Are video games just not fun anymore?

[linuxares]

- how I feel about the gaming industry of late

 

[nWo]

Oh it's not the videogames. The problem are the developers, the greedy and lazy ones.

I am a videogamer since 1991, and yes, since then, there are fun videogames and trash videogames. But from a few years to now, there is a "formula" with games being basic, micro transactions and online. That's the xray from modern games and to be honest, it is indeed sad.

So, in a nutshell: Videogames are fun depending on your mood, the kind of game you want to play, and how much developers really put effort into it or is just a cashgrab.

Good news is, there are still a few good games every now and then.

Go with the games that bring you happiness, and experiment a few new ones from time to time.

 

[mrparrot2]

Perhaps It is not the games that are not fun anymore but rather our age that is showing up. I grew up with a N64 and almost every game I pick up there was Fun. The Playstation 2 era was even better. But when I got a xbox360 everything was looking so repetitive and boring that I very often switched back to N64 or PS2.

My cousin, which was yonger than me, grew up with a PS2 and found the xbox360 to be awesome.

But I also see that there is Very little development In videogame technology recently. Sure there is raytracing but It doesnt seem to me as impressive as the media says.

 

[KitChan]

Hollywoodism, zoomerism, dumbing downism, overblown hype engines, rushed releases and terrible microtransaction systems plague too many games these days.

 

[LainaGabranth]

I cannot believe that in the year of our lord 2022 someone really deadass typed "Zoomerism" with their keyboard, looked at their post, and consciously said "Yep, I wanna say that on the internet, no one will think I sound fucking deranged."

 

[Tsukiru]

There's a wide variety of genres in games, some of which don't get any spotlight from AAA or similar developers. I don't play much recently, settling with "just not for me." Of course with certain trends being recent it feels really stale or unpolished. I've had more fun or interest in older titles, but if that still feels stressful or boring maybe you've just lost interest? Which is fairly normal.

 

[Milenko]

All I play now are games that can be played in bursts, like Binding Of Isaac, Dead Cells, Slay The Spire etc. Couldn't imagine getting invested in a story, idk if my attention span is gone or I'm just not interested anymore

 

[realtimesave]

Video games just don't feel fun anymore, it just feels stressful and like an extra step for me. I don't really know, I don't play games besides basic mobile games like Jetpack Joyride etc, anyone else feel the same?

I can admit I have plenty gaming hardware but I barely ever touch a video game. I like to mod and I like to own interesting electronics. It's good to be able to pick up a game once in a while tho'

 

[godreborn]

I felt the same way, I cared more about learning how the console worked. I've slowly gotten back into games, very slowly. I beat platinumed tales of arise for ps5, beat dragon quest Xi (still can't beat the main bonus boss) on the switch, and I'm currently playing tales of berseria (think I'm close to the end). Played a few other games here and there. That's the extent of my gaming over the past 15 years or so.

 

[Korozin]

Late response, and probably not adding much- but here I go anyways.

I think a large amount of it has to deal with the fact that people don't design / make their games with fun in mind anymore. Now they follow statistics and formulas based on what they surmise the people would like, which lets face it, it isn't always largely accurate- which this can lead to some major fails.

Take old Nintendo for an example, they used to design their games with the specific intention of making something they thought was fun, well written, and over-all a good experience. It wasn't largely fueled by the desire for just monetary gain or publicity, rather creating an experience anyone can enjoy. Now look at modern Nintendo, you can clearly see that the fundamental ideals have changed, they are now more focused on Profit and pumping out what they think will be the next big thing without actually taking into consideration what they believe to be a good or fun experience.

A lot of it also has to do with the fact that a large amount of people who began gaming started off in these times when user enjoyment was actually the focus of development, and now that it's changed you can see the drastic differences in quality and experience. We have good graphics and engines now, sure, but you can have the best looking game in the world and still not be entertained the same way as you were by, take a random example: Sonic 3. Since you've experienced better times in gaming, it's only natural to become more detached as it deteriorates.

 

[squabbled]

Video games just don't feel fun anymore, it just feels stressful and like an extra step for me. I don't really know, I don't play games besides basic mobile games like Jetpack Joyride etc, anyone else feel the same?

i go up and down: i'll play a real game like once a day for like 30 minutes and just kinda stop then will play non stop something, usually team fortress 2, minecraft, or some steam game i get a total obsession on. just step back and then it'll come back, at least for me. also, alternate what games you're playing a bit, i get burned out of one game after a while and move onto another.

 

[ChanseyIsTheBest]

In my experience when video games weren't fun any more for me a while back they are now it was because I was playing too much. When you have more hobbies and stuff going in your life they become more enjoyable because too much of one thing can get boring.

Also I think broadening your horizon within games - there's genres lately I never thought I would be into like shmups and 1st person shooters but now I like them.

