[RANT] 2023: WORST YEAR for GAMES? 😡

[LordWallDeMart]

If you can see the top 20 huge releases (by big developers or publishers) on Steam so far (Jan.–Oct. 2023), 14 of them were so bad. Two were exceptionally good, and the rest were decent. And every single one has a base price of at least $40–60 (in all currencies) for the standard edition or base game.



3 main things that are bothering me so much to buy games these days, or at least I'm confused about, are these:

1. Day 1 patch is so common these days. If I can remember correctly, patches were introduced in games in order to rectify small in-game balances or to bring in QOL changes. But these days, day 1 patches are so common after the full release, intended to rectify game-breaking errors.
   
   
   
2. Poorly coded designs lead to huge performance issues for top developers. Those who preorder or buy the full game on release are the real testers of the game. Every game from scratch until deployment should undergo 7 basic or mandatory exploratory tests. What happened to those? Why are the players working as testers?
   
   
   
3. Microtransactions are literally killing the gaming industry. Slowly going from cosmetics and virtual items to P2W elements sold as standalone products, microtransactions have become a plague in almost 90% of multiplayer games (PvP). On top of it are the introductions of battlepasses,season passes, and in-game virtual boosters and multipliers. What is the use of purchasing the Ultimate Edition when you're going to release DLC as separate content on day 1?

Sorry for being a cry baby... I just want to pour it out somewhere, and I thought here would be the best place.

[Mr. Smiles]

Yeah, the AAA scene has me less than jazzed right now. It's why I mostly stick to mining indie gems out of the sea of garbage.

All those points are accurate, and its a problem that has been building for decades, because the big studios try to get away with as much as they can and still have people buy their games. As long as it's profitable, they will keep lowering the quality to save money and turn a quick buck.

If valve hadbt clamped down on it already, you can bet some big studios would resort to AI asset garbage on steam and people would still buy it because "triple A gaming".

[d3str0y3r]

The term AAA dev doesn't mean a whole lot in this day and age. I find myself buying and playing more indie games. My latest addiction as has been Bloons TD 6 just dumped 72 hour into it in the past 2 weeks. (temporary unemployed so nothing better to do lol)

I don't even remember the last AAA game i bought.

[BJWyler]

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

If you can see the top 20 huge releases (by big developers or publishers) on Steam so far (Jan.–Oct. 2023), 14 of them were so bad. Two were exceptionally good, and the rest were decent.

And whether a subjective form of entertainment is good or bad is ... well, completely subjective. You didn't like 14 of them, well others may, and have disagreed. To each their own, I say.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

And every single one has a base price of at least $40–60 (in all currencies) for the standard edition or base game.

OK, and? The base price of games has been $40-$60 for, oh I don't know, the last 30 or 40 years or so. Considering how the cost of living and inflation have increased dramatically over that time, the fact that the price of a video game has remain relatively static is quite a remarkable, and joyous, feat.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

Day 1 patch is so common these days. If I can remember correctly, patches were introduced in games in order to rectify small in-game balances or to bring in QOL changes. But these days, day 1 patches are so common after the full release, intended to rectify game-breaking errors.

Would you prefer no patches at all? Or going back to the good old days when you finally heard about a patch for a game several months later and had to go hunting over this newfangled thing called the Internet to try to find it? Software development has evolved over the course of the last 40 years, and the software itself has gotten a lot more complex in a lot of cases during that time. Quite frankly there is no game that I need to buy and play on day 1. I usually give it a couple of months, or even wait a year or two for when it first goes on sale. By then, a lot more has been fixed - and added to the game to make the purchase price even more "bang for the buck." Is it an ideal situation? Of course not, but once one educates oneself on the actual task involved in writing a complicated piece of software, one tends to temper one's expectations on how that process should go over time.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

Poorly coded designs lead to huge performance issues for top developers. Those who preorder or buy the full game on release are the real testers of the game. Every game from scratch until deployment should undergo 7 basic or mandatory exploratory tests. What happened to those? Why are the players working as testers?

