What Would It Take? -- Disappointment in Modern Gaming

[telekill]

As I'm sure with most here... I've been a gamer for decades. I've always enjoyed good single player games and co-op games. Then when narrative driven games cropped up more during the PS1 era... I was hooked. Now though... it's a different era. An era of Games as a Service (GaaS)... perpetually online with never ending micro-transactions.

Sure, there are some good story-driven games that are still releasing but they are more few and far between than they used to be and there's less excitement for a generation of gaming than I've ever had before. I've had my PS5 since launch and I really am not excited about anything exclusive on it... a first for a Playstation. I know what to expect from Horizon 2 and GoW2... they'll be continuations of good games and be good in their own right. I don't find them exciting though.

That brings me to "what is it going to take to get me excited"? There are three games announced that have my attention currently. Yes... three games for the foreseeable future that give me the slightest bit of excitement.
 - Ninja Turtles Shredder's Revenge
 - Instinction
 - Mass Effect 5

That's what the entire industry has to offer in modern gaming that gives me any excitement. That means that until more is announced that makes me raise an eyebrow... this new generation (over a year old now) of gaming is absolutely the worst regardless that we have the hardware to pull off amazing games.

So what would it take to get me excited again? What would it take for me to see this nosedive of the industry pull up back to levels I've seen in previous gens?

 - Warhawk reboot -- They need to bring back PS3's Warhawk in a big way. While it would undoubtedly be pushed as a GaaS given it's online only background, they should include a campaign that can be played solo or with a buddy. That would mean once the servers are shut down, you still have an adventure to play. Even better... you can disregard any micro transactions they would throw at this thing and just enjoy the campaign. Keep the WW2 aesthetic. Keep the option of motion controls while flying the Warhawks (only time you'll EVER see me say that about motion controls).

 - Ninja Turtles; Dark and Gritty -- Have a dark and gritty single player and co-op narrative driven Ninja Turtles game. Reduce the kid aspect significantly. Have gore and violence. Different perspectives on the story depending on which Turtle you play as.

 - Uncharted continuation -- There's so many avenues they could take on this and frankly, the globe trotting, treasure seeking games don't come around often.

 - Twisted Metal reboot -- This one is actually rumored at the moment. Could be interesting to see what they come up with but again, I see this one being perverted into a GaaS. We'll see what happens but if they keep to what the second and Black had to offer while expanding on those... this could be phenomenal.

The above would be a start. I honestly don't see most of those happening as the industry views GaaS as a way to squeeze every ounce of cash from gamers... and many gamers love it. I think that the best that gaming has to offer is behind us and that's actually pretty depressing.

[bikingjahuty]

My interest in modern games has been on the decline since the PS3/360/Wii era of games, however things have really accelerated over the past couple years or so. Like many people my biggest gripe with modern gaming is the shameless use of DLC in modern games. DLC is one of the most anti-consumer loads of shit that has ever been perpetuated on a market of consumers and is akin to selling someone an SUV with only the drivers seat and no back end to store stuff, or a book with the last few chapters missing. Obviously these things would never be allowed, but in gaming it is essentially okay to sell people an incomplete, compromised game and just charge them extra for the rest. While it isn't DLC necessarily, the fact that most games are released in some sort of incomplete, buggy state and require a massive amount of patching around launch to fix is also incredibly unacceptable and will really impact the long term playability of many of those games. And then of course there's the heavy focus on multiplayer, micro transactions, and as you mentioned GaaS.


Maybe I'm just getting older and none of these things appeal to me like a lot of zoomers and younger kids, but I can feel myself getting closer and closer to my exit from modern gaming. More or less once physical media goes away that when I will absolutely not be buying any new releases that come out. I am not 100% apposed to digital distribution, but I am under no illusions that I own any game in my Steam or GOG library. I am essentially renting them indefinitely. And of all those games I don't think I've ever payed over $20 for a single game, in fact the average price I've paid for each digital game I have is probably $5. This will be true when everything goes digital; no matter how cool a game might look I can never imagine myself paying over $20 for any of them, meaning I will pretty much never buy a game at launch ever again.


This brings me to what would actually get me excited about modern games again. Well, not much at this point.


