Have you noticed a decline in the quality of games recently released? Are you left wondering where all the good games have gone every time you step into the electronics section of your local store? Do you wonder WHY it seems like we’ve been getting the same mindless gun-fight, breast filled game, time after time?
Hint: It’s Your Fault.
This Shit is SRS BUSINESS
Things aren’t going quite how you wanted them to? You’ve come up against an opponent who has learned to perfect the techniques of completely owning you, and there is nothing you can do about it? Have you died one too many times? Are you spending far too much time trying to figure out a seemingly innocuous puzzle and as the moments tick by, you can feel your intelligence dropping?
Do you react to these things with anger? Does your vision blur and suddenly all you can do is start screaming obscenities at the TV/Monitor? Have you ever broken something of yours in a hissy fit over something that has occurred in a video game? Have you turned into a raging douche bag whenever you get a controller in your hands?
There was a day when you once looked forward to popping in that game cartridge and delighting in the challenge that it presented when things were difficult. So you can’t seem to time that jump just right to get your antagonist over that gap? Surprise fireballs? One health potion too short for that boss battle? Sure, things were frustrating but in those days, when things got to be difficult … we didn’t start calling our opponents fucking fags. We persevered, we tried harder and if all else failed; we called the help line. And after all that, when we finally accomplished our goal, victory was -sweet-. Not laced with malice and revenge.
Video games are supposed to be about having fun, and enjoying the medium that has been carefully crafted and put before the mindless masses. All of you piss ant, whining, cry baby, little boys who can’t handle one head shot too many are simply failing at the basic core of gaming. You’re no longer having fun when you sit down and are instantly stressed out because there is a potential that some anonymous person on the internet has a chance of being better than you.
OMG THE PIXELS
Do you think there is a difference between the 360 and the PS3 regarding how various games look? When a game is to be released, do you scour the internet looking for screen cap comparisons so you can decide which version is worth buying?
You’re all idiots.
There are nominal differences between the next gen consoles [wii excluded], and every person who tries to prove to the other side that their system is better based on that reason is wasting not only their time, but ours as well. It’s not the pixels that matter in a game, no matter how strongly you argue the point. Game play drives a successful game and enjoyment of that game play will drive it even further.
A video game can look like shit, or have minimal artistic value and if it is fun to play then none of those things will matter. Grainy pixels composed all of the games of our childhood, and those games are timeless because we enjoyed them based on story, characters and game play.
The reason behind all of this pompous behavior could be that this generation of gamers are nothing but spoiled brats. They’ve been given everything on a shiny platter and fuck anyone else if they’re forced to subject themselves to anything less. I can assure you that if you were to put a copy of Legend of Dragoon or Secret of Mana in front of any of these ignorant twats, they would shun them in disgust because they’re not ‘pretty enough.’ And lets not forget that OMG… they’d have to read the dialogue, but that’s an entirely different conversation.
You’ve all stopped enjoying your video games the moment you put more attention into the pixels of what you’re looking at, instead of losing yourself in the action or the story. Georges Seurat would be disappointed in all of you for forgetting the very basics in pointillism based art. Once you step too close and start counting the specks; it is no longer a masterpiece, but rather just a canvas covered in spots.
BEWBS. NEED MOAR BEWBS.
Your lack of a girlfriend is showing.
There is more to a game than how well an avatar’s breasts jiggle, and I can assure you that any potential female companionship that may have been in your future is out the window the second you start drooling over an animated woman. If there is one thing in the gaming world that could clearly separate the virgins from those in stable relationships, it’s how quickly they click links that proclaim “Top Ten Video Game Boobs.”
You know who you are, and it’s pathetic.
I get the draw to pornography, I do. You are men and you have needs and occasionally those needs are aided by some sort of visual stimuli. Is it too much to ask that you don’t demand it be part of what qualifies a game as enjoyable? You as a gender are the majority of this market, much to my chagrin, and when the masses of testosterone filled gamers proclaim that they want breasts that are large and jiggly… we are the ones that have to suffer through that shit in games we might have otherwise enjoyed.
There are actually people in game developing studios that put time and effort into this. Let that sink in for a moment. If you weren’t all a pack of mindless, hormone driven, twats; those people could be dedicating their time to things that actually matter in a game. Remember that last game that you played that was so-so and you would have liked it better if it only had more of _____, but eh.. it had boobs so you supposed that it was alright?
That is YOUR fault.
Angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys are ruining the video game industry.
Let’s face it, developers are going to play into the demands of the market that puts the most money forward, and that group is a bunch of morons. With the way things are going, the only game that will be made in the future is one where a topless woman stands there while you point and click to get her breasts to jiggle; and it will SELL.
It will sell because you will all grow sick of having to think to overcome a challenge, you will all grow tired of having to try in order to improve your skills, you will grow frustrated when a developer puts their heart and soul into a game that redefines game play but isn’t as pretty as you wanted it to be.
And when that destroys the video game industry, you will only have yourselves to blame.
Couldn’t agree more but…. Are we a little angry today???
I see your point, and I agree for the most part.
However, this is contradicted by the recent massive surge in popularity of indie games over the past two years.
Video game boobs …..drool, Virgins…..drool
I also agree with you that the gaming market is being driven by angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys, but you have to remember a crucially important topic about the gaming industry on the whole. There would not be any “industry” of gaming without profits. Angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys are buying games for all the reasons you mentioned and are doing so in economically significant numbers. They are less picky, unlike yourself and myself, about the quality or gameplay and follow basic instinctual desires.
Anger is an easy emotion to make and nearly impossible to stop. Pixel counting is a displacement of comparison of self by the ego enabling endorsment of the notion of “I am better than you”, also known as fanboyism. Horny? Well they are teeage boys. Surely you must remember that moment in your life. They are not governed by story or quality but instead by what they can fuck and how often. These angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys need to belong and Fanboyism is a perfect way to flex that insecruity. Teenage boys like to shoot things pure and simple. This is instinctual and driven by nature. We are powerless to this.
Underlying it all, however, is the desire by the gaming developers to make a buck. To be honest people like yourself and me doing spend enough to support that, and there are not nearly enough of us to make an army to fend off the angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys.
So you have a good point, but you miss the point which is there is nothing we can do about it, sans reduce over population which is a good thing, so stating the obvious and getting upset about it will only upset you further and convince no one of a solution.
My solution is entirely selfish. I buy game without breasts and limit my shooters to ones that define the style instead of more “me too” shooters. I go after gameplay instead of graphics, I follow reviews that point out replay value instead of “who’s the prettiest”.
And most critically, I focus on the single player game since making that successfully will require a good story and good execution of the story with meaningful gameplay. A good example is Shadow of Colossus. Another would be Alan Wake. A third would be Mass Effect or Dragon Age type games. Heavy Rain is not, since that really is not about the gameplay and more about being in an interactive movie–but it’s a good one as well and I bought it without question.
What is really killing the “gaming industry” and what I think you are really thinking about is the multi-player games. These are social games where story is backseat to doing something together. No one cares about why there are shooting, only that they are and with their friends. This is addictive and game developers capitolize on it and that is where games seem to be focusing.
Lose the multi-player and games will have to be good to sell. But without it, the market is smaller than a Togos sandwich. It is for this very reason that I never choose to buy a game because it has “great” multi-player. I could care less about playing with one of those angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys. I rather play alone, and my game purchases reflect that, which goes back to what I said above, namely, you and I are more picky that are those angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys. And there are not enough of you and I in the world to support the greed of the game developers.
So don’t blame the angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys for why the gaming industry is “failing” as you see it. It’s not failing. It’s goal is not focused on you and me–we are the wrong target. Blame the developers who’s only focus on gaming development seems to be making that all might dollar. The angry, pixel counting, horny, teenage boys are the prey and the developers are the predators.
You are getting upset about a natural phenomenon. But I feel the same way, and there is nothing I can do buy turn one eye away and keep the other searching for that rare game that has gameplay as a focus, and buy it without question.
I couldn’t agree more! Bravo, this was very well written. There is one area that I would like to disagree on just a little bit though. You mention people trying to figure out which game looks/runs better to decide what console to buy it on then proceed to call those people idiots. I myself do this for every multiplatform release, not because I want the one that looks better but because multiplatform games are notorious for running worse on the ps3. Framerate issues etc, so usually I end up grabbing multiplats on 360 and getting exclusives on ps3. I don’t try and tell people one is better than the other etc though. So I’m sure you were aiming your anger at those people who try to fuel a war that doesn’t exist.
Anyhow good article, I hate seeing girls in games that are overly slutty for no reason, like the new addition to the Street Fighter cast in Super Street Fighter IV the character Juri is extremely slutty in looks and the way she talks and does everything. I cringe when I have to fight someone who plays as her.
