Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Dumbing Down Of Games

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • The Dumbing Down Of Games

    I doubt there is anyone on this forum that isn't aware of the plight current games are suffering. This uses the TES series as a specific example, but the concept is applicable to all modern games.

    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JweTAhyR4o0]The Elder Scrolls : The Dumbing Down[/ame]

    My mind is continually blown as multimillion dollar, "AAA" titles are released and they absolutely suck. These really can't even be called 'games', as half the things that make something a 'game' are completely absent or, at best, severely crippled.

    There are a lot of creative directors out there that UTTERLY SUCK at their job and SHOULD BE FIRED, pronto... Of course, we can't really rely on the competency of their superiors either.

    We lose. Makes sense though, hire cretins to make games for cretins.

    EDIT: Hehe, that last part I wrote may have been a little uncalled for. It's not like one can just single out creative directors and project leaders...I place the blame on corporate greed and stupidity. It's just lame seeing all this awesome talent and potential go to waste.
    Last edited by KillPixel; 02-15-2013, 10:13 AM.
    www.youtube.com/user/KillPixel

  • #2
    Pensu

    Comment


    • #3
      Skyrim is awesome.....

      [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clcHxg9l5Bk]Elder Scrolls V Skyrim theme song - Dragonborn - YouTube[/ame] , I haven't beaten it. I'm starting the entire game over, so I can enjoy it in all its graphical splendor
      Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks for posting. Very good points made, every game developer making RPGs should watch this.
        Scout's Journey
        Rune of Earth Magic

        Comment


        • #5
          I don't have time to view the video right now, but as a game developer, sometimes we are pressed to find ways to make our game sell to the most people in order to meet quota or make profits.

          So we try to make the game engaging, but we sometimes have to find ways to make it easier for some people who don't really play games as much as we do, and therefore have a harder time picking up new ideas and concepts.

          No one wants to play a game that's too difficult, or too easy, so finding a balance is critical. We always talk about "who are target audience is"

          What age is our audience? Male or female? Is there a specific race or demographic? How about a region in the world? Putting all this information together, we make an educated inference on how the game should look, play, and feel in order to hit the target audience.

          To hit new audiences, and increase our fan base, sometimes we need to dumb things down so they can get on the band wagon.
          The real problem is that it's not about making a good game anymore, it's about making a game that sells. I personally would be happy making a game that only 10,000 people thought was the best thing that ever happened to their life. But, that's not what Publishers want. They want a game that will hit well over 1,000,000 players, enough to cover the cost of development and make a profit for them, so sometimes they have to compromise the design.

          It's a sad truth of the game industry, and that's part of the reason why I don't really make games anymore.

          ALSO... accidents and mistakes are made, sometimes the design sounds good on paper, but then it's applied and then the developer realizes that it's broken and sucks, but it's too late to fix it, they have to run with it. It happens

          One of the downsides to working on a dead line, and with a large team of people.
          +Rep! I'm going to the top!

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Kliffington View Post
            I don't have time to view the video right now, but as a game developer, sometimes we are pressed to find ways to make our game sell to the most people in order to meet quota or make profits.
            That is the main idea... Making profit... Some things in life are unavoidable... An accident, a sneeze, and a need to make profit... No, I'm not criticizing anybody. I work for a convenience store (part-time) and I understand the need to make profit. People need to pay off their bills, people need to feed their kids, go ahead, continue...

            My suggestion is this: Put a "difficulty" sticker/label on the game...

            Here is the ranking system:

            1 = The game is extremely easy (You don't need any experience).
            2 = The game is easy.
            3 = Medium difficulty
            4 = The game is hard.
            5 = The game is incredibly hard (If your middle name is "Challenge", you should buy this game.)

            If every game had a difficulty sticker/label, every single consumer would be satisfied.

