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[Umbasaborne]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize. After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

Its interesting to go back and watch sonys e3 2015-2017 press conferences. Each show has a mix of their own first party triple a games, and a helping of indies to compliment those games. However, thanks to the rising costs, and scope of big game production, a game announced at the start of a conosles life, may not release until close to the end of it.

I would not be surprised if for example, by the time perfect dark comes out, we are already hearing rumblings of a new xbox, and i fully expect gta 6 to be a cross generational game between the ps5 And ps6.

Its not just sony and microsoft who are going through this, ea has nothing but sports titles and need for speed releasing this year, ubisoft isnt even doing their typical show case, presumably because not much is ready for this year from them outside of updates to their existing titles. Nintendo announced metroid prime 4 and bayo 3 in 2017, and they still are not out.

Indies, and aa live service titles have become crutches for these companies to lean on during years where most of their own content isnt ready to be shown.

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

 

[Kuranghi]

Xbox and Bethesda was a big disappointment for me, boo-urns! Even the Sony show was more exciting... somehow. Its just a dry period due to many factors, everything exciting will come all at once in a year or two.

 

[Banjo64]

It’s a good thing some indie/AA studios like Gears For Breakfast, Asobo, Playtonic and Moon have picked up the mantle IMO.

Sony and Microsoft need to get a grip on things because the dev cycle can’t get any longer than it currently is.

 

[Northeastmonk]

There’s always an announcement around the corner. No need to get discouraged.

 

[SlimySnake]

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

NO. Dont lower your standards and expections. Do not let the industry fall into despair. Speak up, bitch and moan, and complain. It works. We have seen even the biggest video game companies reverse their decisions over the last couple of years due to online bitchfests. Do not settle for less.

Yes, part of the problem is the rising costs and longer development times, but like Phil said today, they make more money than ever before. Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft are all more profitable than ever before. The problem is that they did not invest it back into the studios knowing full well that the dev times were increasing. So many of these studios shipped games in 2017-2020 and went on to make cross gen games after that. Why?? Did they not know that their consoles were coming out in 2020? These are first party studios. Instead, they went on spending sprees spending billions of dollars into acquiring studios that were always going to release games on their platforms instead of spending millions on hiring more devs for their existing studios. Why was Fallout 76 DLC greenlit when Starfield wasn't going to make it? Why did they not hire more talent to ensure the game came out on time if they had $70 billion to spend on Activision? $3.5 billion for Bungie, but not a few million to get SSM the talent they need to get games out in time?

It's greed. It's slimy, cheap and scummy behavior that you see from used car salesmen who are trying to eek out every last piece of cash from your pockets instead of offering you a good product. They sold you a $500 console and they are not holding up their end of the bargin by shipping AAA games. This is on them.

Do not let this slide. The fanboys are doing that already. You are one of the few people who see the state of the industry in the despair its currently in. You have to speak up. Even if its futile.

 

[Pelta88]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize. After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

This isn't true. MS just dropped 70 billion (that's billion with a B) on a publisher. What you seem to be lamenting in the direction some publishers have taken.

Thankfully, not every publisher is travelling in the same direction.

 

[Captain Toad]

Xbox and Bethesda was a big disappointment for me, boo-urns! Even the Sony show was more exciting... somehow. Its just a dry period due to many factors, everything exciting will come all at once in a year or two.

Yeah, it's strange. Even in the PS3 days Naught Dog made Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, The Last of Us and Left Behind. At the time, those were as "AAA" as any game around.

Today, it's a miracle if one developer puts out even 2 games of the caliber during a single console generation.

 

[DerivedDataCache]

Dont worry we all grow up and start caring about more than only AAA.

 

[VN1X]

Honestly... I don't mind shit taking forever now. I'd rather wait (even longer than we already do) to have games ship in acceptable states while we play the ones worthy of our attention in the mean time.

If we get less frequent big hitters but they release with more polish then I can't really complain. Yeah the general hype bandwagon and "twitch crowd" won't be satisfied, nor will they ever (Lost Ark, V Rising will all be popular for a bit only to quickly fall by the wayside in favour of the next big thing because FOMO) but fuck that noise. Stop getting caught up in the marketing machine and just play what you like. No matter the obscurity, age, budget, genre, scope, etc. I know some of this is obvious but so many people get lost in the hype cycle these days that all you hear is doom and gloom.

