What is the Future of Gaming?

[GoldLeader]

38 minutes ago, Creamhoven said:

Does anyone know what is printed above 11 sep/sep 01?

Does it say "Your Mom"? 

 

 

 

 

OK seriously I think it just says Date of Expiration...One side may say something else,  Date of Notification?   Even back then,  it was just supposed to flash across the screen,  not be examined I'm sure,  They probably wondered if people would "freeze the tape" to read the details haha...

[roots.genoa]

8 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

Someday everyone will wake up and see that games were Fun in the Past,  unlike most modern games.

Someday everyone will wake up and see that we only remember fun games from the past, but a lot of them were not, exactly like today.

 

But that day will probably not happen since you're all old farts blinded by nostalgia (which is a disease, by the way, although incurable apparently).

[GoldLeader]

I'm not saying all games were fun in the past...I guess you're right,  I'm talking about the fun ones

 

But now that we can do fun games,  like something we only imagined in the past (More levels, more randomness, more of everything that made certain games great) they don't.  For example,  now that certain games have played like a movie you control,  (Remember when that was the goal?) ...It seems like Every game is that way,  except for maybe homebrews and some indie stuff, which IMO have gone back to the past in a way...But most big modern games focus on story and are very cinematic and everything looks realistic...etc.  I just feel like sometimes gameplay has taken a back seat to all of this,  but I don't really follow modern games anymore as I've been burned too many times in the past,...So I was just speaking off the cuff,  and quite a bit tongue in cheek for us old farts.

[dwh]

On 5/30/2023 at 2:27 PM, MrTrust said:

 

Because we're sedentary, fat, and anxious.  That's what being addicted means.  Heroin addicts know the dope is killing them; but they ain't going to stop.

 

 

In order to do the stuff you're talking about, you have to have IRL friends and people increasingly do not have those.  Look at the data; people have fewer close friends and fewer friends overall, they spend less time with extended family, they're not getting married, they're not having kids, they're not even having sex.   Restaurants are doing sometimes half their sales on delivery apps and cutting their hours of operation because people just don't leave their houses.  Go to a bar and shoot pool?  What bar?  They're closing left and right.  That business is never going back to pre-2020 levels.  

 

 

Correct, and I'm not convinced that this is possible for gaming because it's the only medium of the ones you reference that requires input from the audience.  This is always the problem.

 

 

There were many experiments to this effect in through the early 90s.  Kojima would be a late example.  The problem is that as technical advancements make artistic visions more realizable, publishing has become more democratized.  No longer do indie arthouse types have to get a job with an actual game company and learn their actual craft.  They can put whatever juvenalia out they come up with and get it funded through Kickstarter or put it up on Steam for $5.  There is no mechanism to refine the artist himself.

 

 

Correct.

Yeah, it seems to be like every single dystopian novel and movie is coming true. The artists and technologists gave the evil ones to many good ideas and tools....Oh well, the AI will take care of it all ,a la Terminator.

My answer? When it gets too bad I will walk into the forest. Even if that is the last thing I do ,at least it's pretty there.

[roots.genoa]

3 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

It seems like Every game is that way

Maybe it seems like that to you, but as a professional video game reviewer, I can tell you it's a minority of games that are that way, even though they're the ones that get the most media coverage. It's exactly like claiming every movie is a super hero movie these days.

[MrTrust]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

Maybe it seems like that to you, but as a professional video game reviewer, I can tell you it's a minority of games that are that way, even though they're the ones that get the most media coverage. It's exactly like claiming every movie is a super hero movie these days.

 

Every movie is a 90s Michael Bay explosion orgy.  All Super Hero movies are thinly-disguised 90s Michael Bay movies, with increasingly obnoxious elbow-jabbing pop references cribbed from Kevin Smith and Shane Black.  All children's movies are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All action-adventure pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All fantasy and sci-fi pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  Every second qUiRkY InDiE movie that comes out devolves into a 90s explosion orgy like Everything Everywhere All at Once.  Even weird subversive horror pictures like Malignant devolve into 90s explosion orgies.  