Sure, I could wish all day that the industry will pull a 180 and go back to everything on disk, no DLC and micro-transactions, and digital gaming no longer exists, but I know it never will. What will happen is the opposite of what I want which is why there will be a day where I no longer consume new game releases.


But since we're talking about games that I'd be excited for, here are a few general and specific releases I'd be hyped for.


Retro Game Compilations: I love that many companies have been porting/remastering older games and have been re releasing them on modern platforms. As long as these are released physically I typically buy them. There are still so many compilations I'd love to see, especially of older arcade games that have never seen releases outside 80s, 90s, and 2000s arcades.


Shenmue 4: While Shenmue 3 didn't resonate with me the same way the first two games did, I still loved it and sincerely hope we get a Shenmue 4. There is the anime, which might be how we end up seeing how the Shenmue saga concludes, but if Shenmue 4 were to be announced I'd absolute flip my shit over it.


Half Life 3: Yes, I'm one of those people. I do believe this one will happen in my lifetime, but good lord is Valve dragging their feet with this one. The first two Half Life games along with all the episodes for 2 are among the best games I've ever played and I trust Valve would hit the ball out of the park again with 3.


Sadly, that's all I can think of at the moment. There might be others I think of later on, but there just isn't that many newer game releases that would inspire a ton of excitement for me. I'm just happy I own 95% of all retro games I've ever wanted and am well prepared for life after modern gaming. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but all things must eventually end.

[gngtiger]

Gaming in general these days is kind of weird for me. COVID, chip shortages, and the supply chain have all had a hand in driving up Retro game prices in a more significant spike than previously. Nintendo as a business has also made a lot of really weird choices that have disappointed me.
-1: They hate people who put their music on YouTube despite the fact they haven't done a thing about it except for maybe the occasional soundtrack that had 300 copies made and was only distributed via Club Nintendo for 3 months.
-2: They're discontinuing the 3DS and Wii U eShops with no word on if these games are coming to Switch or whatever.
-3: Porting over games from prior systems is weird because of past console gimmicks. And these past gimmicks hurt the porting and remastering of older games because they don't quite work with the hardware, and Nintendo seems to do it in the oddest possible ways. Arlo said it best: "We don't like Super Mario Galaxy BECAUSE of the Wii's motion controls, but DESPITE them." And because of that, the aspect of Motion controls doesn't necessarily need to stick to the game's identity. If 3DS, DS, Wii U and Wii games are coming over to Switch, significant changes will have to be made. The Wonderful 101 on Switch was probably the worst example of this.
-4: The Switch Online expansion pack costs too much for what it is.

In general, if Nintendo brought back Virtual Console, but also A.: Made the online for Switch BETTER, and B.: Made a streaming service JUST for Retro games of ALL prior systems for a reasonable price ($40-50 a year, maybe) that INCLUDES all the games' soundtracks, that would redeem them of all transgressions. Does Nintendo hate money? I don't know, but if they do something that angers me, I'll step back and focus on games for 360 or PS2 or something.

[telekill]

Shenmue 4: While Shenmue 3 didn't resonate with me the same way the first two games did, I still loved it and sincerely hope we get a Shenmue 4. There is the anime, which might be how we end up seeing how the Shenmue saga concludes, but if Shenmue 4 were to be announced I'd absolute flip my shit over it.

Man... I would love Shenmue 4. I supported the third game throwing $115 at the Kickstarter and when I got my copy, I really enjoyed it. The story didn't move very far, but I enjoyed playing what felt like a Dreamcast continuation on my PS4. I think Ys Net did a great job.

Sadly, I don't believe Shenmue 4 will be created. It's been more than 2 years since the third game released and the anime is now airing. I lurk on the ShenmueDojo forums off and on and quite a few there, myself included, were hoping we'd hear something... anything about Shenmue 4... even just acknowledgement that it's being developed... along side the anime starting to be aired. We've heard nothing.

I'd be excited to be wrong... but I just don't see it happening.

[wowgek7]

for me it cant be saved my newest sony console is the ps3 I have zero interest in getting an ps4 or 5  in the future
In x-box I have even less interest I only get x-box 360 and or newer in my house if its to resell.

nintendo on switch is a bit behind with dlc patches etc altough they are egtting there they are around the ps3  lvel in that regard and I would be an hypocrite if thats the reaon I wouldnt get the switch. I hate the switch though hardware wise.