Meanwhile I got tons to look forward to such as Endless Dungeon, The Plucky Squire, The Last Case of Benedict Fox, Lightyear Frontier, Aliens: Dark Descent and Anger Foot, just to name a few and I have no fuckin' clue where I'll ever find the time to play through all of them as I'm still knee deep in plenty of roguelikes and other more standard singleplayer experiences.

Gaming has never been better.

 

[Danjin44]

bitch and moan, and complain

If that’s what you want…..

I got these games….



I can’t complain too much and I still have shit tones of games look forward this year.

 

[eastcoastkody]

Xbox was perfectly capable of having Ubisoft, Bandai, Take Two, EA etc show their 3rd party games. They were also perfectly capable of showing more concept fake trailers for games that are years away like Avowed, Indiana Jones, Gears etc...

they chose not to. They chose to show u whats coming in the next 10 months. And ofc they heavily leaned on GamePass...since u know, GP is super popular

 

[Umbasaborne]

Dont worry we all grow up and start caring about more than only AAA.

I dont think its growing up, its just my prefference

 

[Raven117]

I tell ya, the older I’m getting I’m more interested in the weird stuff. That obsidian rpg “pen-something” Looked cool! As did that dusk game.

But, grindark fps Stuff. Nah.

I also think that it’s been a pretty good time to pick up a controller. Lots of stuff out there for everyone.

 

[yurinka]

After over 3 decades playing games and following the industry, it is now better than ever. We get a ton of awesome games every year for a ton of different tastes (with way more game types and niches than years ago) and in a ton of different platforms.

And we buy them for a way cheaper price than before, if not at launch after big price cuts applied months after release, or even included in subscriptions or some are even free to play.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I agree with both the OP and SlimySnake. It's a good idea generally to not let the negative aspects of life get to you. As has been said, these companies follow where the money is and try to make their shareholders happy. That's OK. When the time is right, they'll correct course again to make consumers more happy. In the meantime concentrate on the good and ignore the Diablo Immortals of this world. I'm always going back to retro when I become pissed from modern gaming. Then after a while I come back to something modern that's enjoyable. We have plenty to choose from.

 

[Optimus Lime]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize. After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

Its interesting to go back and watch sonys e3 2015-2017 press conferences. Each show has a mix of their own first party triple a games, and a helping of indies to compliment those games. However, thanks to the rising costs, and scope of big game production, a game announced at the start of a conosles life, may not release until close to the end of it.

I would not be surprised if for example, by the time perfect dark comes out, we are already hearing rumblings of a new xbox, and i fully expect gta 6 to be a cross generational game between the ps5 And ps6.

Its not just sony and microsoft who are going through this, ea has nothing but sports titles and need for speed releasing this year, ubisoft isnt even doing their typical show case, presumably because not much is ready for this year from them outside of updates to their existing titles. Nintendo announced metroid prime 4 and bayo 3 in 2017, and they still are not out.

Indies, and aa live service titles have become crutches for these companies to lean on during years where most of their own content isnt ready to be shown.

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

You probably need to find something else to think/care this much about.

 

[reksveks]

I tell ya, the older I’m getting I’m more interested in the weird stuff. That obsidian rpg “pen-something” Looked cool! As did that dusk game.

But, grindark fps Stuff. Nah.

Happened to me in my late 20's

 

[Raven117]

Happened to me in my late 20's

I’m a heck of a lot older than that now. But yeah…. You can almost feel that some games are going for the 17-24 crowd and others are going for the older crowd….

 

[Zeroing]

Gaming has never been better.

Errr, I look at the gaming industry as a whole and I see stagnation and everyone trying to follow trends but yeah indies will soon become bigger studios thus leading to innovation.

Many disagree or dislike Sony but they know how to make shows and surprises! Anyway we are seeing big publishers having difficulties, hopefully many learn from the mistakes and start listening to us gamers. Developing a triple A game is too risky and that infamous phrase “we are doing AAAA games” just shown us how disconnected from reality some of the gaming industry is.

 

[JeTmAn81]

Fewer big games is a good thing. Soak those in, appreciate them, touch grass when you've finished them.

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s awful, trash as far as the eye can see.

 

[Elder Legend]

I don't think people are realizing until now how much COVID has effected the industry and the world. If covid never happened, we'd be seeing different stuff right now at the conferences.

It's not just game dev time and budget, it's also the fact the whole world was put on pause for almost 2 years.