 

Can't escape it no matter where you go.  It's like how every TV show is 24 now.  Just constant McGuffin chasing from episode to episode, season after season, until they just give up and piss everyone off with the ending.  

 

6 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Someday everyone will wake up and see that we only remember fun games from the past, but a lot of them were not, exactly like today.

 

Game designers of the past:

 

 

Well-groomed.  Middle-aged.  Authority figures.  No vocal fry.  Advertisement on nationwide broadcast.  Suits and ties.  These are men.

 

Game designers today:

 

T-shirts as far as the eye can see.  Slouching.  Slovenly beards.  Obnoxious gape face.  Guzzling Asti Spumante.  Nobody has their shirt tucked in.  Social media hype post for a game that was released broken.  These are boys.

 

The future of gaming will belong to those who emulate Picture 1, not those who emulate Picture 2.  

[Albert]

16 minutes ago, MrTrust said:

T-shirts as far as the eye can see.  Slouching.  Slovenly beards.  Obnoxious gape face.  Guzzling Asti Spumante.  Nobody has their shirt tucked in.  Social media hype post for a game that was released broken.  These are boys.

 

The future of gaming will belong to those who emulate Picture 1, not those who emulate Picture 2.  

Are you trolling?  Because if not, this is one of the most moronic statements I've ever seen on AtariAge. 

 

 ..Al

[digdugnate]

I've been messing around with ChatGPT and Bard for work stuff, so here's what Bard has to say:

 

Quote

The future of gaming is bright. Here are some of the trends that I predict will shape the industry in the coming years:

 

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) will become more mainstream. VR headsets are already available to consumers, but the technology is still in its early stages. As VR headsets become more affordable and user-friendly, we can expect to see more and more people using them for gaming. AR is also gaining popularity, with apps like Pokémon Go and Snapchat Lenses showing how the technology can be used to enhance gaming experiences.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to create more immersive and realistic gaming experiences. AI can be used to generate realistic environments, characters, and gameplay. It can also be used to create adaptive AI opponents that can learn and adapt to the player's playstyle.

 

Cloud gaming will become more popular. Cloud gaming allows players to stream games to their devices without having to download or install them. This makes it possible to play games on any device, including smartphones, tablets, and TVs.

 

Cross-platform gaming will become more common. Cross-platform gaming allows players to play with each other even if they are using different devices. This is becoming more important as the gaming industry becomes more fragmented.

 

Free-to-play games will continue to grow in popularity. Free-to-play games are a great way for players to try new games without having to commit to buying them. These games often generate revenue through in-game purchases.

 

The metaverse will become a reality. The metaverse is a virtual world where people can interact with each other and with digital content. It is still in its early stages, but it has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry.

 

These are just a few of the trends that I predict will shape the future of gaming. The gaming industry is constantly evolving, and it will be exciting to see what new innovations emerge in the years to come.

Possibly the most generic response it could possibly be.  😅

[MrTrust]

32 minutes ago, Albert said:

Are you trolling?  Because if not, this is one of the most moronic statements I've ever seen on AtariAge. 

 

 ..Al

 

When you google Trip Hawkins' name, do you get a bunch of pictures of him looking and behaving like that?  Of David Crane?  Christopher Weaver?  Chris Crawford?  Shigeru Miyamoto?  The Stamper Brothers?  Nolan Bushnell?  Jerry Lawson?  Ralph Baer?

 

No, you don't.  The pioneers and visionaries of gaming looked and acted like the dudes in Picture 1.  Once Carmack and Romero got big and started acting like silly Rock Stars, it seems like all standards of presentation and professionalism went out the window, and I believe that shows in the products we get today.  It's one thing when it's a genius doing this.  Carmack is an actual genius.  Tarn Adams is a genius.  StudioMDH people; genius.  Those people are the exception.

 

All musicians used to wear suits, then they stopped and you can trace the decline and the onset of the decline of popular music happened almost immediately.  Menial service workers used to have to wear ties, and anyone who lived through the era when they did always laments how poor service is relative to that time.  I think standards of presentation have an effect on people; it confers more dignity and gravitas to their work regardless of what that work is, and the opposite has a demoralizing effect that shows in the opposite direction irrespective of whatever raw talent the worker might possess.