Well, my previous point kind of covers this as well. With as complex as games have become, even in house testing become ineffective in optimizing the software. Let's also couple that with the literal millions of different PC hardware/software combinations out there, and it is impossible to create a game that does not have some kinds of issues on a certain percentage of systems. The real question and test comes from how the development team handles that. Which gets back to how the nature of software development has changed. Many games that would be released and "abandoned" are now continually worked on and improved months to years after release.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

Microtransactions are literally killing the gaming industry.

Incorrect. Microtransactions are actually saving the industry and one of the primary reasons why the price of games has remained static over the course of 40 years.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

Slowly going from cosmetics and virtual items to P2W elements sold as standalone products,

Many people like to toss around that term of P2W, but very few actually know what it means, and fewer understand that the games that do have true P2W elements in the Western market are very few and far between.

ZR님이 먼저 게시:

microtransactions have become a plague in almost 90% of multiplayer games (PvP). On top of it are the introductions of battlepasses,season passes, and in-game virtual boosters and multipliers. What is the use of purchasing the Ultimate Edition when you're going to release DLC as separate content on day 1?

Once again, in order to fund ongoing development in an industry where the price has remained static, but the cost to produce has risen exponentially over the course of 40 years, the money has to come from somewhere. Fortunately, unlike food and shelter, gaming is a completely voluntary purchase. Buy what you like and approve of; don't buy what you don't. Just don't be surprised when people don't find issue with the things you have issues with, as I said at the outset, gaming is a subjective experience. Sometimes the vast majority of people like what we don't like, and there's nothing wrong with the industry making sure the majority are catered to.

[eram]

every year has great games

2023 was no different

[eram]

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

I was there at the beginning with a ZX 80 and onward.
I have seen ups and down and fiscal depressions.

c64 was better
speccy for poor kids

[Chelle]

eram님이 먼저 게시:

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

I was there at the beginning with a ZX 80 and onward.
I have seen ups and down and fiscal depressions.

c64 was better
speccy for poor kids

The ZX 80 came out in 1980. I was sixteen. The 'speccy' came out in 82. The Commodore 64 the latter end of 82.

And no the C64 was utter crap. The Amiga when it was blooming blew all out of the water a short few years later.

See what I did? I jumped generations just like YOU did.

Oh and I blocked you because I can.

[eram]

any Commodore was better than any Sinclair

it was also a known fact that any speccy owner was very easy to wind up.

every year has great games.

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

Oh and I blocked you because I can.

you have no power here.

[Crazy Tiger]

eram님이 먼저 게시:

every year has great games

2023 was no different

Yup. Every year has been simultaneously the worst and best year in gaming, all depending on who you ask.

For me 2023 is just like another year when it comes to gaming.

[ReBoot]

This has been going on for a decade as far as I remember (others may remember more). Yeah, ♥♥♥♥ happens and when it does, it's sad. But why pretend like this slice of history were currently living through is the only one to have ever existed?

[eram]

no this time it really is the end :D

Chelle said mark their words its the end of gaming.
lol

[ReBoot]

eram님이 먼저 게시:

no this time it really is the end :D

Chelle said mark their words its the end of gaming.
lol

Of course, right! Well, time to sell my Deck & get myself a real hobby. I'm thinking of competative lasertag...

[eram]

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

Mark my words it is coming to an end.

i have bookmarked your words, but please let us know when the end is because i want to make plans.

how long are we talking about?
days, weeks, months?

[BaLuX]

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

I was there at the beginning with a ZX 80 and onward.
I have seen ups and down and fiscal depressions.

I shall tell you all this:
It is coming to an abrupt bust. Gaming top tier in 2023 requires thousands and thousands. At the moment I still have a relatively shiny newer PC.
Yet the cost of replacing parts and generational blackmail with regards availability that alone is condemning countless to the lower tier consoles.

Soon enough that very well may be the only reasonable option for myself and countless.

