seems that most are told in cutscenes, which isn't even a method of the interactive medium, but taken over from film. I wish game makers would really look closely at Dragon Quest VII and see what they did with the rate of dialogue that changes. I wish the whole "talking" system was focused on and completely revamped (constant new dialogue, overhearing conversations, NPCs well thought about). This could take the Dragon Quest style of storytelling able to tell a more complex story. Remember splitting up in towns in Star Ocean 2 (could you in the others?) What an amazing idea. Remember walking four steps to the next 10 minute cutscene in Final Fantasy X? How unimaginative. The art of video games isn't found in telling stories in movie chunks.

I wish companies would stop making 3D games because I always get ill when I play them! How I miss pre-rendered PSX days ... and pixel SNES times ... Sigh.

Its becoming way to hard for new small game making companies to form and make new games and still get a profit out of it, and its absolutely impossible for them to meet todays extremly high graphical standards that all the big companies make or for the most part make actual games for consles that aren't 5 dollar downloads in the online consle stores, and any good ones that form are taken over by EA(Last seen trying to take over Take2Studios so they can get the Grand Theft Auto Series). That needs to change.

I think it really depends on how you approach it. Aveyond 1 and 2 were both successful. A good non-maker example would be Aquaria.

author=GameOverGames Productions link=topic=1683.msg26641#msg26641 date=1218086466
-Its becoming way to hard for new small game making companies to form and make new games and still get a profit out of it, and its absolutely impossible for them to meet todays extremly high graphical standards that all the big companies make or for the most part make actual games for consles that aren't 5 dollar downloads in the online consle stores, and any good ones that form are taken over by EA(Last seen trying to take over Take2Studios so they can get the Grand Theft Auto Series). That needs to change.

Funny, I keep hearing how we're entering a golden age of independent gaming because what with digital distribution on all the major platforms, the entry costs are becoming incredibly small. Plus most gamers don't expect state of the art graphics from XBLA, WiiWare or PSN titles. I have no idea about the expectations of PC Gamers, but I think Steam attempts to create the same sort of environment there.

But then PC gaming has always been sort of schizophrenic, so I imagine you could find an example of any point you wanted to make about PC gaming.