 

So, no.  I am not trolling.  I do believe that we are in a period of steep civilizational decline and the evidence of it is literally everywhere, and in everything we all do.  Yes, myself included.

 

[GoldLeader]

Whoa,   What hath I wrought?

 

FWIW,  Mine was supposed to be a goofy,  one-off,...Off the cuff style comment.  Not an indictment of civilization and depressing view of falling standards everywhere...

[Razzie.P]

21 hours ago, GoldLeader said:

The Future of gaming is the Past.

 

Someday everyone will wake up and see that games were Fun in the Past,  unlike most modern games.

I know many people here don’t and won’t agree with this, because it seems everyone falls into that rut of “it was all better back in my day” and gets all narrow minded and closed off when we get older, but honestly dude, it’s better now that it’s ever been.   If, for no other reason, for the simple fact that we still have 100% of “how it was” and tons of new awesomeness to add to it.

 
There’s so much variety these days, anyone who can’t find something they like seems to be unwilling to look, or maybe they've changed and just no longer into the hobby.   Sure there’s crap mixed in with the good stuff (always been that way) and there’s stuff that’s just not for us, regardless of the quality (always been that way, too)  

 

The number 1 complaint I see pop up in these “then vs now” discussions regarding media is the lack of a gatekeeper in the industry.  And I guess that’s where the failure to understand is on me, because I can’t fathom how us never getting some amazing  games/movies/songs just because some business suits “curated” the releases is ever perceived as a good thing.  But to each their own.
 

[roots.genoa]

6 hours ago, MrTrust said:

Every movie is a 90s Michael Bay explosion orgy.  All Super Hero movies are thinly-disguised 90s Michael Bay movies, with increasingly obnoxious elbow-jabbing pop references cribbed from Kevin Smith and Shane Black.  All children's movies are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All action-adventure pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All fantasy and sci-fi pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  Every second qUiRkY InDiE movie that comes out devolves into a 90s explosion orgy like Everything Everywhere All at Once.  Even weird subversive horror pictures like Malignant devolve into 90s explosion orgies.

I go to the theater each week to watch one or two movies, and you are absolutely wrong. To be fair, it may be different in the US, since you don't get as much as movies from outside your country than here. In France, around 15 to 20 movies are released every week, and there's not even one Hollywood blockbuster every week (let alone a super hero movie) and I'm pretty sure we get all of them (actually more than you, since some of them are only released on streaming services in the US).

 

Actually, just the idea that Michael Bay's movie are full of explosions is exaggerated. Imho there are more car crashes than explosions in his movies. Also there are a lot of super hero movies with zero explosion. Try to remove your nostalgia hood next time.

[MrTrust]

22 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

I go to the theater each week to watch one or two movies, and you are absolutely wrong. To be fair, it may be different in the US...

 

No, it's different in France.  You guys go to the cinema more than any Western country.  Hardly anyone does that here, and when you do go, there's nothing but blockbuster trash because the only thing that gets people to the theater anymore is spectacle.  Most theaters in most towns don't show anything but the big titles, and it's prohibitively expensive to go that often especially if you have a family.

 

44 minutes ago, roots.genoa said:

Try to remove your nostalgia hood next time.

 

Lol, yes, it is my perspective that is skewed here, not the guy who goes to the movies twice a week and plays video games for a living.  That's definitely the average person's experience with those media.

 

 

45 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

...it’s better now that it’s ever been.   If, for no other reason, for the simple fact that we still have 100% of “how it was” and tons of new awesomeness to add to it.

 

We don't have 100% of "how it was," because we don't have a common culture.  It meant something that every kid played Super Mario Bros. at a certain time, that they all watched The Simpsons, they all had Thriller in their Walkmans at some point.  These things matter; there's a Lingua Franca that develops around these kinds of shared experiences, and that matters for transmission of culture across time.  Everything can't just be atomized scattered to the four winds of little niches and survive in any sort of intelligible way.

