This is actually an old blog of mine I wrote back at IGN.com, but because their new blog system fails by removing my old ones (lucky enough I backed them up), I decided to bring back some of those old blogs for a second time in here. Enjoy.
"We are currently in a spoiled game industry. Long time gamers can no longer catch that special feeling they have for their personal favorite video games from the past. Casual new entering gamers are enjoying a whole wide new world with games such as Brain Training and Wii Fit, socializing and interacting with them in an intelligent way. Game reviewers keep saying the same critic points for so many laughable video game attempts from game developers that their rivalry is starting to show. All the while MMORPG's and electronic tournaments are dominating on a global scale and single players are slowly being pushed back for multiplayer games...
But not every personal favorite video game has to be from the past. Make no mistake, that very special feeling can still be real during this period. It's just that as a child, your imagination and fascination were much larger than now, so it is quite hard to find one again. You will just have to use the right resources and your own opinion to discover a great game once again. As an example I admire the game Killer 7 for it's very large concept of risk involved. That game truly has a special meaning for me, as it is a grand show of original elements blended in with a great style which never bored me, instantly making Grasshopper Manufacture one of my favorite game developers these days. That only applies to me though, because Killer 7 is truly a love it or hate it game, because of the very unusual presentation.
The wave of new casual gamers is of course fantastic, growing the user base of the game industry to even larger amounts. Gaming is slowly starting to show the other side of the coin. One side is the close minded cult following, the other side is the mainstream of "blockbusting" games, concepts which are designed for the masses. Like Yin and Yang, a person can blend through both sides exchanging through his/her life. A critic point is that in this age, too many casual friendly video games are being made. But let's be honest with this, has there even been made too much before? I don't think so. So let it glide through our lives, and see what the future holds for us.
Game reviews are either intriguing written, or copy pasted shamelessly and with no motivation. I keep noticing myself that many gamers want to see their favorite classic game once again in this age, but then slapped with a different title. Many, many want to see another, or better said, the next Symphony of the Night or the next Ocarina of Time, if you know what I mean. I believe that too many are close minded about this. They do not accept Twilight Princess or Dawn of Sorrow as the next champion, instead, they feel that they are inferior, not giving the same satisfaction as their preceded ones.
Being a "victim" of this means that the game industry itself is also a "victim". People are greedy, that's for sure. They want more more more, almost perfect like games, and game developers are engulfed with stress to combat the question for more. A good example of hungering the gamers is the genre known as Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. Personally I am definitely not a fan of it, to each his own, but this might be the best example I can give to keep having the MMORPG gamers satisfied. Developers keep updating with patches, offering new content and fixing up bugs to keep things running smooth in the massive server worlds. It definitely is a different way of playing each time something new is released.
Should such a spoiled gift such as that be made for every other game genre as well? I definitely do not think so, because then, the developers and perhaps also the gamers will constantly search for the perfect, balanced and fun game, which will never happen, as there are too many factors interfering. For some genres, such as the Fighter, I can see it happen. Tweaking Ryu's moves a bit in order to flow better with other street fighters, buffing up Chun Li's throw, little things like that. On second thought, popular competitive games could be even more great with patches. But not single player games. I strongly believe that single players should remain what they present, other than offering downloadable content. A remake of a single player game is an exception, but please developers, do not start patching up single player games, it might shatter someone's memories of that particular game for sure.
Which brings me to the criticize on the Game Industry. Right now, Hardcore gamers are sick of the average sequels, the many ripoffs, the pointless movie to game adaptions and the worthless crap I won't even mention. The game industry is definitely spammed full with these kind of games, which is sad to see. So what can we make out of all of this?
We are spoiled.
We have experienced so many different video games already, that it keeps getting harder and harder to find a true gem. We want more, we want originality, but most of all, we want to have good old fun. Innovation and originality are not the only things developers can use to make a game GotY material. With clever thinking, looking at the market, one can also use other "weapons", such as using a combination of genres, or reviving an old serie, which is the case for Mega Man 9.
Ironically, the concept of reviving something in the movie industry is completely screwed up at this moment, because of the fact that EVERY MOVIE gets remade these days. Everyone, except for newcomers notices this. But this is not the right blog to talk about that industry.
So in overall, I hope to see that the game industry will keep surprising us with it's potential to make true entertainment, despite having many negative games on sale. True entertainment means something different for everyone, but we can all relate to it."
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