I dont want incomplete games that need patches to be playable
I dont wnat dlc give me the whole game from the get go or NOT bring it out till its done.

so it doesnt mather what nintendo does after switch I wont be a part of it.  also I just enjoy gaming less quality of games have dropped a lot. not talking about graphics etc but just the immersion originality etc.  1 of the major reasons for me to get nintendo hardware is pretty much ruined as well  which is pokemon  I will get them at some point when they are cheap wil just play trough them once and be done with it while with every other generation i put hundrreds of hours into every game in some gens even 1000s

[bikingjahuty]

Shenmue 4: While Shenmue 3 didn't resonate with me the same way the first two games did, I still loved it and sincerely hope we get a Shenmue 4. There is the anime, which might be how we end up seeing how the Shenmue saga concludes, but if Shenmue 4 were to be announced I'd absolute flip my shit over it.

Man... I would love Shenmue 4. I supported the third game throwing $115 at the Kickstarter and when I got my copy, I really enjoyed it. The story didn't move very far, but I enjoyed playing what felt like a Dreamcast continuation on my PS4. I think Ys Net did a great job.

Sadly, I don't believe Shenmue 4 will be created. It's been more than 2 years since the third game released and the anime is now airing. I lurk on the ShenmueDojo forums off and on and quite a few there, myself included, were hoping we'd hear something... anything about Shenmue 4... even just acknowledgement that it's being developed... along side the anime starting to be aired. We've heard nothing.

I'd be excited to be wrong... but I just don't see it happening.

For better or worse, I don't feel the same desperation and longing for 4 that I did for 3 leading up to its release. I mean, I actually would slip into a legitimate depression when I'd realize Shenmue 3 was never coming out in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The thought of Shenmue 4 never coming out bums me out, but if it doesn't happen at this point it wouldn't be the end of the world. And this is coming from someone who considers the first two games to be my favorites of all time. But I would hope for games to complete the saga over an anime, manga, or whatever form of media Yu Suzuki is going to finish it on. I still need to check out the anime, but unfortunately I don't have cable or Crunchy Roll to watch it.


I believe I remember reading that Shenmue 3 essentially broke even with the amount of money it made, which obviously doesn't bode well for a sequel. Yu Suzuki said if it is made it will be a much more modernized game, which bums me out since Shenmue 3 felt like a modern Dreamcast game, if that makes sense. But I hope we do see it and don't have to wait over a decade to get it.

[undertakerprime]

To me, a good example of the current state of gaming is the fact that the newest PS and Xbox have been out for a couple years and I still have absolutely zero incentive to buy one. There’s no killer apps, no games that are becoming huge must-have hits.

The vast majority of the games I’ve bought over the last couple years are either ports/remasters/collections of older games, or games with more old-school style gameplay (Metroidvania, beat ‘em up, etc). The only game I’ve been motivated to buy day one in that span is Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night; everything else I’ve waited for a sale. Of course, there have been gems that blew me away, like Dragon Quest XI and Horizon Zero Dawn. But the number of AAA high-profile multi-million dollar failures (Anthem, Mass Effect Andromeda, Destiny, Fallout 76, etc) have outnumbered hit AAA games in that time frame.

[oldgamerz]

Me? I'm all for old, old music , old games and old movies

The most recent game I ever played in my life was from 2016 and I don't remember the game ZZZzzzzzzzz

[kamikazekeeg]

I personally can't relate, I find plenty of new, really good games to play on the regular.  I honestly find myself having to kinda be pickier about what I play sometimes too as this past month, Pokemon Legends, Dying Light 2, Horizon 2, and Elden Ring all released.  Dying Light 2 is delayed as my PC isn't the best right now for it, I played Pokemon Legends and had fun with that though it could've been better, Horizon 2 I'll maybe see about playing in April probably as I need a break from open world games, and Elden Ring is basically my life right now with how much I'm getting absorbed into it. 

That's not to say nothing of the great games I've come across almost every year in just the past handful of years, games that have been quite big for me, from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Super Mario Odyssey, and Breath of the Wild, to Resident Evil 7, Resident Evil 2 Remake, and Monster Hunter World just to name a few.

