Anyone not care about next gen at all?

[Udderdude]

This generation was chronically lacking in innovation for mainstream titles. But then, we're seeing Hollywood reboot and revisit everything under the sun so maybe the consumer is the problem for consistently buying into the same old shit?

Part of the issue here is that remakes/sequels are a safer bet than a new franchise, and with budgets for next gen games running into the millions, there's a lot less risk taking going on.

[TransatlanticFoe]

But it won't stop if people keep buying into it. Should it totally flop, there'd be more risks. More attempts at innovation. Media as a whole has been running on autopilot for too long but the general public is all too willing to buy into it and keep it going

[Hagane]

I wouldn't care about lack of innovation if they rehashed good games. The problem is that they do rehashes of crap stuff, and the "innovations" (like motion sensing) are even worse.

[Friendly]

PS3 also has the destinction of being the first region-free home system since the NES

NES wasn't region-free.

Yes, I know. NES was the first region-locked system, as were all other home systems by all makers since. I should have written "since NES introduced region locking".

[Lord Satori]

Whos the idiot addicted to meth that came up with that region locking shit anyway?

"oh, lets region lock so games can only be played in certain countries"

"sir, won't that earn less profits if we-"

"DO IT, MAGGOT!"

[BIL]

as were all other home systems by all makers since.

The Genesis wasn't. Quite a few PAL Mega Drive games work perfectly on it.

[trap15]

"sir, won't that earn less profits if we-"

For precisely that reason. Typically, region locking is to help prevent imports, usually from places where it'd be cheaper to import instead of buy local.

For example:
Game A [JP] costs the equivalent of $50.
Game A [US] costs $20.

Region locking prevents JP region from importing the vastly cheaper US version, and undercutting local sales in JP.

[Friendly]

as were all other home systems by all makers since.

The Genesis wasn't. Quite a few PAL Mega Drive games work perfectly on it.

Genesis does have a region setting, too. Just because many imports don't enforce it doesn't mean it's not there.

If you don't believe it, try playing a Japanese copy of Thunder Force IV on your Genesis. Or Alien Soldier (PAL/JP). There are many locked titles, especially later games.

[louisg]

as were all other home systems by all makers since.

The Genesis wasn't. Quite a few PAL Mega Drive games work perfectly on it.

Genesis does have a region setting, too. Just because many imports don't enforce it doesn't mean it's not there.

If you don't believe it, try playing a Japanese copy of Thunder Force IV on your Genesis. Or Alien Soldier (PAL/JP). There are many locked titles, especially later games.

I always thought that was just code that checks your BIOS version and refuses to proceed-- hacked in near the end of the generation. I think of "console supports region locking" as "the console itself refuses to run import games".

[BIL]

Genesis does have a region setting, too. Just because many imports don't enforce it doesn't mean it's not there.

Isn't the PS3 the same, essentially? I don't care about RPGs or fighting games so I wasn't fazed by the Persona 4 Arena debacle, but I never took region-freedom for granted with the option still there for publishers to exploit.

I always thought that was just code that checks your BIOS version and refuses to proceed-- hacked in near the end of the generation. I think of "console supports region locking" as "the console itself refuses to run import games".

That's how I understood it too, for region-locked games that lack a dedicated lockout chip (like Vampire Killer's).

[Siren2011]

Dear god, I return after a long absence and the forum has gotten even shittier. Oh, well. I guess there is still some fun to be had in showing you guys the absurdity of your collective e-crying. (I'll get the tissues.)

