Good day all! Well This Thursday finds me here at work and obviously not feeling like working. Like I said earlier this week, I have to be here Saturday, so screw them.
Today I wanted to talk about something that have been swirling around in my head for a bit. Nothing ground breaking, nothing earth shattering, but something I have been introduced too
First off is the video game industry and the state of gaming. I have been playing video games for about 35 years or so now. I have gone from “Pong”, to the Atari, to all of the PlayStation and Xbox incarnations that have been released. (Only has one Nintendo Console , the Wii.) For the longest time, video games were a single player experience. You would immerse yourself into whatever world the designers had created. Later versions of consoles did have multi player, but it was you inviting your friend over to your house and playing on the same console. It was a simpler time, maybe not better, depends on your perspective. Games were simpler, more story driven and left more to your imagination, especially the old text games I used to play on my Commodore 64. I really do miss that system.
Oddly enough, these games were designed around the player actually having fun. They were fully developed ideas and although they may not all be gems, they were completed games and did not ask you to pay for anything extra after you bought the game.
Games now have evolved into these money grabbing, micro-transaction laden money pits. Publishers use the idea that a game will be improved later by using a “road map” as the industry likes to call it. This “road map” lays out the evolution of a game, which in my opinion, should be a finished product before it is even released. On top of that, they throw in loot boxes that improve your game play or are just reasons to spend even more money inside your game. The single player experience is slowly dying as publishers see the money signs grow with the idea of the “on-line service” as a concept. They want you to spend your all of your time and money on their game. It is a disturbing trend that is only growing as these companies rake in insane amounts of profits.
I know I am only writing in generalities. I am not video game journalist, just a fan who does not like what he is seeing this medium turning into. To really see how big of scum bags these companies are, take a look at The Jimquisistion on YouTube. I highly recommend his videos. He throws a bunch of humor in, but there are tons of facts behind every episode. It has really altered my view on how and where I am purchasing future games.
Talk to you later!
Mid-Life Crisis Task Force 