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[LittleBusters]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it seems like all new games are funneled into the following categories:

- zombie apocalypse
- first person shooters(that includes battle royale)
- fantasy
- weird, offensive SJW style

What ever happened to adventure games from Infocom & Sierra Online like Police Quest, Codename: Iceman, Goldrush, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Borderzone, Battletech, that had you play a character it a semi-realistic scenario? Not everyone needs a game to be pure escapism. Those games were fun as hell because they were connected to real world things.

Maybe I'm just too old to 'get' why we need a 1000 zombie games every year. Can anyone explain this sick fetish? I hear all this talk of 'diversity' from Phil Spencer and the like but I'm not really seeing it.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Sounds like you play too many AAA games. Gaming is literally more diverse than it has ever been, not only because of new games being released each year but also because it is easier than ever to play the last ~40 years of commercial gaming than at any point in history.

There are more high-quality games than a single human could ever hope to play.

 

[Husky]

there aren't ENOUGH zombie apocalypse games
too many zombie games are light-hearted fun romps that think they're fucking hilarious. I want GRIT. I want a SAD, SCARY zombie game, at least one a month.
there aren't nearly enough apocalyptic games to sate my need

 

[Birdo]

And most Indie games fall into three categories:

1. 2D Platformer (Metroidvania for bonus points)
2. Low effort meme game for streamers to laugh to.
3. Walking simulators made with pre-made assets.

AAA games have an excuse though. They cost a lot to make, so taking risks with diverse genres is a big gamble.

 

[LittleBusters]

I guess I feel a bit for Gen Z that they never will get to experience that rush of excitement at discovering adventure games in a sedate environment.

 

[LittleBusters]

And most Indie games fall into three categories:

1. 2D Platformer (Metroidvania for bonus points)
2. Low effort meme game for streamers to laugh to.
3. Walking simulators made with pre-made assets.

AAA games have an excuse though. They cost a lot to make, so taking risks with diverse genres is a big gamble.

Have you tried Lifeless Planet? I know it's been derided as a walking simulator, but the atmosphere is so good. Not all 'walking simulators' are bad.

Also is streamers laughing at memes a Gen Z thing? I don't get the appeal.

 

[brap]

yeah cuz they have blak peepo and womyn in them.

And most Indie games fall into three categories:

1. 2D Platformer (Metroidvania for bonus points)
2. Low effort meme game for streamers to laugh to.
3. Walking simulators made with pre-made assets.

AAA games have an excuse though. They cost a lot to make, so taking risks with diverse genres is a big gamble.

dont forget rougelike!

 

[petran79]

Blame the demise of the gaming press and the consolization of computers

 

[Kdad]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it seems like all new games are funneled into the following categories:

- zombie apocalypse
- first person shooters(that includes battle royale)
- fantasy
- weird, offensive SJW style

What ever happened to adventure games from Infocom & Sierra Online like Police Quest, Codename: Iceman, Goldrush, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Borderzone, Battletech, that had you play a character it a semi-realistic scenario? Not everyone needs a game to be pure escapism. Those games were fun as hell because they were connected to real world things.

Maybe I'm just too old to 'get' why we need a 1000 zombie games every year. Can anyone explain this sick fetish? I hear all this talk of 'diversity' from Phil Spencer and the like but I'm not really seeing it.

Recent game releases:
Star Wars Jedi FO - 3rd person scifi action adventure
Sparklite - Topdown action adventure
Pokemon S/S - RPG
Bee Simulator - 3rd bee adventure
Death Stranding - ?
Need for Spead Heat - Arcade racer
Valfaris 2d space action platformer

 

[Birdo]

Death Stranding - ?

 

[rofif]

The f2p model and developer punishment for their own visions (sjw, politically correct always offended people) are a big problem.
Death stranding is the only game recently that is not afraid to do what it wants. Games used to be more creative and diverse before this gen I feel with some exemptions

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Also I'd say that the core gamers are partially to blame for this. We demand sequels and spiritual successors to games that came out 30 years ago. We hate it when a sequel updates an art style or adds quality of life features.

Personally, I think there are still numerous "outdated" ideas from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that modern gaming could learn from but this creates a market where they most loyal customers keep demanding the same thing while decrying anything that strays too far outside of bounds.

See: Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.