Not that there aren't problems right now with modern gaming, Battlefield 2042 is likely to be the last BF game for a long time after a really terrible launch, again, which isn't uncommon to find games releasing in rough states, or have issues with micro-transactions, but to me, it's just a shift in what the problems are now compared to what they use to be as old school gaming had its own problems.  Not that I fault folks for being annoyed at what's going on right now, but I think gaming is just as exciting now as it's always been for me, even if there are issues that crop up here and there.

[Cartagia]

I'm with kamikaze.  I play more games now than I ever have. I don't really get "super hyped" about releases, but that's more of a budgetary concern than anything else.

And that's not to say I don't love retro games.  I do find a lot of the SNES era stuff to be better than comparable games we get today.  But I also love Souls-likes, and the modern Metroidvania releases are incredible.

[sworddude]

I don't really feel that modern gaming has downgraded compared to the past.

if anything it's an era with more options than ever. even if you where more old school, plenty of brand new 2d games that are being made that are pretty excellent and where talking indi and in some cases big companies like square.

Micro transactions, day 1 patches and dlc are it's flaws, but if you can get over the hurdle of at least dlc it's still good content at the end of the day. aka inflation.

There is not really a shortage of good modern games I'd say. The only thing you could argue is that the grapics don't get a massive overhaul however we are at a point in wich aside from VR it's hard to make it all that much better visually.

now if where talking western cartoons than yes, that is pretty trash in the modern era with few exceptions.

[soera]

Im going to echo the last few comments. Modern gaming (to me) is so much better than retro. The graphics, the options, the sheer amount of stuff available to do in games now just blows away anything in the past. My personal feeling on retro is that its a nostalgia thing for most people. Like how many people really are completely content playing Atari games or NES games or Genesis titles? Would I revisit them? Hell yeah! Some of the old SNES games are among my favorite of all time. But would I just play those games? Hell no!

[alligo]

I too have had a huge lack of interest in "modern" video games for some years now.

bikingjahuty summed up the problem with current games very well.

DLC as much as you want, GAAS, games that are released unfinished even though they are several gigabytes in size (up to 100 for some...)
Games that are buggy to the core, day one patching when it didn't exist at the time of the xbox 360...
The not very optimized games, those which make more than 80/100 giga whereas they are not necessarily very beautiful, see empty of contents...

There is a real problem with the gaming industry today and it's not going in the right direction, even years later.

And then, there is not necessarily this magic or this desire to discover new games because we know what to expect. There are not "really" new genres.

I personally became jaded because of this, whereas I have always been passionate about this universe since my childhood.

[sworddude]

Day 1 patches buggy early releases are avoidable when you enter at a later stage. it ain't permanent, plus if you want to save money your probably doing that anyway considering allot of non nintendo games drop in prices quite rapidly overtime. that ain't a big deal I'd say

Having everything from the getgo withouth any patches or dlc is definitely quite nice. but digital updates has made that impossible considering additions can be made and bugs can be fixed later on. besides even in retro games some bad bugs still exist and those can never be patched. it wasn't perfect in the past either.

DLC is basicly the inflation of videogames and to be fair salaries have gone up wich are a majority of the costs. it costs more but you got a complete experience at the end. Not a big fan of that but that's the only major problem currently if you'd ask me that will always remain. To many consumers out there that are willing to pay for extra content in a game that they like. plus in allot of genre's a game would be death withouth it these days

Micro transactions are mostly a problem with mobile or sports games. In allot of hardcore genre's microtransactions never existed or are in stadium that they are vanishing thanks to all the negative press. So I don't think this feature is going to be an issue in the future for a majority of games.

[pzeke]

It probably wasn't what they intended when they named the service—or maybe it was, at this point anything is possible—but that acronym truly nails how the majority of video games these days usually are: passing gas. And it could easily be said about this generation, too.

Personally, I don't really care about it, so if a game is good, great, and if it isn't, then no skin off my back. I already own enough games to last me my remaining lifetime, so adding a new one to the backlog seems pointless in the grand scheme of things. However, saying that I don't get excited about newer releases would be a monumental lie, the recent Nintendo Direct being a good example of this. I think it's a matter of just putting your blinders on and just focusing on what you like. Whenever those three games you mentioned come out, enjoy the hell out of them, but in the meantime enjoy the ones you currently have.