Changing trends in gaming.

[Cheeto]

For the longest time, especially on the PC, games were intensely long term investments for playtime. You would sink WEEKS into finishing up a quest, and then you go back and play it all over again and get all the details. It was bloody glorious.

But now, while I'm sure there are still those games out there, it seems like the majority of gaming hours has shifted away from the epic single player towards the multiplayer and the casual game. I've spent more hours playing Worms than I have Halo 3. I still haven't finished all the quests in Oblivion but you can bet I've played through Portal more times than I can count.

It's just that nowadays, gaming for eons can't fit into my schedule that well anymore. And it's not just an age thing, I know other people younger than me, who work less, and they can't find the time to sink into a game that big anymore.

I miss the days of being able to pick up an epic rpg and not come out for years until I'd conquered it. But at the same time, Desktop Tower Defense is one of the most amusing and satisfying games I've played in a while. I know it's a trend, but I think this is almost getting back to the pure essence of gaming. A simple premise, a simple set of rules, but challenging application of these rules.

[WHEATLEY007]

I dont get your point. For every tonn of loud and brash pick up and play games, there are a few great long terms games like Eve that reward you for sinking time into them.

Call of Duty 4 is over very quickly, but i loved the game. The first two ? - I wasnt too fussed with, though they had longer playing time.

Quality over quantity - winns every time.

[Puddle]

There is definatly a shift to multyplayer games tho. Also a major shift from PC to consols. Crist I remember getting my first colecovision. Arcade ports and none were as powerfull as the arcade versions. But just playing donkey kong at home was a blast. Now the consols have virtually killed arcades.
As far as time spent, that's definatly a personal choice. I for one am a video game addict. I know it and I ain't denyin it. Sittin at home playin vids when I could be stuffing 5 dollar bills down a strippers G string. Sigh. Why have I waisted my days? I could be gigaddy gashmoigin that stripper!

That's it I'm off for a lap dance.

[Fenris Wolf]

Yea, games are definitely taking a turn for the casual-multiplayer arena, but you've still got the fantastic single player expierences out there, though it's mostly on the consoles nowadays. I'd love to be able to sink the time I spent playing MGS on the PS1 again into a game that's as incredibly amazing...Mass Effect did a damn good job of that, but it was still pretty short, overall. Of course, I'd love to be able to find a multiplayer game that was as fun as Tribes, but that's not gonna happen. Bastards killed that game for me by releasing T2, and then further stomping it into the ground with T:V which ended up being unsupported IMMEDIATELY after it's release. Seriously, who releases a game with known bugs, doesn't patch it, and then says fuck you to the community? I wanted that game to rock so bad...unfortunately it was just bad.

I think I'm gonna go load up Tribes (all 300 megs of it) and go find a server I can play on. Oh yea...the other nice thing was that you could compete on a 56k, even against the LPB's.

[Liebgott]

Diablo 2!!!!!

[WHEATLEY007]

Seriously, who releases a game with known bugs, doesn't patch it, and then says fuck you to the community? .

The makers of Bioshock ? They did patch it, but only once, and didnt' sort everything out. And they only did that cos of the level of peopls complaining.

[Cheeto]

So do we think this is because now we have the technology to shift the deeper experience to an online arena, at the sacrifice of the single player and it's story? Or is it something more related to our changing schedules and somehow, universally, none of us has as much free gaming time as we did before.

[Puddle]

The vast vid market is geard towards teenageboys. As our technology grows attention spans shorten. As internet gaming grows, multyplay greatens.

Tis all about the quick fix.
Kid's want to log on cheat and be done in 2 hours.

Seriously, who releases a game with known bugs, doesn't patch it, and then says fuck you to the community? .

The makers of Bioshock ? They did patch it, but only once, and didnt' sort everything out. And they only did that cos of the level of peopls complaining.

You can add EA games too,also Ubi Soft as well.

[Puddle]

Seriously, who releases a game with known bugs, doesn't patch it, and then says fuck you to the community?

I remember my bud back in the 90's we used to play via modem. Said the exact same thing! Many games are released with bugs. However pc games could be patched. How abot GTA vice city? The bug where you went over the bridge fell to the water and died?
I remember pax imperia. Set up a multyplayer game. The star lanes DIDN'T FUCKING CONNECT Between us! I was furious!
Sega games had bugs.
Testing can work but unless the game is set for thousands of play hours. You're gonna miss some!

[WHEATLEY007]

Seriously, who releases a game with known bugs, doesn't patch it, and then says fuck you to the community?

Testing can work but unless the game is set for thousands of play hours. You're gonna miss some!

Some yes, but releasing a game that hardly works on any machine is a bit fucking rich.
Mate of mine got Gears of War, his rig will handle anything, but had to wait for a patch to play the game. Releasing a game with a bug is one thing, but how many people do you see on forums that get a game, take it home and withe have to beg the comunity for work-arounds or wait for a patch? Answer - too many.

[Cheeto]

I remember my bud back in the 90's we used to play via modem. Said the exact same thing! Many games are released with bugs. However pc games could be patched. How abot GTA vice city? The bug where you went over the bridge fell to the water and died?
I remember pax imperia. Set up a multyplayer game. The star lanes DIDN'T FUCKING CONNECT Between us! I was furious!
Sega games had bugs.
Testing can work but unless the game is set for thousands of play hours. You're gonna miss some!
The issue isn't releasing it with known bugs, it's releasing it with known bugs and never fixing them at all. We understand bugs, we can live with bugs, we can work around them or even enjoy them (para_hedgerow + grenade = fun!) but if you never fix these bugs we want you to fuck off and die.

But if you release a game with showstopper bugs, we will hunt you down ourselves.

[SimonS]

Soldner : Secret wars had 999 patches but was still as shit as the dya of release

They even had 2 (possibly 3) name changes :D