 

[Stuart360]

You cant judge the whole industry on the Microsot show. They decided to only show games coming in the next 12 months, and we already knew they didnt have many big hitters coming in that timefame.
Besides some of you need to briden your horizons when it comes to Indies and AA games, thats where all the innovation is these days.

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s not Covid, it’s the success of Fortnite and games alike.

Goddamn industry is in Attack of the Clones territory.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize.

Negativity is Internet's second name. So no worries.

After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

Yep.

Its interesting to go back and watch sonys e3 2015-2017 press conferences. Each show has a mix of their own first party triple a games, and a helping of indies to compliment those games. However, thanks to the rising costs, and scope of big game production, a game announced at the start of a conosles life, may not release until close to the end of it.

Yep.

I would not be surprised if for example, by the time perfect dark comes out, we are already hearing rumblings of a new xbox, and i fully expect gta 6 to be a cross generational game between the ps5 And ps6.

No one should be.

Its not just sony and microsoft who are going through this, ea has nothing but sports titles and need for speed releasing this year, ubisoft isnt even doing their typical show case, presumably because not much is ready for this year from them outside of updates to their existing titles. Nintendo announced metroid prime 4 and bayo 3 in 2017, and they still are not out.

Yep. No one is immune to it.

Indies, and aa live service titles have become crutches for these companies to lean on during years where most of their own content isnt ready to be shown.

And if they hit....they become a huge money maker (AAA single player are a joke in comparison).

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

A lot of people keep living in the 90s/00s.

 

[AtomicStarving]

Indie games these days got a big boost of confidence with Gamepass and now PS Plus. They just make the game and release on gamepass for thousand or millions of dollars without worried about sales.

Think about Atlus porting the Persona games for Xbox, which is niche (even more for Xbox), so they spend like 500k-1mi porting and got 20 to 50 million from Microsoft? Isn't that a good deal?

Indies devs must be in the same boat, and that kinda sucks for the future of Gamepass and PS Plus from a quality point. It feels like it's gonna be an aggressive abuse of the system by the devs. Maybe it's just me, but I don't know. I'm very skeptical about it.

 

[Danjin44]

Some of you guys need to realize there is more to gaming than AAA blockbuster.

 

[SlimySnake]

If that’s what you want…..
I got these games….


I can’t complain too much and I still have shit tones of games look forward this year.

good for you. The rest of us like higher quality games with AAA production values.

 

[RavageX]

Honestly outside of the occasional RPG, these days I'm only interested in PSVR2, and the hope they fix Rocksmith +.

Pretty much retiring from keeping up with gaming/games. Just isn't fun anymore. The games all look the same just about. Focused on how to add micro transactions instead of releasing complete games, "Influencers" and "gaming journalists "would couldn't actually review anything if their lives depended on it. Hell half of them can't even play a game.

Don't even get me started on online gaming. I'm just done I think.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize. After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

Its interesting to go back and watch sonys e3 2015-2017 press conferences. Each show has a mix of their own first party triple a games, and a helping of indies to compliment those games. However, thanks to the rising costs, and scope of big game production, a game announced at the start of a conosles life, may not release until close to the end of it.

I would not be surprised if for example, by the time perfect dark comes out, we are already hearing rumblings of a new xbox, and i fully expect gta 6 to be a cross generational game between the ps5 And ps6.

Its not just sony and microsoft who are going through this, ea has nothing but sports titles and need for speed releasing this year, ubisoft isnt even doing their typical show case, presumably because not much is ready for this year from them outside of updates to their existing titles. Nintendo announced metroid prime 4 and bayo 3 in 2017, and they still are not out.

Indies, and aa live service titles have become crutches for these companies to lean on during years where most of their own content isnt ready to be shown.

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

SlimySnake , I think you need to take a page out of this user, Umbasaborne 's book.

 

[Hypereides]

It’s a good thing some indie/AA studios like Gears For Breakfast, Asobo, Playtonic and Moon have picked up the mantle IMO.

Sony and Microsoft need to get a grip on things because the dev cycle can’t get any longer than it currently is.

The development cycles will escalate proportionately to the budget and manpower. It won't just come to a stand still in mid air. You wanted AAAA games? You got it.

 

[Black_Stride]

People just need to find a new hobby cuz clearly gaming must not be for them anymore.

