#source engine

Ice Cube

Cursed

Wheatley Crab, but it’s Portal 2.

Having been an avid video game player since the 1980s going from the Atari 2600 with its limited yet entertaining quality, until recent days with more modern titles like Player Unknown Battlegrounds,Rocket League,Astroneer,Rainbow Six Siege; I was lucky to witness the evolution of PC and console titles from one milestone to the other.

There have been several paths taken by game developers in these long 30-plus years of evolved digital entertainment, many of which were represented by the old dilemma of short but rocky path or long but safe road. This helix of choices is the ongoing decision-making among developers and especially large publishers who have been influencing the gaming scene in the last ten to fifteen years.

I already wrote about poor in-game choices affecting the level of fun in games. Loot cases and quasi-gambling systems of random dropping virtually simulating casino roulette are everywhere. The fun is slowly dissipating from this realm. Video games are desperately trying to become the very thing they were never meant to achieve: reality with all its problems.

 From the user point of view the latest expensive titles published by EA,Ubisoft,Activision, have become an extension of their very own corporate identity: greed upon fun. Triple A titles delivered unfinished yet priced for top dollars video games to the crowd. Pressured developers under the lash of their publisher-owner are part of this issue.

Just like Polyphemus, the one-eyed Greek mythological creature, which we all know as the Cyclops; needy publishers can only focus on one objective within their own realm: profits. And just like this ancient figure, it can only go towards one objective because it has only one eye.

A publisher CEO approaching the meeting with the developers…

Game companies have to preserve their financial integrity making sure their earnings are sound enough to make more titles. Let’s make this clear. I’m not against it. Profits pay for everything and we ought to understand it. What becomes intangible is the lack of touch some companies display toward their customers and especially the loyal ones.

I don’t want to write another post ranting on the condition of the game industry, there are plenty around so I’ll get to the point, the point that grinds my gears. Why can’t the issue of gameplay be addressed to its core? Why are the gaming experiences dumbed down to forgettable titles that won’t last as they should? Why can’t I enjoy my game to the extent it was meant to be?

Just like your smartphone or microwave once it’s broken it’s not meant to be repaired anymore, but the industry expects you to constantly get a new one discarding everything else before. Long are gone the days when you could spike up your game with mods and tweaks like Doom,Half Life 2,Skyrim. Just to name a few.

Battlefield 1 came out two years ago and yet we already forgot about it. Despite being a great and innovative game, other publishers flooded the market to compete and we all too soon forgot about it. The Call Of Duty syndrome of one-a-year publishing has affected the entire market. We don’t have time to cherish and fully experience our games anymore because the next big hit is around the corner already eager to take your pre-ordering money.

Try now to play any AAA game and seek the fun. You can’t because developers are insisting on creating movie experiences for PC and consoles rather than enjoyable games. Players don’t want that, they want’ to be able to create their own stories and to remove their avatar away from the rail experience they have been locked into.

Gmod has delivered more fun out of one game engine for the past years than anything else…

Ultimately players want to be able to understand the game they are playing. They want to be fully immersed by a compelling story (see Mass Effect Trilogy) and by a game engine that allows them to go beyond the established interactions of the main narrative. Why? Because you shouldn’t ditch your game after completing the single-player campaign. You want to go back to it and be able to influence every bit of it so you can craft different stories to your own fitting. 

Gamers are willing to give up the ultra realistic graphics, life-like facial animations, Hollywood voice actors, for a better game play that involves better game physics and interactions with the AI. Yes, I said it, better interactions with the AI which means a superior experience the latest expensive games have failed to deliver. 

What prompted it from happening? Developers are guided by their publishers to craft titles that prioritize console first. This means the user is constantly under the experience of a game that is on rails: little choice of direction in the story and in the overall quality. PC and consoles are still different from each other.

As the market gets flooded by high-stake game drops each quarter of the year, we are left with this huge void of enjoyable experience. Is the user aware of this phenomena? Yes, the user knows that for the money-time investments he/she is waiting for decent game quality time rather than anything else.