This got much worse when we started selling "hardcore gamer" as a brand identity. This coincided with the rise of multiplayer console shooters (360/PS3) and the rise of new PC gamers. Suddenly gamers felt that the games they chose to play somehow reflected deeply on their own personality, and this rot incentivized publishers to keep shoveling out the same crap instead of innovating.

 

[LittleBusters]

DS is just more post apocalypse porn.

 

[Gargus]

Honestly it sounds like you need to look at more games than the ones featured in an issue of game informer. If you think games aren't diverse then you aren't looking very hard and just only skimming the surface for ones that have commercials on TV or on a endcap at bestbuy.

 

[Danjin44]

I don't know about you I played variety of games that each give me unique experience this year alone. Its up to you to search out different experiences.

These are the games I played this year.

 

[PeacefulWorldGuy]

I've been thinking a lot about this lately and it seems like all new games are funneled into the following categories:

- zombie apocalypse
- first person shooters(that includes battle royale)
- fantasy
- weird, offensive SJW style

What ever happened to adventure games from Infocom & Sierra Online like Police Quest, Codename: Iceman, Goldrush, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Borderzone, Battletech, that had you play a character it a semi-realistic scenario? Not everyone needs a game to be pure escapism. Those games were fun as hell because they were connected to real world things.

Maybe I'm just too old to 'get' why we need a 1000 zombie games every year. Can anyone explain this sick fetish? I hear all this talk of 'diversity' from Phil Spencer and the like but I'm not really seeing it.

- zombie apocalypse is almost death genre, so it's fine for me but i prefer ghost apocalypse instead zombie over and over.
- first person shooters(that includes battle royale) is best cash grab genre in America, so this typical game is never die.
- fantasy... B- but video games is full of delusiona- ahem fantasy stuff i mean.
- weird, offensive SJW style? Blame the community (feminist and journalist) not the developer.

 

[RealGassy]

And most Indie games fall into three categories:

1. 2D Platformer (Metroidvania for bonus points)
2. Low effort meme game for streamers to laugh to.
3. Walking simulators made with pre-made assets.

AAA games have an excuse though. They cost a lot to make, so taking risks with diverse genres is a big gamble.

Dunno what kind of indie games you play, but on top of my head
1. Factorio
2. They are billions
3. Baba is you
4. Obra din
5. The witness
6. Dusk

And that's just scratching the surface, these are simply the indie games that appeal to me and I have played recently.

Indie games that stick to those three categories you meantioned don't do well unless they are extremely well done (Cuphead or Katana Zero level)
The competition is simply to fierce.

AAA games have an excuse though. They cost a lot to make, so taking risks with diverse genres is a big gamble.

Indies have no excuse?
What are you nuts?
Indie devs remortgage their houses (and sometimes that works out), sometimes work insane hours for extended periods of time, go into debt, burn out or get depressed (and ruin their lifes in the process). No risk and no excuse?

Making games outside of those three categories can cost a lot of money and resources for an individual.
There are a good reason why indies stick to "pixel art", procedural generation and genres which can be done within a reasonable budget.

Make no mistake, making an indie game - which doesn't suck and is able to compete on the market - is not for the faint of heart.

 

[SlashBringingHasher]

lol at the weird sjw style

games come down to this now

1) indie crap

2) first person shooter/looter

3) uncharted clone

4) open world ubisofty game with towers and random shit to do

 

[-Arcadia-]

Several people are right when they tell OP to get out of their comfort zone and explore. There really are some magical experiences out there.

At the same time, I see what OP is saying. For a very long time, ‘AAA’ games were the best this hobby had to offer, and came to represent the entire thing. This was the reality all the way up through last generation.

Suddenly, generation turnover, and everything goes to shit (in this category). I can’t blame OP for feeling a little lost. For the longest time, I did too.

 

[Keihart]

But Death Stranding is out, talking about variety and all....the riskiest game in concept with a AAA budget in recent memory.

 

[-Arcadia-]

But Death Stranding is out, talking about variety and all....the riskiest game in concept with a AAA budget in recent memory.

That’s a pretty big outlier though...

 

[Micolash]

Maybe play indie games and niche games instead of just homogenized AAA games.

 

[Bryank75]

DS is just more post apocalypse porn.

Well there are gratuitous close ups of Norman Reedus' ass...

 

[Deleted member 17706]

There are more games, and more kinds of games, than ever before. This makes no sense. You just miss those games being the "big names" of the day.

