My Latest Complaints.

[Private|Par]

Now, I've been hearing this topic brought up a lot lately. People saying, "I want companies to focus on gameplay rather than graphics! I hate how they focus on graphics so much and the gameplay sucks!" Or words to that effect. And that makes me throw whatever I'm holding into a nearby car or wall. Sometimes it's my DS, or my iPod, and if I'm really lucky, it's a thick shake I just bought at McDonalds, and the owner of the car is a big guy dressed in leather walking out behind me.

Just think back, back to the old days of the Amiga, or the Atari. What would have happened if developers said, "Oh, I guess you don't want better graphics because THESE are fun, they're fun. You'll play them and they're fun, so we can stop trying to improve graphically and concentrate on gameplay." Just imagine a world like that. A world where graphics don't matter at all. You want devs to focus on graphics equally as much as gameplay, at LEAST. If they're focusing enough on both, the game should be excellent, a la Oblivion, or GTA, or whatever other game you can think of that you love.

If companies didn't focus on gameplay, they'd be idiots. I'm sure almost EVERY game out there appeals to SOMEONE out there.

(Here my rant changes into something about gaming in general.)

My sister recently came up to me and said, "I wish I had enough money to buy that Imagine! Babies game! I really want it!" I pondered on throwing my ice-cream into her face, but then stopped and thought. Those games might not appeal to me, or you, or anyone reading forums and posting on them. But the fact is, gaming isn't reclusive anymore. Gaming is widespread, with games that cater to everyone's interests.

People like you, and me, and anyone listening to podcasts, or doing homebrew, or posting on forums, are now in the minority when it comes to gaming, especially where the DS and Wii are concerned. True, some games are inherently awful. (I'm looking at you, Perfect Dark Zero.) But that doesn't mean they don't appeal to anyone. Companies like EA aren't idiots. They want consumers to purchase their products, or, more simply, they want people to buy their stuff. They try and cater to the general consumer, which leaves people like you and me on the sidelines, looking in at the madness. "Why do they even bother making this crap?" Is generally what people say about these games. The answer is that the game isn't crap. (Unless it really IS.) The answer is that companies are simply trying to cater to every interest.

So, I just turned to my sister and said, "Yes. I'm sure you can buy it when you get enough pocket money. BUT do you want to have a go at this other game?" And tried to educate her in what I feel are good gaming experiences. We need to educate these people, not condemn them for buying products that we feel are inherently flawed and, let’s face it, shithouse. Well, that's what I feel.

Alright, that was Rant One. Now onto my second complaint....

People saying they want to see Sony fail. You don't. Period. If Sony fails, you have two companies fighting for two very different markets, the Casual gamers and the Hardcore. And the Wii owns the Casual. And the 360 owns the Hardcore. This means that you have one company controlling an entire industry. Go off and legally buy a copy of Madden, 2002 and upwards. Play it for about 30 minutes, or as long as you can stand to. Then come back here.

If Sony fails, and stops competing in the gaming industry, Microsoft will do to hardcore gaming what EA has done to American football. They'll stuff it up. Badly. Competition drives better products; it's the most basic principle when trying to sell anything. If you have two companies competing for one market, the products will get better and better. However, when one company owns the market, there is no incentive to improve, or to build upon. They're the only show in town? Don't like them? They don't care. There are millions of others who will put up with their shit.

However, things are looking good for Sony, at least now that the BluRay war is won. Don't think that I'm a Sony fan boy. I'm not. I just try to look at things from a different perspective.

Summary : Graphics over Gameplay isn't an argument you need both to make a game.
You do NOT want Sony to fail. If they do, gaming will stagnate.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions on this, sorry if I posted this in the wrong place, but I couldn't find a General Gaming discussion board.

P|P

 

[xcalibur]

First point: Thats somewhat true but when someone releases the same game with some graphical improvements every year a la fifa, and people keep buying it, you know there's something wrong.

Secondly: Sony shouldn't fail. People just resent them so they keep saying things like this but truth be told, both the PS1 and PS2 had amazing game libraries. I'm keeping up hope the same thing might happen with the PS3.
As for Microsoft stuffing up the hardcore genre, I don't think so.
Many PC gaming companies are owned by them yet still a lot of good games come out.
Microsoft doesn't do a lot of inhouse production anyway so they couldn't influence any 3rd party developers which plan to release a game.

 

[Gman 101]

I agree with your post, and it's right that we need a balance between graphics and gameplay. Educating them is hard, some people may just like the game because of the name, such as Madden, Fifa or NBA Live.

As for Sony haters, they wouldn't know better. It's like EA buying out Take2, I doubt any of the shareholders would know how detrimental that would be to gaming. I don't want NBA 2K to become part of NBA Live and become repetitive, boring and full of shit.

Your statement that "EA aren't idiots" is totally true. They're a bunch of greedy bastards. I've seen their steady decline to be a sign of the times. The more money you get, the more you want of it, and the faster you want it... so they milk as much money out of a series as possible and spend as little money on it as possible, which leads to poor gameplay, graphics which may look good (but will be total f*cked up shit on computer) and repetitiveness over the previous game in the series. A good example of this is Need For Speed.

