Remember, also, that the game often considered to be the worst of all time, E.T., was released for the Atari 2600 back in December of ’82. Making horribly uninspired and unfun games is nothing new. However, there was also a lot less of a risk making games back in the 2D days. Today, if a game doesn’t do well, it means millions of dollars and years of manpower flushed down the toilet. This forces many developers into a “middle of the road” production mentality. How many times have we heard the dreaded lines “it will appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers” or “it will be accessible to both newcomers and die-hard fans of the series”? The problem with taking risks is that failure is far too expensive these days. Sure, there is hope with the bevy of download services that allow independent developers to produce great games (Xbox Arcade, PSN Store, Wii Store, App Store). But taking the themes of the great games found there and turning them into bigger budget games just wouldn’t work. Imagine Braid by EA. It just wouldn’t fly because that game was so successful because it was entirely Jonathan Blow’s vision from start to finish.

The true problem lies in the necessity for big corporations to make games (because they sit around all day, and they’re corporationy). However, because games are so expensive to make, the corporate structure, backing, and resources are necessary to produce any kind of game, quality or otherwise. The farther the game is taken away from the gamers developing it, the more likely it is to be filth. That’s why the few big companies that are run by people who give a damn about the games over the bottom line are so successful. Blizzard comes to mind as a great example. They’re run by the guys who come up with the games. Their board members are the creators of their IPs and thus have more invested in their titles than just money. That’s why they can get away with releasing one game every two years and still be filthy stinkin’ rich, because we all know that when we buy a Blizzard game, it will deliver.

And that is an appropriately long response to a long article, lol.

However, I think it is more an issue with our culture in general. Avatar is a prime example. It is currently the highest grossing movie of ALL. TIME. As far as I’ve heard (I refuse to see that shit), it’s Pocahontas in CGI. Someone, please tell me how the plot differs. Please. Sure, it’s gorgeous, but it is utterly devoid of any originality or meaning. While gamers are more concerned with visual effects than plot and gameplay, my friend, you and I are going to continue to see a decline in the social and philosophical relevance of gaming. Anyone who denies that gaming in any of its forms has social relevance really needs to take a basic history course.