“Have you noticed a decline in the quality of games recently released? Are you left wondering where all the good games have gone every time you step into the electronics section of your local store? ”
NO and NO
Have you been under a rock ? This has been one of the best years in gaming ever.
look at MW2… gone were days when players find challenges in games like monster hunter or demon souls; but mainly in pvp or who owns who’s a55 >,<
What are you talking about? Demon’s Souls was only released last year, and it gained pretty high critical acclaim. It also sold incredibly well despite the fact that it was supported by no marketing campaign whatsoever.
I disagree with almost everything you said on my account (even though I am only a casual gamer now – I used to play more back in the day when I was younger) but I do agree to some point that there are people (teens) out there that behave in the manner that you described (mostly regarding the BEWBS part.. lol) I don’t think is the majority though.
Pixels:
Granted the main aspect of a game is the fun factor (who would want to play a game that is not fun – kinda obvious isn’t it), but there’s more than one dimension when qualifying games, graphics being one of them (an important one). If 2 games were equally fun to play (or even if it was the same game – one a remake of the other with better graphics) wouldn’t you prefer to play the one with higher quality graphics? I know I would. Think of it as black/white tv vs color or HD tv, which one do you prefer? It should not be the developer’s priority and if they sacrifice fun for graphics then that’s their fault, they would be screwing themselves up. Gamers should still demand better graphics (good thing that it has become a trend), the fact that games should be fun is a given.
SRS BUSINESS:
By nature we are competitive creatures. This not only applies to video games but almost everything else in our lives. When multiplayer (not coop) was brought into video games then our competitive nature took over. Who would want to play a competitive multiplayer game and get owned all the time without showing any sign of progress? how is that fun? The fun factor in a competitive match doesn’t come from being owned all the time but from putting in time/practice and becoming good at something. Sure that doesn’t justify acting irrationally in the real environment (I agree with you on this), but it is fun to overcome your limits and actually become good at whichever competitive game you’re playing and start owning other people. You see the similarity with the ‘perseverance’ factor that you mentioned?
Funny article though, just my 2 cents.
“Have you noticed a decline in the quality of games recently released?”
No. You should’ve asked me before writing this whole thing, I would’ve saved you some precious time right after the first sentence… And don’t ask me to tell you it was better playing Mario or Castlevania games in the 80′s… It’s like saying Dora is a better television show than Lost…
Wow… seriously this is the single most unprofessional article I have ever read in my life. If you really want to make a point try to do so without labeling an entire sub-culture (teenage boys, a group i’m a part of) as “mindless ,hormone driven twats”.
The idea that men finding women attractive is a valid cause for the decline in quality content in games is laughable. I’ll concede the women are over sexed in many games but I don’t recall myself or any of my male friends ever buying a game for that specific reason.
The last twelve months have provided some of the best games i’ve ever played; Battlefield BC 2, RDR, Darksiders to name a few and there are some extrmely exciting games just on the horizon such as Dead rising 2 and Fable 3. These games offer more than adequate challenge, maby give them a go before pulling random hissy fits out of the air.
It sounds like you were aiming for some kind of Feminist comment, however it just comes across as hate fuelled nonsense. Think before you write.
P.S. Makeing comparisons is not isolated to gaming, the term is called keeping up with jones’ and is omnipresent in our society.
I’m torn on this, because I love the fact that Aevan posted something, but I disagree with even the base principle that games are getting “worse”.
I think recent games have shown significantly more innovation, albeit they’re often hard to find set against the walls of uniformity we find all the Super Ultra Space Marine Shooter 3 clones.
I loved the Seurat reference though.
You… agree with me? It’s never going to happen.
What do you mean in the future? There are tons of games where all you do it click on boobs to make them jiggle. But I get your point, but I want examples. I don’t think I’ve played a game that had a nice set of boobs in it that wasn’t a really fun game. Soul Caliber (Ivy), Bayoneta, Tomb Raider, Ninja Gaiden, God of War, Dead or alive. (ok beach volleyball was lame) some of the best franchises in the industry. (Bayoneta is basicly devil may cry with boobs and is still just as fun) I want to know what game you sat though saying “god this is terrible” and it had over jiggly massive boobs that annoyed you.
Yeah, Aevan actually loved the hell out of Bayonetta. she just likes to complain too much.