 

Don't believe me, pick up a Hoyle's book of games and imagine if the average, hell, even 30 year-old person can make heads or tails out of half of it.  There's jargon and certain conventions about card games that it's taken for granted that people know, because once upon a time everyone did, or if you didn't, you knew somebody who did.  Once that's lost because the people who do know are dead, those games will be lost forever.

 

That having 100% in the sense that I presume you mean it, i.e. being able to play all the games is very precarious.  If most publishers had their way, there would be enormous swaths of games that you just straight-up would not be able to play.  The only reason you're able to now is because it's difficult to police the internet, but it's a hell of a lot more policed now than it was a decade ago, and that's a trend I don't see being reversed.  So, you can't take any of this stuff for granted.

 

59 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

The number 1 complaint I see pop up in these “then vs now” discussions regarding media is the lack of a gatekeeper in the industry.  And I guess that’s where the failure to understand is on me, because I can’t fathom how us never getting some amazing  games/movies/songs just because some business suits “curated” the releases is ever perceived as a good thing.  But to each their own.

   

If you have 100 people in a room, and they're all trying to talk at the same time, and to the same person, it does not matter how brilliant each individual statement is, all the listener is going to hear is gibberish.  Yes, you may have to silence some brilliant voices in order to ensure others are actually heard.  Yes, managerialism ruins everything, and commerce and genuine culture will always be in conflict, but it is ultimately better that 30 million people should see a great picture like Unforgiven than that 3 million people watch 10 obscure arthouse Western pictures and the other 27 million just watch lowest common denominator trash.

 

I've made this point elsewhere, and it's not popular, but humans are base creatures, and they're allowed whatever they want, their tastes will just degenerate into sugar and masturbation.  Look at how popular music has become almost explicitly pornographic.  Look at how everyone's diet is mostly junk.  You can say "their problem" all you want, but there are only going to be so many little icebergs for you to retreat from the flood, and every decade, they're going to be fewer and smaller.

 

This equilibrium that you're describing is not long for the world.  The future will have to adopt certain models of the past; there's no way around it.  Especially as generative AI comes into the picture that can write code, and as these models become trained on an internet that is full of fake, AI generated content, the cacophony is going to be completely intolerable.  Gatekeepers will be demanded; the question is whether they will be wise ones?  Will they care about making great games or making great products?

[Razzie.P]

2 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

To be fair, it may be different in the US, since you don't get as much as movies from outside your country than here.

 

I dunno if its "different," since I'm not in tune with France, but I can say his "Every movie is a 90s Michael Bay explosion orgy" comment is laughably wrong here in the US, too.  The last few movies I've seen had absolutely nothing to do with that style of movie.

 

 

1 hour ago, MrTrust said:

We don't have 100% of "how it was," because we don't have a common culture.  It meant something that every kid played Super Mario Bros. at a certain time, that they all watched The Simpsons, they all had Thriller in their Walkmans at some point. 

I've seen more "common culture" around things like Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite in the modern era that I've ever seen with Mario as a kid.  But even still, I don't think everyone playing the same game(s) because that's pretty much all we had to choose from is a good thing.  You feel differently, that's fine.  I still think things are much better now.

 

I never watched Simpsons as a kid, unless you count the butterfinger commercials.  I got the first 3 seasons on DVD as an adult, though, and that's all I've seen so far.

 

Never in my life, as a kid or an adult, have I had Thriller in my Walkman.  Neither did any of my friends, best of my knowledge.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, MrTrust said:

Everything can't just be atomized scattered to the four winds of little niches and survive in any sort of intelligible way.

 

Meh, it'll be fine and adjust as needed.  We've seen the "gloom and doom" statements for decades, but despite that, we're constantly seeing impressive data regarding numbers sold, users playing, etc.   They may not be "connecting" the way you want and remember from ye olden times, but it's still happening.  The only people left out and complaining are those who won't adapt.  I think Nintendo just released a new game that sold something like 10 million copies in just a couple/few days and its easy to find thousands of people all hanging out together online "connecting" during streams and such.  That's not my jam, it's probably not yours, but to ignore that it's not a thing is a bit silly.

 

1 hour ago, MrTrust said:

Yes, managerialism ruins everything, and commerce and genuine culture will always be in conflict, but it is ultimately better that 30 million people should see a great picture like Unforgiven than that 3 million people watch 10 obscure arthouse Western pictures and the other 27 million just watch lowest common denominator trash.

