Why is AAA gaming dying a slow death? Any ideas?

[FuNb0Y86]

I hear it said all the time now. "I play more indie games more and more. Screw AAA." Sometimes people add, "...they're all the same." I have some thoughts on this stagnation. A lot of it has to do with companies taking safe aproaches to making their games instead of experimentation -- which should be the norm in an artistic genre like creating a video game. Sadly, new ideas can come at a high cost in the AAA world. So, we see independant companies more and more these days with titles that offer unique experiences because they can afford it.

However, these experiences are not always up to par with most AAA graphics and technical expertise, and while they offer a great experience for their price, a great many of indie games are side-scrolling, platformers. I believe that the hunger to experiment in video games is being overshadowed by the desire to make as much money as possible as quick as possible; as cliche as it is to say out loud as it is to type or write, I am going to type it -- greed is killing video games.

Eight years old is when I started playing video games. I will be 34 this year, and I have not lost my appetite for gaming. Although my appetite is here, it is a hunger that is not easy to sate because it seems like I have seen everything, played everything. I say this because for the last 15 years I feel that gaming has only offered a repeat or reinvention of the wheel on every genre made so far. Flight sims, fighting games, first person shooters, RPGs, platformers and their 3d counterparts, the action adventure game, RTS, and every other derivitive of them.

To say I am not easily impressed is an understatement. Perhaps I am too old to play games, and maybe they do not do for me what they used to because of this -- does this mean there is a limit to what games can do? Have I truly seen everything gaming has to offer, and have I truly played the best that AAA gaming has to offer?

Why do I continually see remakes of the same games. and I am not talking about the HD remixes, etc. I am talking about those games that take the very same game play, and grind it up, and serve it back to us like it was something new. Take Square-Enix for example. The Final Fantasy game has remained largely unchanged since Final Fantasy 7. FF7 was a great game, and it is still a joy to play, but I would like to play a JRPG that does not mimick it in any way. I would also like to play a CRPG that does not mimick Baldur's Gate or Knights of the Old Republic or World of Warcraft. Oh, World of Warcraft has been hacked up and served to us through more than one genre. Look at borderlands; that game is rife with WoW elements such as talent specs, quests that take you nowhere, but they function to give experience and upgrades so that the best way to proceed is to camp a zone and quest till you get over the hump for the next area. Okay, that is typical RPG gaming you might say, and I hear you loud and clear, but my resounding displeasure is that the formula should change, and it is simply not changing; moreover, this type of stagnation has hit nearly every other genre of AAA gaming out there.

[FuNb0Y86]

Yeah, I'm Jaded too. lol.

[WhiteKnight77]

Several years ago, AAA publishers stated that they were going to release fewer games over the course of a year and in doing so, release games that they know will sell. In other words, they will release sequels on a yearly basis. There may be a new IP every once in a while, but the days of them helping to fund a small studio with their idea (thus becoming the AAA publishers IP afterwards) to get a new game to market.

This has been going on for about 5 years now.

Here is just one example: Electronic Arts Plans to Release Fewer Games[techland.time.com]. Here is another story about it: Gaming Companies Need Quality Blockbuster Hits, Not Quantity[seekingalpha.com].

This forces these companies to focus their efforts on fewer games. Companies can no longer create a bunch of games and see what sticks because each game will cost millions to make. EA realized this and has gradually released fewer games every year. It released 36 games in fiscal year 2011, 22 games in 2012, 14 games in 2013 and 11 games in 2014. And look at how EA stock has performed since then, going from $15 in January 2011 to $45 in December of this year. Activision and Take-Two have also followed similar trajectories and have focused on fewer games.

[FuNb0Y86]

FuG chibilibi eredeti hozzászólása:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCmmYF4rOwo

Not sure if 100% related, but you made me think of this.

LMAO! I love you for posting this. Thank you!

Very much agree with this, and I have come to the realization that most of the problem is my jadedness attached with the phrase, "I'VE PLAYED THIS ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GAME ALREADY!"

[Sir Dookface McFerretballs]

✮Divine Color Of Insanity☢ eredeti hozzászólása:

Hell, Saint's Row 4 was SUPPOSED to be a DLC.

Then some bastard said "letsa call dis the furth gaem"

Same map as SR3, just the fact aliens exist and you have broken powers.

What is worse is they are still running with it to the point cars are pointless and there is no more customization. But it gets them their "pre-pubescent tween boy giggle at a dongbat" target audience's parents money. SR2 actually had a big living city and character devlopment and characters you could actually like or hate while still having crazy stuff like beating a mailman with a mailbox or a meter maid with a parking meter.