            I don't mean to go off-topic, but the same thing is happening to music... Music is not as good as it used to be... The lyrics are poorer and the tunes are no longer catchy. Nowadays, the majority of the people enjoy poor-quality music. "Content is no longer important." "Musicians can be lazy." (But don't get me wrong, I don't want to bash everyone... Today, there are some musicians who are very good... Examples: Flo Rida, Black Eyed Peas, etc.)
            "Through my contact lenses, I have seen them all, I've seen wicked clowns and broken dreams / Crazy men in jumpsuits trying to be extreme and messing around with your computer screen" - Creative Rhyme (03/23/2012)

            Comment


            • #7
              The best thing invented lately about difficulty in video games;

              Luigi auto-play in the new Mario Brother Wii game's. After about 5+ tries of dying and dying and not beating a level, it will offer to auto-play it for you with the option to take back over after Luigi gets passed the spot your having trouble with / or start the entire level over and give it another shot.
              Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

              Comment


              • #8
                Luigi sucks Yoshi eggs. Why not send in our OTHER 'man in green'?

                Originally posted by Mindf!3ldzX View Post
                The best thing invented lately about difficulty in video games;

                Luigi auto-play in the new Mario Brother Wii game's. After about 5+ tries of dying and dying and not beating a level, it will offer to auto-play it for you with the option to take back over after Luigi gets passed the spot your having trouble with / or start the entire level over and give it another shot.
                ..
                Quad damn it! I hated that! So I'm not the only Q1 player who has 'experienced that themself for the first time'.
                It was bad enough having half of the rest of the whole level spoiled but then you got stuck playing as Luigi... I choose Mario... then I get stuck as Luigi wanting to see what his 'help' is and have to take a dive off the map's lower bounds to start over as Mario again.


                I couldn't do well in New Super Mario Bros. 'cause they don't let you use the gamecube controllers, first of all, or even the Nun-Chuck thing that goes with the Wii-Mote...
                I hope I never have to use a sideways Wii-Mote again in my life.


                What I really had trouble with was that you couldn't attack enemies in that game. It's like, yeah, you can do a twirl move and knock 'em away but who gives a rip. I just can't do well in a 'sidescroller with enemies' type game where you can't actually attack them... I don't care if it's not hard to jump on the heads before they reach you... I just can't...
                It was just freakin' NES Super Mario Bros. all over again as I was waiting for Link to show up on a pale white horse and save us from 'jump on the heads' drudgery and show us all how to FIGHT our enemies using weapons, defenses, and quick witted thinking and not just maneuver around them.
                I wonder how Mario and Luigi would go about facing all the baddies in Quake. How many Metal Boxes would those Bros. have to blow through before they get a clue and pick up a weapon or at least learn some sort of fisticuffs?
                Link might possibly be able to sleuth his way through Quake's dimensional realms and track down the Hell-Mother saving not only Hyrule for the 404th time but all of Earth... He's faced foes immensly larger than his own size time and time again without fail. Mario has a hard enough time tracking down, heading off, and defeating Bowser.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Foka Wii-mote and Nunchuck, I played SMB through Dolphin, using a 360 controller :F

                  Gaming isn't getting dumbed down, you guys are just becoming more adept gamers, and your perception of newer games is changing.

                  True story, it took me months and months to beat Super Mario World. Then again I was like 10 o_O
                  Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mindf!3ldzX View Post
                    Foka Wii-mote and Nunchuck, I played SMB through Dolphin, using a 360 controller :F

                    Gaming isn't getting dumbed down, you guys are just becoming more adept gamers, and your perception of newer games is changing.

                    True story, it took me months and months to beat Super Mario World. Then again I was like 10 o_O
                    Truth. When I was 6-7 (whenever the hell the SNES came out) it took me months to get my first 96* complete game save in Super Mario World. 20 years later, I bought it for my Gameboy Advance, got it in 3 days.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Star Road + Super Star Road / Winning / All Turtles became Mario head's / worlds turned brown / Weird ass shit FTW.
                      Want to get into playing Quake again? Click here for the Multiplayer-Startup kit! laissez bon temps rouler!

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Agreed... although NO game sense Q1 has had me up till 4 in the morning playing CTF before work!
                        *I chose the road less traveled... Now I don't know where the hell I am*
                        sigpic

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X