Many moons ago I had PC parts laying around galore. All would do the job somewhat and were affordable relative to inflationary fiscal differing times.

That alone is no longer the case. The games themselves for top tier are ludicrous in cost.


So what may happen? Well an influx of cheaper parts and less bang per buck gaming may become the staple diet of many.
Cheaper games alone will not bring gaming costs down if the hardware is overly costly.

No longer can you build a PC cheaper yourself without cutting huge corners in horsepower one way or the other.

I foresee the next gen consoles will be with a keyboard and mouse and to the point of having a PC in a literal gaming box.

No upgrades required just load and play.
Whilst I come from the so called PC master race I submit you all it is not attainable or viable for much longer.

A bust will force the many to surrender to the next gen.
Microsoft and Sony are many things but stupid isn't one of them.

They shall make certain to ride that unfortunate happening for a positive.

Mark my words it is coming to an end.

No it isn't. The gaming industry is absolutely attainable and viable and it's on a better state than ever. Gaming has never been more mainstream.

You should accept that the gaming industry has changed since the 80s and is more successful and popular than ever.

And advertising that you are old enough to have used computers during the 80s doesn't make your opinion more valid. On the contrary, spewing "back in my day" stuff proves that you are stuck to the past.

Regards, A person who was also gaming in the 80s but is not stuck to the past. Embrace the future.

[Crazy Tiger]

BaLuX님이 먼저 게시:

Chelle님이 먼저 게시:

I was there at the beginning with a ZX 80 and onward.
I have seen ups and down and fiscal depressions.

I shall tell you all this:
It is coming to an abrupt bust. Gaming top tier in 2023 requires thousands and thousands. At the moment I still have a relatively shiny newer PC.
Yet the cost of replacing parts and generational blackmail with regards availability that alone is condemning countless to the lower tier consoles.

Soon enough that very well may be the only reasonable option for myself and countless.

Many moons ago I had PC parts laying around galore. All would do the job somewhat and were affordable relative to inflationary fiscal differing times.

That alone is no longer the case. The games themselves for top tier are ludicrous in cost.


So what may happen? Well an influx of cheaper parts and less bang per buck gaming may become the staple diet of many.
Cheaper games alone will not bring gaming costs down if the hardware is overly costly.

No longer can you build a PC cheaper yourself without cutting huge corners in horsepower one way or the other.

I foresee the next gen consoles will be with a keyboard and mouse and to the point of having a PC in a literal gaming box.

No upgrades required just load and play.
Whilst I come from the so called PC master race I submit you all it is not attainable or viable for much longer.

A bust will force the many to surrender to the next gen.
Microsoft and Sony are many things but stupid isn't one of them.

They shall make certain to ride that unfortunate happening for a positive.

Mark my words it is coming to an end.

No it isn't. The gaming industry is absolutely attainable and viable and it's on a better state than ever. Gaming has never been more mainstream.

You should accept that the gaming industry has changed since the 80s and is more successful and popular than ever.

And being old enough to have used computers during the 80s doesn't make your opinion more valid. On the contrary, spewing "back in my day" stuff proves that you are stuck to the past.

Regards, A person who was also gaming in the 80s but is not stuck to the past. Embrace the future.

Agreed. Hobbies change, industries change, people change. It's normal. And sometimes it means that a hobby or industry goes in a direction that "old timers" (meaning people who have been gaming a long time, I started in the 80s as well) don't like. Or that people change in a way that the hobby doesn't work anymore for them. That's fine.

There are so freaking many good games, both released and yet to come. My libraries and wishlists on the various platforms/devices show me that gaming is perfectly fine. Sure, part of it isn't for me (not interested in MP, lootboxes, MTX and such), but there is soooo much left that is for me.

[Chika Ogiue]

eram님이 먼저 게시:

any Commodore was better than any Sinclair

The best thing about Sinclair Spectrums were the rubber keys. The best thing about all the other computers at the time were the games =)