There are a LOT of short sighted ramblings going on here. First off, every current has a counter-current. It has ALWAYS been this way! This deeply cynical viewpoint among hardcore veterans that nothing will break the mold ever again is simply disgusting and erroneous. Just because arcades have stagnated does NOT mean that a new shoot 'em up masterpiece can ever be made again. CAVE is not the "be all end all of shoot 'em ups, period." As long as there are passionate gamers and passionate developers, evolution of the genre is in their hands alone. The only thing different about now is the rarity for such games is becoming increasingly greater. They did not, contrary to popular vidyageame forum belief, become "magically impossible 'cuz money and grr Micro$oft!" Did CAVE come into existence from a vacuum? Fuck no! They drew inspiration from the very best that came before them. This chicken shit ideology that this can somehow never happen again with any great genre is simply absurd and nihilistic. It immediately leads me to suspect that you simply don't have a passion for games, anymore. Or worse: you never had a great enough passion for them as you once believed yourself to possess. But I'll give you all the benefit of the doubt and assume you are in the former category. You just lack the tools needed to see things from a loftier perspective, which isn't YOUR fault, per se. But that is beyond the scope of this post.

Now, whether or not this new masterpiece will be made in the near or distant future is yet to be known. It is only a matter of time and willpower. But one mentality has to be destroyed if you are to replenish any hope for your past time like the smart people are already doing. This of course being some dummy at the beginning of page 3 in this thread using the term "big budgets" in a purely derogatory way. I hope you can see why this is problematic? I guess not, since I'm having to say this shit in the first place, but here goes the rest of it:

High production values are NOT the cause of sterilized games such as Call of Doo Doo -Modern Retard. Lack of passion and greed for money and sign-value is. The developers who create them are purely focusing on improving aesthetic detail in first person shooters. Once this becomes commonplace, and every new title in the genre is a product of rock bottom game philosophy, the only way is up from there! I haven't played Bulletstorm, but it looks like a step in the right direction as far as increasing the possibility space with the introduction of highly stylized kills for massive points. At this point, would all of that striving for aesthetic beauty by the way of gigantic budgets have gone to waste? I strongly think not, since it now has found a purpose: serving a game in which its mechanics are actually worthy of modern aesthetics.

We have already seen Platinum Games introduce a super-duper-easy automatic mode for retarded players in addition to the brutal difficulty modes. This should be encouraged, since now everyone can get something out of it without one or the other shitting on everyone else's parade! Purely visual treats for the weak, and immense feelings of power for the strong. If this way of game design becomes a little bit more accepted, others will follow suit as well, and more after them, and soon we will see certain developers receive somewhat less restrictions from marketing scumbags with regards to adding more challenging bosses and other segments. (The horror!)

If you still feel like bitching, by all means, continue to do so. No one is stopping you, after all. Just don't be surprised when it is met with harsh truths and occasional laughter and mockery. Things WILL continue to get worse before they get better. Do not get me wrong. Kinnect will probably replace conventional controls on a wide scale, but NOT necessarily for ALL of it, you see. This is where hope lies; in that tiny percentage. In fact, I think it's safe to say at this point, with all I've experienced and overcome in my admittedly short but extremely exciting life thus far, that the shittier things seem, the greater potential for a profound growth that the world has never known. C'mon, you niggas know this! Don't tell me all that time spent with Ketsui and you have no idea what I'm talking about. lol. Unbearably strong resistance gives birth to devastatingly raw power. It's a law of the universe.

I also wish to leave you with this:

http://www.facegametips.com/games/the-g ... ld-happen/

In 1983 the success of arcade games led a bunch of forward-thinking entrepreneurs to say, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if I could bring these games to the living room?” What resulted was a cluster of consoles from Atari, Magnavox, and Intellivision, amongst others, that so disastrously fragmented the market that we saw a 97% fall in game revenues. This week, CES 2013 is here with a lot of big players in the games industry unleashing new gaming hardware. It seems eerily similar to thirty years ago.

Death is imminent. It's rebirth that ultimately concerns us, here.

[RGC]

you never had a great enough passion for them as you once believed yourself to possess.

It's true, wanking was the only pastime I was truly passionate about in my teens, on reflection.



Mame + any Raiden Fighters game = Eternal Recurrence

[Jonathan Ingram]

Long post.

+1000

A voice of reason in the abyss of ignorance.