This forum in general has a bunch of negative nancys in every thread.
yes, i get it people like different things, but its almost like no matter what gets announced half the first page is nothing but hate.

Meanwhile.
Im frikken stuggling thinking about how im even going to get through these games and still have a social life.
Gaming still surprises me every year with things that blow me away.
Just this E3 period I was shook at the Squire demo.....was like shit this has to win best Game Design or Game Direction somehwere.
Nextgen only too?
IN!

 

[Danjin44]

good for you. The rest of us like higher quality games with AAA production values.

 

[sircaw]

I was overwhelmingly negative today. And for that I do appologize. After thinking on it, i realize that the days of non stop mega tons, or the year of dreams, are gone. Triple A games are simply to expensive, and take too much time to develop now.

Its interesting to go back and watch sonys e3 2015-2017 press conferences. Each show has a mix of their own first party triple a games, and a helping of indies to compliment those games. However, thanks to the rising costs, and scope of big game production, a game announced at the start of a conosles life, may not release until close to the end of it.

I would not be surprised if for example, by the time perfect dark comes out, we are already hearing rumblings of a new xbox, and i fully expect gta 6 to be a cross generational game between the ps5 And ps6.

Its not just sony and microsoft who are going through this, ea has nothing but sports titles and need for speed releasing this year, ubisoft isnt even doing their typical show case, presumably because not much is ready for this year from them outside of updates to their existing titles. Nintendo announced metroid prime 4 and bayo 3 in 2017, and they still are not out.

Indies, and aa live service titles have become crutches for these companies to lean on during years where most of their own content isnt ready to be shown.

I realized that i need to change my expectations for game releases and show cases. I need to adapt, just as this industry has had to.

It's a sad thing to say but it's best not to get hyped for any shows and I mean any at all.

You do get the occasional wins like for me the last state of play was incredible but that was one out of the blue, i have seen so many of these shows over the past few years, and find myself being disappointed with the vast majority of them.

The only thing I can say is, temper your expectations, i know it's hard, but if you going in not expecting to be surprised maybe you will be.

I tried to help, i probably failed

 

[Zeroing]

Indie games these days got a big boost of confidence with Gamepass and now PS Plus. They just make the game and release on gamepass for thousand or millions of dollars without worried about sales.

Think about Atlus porting the Persona games for Xbox, which is niche (even more for Xbox), so they spend like 500k-1mi porting and got 20 to 50 million from Microsoft? Isn't that a good deal?

Indies devs must be in the same boat, and that kinda sucks for the future of Gamepass and PS Plus from a quality point. It feels like it's gonna be an aggressive abuse of the system by the devs. Maybe it's just me, but I don't know. I'm very skeptical about it.

Business is an investment, I see Sony being more realistic with their PS plus. MS is doing a different approach, wanting as many people on the service! But what about the consequences? We are already noticing some. People already know some games will be on the service day one! That changes buying habits!

People more and more complain about prices of the games… well we can’t have it all, good quality and being cheap!

Anyway I am one of the few who think games are art and you cannot meddle with creativity! Those studios who value creativity over quick money will survive!

I think the gaming industry will change for better or worse… I dunno some days I’m more optimistic.

 

[Elder Legend]

It’s not Covid, it’s the success of Fortnite and games alike.

Goddamn industry is in Attack of the Clones territory.

And the dumbest statement in a thread award goes too....

 

[Buggy Loop]

Indies and AA devs have been carrying this industry on their shoulders for years now, and you know what? That’s absolutely fine. Some of the best games I’ve played, eye opening game paradigm shifts, have been from them.

The “cinematic” games chasing Hollywood’s pat on the back has been boring me to death.

 

[Punished Miku]

Some of you guys have serious issues. If you truly only value graphics then you're a fool. Its cool but its below originality, gameplay, art style and writing on the list of important stuff.

This year has a ton to play. Splatoon 3, Live A Live, Xenoblade 3, Scorn, Atomic Heart, Stray, Pentiment, Somerville, TMNT Shredder R, Wanted Dead, just off the top of my head. Theres more. And this is is one of the slower years.

Everyone has the right to be jaded or whatever they want to feel, but the issue has steadily gotten worse since HD gaming started and burying your head in the sand or yelling for AAA games won't fix it.

