Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Video Games Are Boring

gamesindustry.biz

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 342 posts

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#221

Post by ren01r »

WorldMaker wrote: post #174
rickdale wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me a big part of games being boring is the lack of cheats and codes that come with the game. Developers/Game companies have decided HOW they want me to play the game and that irks the crap out of me. Take for example GTA5, I can only turn on invincibility for 5 minutes without having to reapply the code. What is the point of the limit? Can't I define the way I'd like to play the game? Sometimes cheating is fun an…

It doesn't even have to be considered "cheat codes" if adequately factored into the difficulty level. I feel like some of the backlash against old school cheat codes (all the games we used to play in "god mode" or with things like the Game Genie) is as much the terminology "cheat code" and the idea that it is "hacking" or "breaking" the game. Most games seem to stick to some simple linear variation of a difficulty mo…

I recently started playing Saints Row 4. In the casual mode, its an easy game with an overpowered protagonist. It's really relaxing when a game gives every weapon in the beginning and let us choose the way to use them.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#222

Post by AdrianB1 »

tomdell wrote: post #219

One of the main problems with single-player video games is that a lot of people work alone and don't want to spend their free time doing something that feels kind of like work, but doesn't seem to offer much in return. They'd rather spend their time socializing or doing something that will improve them in an obvious way. A personal anecdote - I loved single-player video games until I was 18, but I stopped cold at tha…

Maybe it's the games you play, not the single player mode. I play both and I have no preference for the type, but for specific games.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#223

Post by hluska »

dahart wrote: post #113
saint_fiasco wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that is what you intended to talk about, but I'm pointing out that it's not what your sources are talking about. They are about who buys games, about who identifies as gamer (i.e. is more susceptible to marketing)

Only one of those four quotes said something about buying games, but you used plural language twice now. You drew a false pattern where none exists. The fact that the stats I provided shows the same gender bias no matter how you slice it - whether it's playing, or purchasing, or identifying as a gamer, means that the bias is robust. It is more evidence of the bias, not less. But, if you think the 4 links I posted are…

You know, you make some good points, but unfortunately, you're so unbelievably condescending that I can't make it through an entire comment.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#224

Post by shanusmagnus »

tomdell wrote: post #219

One of the main problems with single-player video games is that a lot of people work alone and don't want to spend their free time doing something that feels kind of like work, but doesn't seem to offer much in return. They'd rather spend their time socializing or doing something that will improve them in an obvious way. A personal anecdote - I loved single-player video games until I was 18, but I stopped cold at tha…

This is exactly how it is for me too. When I was younger I would feel so connected to the game world, and the wonders of exploring the game world were real wonders to me. Discovering some new village in Ultima 6 made me feel like a great adventurer. A finder of something. If it was important in the game world then it was important.

These days it falls out just like you wrote: if I try to play a game, I mess around for a bit and then think: I could spend this time doing something creative. Making something, learning something. If I found some modern equivalent of a hidden city in a game, I'd think: so what? Who fucking cares? What does that get me?

I still can't figure out if this means there's something really wrong with me, that I can't even enjoy meaningless pursuits; or maybe that my sense of 'meaning' is so restricted; or if it's the opposite, and my reticence to do those things is a sign that I'm spending time the right way, or at least, that I have the right objective function in how I evaluate my time?

Of course, I'm a miserable bastard. That's probably an important data point. But I'm not sure how I could change even if I was sure that I should.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#225

Post by rasz_pl »

TLDR: Women author knows dont like actual gameplay part of games, they like narratives. She cant come up with narrative driven games therefore all 'Games Are Boring'.

What about Telltale? Life is Strange?

