I’ve heard and read of a golden age in gaming. The last three end of year reviews has had journalists proclaim that that years games line up cannot be beaten, and yet the following year it is (according to that same journalist.)
Are we to believe that every year the quality of games is increasing?
For me, it is that the number of good games out each year is increasing.
All too often a friend will suggest a game that I “must play.” What I find is that if I don’t get a game on release date or close to, then I won’t ever get around to playing it. A backlog of games that I “must play” begins to pile up.
Why would I never get around to playing some of the best games of the past three years? Because there’s always something new to play and the all important PR machine keeps the new games at the forefront of our consciousness.
When there are so many good games to choose from how do we as a gaming collective sift through them? We find the flaws. Here’s a few that I’ve heard recently, Killzone 2 had no co-op play and RE5 had an outdated control scheme.
People want to spend their hard earned cash on the games that suit their needs, the perfect games for them. By all means gamers should voice their opinions of a game’s shortcomings.
If a game misses out on a few thousand sales because a feature or control scheme isn’t liked by all, what’s the worst that will happen? During the development process for the sequel this criticism will be researched and as a result won’t we end up with an even better game?
Other gamers have responded to these criticisms as petty, but ultimately it is down to the fact that there are too many good games out there to choose from.
Have you had to make an agonizing choice between two games recently? What eventually clinched it for the winning game?
For me it was GTA: Chinatown Wars or MadWorld. I’d been looking forward to MadWorld for ages, but the fact it’s meant to be really short turned me off. I don’t mind a short game as long as it’s good but being a broke gamer means the good short games are the first to fall by the wayside.
Now that the MadWorld hype train has been boarded by The Conduit, will I ever get around to playing it? Probably not. All that reading of Previews and Hands-Ons has been a waste of time because there’s a whole load of new games around the corner, no doubt you can think of several coming out before July.
So even when MadWorld is in the bargain bin (it already is) my sights are set on the other games readying their departure from the Gaming Bullet Train.
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Yea there is alot of great games coming out for the 360 and the PS3. I better start saving up alot of cash.
Hmmm, the same journalists whose existence depends upon and is funded wholly by the gaming industry? We gamers might like to think we can be objective (hardly ever true – see ‘Say no…’ for confirmation). However, mainstream gaming journalists probably lost sight of that value a long time ago. Helping, as they do, to spread the aggressive marketing gospel that accompanies every major release. Not so much a conflict of interest with impartiality… just plain lazy. It matters little about the actual merits of a game so long as everyone knows about it. That said we all get foamy reading news about future titles. Snippets of info about Resi 5 had me moist for years. And you too have confessed your sins in that respect. Previews don’t read themselves. So, are you part of the PR hyperbole? Yes. Are you going to do anything about it? No. Because you’re probably scouring the net looking for the latest info on Resi 6 or GTA 5. Back to your original point, I agree. There are more good games… but probably not more truly outstanding ones.
Good point as usual Guantanamo Barry.
Can’t say I’m looking for Resi 6 or GTA 5 info. I let both Resi 5 and GTA 4 simply arrive because I’m skeptical that they’ll be anything new or better.
New IP like MadWorld and inFAMOUS are games I’ll read previews for.