 

So, who gets to decide which movie is the "great picture" that its ultimately better that everyone should see?  Funny to me that you mention Unforgiven... I love Unforgiven, and I agree that it's a great picture.  But when it came out, a funny thing happened ---  2 of my uncles have been die hard western fans since around the time God made rocks, it seems.   And they really liked Clint Eastwood movies.  But when Unforgiven game out, they went all old and ranted and raved about how awful it was, how it was nothing like the westerns "in the good old days," how movies these days are garbage, etc etc...   Pretty much all of the older folk in my family didn't like it much (no one else ranted like those 2, though)  So should we all have an election to find one Grand Supreme Movie Picker who can tell us which one the 30 million people should see?

 

Hopefully they'll wear a suit and look old n' stuffy.  I've recently learned that they're part of the problem if they wear a tshirt.  😁

[MrTrust]

9 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

I never watched Simpsons as a kid...

 

Well, I watched Metropolis the other day, so therefore anyone who says all movies anyone living remembers were made after 1965 is just laughable idiocy.  If even one data point can be cited to the contrary, no general statement can ever stand.  Hyperbole don't real; only a total clown says "everybody" when they really mean "enough people that the minority is insignificant for the purposes of this discussion".  

 

1 hour ago, Razzie.P said:

So, who gets to decide which movie is the "great picture" that its ultimately better that everyone should see? 

 

Someone who knows better, hopefully.  Unforgiven is a great picture.  Objectively it is.  Therefore our opinion of it counts and your Grandpa's doesn't.  If that's the kind of opinion you're going to have, you can be the decider for all I care.  Long as someone cuts through the madness and they have more good opinions than bad.

 

[Flojomojo]

13 hours ago, Albert said:

Are you trolling?  Because if not, this is one of the most moronic statements I've ever seen on AtariAge. 

 

 ..Al

 

and don't get me started on the old "female celebrities you find attractive" thread! 😉

 

Are we all just a bunch of inflexible old geezers now? (a rhetorical question, please don't answer, I am sensitive)

[MrBeefy]

3 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

Are we all just a bunch of inflexible old geezers now? (a rhetorical question, please don't answer, I am sensitive)

No you are just a gaming communist...

 

 

You old geezer.

[Albert]

3 minutes ago, Flojomojo said:

and don't get me started on the old "female celebrities you find attractive" thread! 😉

 

Are we all just a bunch of inflexible old geezers now? (a rhetorical question, please don't answer, I am sensitive)

I did say "one of"...

 

  ..Al

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, MrTrust said:

Lol, yes, it is my perspective that is skewed here, not the guy who goes to the movies twice a week and plays video games for a living.  That's definitely the average person's experience with those media.

Playing video games for a living doesn't give me magically access to more games than you, maybe just earlier than you, silly. I'm just more aware of the diversity of video games, and it's quite huge. There are games for everyone these days, including retro-style video games (that are even better and more accessible than actual old games).

 

Also I'm well aware that American people have a general distaste for going to the theater these days for different reasons (it's expensive, other patrons are assholes, etc.), but just look at the diversity of movies on streaming services, then. Just open Netflix (or whatever), list the 30 first movies you see on the homepage, and count how many of them have explosions. 💡

 

I just think it's sad to give up on culture that way. I don't know how old you are, but if you're thinking like that now, how will it be when you'll be 80? 😰

[MrTrust]

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Playing video games for a living doesn't give me magically access to more games than you, maybe just earlier than you, silly.

 

Duh.  It gives you time to spend on video games.  I have a lot of time right now because I'm up all night with a baby and this is a slow season at work.  Very shortly, that's not going to be the case.  I have a day job that does not involve video games.  I have a family that demands my time away from video games.  I have other obligations that don't allow for me to spend the time sifting through the firehose of releases.

 

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I'm just more aware of the diversity of video games, and it's quite huge.

 

This is not an end in and of itself.  Again, 100 speakers in the same room.  It's irrelevant how brilliant or diverse their points of view: the sound that goes into my ears in indistinguishable from white noise.