 

[Bryank75]

I am actually curious what people think Kojima's next game should / will be....

Do you think he will stay on the arty / more creative side OR

Will he make something mainstream next to shore up his finances going forward?

 

[Northeastmonk]

I am actually curious what people think Kojima's next game should / will be....

Do you think he will stay on the arty / more creative side OR

Will he make something mainstream next to shore up his finances going forward?

I’d say he is more likely to make a short film out of his studio than push out another AAA game. He is the one saying TV and Video Games will share the same space in the future.

I feel like there’s quite a bit of diversity, but a lot of it comes in the same type of mold. I think Death Stranding showed us that the mold can be broken.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

there aren't ENOUGH zombie apocalypse games
too many zombie games are light-hearted fun romps that think they're fucking hilarious. I want GRIT. I want a SAD, SCARY zombie game, at least one a month.
there aren't nearly enough apocalyptic games to sate my need

Tried Zombi? (used to be called ZombiU) Graphics are nothing special, but the gameplay is pretty tight and it's a pretty serious horror affair.

 

[molasar]

I am actually curious what people think Kojima's next game should / will be....

Do you think he will stay on the arty / more creative side OR

Will he make something mainstream next to shore up his finances going forward?

Something with his mascot - Ludens.

Spoiler

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Looks like a pretty massive spoiler right there. Please don't do that.

 

[molasar]

Looks like a pretty massive spoiler right there. Please don't do that.

It is fake.

 

[VertigoOA]

We just saw the release of a aaa post apocalyptic mailman simulator...

Lies

 

[Husky]

Tried Zombi? (used to be called ZombiU) Graphics are nothing special, but the gameplay is pretty tight and it's a pretty serious horror affair.

I tried it on Wii U, but was severely let down by the lack of freedom it offered. Felt extremely limited to not even have a crouch or jump button, and to have few interactions outside of contextual button presses. Played Dying Light almost immediately after, DAMN that's freeing, holy shit, it has countless functions that I've often found myself wanting in other games.

However, a friend recently Family Shared their Steam library with me (over 5,000 games holy shit), and I now have a chance to play Zombi again on PC. Thinking I might give it a go. Using keyboard & mouse alone will make me feel a lot more free than before.

 

[sol_bad]

When you try and change it up, there is a chance people will shit all over you game. Like Death Stranding.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

I tried it on Wii U, but was severely let down by the lack of freedom it offered. Felt extremely limited to not even have a crouch or jump button, and to have few interactions outside of contextual button presses. Played Dying Light almost immediately after, DAMN that's freeing, holy shit, it has countless functions that I've often found myself wanting in other games.

However, a friend recently Family Shared their Steam library with me (over 5,000 games holy shit), and I now have a chance to play Zombi again on PC. Thinking I might give it a go. Using keyboard & mouse alone will make me feel a lot more free than before.

Well I mean usually open world does not go hand in hand with horror. I’m playing DL right now and I don’t think it’s scary or moody at all. It’s an amazing game, but it’s not what you were just talking about. Hell by the time your done filling out your skill tree you’re a flippin superhero.

Id give Zombi another go. The movement restrictions are done on purpose. And it keeps it survival and horror angle throughout the game.

 

[Phase]

I'd be all for post-apocalyptic games that are creative and not just shoot em ups. At least there are a crazy amount of books to choose from in this regard. I'm still waiting for gaming to catch up.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

If you were to play old games you would know that 90+ % of all games ever made are just following the main trend(s) of their time... you were seriously out of luck if you didn't like fighting games/shooters/platformers in the 8 or 16-bit days because there was little else to go around.

 

[Bryank75]

I’d say he is more likely to make a short film out of his studio than push out another AAA game. He is the one saying TV and Video Games will share the same space in the future.

I feel like there’s quite a bit of diversity, but a lot of it comes in the same type of mold. I think Death Stranding showed us that the mold can be broken.

He's great at making games but to be honest most of the futures he predicts, I don't want any part of. Games and film sharing the same space.... nah. Streaming games... nah.

All terrible for me.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

yeah cuz they have blak peepo and womyn in them.


dont forget rougelike!

What shade of rouge, tho? Red, pink, purple?

Edit: Sorry, Brap. I couldn't resist.

 

[Bryank75]

Something with his mascot - Ludens.