I think for a lot of people they get to a point enjoy everything outside the game i.e. the community, the news, the happenings but don't actually enjoy playing. When we obsess about this stuff which I would call metagaming we lose sight of having fun. 'I need to play the best game of the year', 'I need to finish x games this year', 'I need to maximise my currency in this F2P by playing daily'.

 

[bazamuffin]

Fell out of love with gaming a bit ago. Bought an XB1 and sold it after 2 weeks. My mate has just recently bought my switch and I'm considering selling my Quest 2. I still like to stay up to speed on releases etc, but I just don't have the bug anymore.

 

[SylverReZ]

I have kind of lost interest for video games for quite a long time now, been busy with so many things with life. I've been thinking of maybe playing something new for a change, perhaps an RPG or a game that I have never played before.

 

[realtimesave]

Piracy syndrome is when you have copied too many games and don’t know what to play. Seen it happen a lot.

 

[Cnotesdip]

Last system I had was a Xbox the previous generation, I recently picked up the switch having fun playing the Mario games there’s a thrill in ending the game after you end it at that point to me it become boring

 

[CommanderCool]

you aren't looking in the right places if you think gaming isn't fun anymore.

 

[ereb]

So since we're on GBAtemp I think we can make a few assumptions.

• Many of us grew up playing games since at least the GBA, for one thing we've now reached adulthood where our interests change.
• A lot of us played a lot of Nintendo. The era under Iwata was definitely different than it is now. Consoles made under him were attempts to be more social (from pictochat to miiverse) and the blue ocean strategy, which focused on low-skill and party games, which tend to be more replayable in my opinion.

Since the 2000s the game industry has changed. Just as the internet has been definitively shown to run on ads, the money has been found to be microtransactions and subscriptions (90% of profit comes from 10% of people seems to be the new stage of capitalism, Disney World for example has fully embraced this principle). MMOs have died unless you live in China or Korea, the idea of logging into a world of avatars just isn't interesting anymore (as Zuckerberg is finding out the hard way). Outside of mobile games consoles have returned to the 90s, you get a standard controller and one screen, so motion, stylus, and dual screen games have died. There tends to be about three different art styles, hi-res snes, vague mobile cartoon/anime, and photorealism. Open world and endless customization has continued to conquer from Mario to Zelda.

In other words the video game industry has matured, they've found what is profitable and will endlessly rehash this for us. We will always get more of the franchises we love and there will occasionally be something genuinely new, but this is it for awhile I think. I imagine this is how some people felt in the later years of the 2600 before the NES launched.

As well something new for us is the internet as skinners box. It has been redesigned to be uniquely addicting (for surveillance capitalism and advertising) and has destroyed our sense of time or enjoyment ("no one is ever bored, everything is boring"). If you used to spend 5 hours a day gaming or pulling out your ds at lunch break but now spend 5 hours browsing reddit, twitter, discord, or refreshing news feeds or whatever then hopefully this message might make you want to reconsider your time.

Anyway these are my thoughts, maybe I'm wrong. We are getting older but the world we grew up with is also gone. I know there's a lot of old people who believe video games became uninteresting with the launch of the n64 and hoard games from the 80s, so perhaps we're just reaching their stage. These days I either spin up Mario Kart to play with friends while chatting or alone I'll pull out some nostalgic favorites to play for a half hour or so.

Edit: also the internet has killed couch co-op gaming or lan parties, which I'm sure a lot of people's fondest memories are from.

 

[dudeguy2022]

Piracy syndrome is when you have copied too many games and don’t know what to play. Seen it happen a lot.

That's why I don't pirate video games.

 

[EldritchPenumbra]

I can say I no longer eat, sleep, and breath video games like I did when I was young. Also now that we are in the era of extremely powerful hardware, it's less exciting because each game system doesn't have it's own unique graphics processor, sound chip, limitations, strengths, and the like that made them stand apart from one another. I.E. There was a distinct experience playing between a Genesis, Super NES, and Turbo Graphics 16, like there had been between the Atari XL/XE series and the Commodore 64/128. These days I just build a PC and stick a graphics card in there, and if I want console gaming, I of course buy Nintendo because Nintendo has that way about their approach that Sony and Microsoft have a hard time capturing. Besides the story lines in the so called adult systems don't appeal to me. I don't want to see current social trends like lesbianism and such crammed into my game. I want my game to escape with, I want to hang out in the mushroom kingdom with Peach (not the movie variant) and try to forget the world that I'm stuck in. As for all the gore, guts and stuff, well I grew up on horror movies starting in 1979, and have experienced Mortal Kombat and all that stuff as it released so absolutely NOTHING is shocking any more, and I'm not at all interested in this game of "let's see what boundaries we can cross next.", which seems to be all this present culture lives for these days.