 

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

There are games for everyone these days, including retro-style video games (that are even better and more accessible than actual old games).

 

There are a million different games that are for someone, there are hardly any that are for everyone.  Two different things.  Guitar Hero was like that.  Wii Sports was like that.  Many hit PC games of the 90s like Myst were like that owing to the fact they were sold in office supply stores.  Tetris is one.  Even to some degree the original SMB; all my friends played that game, and probably half their parents did a little bit as well, or their uncle, etc.

 

Not the case with games today.  Bad thing and not good thing.

 

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Also I'm well aware that American people have a general distaste for going to the theater these days for different reasons (it's expensive, other patrons are assholes, etc.), but just look at the diversity of movies on streaming services, then. Just open Netflix (or whatever), list the 30 first movies you see on the homepage, and count how many of them have explosions.

 

Netflix is not a movie streaming service, it's a register-your-intention-to-watch-stuff service.  People make jokes all the time that they sit down to watch a movie, scroll through the menu for two hours saying "maybe this one", and then shut it off and go to bed.  My wife does this all the time.

 

Analysis Paralysis is real; there is much data about this.  People don't actually want variety; they're creatures of habit, and overwhelming them with options does not actually give them any more fulfilling an experience.  It doesn't make them more discerning or less susceptible to LCD choices.

 

For my part, when I have the opportunity to watch a movie on my own, I'm going to watch an old one that I know, or at least have a reasonable expectation I will like.  I'm not going to watch low-rent polemical trash like Glass Onion, which still ends in an orgy of explosions btw, which has not one original idea to it's credit, and its subtext is caved-in head stupid.

 

5 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I just think it's sad to give up on culture that way.

 

And I think it's sad that people accept this as culture.  The ambitions of the Hawkinses and Crawford's, who wanted to realize the medium as an art form, have ended in what we see now.  Endlessly iterating the same ideas, technical progress expressed as more high-res NPC arm hair rendering, and infinite sea of $15 bundles of games you will never play, and that you will forget 5 minutes after they're over.  

 

You still want to be playing this crap when you're 80?

[Razzie.P]

12 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

 

and don't get me started on the old "female celebrities you find attractive" thread! 😉

 

Are we all just a bunch of inflexible old geezers now? (a rhetorical question, please don't answer, I am sensitive)

You have a nice blank space in the bottom left there to add "Games today all suck because the developers don't dress like Ward Cleaver"

[Flojomojo]

25 minutes ago, Razzie.P said:

You have a nice blank space in the bottom left there to add "Games today all suck because the developers don't dress like Ward Cleaver"

Or Mister Wizard!

[roots.genoa]

7 hours ago, MrTrust said:

You still want to be playing this crap when you're 80?

If there are still masterpieces like SOMA, Huntdown, and Tears of the Kingdom, sure, why not? 🤷‍♂️

 

But OK, you do you, keep watching films you've already seen 10 times, keep playing the same old games you already know by heart, at least you won't risk being disappointed, or pleasantly surprised. I don't think I'm the one that sounds like a fool here, anyway.

 

I don't even care if you don't want to discover any new game or new movie, but I just can't let you claim there are no good movies or games these days. If you don't look for them, you're obviously won't find them! Good luck with the baby.

[NE146]

[Creamhoven]

On 6/1/2023 at 7:25 AM, roots.genoa said:

Someday everyone will wake up and see that we only remember fun games from the past, but a lot of them were not, exactly like today.

 

But that day will probably not happen since you're all old farts blinded by nostalgia (which is a disease, by the way, although incurable apparently).

This frenchman doesnt even drink wine.

On 6/1/2023 at 11:29 AM, roots.genoa said:

Maybe it seems like that to you, but as a professional video game reviewer, I can tell you it's a minority of games that are that way, even though they're the ones that get the most media coverage. It's exactly like claiming every movie is a super hero movie these days.

He doesnt even eat foie gras.

