Games and Their Direction - Why have we stuck with the same old formula for the last 21 years? - Games

I know how defensive gamers can be, but I kind of just want to throw this out into the open and see what response I get back from you guys, I'm going to straight up admit I'm a relatively "new gamer", I joined the "scene" properly in 2006, not to say I didn't bumble about on a few SNES/NES games or whatever but my core pretty much stands with the current gen, and after writing that up that's actually a scary realisation, but a few things have been bothering me the more and more I look at games. Okay so, I wanna start off by saying I don't have anything truly against violent video games, I fuckin' love them for reasons other than sheer gratuitous violence, they pose a challenge, they're skill based and they have the potential to be the definitive medium on the planet but above all is that they're fun. but I've sort of hit a point where I look at games that are announced and just think "That's it?" The main interaction point in a game these days is just a gun and the X/E/▲ button. And all these highly praised games aren't excused from this either, let's take the most recent one - The Last of Us. Absolutely fantastic narrative, brilliant characters and storytelling and so on but one thing that keeps ringing throughout my experience is just how uninteresting the gameplay is, and I don't mean this from actually playing it - I had a lot of fun with it, what I mean is it's the same shit we've been doing for... what? 21 years, the concept is old enough to legally drink in the US, and games have thrived off this for decades. I really [I]really[/I] don't want to sound like the anti-fun police, I understand that games are a form of entertainment but at the meantime it's also an artform so where's that push that steers it towards newer and more refreshing ideas? Indie games I suppose sort of try it but even then they're kind of just platformers or most of the time some gimmicky puzzle game. This isn't to say that there aren't indie games which are absolutely fantastic but there's a large (read: huge) majority of indie games which are just, well... boring. What I don't mean to come across as is some arty farty stuck up prick that thinks anything you enjoy with a gun in it means you're an uncultured plebian with no taste in video games, I'm not like that - I enjoy these too. But at the back of my mind I can't help but think, we're always whining on about innovation and trying new things - but where's the innovation been for the last 21-28 years? It's just refining of an already stable idea such as Mario or Wolfenstein 3D. Adding new twists to it but at the end of it it's still just that same idea - a platformer or a shooter. I know I'm oversimplifying this down to it's core level but the point still stands - games are sort of stuck in a rut and well, kind of have been for a long time. Let's take a look at horror games for a second, I don't mean dudebro horror games like Dead Space or anything, one in specific - Amnesia, now before you start throwing your amazingly witty and spiteful comments towards me I want you to take a look at it from a perspective that isn't covered in the "amazingly cool and hilarious youtube lets players" you see. The core mechanics of Amnesia are actually rather interesting, it's not groundbreaking but it's definitely pushing it somewhere. Granted it's still partially point and click and partially a stealth based game but what it isn't is an over the top guns blazing uber cool shoot 'em up - it's a game that makes YOU the target. It flips the whole situation upside down, and that instills fear in people like people haven't witnessed before in a game (hence the huge explosion in popularity that it got) This is the kind of thing I'd like to see us pushing towards, not a horror game but one where your option aren't always "shoot it, and if that doesn't work, shoot it some more with a bigger gun." One that makes the player think about his situation in different ways, as though you're approaching it from reality. I'm gunna leave it here for the minute and see what you guys think, I kind of want to see if I'm not rambling on with what I'm saying here. On a final note: You could argue that the main reason a lot of games can't push much further is the hardware perspective, and to be honest I'd agree with you wholeheartedly - there's only so much you can do with a controller/kb+m. This is where things like the omni directional treadmill and the occulus rift come into play which I can't wait to see what gets done with them.

im gay [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Dumb snipe" - MaxOfS2D))[/highlight]

because money

fart

The most innovative and fun game I've played from this gen is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. XCOM: Enemy Unknown is pretty good too, but it's so bug ridden that the game becomes unplayable eventually, unless you're lucky or something.

Alot of AAA game developers have alot of money going into their games, which I believe makes different, or creatively risky development choices to be high risk/scary. You can say the same for other forms of media, any cliche or trend usually seems to be the safest path towards creating something. Of course there are always those few creations, whether it be games, or movies, or anything really, that really take a different approach and take the risk. Alot of times it turns out to be a bad idea, other times it has the outcome of a beautiful, genius creation. Perhaps if money was non-existent there would be more creativity in the field of media creation, no fear of not appealing to anyone, no worries about the existence of a niche.

Because publishers. They are the cancer of gaming, and more games should follow the example of star citizen or valve who publishes their own games. They care only about money. I've seen some great studios making a really good game then some publisher bought them out, and ever since then they've been making crap. An example would be bioware but i know plenty others.

[QUOTE=propan;41171235]fart[/QUOTE] fart

Because why make a actual unique game and take the gamble of it not selling well, or rehash a game which you know will sell?