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#226

Post by Retra »

dota wrote: post #85
emp_zealoth wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple - don't buy AAA (apart from very few select titles) because 99% of those is rehashed garbage and cliches Buy gamess from small studios, made by a few people or even one guy, usually a lot of them are in Steam Early Access (yes, it is risky, some of them get abandoned or just never improve much) For me this is like a reneissance in gaming. Have a look at Factorio, Starbound, Rimworld, Banished, Pillars of Etern…

I also play Dota 2 on and off, since multiplayer interactions in it are so intense and so unpredictable It's a shame to see how AAA companies have butchered the Dota-like genre. There's Valve's Dota 2 which is the shining example of what the genre should be and then there's all these garbage rehashes out there that have just tried to dumb down the game or introduce some kind of gimmick or cliche. AAA games are just a…

Games aren't getting more shallow and casual. More likely you're just getting older and developing a preference for nostalgia over novelty.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#227

Post by dvtv75 »

dahart wrote: post #165
MrZongle2 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, Dwarf Fortress is an ASCII-only roguelike, and the learning curve is as steep as the graphics are primitive. But the emergent gameplay is amazing. If the inconsistent UI or graphics give you pause, I'd suggest taking a look at Rimworld, currently in Early Access on Steam (or available directly from the developer's site). It has some of the deep qualities of DF but is a bit more forgiving.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check out Rimworld too! Primitive graphics are no barrier at all. I am a graphics programmer and graphics lover through and through. But I can say with some confidence that graphics only matter sometimes, and even then are only a part of what makes any game good. I saw a great talk at GDC many years ago that had a study of what makes good games good and "realistic", and graphics was 7th or 8t…

Rimworld has chewed up hundreds of hours of my time. I frequently play it for 10 hours at a stretch - when I finally got frustrated with that sadistic RNG, I threw in a mod ("The Martian"). So many productive hours lost because I can't stop managing the little sods...

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#228

Post by cloudjacker »

emp_zealoth wrote: post #43
arkitaip wrote: post #8

This captures a lot of what I've been feeling lately. I can't stand most games, they just make me anxious and I will quit playing them after a few hours or even minutes. Too much stress and surface experiences has had me looking in the other direction. Take, for example, GTA 5. I've probably spent more hours riding cars and bikes in GTA5's beautiful countryside and outback than playing actual missions. Just hours and…

Simple - don't buy AAA (apart from very few select titles) because 99% of those is rehashed garbage and cliches Buy gamess from small studios, made by a few people or even one guy, usually a lot of them are in Steam Early Access (yes, it is risky, some of them get abandoned or just never improve much) For me this is like a reneissance in gaming. Have a look at Factorio, Starbound, Rimworld, Banished, Pillars of Etern…

I try to do this on PS4. Many indie titles are released on all platforms fairly simultaneously these days.

Sony's user experience in the store just really is horrible. It has gotten better, but its been how many years now?

Most titles don't have any screenshots or trailers or previews of any kind.

Most payment methods simply don't work.

A paypal account where you want to choose a payment source? TOUGH LUCK

A mobile payment from your telephone? NOT ON YOUR PROVIDER

Okay, fine don't take my money. I got a credit card to work once though, I saved that one.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#229

Post by AdrianB1 »

reddog wrote: post #217
grosbisou wrote: post #21

I stopped playing video games like 10 years ago for the same reason stated in this article: I couldn't finish any new game I started. But I recently started to play again after years of no touching one. I weirdly enough I love it again. I can play solo games, enjoy them and finish them. I can play online games and enjoy the competition. I think a lot has to do with how people cannot focus anymore on anything more tha…

You make a good point. I know I can't remember the last time I finished a recent big console game but my reason is that many of them take so damn long to finish. According to http://howlongtobeat.com/ many of these games take hundreds of hours to complete. For example in 2004 Half-Life 2 took 19 hours to complete while the recent Witcher 3 takes 165. Skyrim takes 215 hours. I don't think there is anything that can ho…

You don't have to count the hours, that's not the point. If you enjoy a game you don't want to finish it fast, you want to take it slow and enjoy every moment of it. I played a game for over 300 hours in more than a couple of years because it was a pleasant activity, not to beat it: I finished the main story at about 100 hours, there was nothing left to beat (open sandbox), but it was fun.

Re: Video Games Are Boring

#230

Post by quickConclusion »

Addiction.

My main gripe with video games is that they're addictive. Boring or not, they push you to play another 5, 10, 60 minutes... before you know it, you ruined your evening, and wasted your time and the next day at work...

Kudos to the artists, developers, psychologists who can build that. And probably I am weak.

At the end of the day, they are very successful in making me addicted, that's why i am staying away, that's why I am not a gamer.

Post reply on HN