 

[Hitchyhero]

Xbox was perfectly capable of having Ubisoft, Bandai, Take Two, EA etc show their 3rd party games. They were also perfectly capable of showing more concept fake trailers for games that are years away like Avowed, Indiana Jones, Gears etc...

they chose not to. They chose to show u whats coming in the next 10 months. And ofc they heavily leaned on GamePass...since u know, GP is super popular

I was extremely disappointed In the MS conference I'd give it a 4/10 (would be even lower without starfield)

That said, I'm glad MS is doing what Nintendo usually does and only showed games coming out in the near future. I find it really annoying games being shown 3 years away.

 

[Danjin44]

burying your head in the sand or yelling for AAA games won't fix it.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I stopped caring about lots of games and franchises years ago. I used to buy much more than I do today. This year, I've bought Elden Ring and Gran Turismo 7 and thats it. From the Bethesda show, I'm only looking forward to Starfield, perhaps Diablo. But thats okay.

Its not that the industry is in a bad place, though a LOT of it is geared towards monetization nowadays, its just that I lost interest in a lot of releases. I don't have the time to play a ton anyway. But gaming can be very accessible and cheap today, unlike in the past. You can sub, you can play F2P. You can play on various devices. Back in the 90's I had to go out and buy PSX games I would beat after like 4 hours, you couldn't play them all unless you were rich or pirated. There are now ways to play a fuckton of games for cheap and they're usually much more meaty and offer online play.

 

[brian0057]

Stop playing AAA games.
These days, I'm mostly playing indies and retro games.
And these past couple of days worth of shows have cemented that for me even more.

 

[Evil Calvin]

The industry has been going stagnant for many years now. Covid is used as an excuse for delays (understandable) but innovation? Everything now is a port, reboot, remaster, remake or sequel.

 

[Zeroing]

Indies and AA devs have been carrying this industry on their shoulders for years now, and you know what? That’s absolutely fine. Some of the best games I’ve played, eye opening game paradigm shifts, have been from them.

The “cinematic” games chasing Hollywood’s pat on the back has been boring me to death.

Ok here’s a bit of context!
When everyone in the industry said single player games were dead! Indies and 2 console manufactures focused on those not chasing the rest of the industry!

When indies were not cool a console manufacturer showcased them in their show! First one to do it!

The Hollywood cinematic is a dumb excuse since everyone else is still betting on multiplayer, yearly games that add almost nothing to gaming, Games as services etc!

So yeah I’ll take the Hollywood cinematic games over the other stuff! At least is not soulless!

 

[DerivedDataCache]

Stop playing AAA games.
These days, I'm mostly playing indies and retro games.
And these past couple of days worth of shows have cemented that for me even more.

Or in case you dont wanna look for indies worth your time. Play games from the ps2-ps3 era. They're mostle 10 hour average and no open worlds thank god.

 

[VN1X]

good for you. The rest of us like higher quality games with AAA production values.

Jesus Christ and I thought I was cynical and jaded lol.

 

[CitizenZ]

Stop playing AAA games.
These days, I'm mostly playing indies and retro games.
And these past couple of days worth of shows have cemented that for me even more.

I played 3 hrs of a card demo(Aces and Adventure) today and a couple action beatem ups demos the other day(CyberCorp and Midnight Fight Express) probably 3-4 hrs. There are games everywhere that arent wasting my time with BS stories that have no originality, characters that are shit and writing that is on kindergarten levels. Just give me gameplay.

 

[Leyasu]

How long was pretty much the whole of the industry working from home for during 2020/21?

This has obviously had a massive impact across the board and certainly added time to almost every project.

Things will get back on track eventually.

 

[Warnen]

Destiny always do you good, come join us….

 

[mortal]

I don't get it, man...

Across AAA and indie spaces, consoles, PC, mobile, VR, and emulation there are more games to play now than ever before.
There are more types of games being developed and released than ever before.
There are now more communities for online gaming than ever before, in addition to countless single-player titles to play.
There are services and digital storefronts hosting classic gaming libraries going back decades.
You can order games online and have them directly shipped to you in a relatively short time. Or alternatively, play them digitally and not have to worry about physical copies.

I understand things aren't always perfect, but I'll never understand how some of you can be so pessimistic and miserable about the industry.
Gamers today are spoiled for choice, and I couldn't imagine having this much access and choice growing up.
These days, there are more games to play than I have time to spare. I literally don't have enough time to play all the ones I want.

Even with all of this choice, you ultimately have a lot of flexibility with what type of gamer you want to be and how you want to play.