Then someone goes, "Hey I just played a game called spiderman and prototype, lets add a dongbat to that!" and then we get SR4.

[Sir Dookface McFerretballs]

FuNb0Y86 eredeti hozzászólása:

Thank you for taking the time to actually read the post. I want to make this a discussion, so any ideas are welcome, and while I won't change the wording of my post, I want to discuss why it is so hard to inject fresh ideas.

There was one time I had a conversation with someone on an online game about how boring a lot of AAA titles were. I had an idea for a game, and my friend only replied, "It's too hard to code." I thought to myself, "Really? Too hard? Is that the extent of the bravery in the gaming industry? Should we sit on our asses, rest on our laurels, and never give the effort it takes to create something truly amazing in comparison to what came before?" Maybe that's exactly what the gaming industry thinks too. Let's not fuse a fighting game with an RPG, open world experience like Square-Enix failed to do back in 1997, but fail to remember that Xenogears worked out pretty well, and with a few tweaks, it becomes a fighting game - RPG. I know, I know, many people loathe that game because the story was trite and dry, and there was so much talking at the end of the game... a LOT of text to read before finally getting to kick ass after a certain thing happens and awakens the main characters' abilities to well... kick ass. Also, can we remove crafting from every game now? No one gets it right, and I am sick of farming for materials in games that really should not have crafting.

I have no problem with people borrowing ideas from other games for inspiration, but when it is so bad that companies take an IP from another company and copy it verbatum, that is what I have problems with. I have problems with the endless Halo copycats and the CoD copycats, and more. Before that it was Doom everywhere, and then it was Quake and Unreal everywhere. Where are all the Half Life copy cats? I love you Metro. I totally get the trend, but do we really have to wait five to ten years before something else hits the scene?

I will say that I take special exception to original IPs that fans enjoy and are made over and over in an attempt to please the fans; that type of gaming is for that type of audience. Afterall, I own every Assassin's Creed title on Uplay right now, so who am I to talk? Um well, except for Unity. *shutter*

I am tired of the nihilistic apathy developers have these days. "It's too hard to be ambitious in the industry these days." I am tired of reading that sort of crap.

Ugh, this post is too long, and I feel for anyone who just went through the trouble of reading to this point. Here's a Tylenol and a cup of coffee to alieviate your migraine. :P

It all boils down to "Risk Management" A devloper may want to do a million things over a period of 10 years (I've had many friends in the industry and live a few miles from one of the old THQ and Activision buildings), but the Publishers and stock holders and board of directors and other un-fun super rich people that likely don't even know how a game controller works, say "NO! We need it done in a specific period of time, for a specific focus group of people, to sell the most in a short period of time where it will be quickly bought up and forgotten, so we can make another one with a higher number tacked onto the end of its name the next year."

Most publishers push for stuff that is "trending" Rightnow with GTA V being so popular there will be a lot of copycats of it coming out over the next few years because that is the trend. Whatever happened to "timeless" games? (games that are good no matter how long ago they were made) They don't pop up as often because of said trending, business centric companys want to pop out whatever is still in people's collective consciousness to make the most money the quickest. They don't care about long term fan base or loyalty to a series.

When it comes down to "New IP" the risks are usually too high for most publishers to want to sink money into it.

Videogames are a commodity, not an art form, to these people.

It is only when there are game company's that are the devlopers AND publishers of their own games that we see a lot of the really good AAA titles. Rockstar is one of the few left than can pretty much flip the bird at the other big publishers when they release a game and make over a billion on it in the first month on a previous generation release alone. Bethesda is another company that releases amazing games that have freakishly huge fanbases and they make the games they want to make since they are the devloper and publishers.

So it is not the devlopers that are stagnating, it is the money controlling the devlopers that is forcing them to take the safest path as approved by said money.

I also need to point out... You are complaining about things taking too long and complaining about things being pumped out too often in the same breath.... Have you ever stepped back and realized you might just be too picky?

[chibilibi]

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

OP:

I am not sure either. The difference between AAA and indie game when it comes to quality is unbelievably huge. indies (at least in my mind) are considerably better and yet cost to make are at a faction. I am not sure why this has happened but it has

Personally, I think it's a bit silly to say flat out that indies are better than AAA or vice/versa. I mean, you're lumping a LOT of games together with both terms.

I'd say that if we take into account ALL of AAA and ALL of indie, AAA would come out as overall being better. But as I said, I do think it's silly to compare indies and AAA as a whole because both terms encompass a huge amount of different games. Are some indies better than some AAA? Absolutely. Are some AAA better than some indies? Certainly. Lumping them all together into their respective categories and then comparing is like using absolutes in an argument: all it takes is one exception to the rule in order to defeat the argument.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

It costs too much to develop AAA game and developers are too scared to try anything new, instead they reheat the same shooters and sports games over and over.