Spoiler

When I saw the Mascot and some of the preview stuff, I really thought you'd become some type of interstellar being at the end of the game.... in that outfit of course.

 

[Ten_Fold]

AAA games no, just play other games outside of the big games that everybody talks about, actually the switch got a good amount of fun games.

 

[DrJohnGalt]

Diversity in genres? I think there are more genres now than ever before. At one point games usually fell into one of a few cats - sandbox GTA-like games, FPS, JRPG, platformers, action/adventure, fighting, puzzles, and other (like kids titles). Now there are so many more. Most could be sub-genres or offshoots of the previously mentioned, but still there are a lot more choices.

I think consoles are relatively lacking in diversity compared to PC due to the limitations of the controller (are there really any good RTS games for console? How many more PC exclusives are there?). But across console, PC, handheld, and "mobile" (if you even consider that a true category), I feel like there are more choices, not less.

Diversity in games? More (and annoyingly artificial, like the devs just went down a quota checklist to make sure they have some of every color/culture/gender/orientation group) than before, but not as bad as it could -- and will -- be.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

yeah cuz they have blak peepo and womyn in them.


dont forget rougelike!

More like "rogue-sorta-not-really-like"

Most rogue-likes suck ass.

They can't compete with real ones like Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup or Tales of Maj'Eyal.

There's some that do all right. I like Streets of Rogue, for example. But most are hardly what I'd ever call a roguelike, ever.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sounds like you play too many AAA games. Gaming is literally more diverse than it has ever been, not only because of new games being released each year but also because it is easier than ever to play the last ~40 years of commercial gaming than at any point in history.

There are more high-quality games than a single human could ever hope to play.

If I didn’t have some good AA and Indies, I would have lost interest in gaming like I did a good portion of the later life with 360/PS3 when I refused to care for Indies.

Shifting gears by bouncing back and forth with PnC Adventure games, some “walking sims” like What Remains..,, retro games, retro inspired indie titles, and interactive story ones like Until Dawn, break up the AAA fatigue and allows me to return to the next one in my backlog.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I think the zombie game criticism is overblown. Yeah, it was crazy years ago but it’s died down quite a bit.

I also think SJW labels are overused and, in many cases, subjective. What you deem SJW, someone else may deem thoughtful, and someone else could be completely indifferent to. It’s in the eye of the beholder.

I also think it doesn’t help when games they try to focus on a narrative driven experience get called boring “walking simulators.” I hate that term.

I would love to play a new Monkey Island game as much as anyone, I agree that games were probably better 15-25 years ago, but sometimes the gaming community doesn’t help itself.

these are all just my opinions, of course. Nothing more

 

[Keihart]

Something with his mascot - Ludens.

Spoiler

Fuck you for not hiding that shit under spoilers, fuck you a lot indeed, in fact , fuck you again.

 

[Little Chicken]

Your cynicism is misplaced, OP.

There's plenty of genre and thematic diversity in modern gaming, you're just not looking hard enough.

Try new things

 

[Livia]

Kinda agree, but thats the AAA games with all of its FPS and battle royale. I see people here mention Nintendo, but even they are getting lazy with their games. I miss creativity in games. You can say indie devs are creativ with their games, but that was true a few years ago. Now everything is rogue like or casual mobile games that gets ported over. Every once in a while we get masterpieces like Celeste, Hollow Knight etc.

 

[BadBurger]

I would say yes, probably moreso now than at any other time. There are a shitload of indie games that are different from the norm, and even AAA studios take risks with new things now.

 

[Shangounchained]

SJW CANCER infiltrated our gaming world, forget the triple AAA games and exclusives they are all political I think you should focus on indie titles and especially going next gen o hope ms and Sony give a chance to indie games like they did with the x360 arcade,
I remember playing multitudes of unknown great games on the ps2 and switching disks every hour to try new games and new adventures from 007 everything or nothing to jack and Dexter and time splitters to crimson sky I miss those days nowadays you put on a game and start feeling sorry for SJWS and a select group of people,

 

[Shangounchained]

Thing is we built these companies we built this industry but after they made money from us from selling us great games and art, they've become rich and arrogant enough to not give a fuck and fuck us sideways with political SJW games, company like naughty dog they started with great games like crash and Jack n Dexter to uncharted n after making them rich now theyve decided to show their true colours