On 6/1/2023 at 1:49 PM, MrTrust said:

 

Every movie is a 90s Michael Bay explosion orgy.  All Super Hero movies are thinly-disguised 90s Michael Bay movies, with increasingly obnoxious elbow-jabbing pop references cribbed from Kevin Smith and Shane Black.  All children's movies are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All action-adventure pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  All fantasy and sci-fi pictures are thinly-disguised Super Hero movies.  Every second qUiRkY InDiE movie that comes out devolves into a 90s explosion orgy like Everything Everywhere All at Once.  Even weird subversive horror pictures like Malignant devolve into 90s explosion orgies.  

 

Can't escape it no matter where you go.  It's like how every TV show is 24 now.  Just constant McGuffin chasing from episode to episode, season after season, until they just give up and piss everyone off with the ending.  

 

 

Game designers of the past:

 

 

Well-groomed.  Middle-aged.  Authority figures.  No vocal fry.  Advertisement on nationwide broadcast.  Suits and ties.  These are men.

 

Game designers today:

 

T-shirts as far as the eye can see.  Slouching.  Slovenly beards.  Obnoxious gape face.  Guzzling Asti Spumante.  Nobody has their shirt tucked in.  Social media hype post for a game that was released broken.  These are boys.

 

The future of gaming will belong to those who emulate Picture 1, not those who emulate Picture 2.  

This is barbarism!

On 6/1/2023 at 3:09 PM, MrTrust said:

 

When you google Trip Hawkins' name, do you get a bunch of pictures of him looking and behaving like that?  Of David Crane?  Christopher Weaver?  Chris Crawford?  Shigeru Miyamoto?  The Stamper Brothers?  Nolan Bushnell?  Jerry Lawson?  Ralph Baer?

 

No, you don't.  The pioneers and visionaries of gaming looked and acted like the dudes in Picture 1.  Once Carmack and Romero got big and started acting like silly Rock Stars, it seems like all standards of presentation and professionalism went out the window, and I believe that shows in the products we get today.  It's one thing when it's a genius doing this.  Carmack is an actual genius.  Tarn Adams is a genius.  StudioMDH people; genius.  Those people are the exception.

 

All musicians used to wear suits, then they stopped and you can trace the decline and the onset of the decline of popular music happened almost immediately.  Menial service workers used to have to wear ties, and anyone who lived through the era when they did always laments how poor service is relative to that time.  I think standards of presentation have an effect on people; it confers more dignity and gravitas to their work regardless of what that work is, and the opposite has a demoralizing effect that shows in the opposite direction irrespective of whatever raw talent the worker might possess.

 

So, no.  I am not trolling.  I do believe that we are in a period of steep civilizational decline and the evidence of it is literally everywhere, and in everything we all do.  Yes, myself included.

 

It is an interestimg observation. The decline is obvious by now and even the most tone deaf will get in a year or two.

On 6/1/2023 at 8:09 PM, roots.genoa said:

I go to the theater each week to watch one or two movies, and you are absolutely wrong. To be fair, it may be different in the US, since you don't get as much as movies from outside your country than here. In France, around 15 to 20 movies are released every week, and there's not even one Hollywood blockbuster every week (let alone a super hero movie) and I'm pretty sure we get all of them (actually more than you, since some of them are only released on streaming services in the US).

 

Actually, just the idea that Michael Bay's movie are full of explosions is exaggerated. Imho there are more car crashes than explosions in his movies. Also there are a lot of super hero movies with zero explosion. Try to remove your nostalgia hood next time.

By this point I am questioning whether he is even french at all to be honest.

 

13 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

Playing video games for a living doesn't give me magically access to more games than you, maybe just earlier than you, silly. I'm just more aware of the diversity of video games, and it's quite huge. There are games for everyone these days, including retro-style video games (that are even better and more accessible than actual old games).

 

Also I'm well aware that American people have a general distaste for going to the theater these days for different reasons (it's expensive, other patrons are assholes, etc.), but just look at the diversity of movies on streaming services, then. Just open Netflix (or whatever), list the 30 first movies you see on the homepage, and count how many of them have explosions. 💡

 

I just think it's sad to give up on culture that way. I don't know how old you are, but if you're thinking like that now, how will it be when you'll be 80? 😰

Okay I am calling it, this guy is not french.