Wow what a long rant...

 

[Private|Par]

when someone releases the same game with some graphical improvements every year a la fifa, and people keep buying it, you know there's something wrong.
As for Microsoft stuffing up the hardcore genre, I don't think so.
Both valid points, thank you for your opinion. I might say that Microsoft probably wouldn't stuff up Hardcore gaming completely, however, they could definately cause it to suck. Especially if they own the whole market. However, your whole post is sound but I didn't want to quote the whole thing.

QUOTE(Jerro123 @ Apr 5 2008, 10:07 PM) Your statement that "EA aren't idiots" is totally true. They're a bunch of greedy bastards. (continue)

True, but EA are a company and just like some other companies, will do anything to make money. I compare EA's games to many of the movie companies nowadays. They say, "Oh, I need an RPG storyline." Then they reach into a bin of writers, pick one up and bang together a rudimentary shape of what can laughably be called a game and shove it on the shelves for teenage boys who pleasure themselves whilst listening to Britney Spears and playing Halo 3 at the same time can buy and go on Gamefaqs and write reviews about how good the storyline was.

Sorry, got a bit carried away there. The point I'm trying to make is EA is not unlike any other companies, however, EA is especially hated for its subdivision. EA Sports. Don't get me started on them. I respect EA for giving Will Wright all the time he wants to create Spore, however I hate them for what they've done to American Football, and almost everything else they get their grubby hands on.

To paraphrase myself, I feel that your point is completely correct but can apply to many other companies out there.

 

[Gman 101]

I agree as well. Eg. Microsoft. Halo 2 for PC = epic fail. "Very good optimisation" - my ass. The difference in framerate and picture quality between medium and maximum detail = nothing. Just money money money money money. Dammit if only we could force companies at gun point to make quality games...

 

[Artheido]

I'm actually fine with 2D sprites... I don't see why everything has to be 3D =/

For me, gameplay > graphics. Though, the graphics need to be decent, not just 2 colours and huge pixels.

 

[DarkAura]

For me, gameplay > graphics. Though, the graphics need to be decent, not just 2 colours and huge pixels.

For me, gameplay = graphics. If the graphics suck, then gameplay is severely dropped because you just don't enjoy the visual aspect. But if the graphics rock and the gamplay sucks, then it's more kinda like "Ooo look at the pretty lights! Haha you can see his underwear!"They depend on each other. That's what I think anyways.

 

[FAST6191]

First if GTA is a benchmark for graphics then you might want to try again.
I was always taught the key element in engineering (any area) is compromise but I would go so far as to say they are less important than gameplay.

"Different strokes for different folks": agreed but when you find yourself not catered for by the general markets do it yourself.

Sony failing: if they continue to treat customers badly as they have done then I want them to fail, should they wise up then I am happy to see them continue as mixed in with the junk are some truly shining examples of entertainment. MS and Nintendo are no saints and should they mistreat customers then I am happy to watch the fail as well.
You mention/hint at the importance of competition: just because one player steps down does not mean another will not step up. There are plenty of other electronics and entertainment companies around more than capable of filling a void.
Bluray: ignoring other little formats there is still the monolith that is DVD (cheap, readily available, well understood, well liked, well tested, more than enough for most people quality wise and plays on just about everything, massive library, extensive creation tools for low and high end: aside from perhaps VHS I do not think any other format can touch those "features") and I can assure you that is far from won. It is my prediction that by the time any real headway is made in that area there will be a real improvement available rather than a token one.

 

[Private|Par]

I believe the way of the future is in digital distribution anyway, so I don't really care about this whole HD arguement. I'm pretty sure that Sony hasn't been any worse to their customers as Microsoft has been, or any other company you mention. Please elaborate on how exactly Sony has mistreated their customers.

 

[FAST6191]

I suppose the most obvious one is the "rootkit" DRM stuff.
Then we have the using the cheapest nastiest stuff (lasers are the big one) but that seems to be endemic to all areas of life unless I do it myself or someone with a similar mindset does.
Taking down importers (and not just lik-sang) with dubious applications of the law (WTO agreements supersede stuff in my world). Mod chips also fall under this but they could be argued down a bit (how may car parts make cars go faster than 99% of legal speed limits).
Forced formats (admittedly this could just be a poorly implemented marketing tactic).
Some pricefixing (mainly memory cards)
Not quite as flagrant as someone like MS but they do not respect standards a lot of the time (ARccOS is not compliant with the DVD spec).

 

[Private|Par]

Agreed. Then again, MS refusing to admit that the RRoD existed, plus sometimes not even valuing warranties after they did admit it, all the downtime that XBL has suffered over the past few months, or at least over Christmas, which I think they should have been prepared for. However, I do agree with you.

 

[xcalibur]

Sony failing: if they continue to treat customers badly as they have done then I want them to fail, should they wise up then I am happy to see them continue as mixed in with the junk are some truly shining examples of entertainment. MS and Nintendo are no saints and should they mistreat customers then I am happy to watch the fail as well.

Nintendo mistreated developers in the N64 days which is why the NGC didn't have a lot of support.