Gamer Rant

There is a direction that games are going in lately that I really don’t find amusing. We were heading closer and closer to a completely immersive experience. Suddenly, over the last couple of years, designers decided that games would be a better experience if we reintroduced elements of the 80’s arcade era into everything. Obviously, this is not the direction of immersion, but the direction of mindless game elements. Games used to be about skill and mastery where developing abilities by playing a game was rewarded.

Now players just train wreck their way through an entirely too easy game of nonsense minigames applied to affect a grander scheme of things. It’s a horrible trend toward these experiences that aren’t even games anymore. It’s like playing a game of tag where everyone walks while you run. Yes there are elements of a game still there, but what is the point? Do people play games to escape the fact that they’re the fat kid who can’t keep up with all the other kids?

That’s the real issue here. I don’t know why I didn’t start off in this direction. This whole thing is about profits and getting as many sales as possible. The majority of people on this earth are actually untalented pricks. That’s why we have so many completely useless degrees; so many people work two fast food jobs for a living. The goal of the publisher is the maximize sales and appeal to these crowds of completely unskilled individuals. The way we do it is by idiot-proofing games and giving the fat kid a jet pack. Players want to feel empowered because in real life the only power they have is over how much salt they pour over those golden fries.

It’s some bizarre chain of events that is driving games into TELEVISION! Games are becoming these mind numbing experiences that offer nothing to the player in terms of mental nourishment. Players go from game to game, addicted to the idea of a new high impact experience, not even really caring about the game they’re playing. Developers add these millions of dollars worth of content to a game in order to attract a larger audience, but if the audience can’t see the content, then it’s useless. So publishers force them to remove any semblance of balance and good game design in favor or something a player can just plow through and move on.

There’s no replayability because it’s bad business for publishers. If a publisher can extend its reach enough and constantly offer a new game for more money on a regular basis, then why should they worry about whether or not a player would play any of their games more than once? As long as the player enjoys the experience once, then there’s no reason to make sure they don’t realize that they’re not even playing a game anymore.