Isn't the PS3 the same, essentially? I don't care about RPGs or fighting games so I wasn't fazed by the Persona 4 Arena debacle, but I never took region-freedom for granted with the option still there for publishers to exploit.

From what I understand, it`s been Sony`s policy to keep the system region-free. If it was up to publishers, there would be a heckuva lot more region-locked games on the PS3 than just one. I don`t know why an exception was made for Persona 4: Arena, but Atlus must feel awfully proud of themselves.

[evil_ash_xero]

Heavy Rain, God of War

Both garbage. Heavy Rain can barely be considered a game.

I thought God Of War 3 was about as good as the first one.

Oh, and just for the record, I thought games were pretty killer up through last gen. I'm a "Genesis/Super NES through PS2 was best" kind of guy. I actually preferred the PS2 era to the PS1 era due to developers getting a better grasp on 3D. Sure, they seemed great at the time, but most 32 bit 3D games have aged horribly.
After that, there has been some games up to snuff, just not enough.

[Ed Oscuro]

I think people haven't given a lot of consideration to the improved playtime and replayability of many newer games. Old games, you're lucky if they even offer a decent challenge. New stuff might often have dodgy mechanics, but in the older days people still managed dodgy mechanics and that even when limited to only two dimensions.

Many games are going to be subpar, but just avoid them. More playtime and achievements in lousy games just means you're treading water for longer.

PC has continued to be the powerhouse for games, and as PC capabilities once again far outstrip consoles, and lack nothing unique from consoles, its hold on the market can't be ignored - and unfortunately this does dictate a large emphasis on FPS type games which of course aren't to everybody's liking.

[Hagane]

I don't understand what you mean by "improved playtime and replayability". Which new games, and compared to what kind of old games, exactly?

[R79]

Dear god, I return after a long absence and the forum has gotten even shittier.

It's intrinsically, and predominately, focused on 2D games, what do you expect... my "nigga"? Welcome back, 5 stars, would rant again.

If they're going all DRM online only next gen, then yeah, could well be seeing a replay of the mid '80s gaming crash. What happens after that? I'm kinda beyond caring because I've played so many wonderful games over the decades, and I'll probably be blind by then anyway.

Sure, I remember Rambo games on Ocean, but like now, if you had any taste, you stayed well clear, and stuck with the Japanese arcade conversions, or the tremendous role and exploration games my own country was putting out at the time, such as Head Over Heels, or Knight Lore

It's funny, I was watching an episode of Bad Influence earlier, from like '94, and they were saying (and displaying) how Atari can't promote the Jaguar because they've run out of money. Andy Crane then goes on to say how Aliens Vs Predator isn't "just another mindless shooter".

This was 20 years ago. Draw your own comparisons and/or correlations.

[null1024]

I'm looking forward to next-gen so that current gen systems become really cheap.

[cj iwakura]

I think people are in way too big a hurry. The PS3 is still pushing boundaries, I think it's wasteful to rush to a new system that's bound to be limited in terms of BC and used software, not to mention region locks.

[trap15]

Long post.

[Shelcoof]

I think people are in way too big a hurry. The PS3 is still pushing boundaries, I think it's wasteful to rush to a new system that's bound to be limited in terms of BC and used software, not to mention region locks.

I get this feeling that we'll see a ton of current gen remakes or ports to the new "Next Gen" Consoles. We'll get to see more games we've bought this generation and past generations available via download with minor or little enhancements. Those are the games we'll most likely be playing the "NExt Gen".

I honestly don't believe many people are in a hurry for the next gen. I think its the publishers and developers that benefit most from a newly released console. The whole idea is to release it quick so they can start pocketing as much money from game sales as possible. The longer this Generation of consoles is still alive the less money they think they'll make.

The only thing I'm worried about this generation of games is the multiplayer game's servers shutting down so that they would encourage us to move on to the next systems.

[Drachenherz]

Hmm... I came to change my mind about the next generation...