Everything is not so golden in the indie front either, need to shift lot of garbage to find the pearls and lot of stuff sits in early access forever.

[tomk1]

Sir Dookface McFerretballs eredeti hozzászólása:

Videogames are a commodity, not an art form, to these people.

Spot on agree with every word you posted Sir DMF.
When Bloomberg (stock market TV) features a game release as big news you know its about profit not product. Just like the Movie industury big movies big stars safe same story, its known that movie-games are mostly junk for profit, its only after time, the licence is passed to someone willing to put the intellectual effort into it.
When indie breaks into the mainsteam they become mainstream.

[intok]

AAA means games created by a panel of non gamers targeting the lowest common denominator, which results in a game that is loathed by all with an attention span longer then 3 seconds.

[Tux]

FuG chibilibi eredeti hozzászólása:

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

OP:

I am not sure either. The difference between AAA and indie game when it comes to quality is unbelievably huge. indies (at least in my mind) are considerably better and yet cost to make are at a faction. I am not sure why this has happened but it has

Personally, I think it's a bit silly to say flat out that indies are better than AAA or vice/versa. t.

I understand and respect your view but I disagree.

I am not suggesting all is one or the other but my personal experience having played and watched both kinds is that on average indies are considerably better than AAA...yes

[Naedmi]

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

FuG chibilibi eredeti hozzászólása:

Personally, I think it's a bit silly to say flat out that indies are better than AAA or vice/versa. t.

I understand and respect your view but I disagree.

I am not suggesting all is one or the other but my personal experience having played and watched both kinds is that on average indies are considerably better than AAA...yes

Hey everyone! Let's all play Bad Rats and Big Rigs! How about a little Grass Simulator and maybe some Day One : Garry’s Incident afterwards.

[Tux]

TheDean eredeti hozzászólása:

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

I understand and respect your view but I disagree.

I am not suggesting all is one or the other but my personal experience having played and watched both kinds is that on average indies are considerably better than AAA...yes

Hey everyone! Let's all play Bad Rats and Big Rigs! :D: How about a little Grass Simulator and maybe some Day One : Garry’s Incident afterwards.

kerbal space program?
space engineers?
7 days to die?
Elite Dangerous?
Darkfall?
Wurm Online?
From the Depths?


yeah pretty much every single one of those games are better than all the AAA games I have played or watching being played


I think the main reasons for this are:....well really just one main one...
you can actually do things in those games rather than being hand held thru every experience.

[Naedmi]

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

TheDean eredeti hozzászólása:

Hey everyone! Let's all play Bad Rats and Big Rigs! How about a little Grass Simulator and maybe some Day One : Garry’s Incident afterwards.

kerbal space program?
space engineers?
7 days to die?
Elite Dangerous?
Darkfall?
Wurm Online?
From the Depths?


yeah pretty much every single one of those games are better than all the AAA games I have played

Elder Scrolls Series, all but Online.
Fallout Series.
Far Cry Series.
Crisis Series.
Final Fantasy games. (even if i'm not that big of a fan for them)
Assassin creed series. With the exception of Unity being a buggy mess.

and many, many more games. You shouldn't judge a few bad eggs and call a whole genre or development style/team bad. There is some good AAA games and some ♥♥♥♥ ones. Same goes for indie games.

It's all just pick and choose, and supported by most peoples bad opinions on things, in which others will blindly follow those opinions like it's their own.

[Tux]

TheDean eredeti hozzászólása:

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

kerbal space program?
space engineers?
7 days to die?
Elite Dangerous?
Darkfall?
Wurm Online?
From the Depths?


yeah pretty much every single one of those games are better than all the AAA games I have played

Elder Scrolls Series, all but Online.
Fallout Series.
Far Cry Series.
Crisis Series.
Final Fantasy games. (even if i'm not that big of a fan for them)
Assassin creed series. With the exception of Unity being a buggy mess.

and many, many more games. You shouldn't judge a few bad eggs and call a whole genre or development style/team bad. There is some good AAA games and some ♥♥♥♥ ones. Same goes for indie games.

yup the games I listed are better than all those other than perhaps ELder Scrolls

[Naedmi]

Tux eredeti hozzászólása:

yup the games I listed are better than all those other than perhaps ELder Scrolls

And that is your opinion. Every person likes different things, and many would insult you for saying Fallout, Crisis and Far Cry is bad. They are very nicely made games.