If Oculus Rift works on it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAC5SeNH8jw

[Udderdude]

lol.

[RoninBuddha]

I'm looking forward to next-gen so that current gen systems become really cheap.

cheap and more exploitable.

[AntiFritz]

I'm looking forward to next-gen so that current gen systems become really cheap.

Yeah same, I'm actually waiting for a ps3 price drop. It's outrageous that ps3's still cost 50% more here than what I paid for my 360 18 months ago.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Wouldn't mind current gen lasting for a number of hardware revisions to the point of being more time-proof. I'm afraid fully working units might be trickier to get hold of pretty soon.

[Blackbird]

I will probably not be investing in the next gen, at least for a while. Anything with DRM or online-only functionality is right out - I simply refuse to support crappy business practices. Everything that doesn't have those features will be considered, but probably when it becomes less expensive. I might pick up a 3DS when the last update of the hardware comes out, for example.

Am I worried about the future of gaming? Not at all. Here are a few reasons:

1 - There is already an enormous back archive of vintage games that no human could ever hope to complete in one lifetime. Even just cherry picking the best and most relevant titles to your interests, there are still an enormous number of games. Some genres haven't aged as well, but many are as just as good as they ever were.

2 - Handheld gaming remains generally excellent, in my opinion. The constraints of making games that could be played "on the go" generally discourages game developers from the usual level bloat/filler garbage. Handheld consoles are also largely devoid of DRM, DLC and other offensive modern constructs (for now). Everything except the Vita in any case.

3 - iDevices and other mobile touch screens are proving to be a great platform for games, with a lot of the advantages of PC gaming in a mobile package. Cave games in the platform are swell, and there are a ton of excellent indie games.

4 - Kickstarter has a lot of promise. Crowdfunding has proven to be a viable way to publish a game. This allows developers to abstain from the usual money-grubbing practices that AAA publishers demand, so they can ignore bs DRM, etc. Essentially, Kickstarter has resurrected the "mid-tier budget" developer model that isn't AAA, but isn't quite a 2 person indie team, either. Crowdfunding also allows gamers to publish/express interest in projects that would garner no commercial interest whatsoever from traditional publishing models.

Perfect example is the Siter Skain localization that's funded right now. NA publishers would give zero fucks about an indie JP shooting game that has only a tiny hardcore fanbase.

This idea has only taken off very recently, but once we see major titles like Project Eternity and Torment: ToN come out, I think we'll see this business model's true potential.

5 - The indie games industry is putting out a ton of superb games and more or less revitalizing the PC gaming platform single-handedly. A lot of genres that were presumed extinct are now seeing a revival of interest.

~~~

So yeah, I've got plenty of stuff to play/look forward to for the forseeable future, more than I even have time for. You just need to dig a little more to separate the diamonds from the chaff now.

[hail good sir]

started

[neorichieb1971]

If Sony don't start taking risks I probably won't buy the PS4. You can revamp games from the 1980's into a top AAA titles on PS4. There are games that can benefit from the artistic upgrade and keep the gameplay intact. If Sony and Microsoft just think "oh, lets do a 3D FPS", I think thats just so boring and retarded. There are a lot of ideas that nextgen can deliver top notch gameplay with wow factor built in, but nobody has the balls to put something out that is simplistic in design, but has the wow factor.

I still think simple basic stuff like Parodius, Bubble Bobble, Space Harrier, Outrun can be done in 1080 in stupendous colour and imagination.

[Friendly]

@neorichieb1971

When asked about why the importance of the PS4 reveal's first game being decidely cutesy game Knack, Yoshida said "Yeah, it was pretty intentional. Mark's idea was like, "What about a Crash Bandicoot for PS4?" When he suggested the concept of Knack, we were like, "Yeah, we hate to see all the PS4 games being FPS or action-adventure or very photorealistic" - you know, big-budget blockbuster games. We know that people like these games, but these are not the only kinds of games that people can have fun with."