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Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

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Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#271

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

nottorp wrote: post #247
disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It varies, like. Most mobile games are pretty crap, but you have people like Supercell who make good mobile games - I don't like their games, but lots and lots of people do. And to be fair, most "actual" games are pretty crap too.

There's crap, and there's crap where the design is affected by the need to nudge (or force) people towards buying IAPs.

And trailers and reviews were famously broken for console/PC games historically.

Pretty much every product sold in our society has its' design shaped by the need to make money (i.e capitalism).

I'm not sure why you're singling out F2P games here specifically, relative to all the other half-baked crap designed to make a profit.

At least hundreds of millions of people daily get value out of playing free games without spending a cent. Consider the fact that all console/PC gamers have spent money on the game up-front, whereas a very small proportion of people on mobile pay for all of the rest.

Like, I don't enjoy games with micro-transactions, but clearly lots of other people do. Who am I to judge their fun?

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#272

Post by Funes- »

gridlockd wrote: post #269
Funes- wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

I think your judgement is clouded by fond memories you acquired in your youth. A child can get utterly fascinated by the most mundane things. My subjectively positive experience of video games already declined, right around when yours peaked, even though by pretty much any standard, these newer games were better than the ones that came before them.

>right around when yours peaked

What? That's a wrong assumption on your part. No, you are characterizing my experiences with video games as a kid arbitrarily to support your own argument, which is--I think--just a fallacy: "the world's always been the same, it's you what's changed and you are just referencing fond but ultimately biased memories". I expected more from video games when I was a little kid, that's the whole point of my comment, so I didn't glorify them, even as a kid, to the point of having my judgement significantly clouded.

Same thing when people criticise heavy smartphone usage, for instance: "well, people watched more TV then; it's always been the same. You miss being young". You couldn't take your TV virtually everywhere, so the extent to which people distracted themselves and neglected their lives was less.

>by pretty much any standard, these newer games were better than the ones that came before them.

Watch this (or almost any other video from crowbcat): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVtZJo-HqI. This is the tendency in video games: less resources, less elaboration; higher prices for the whole game (DLCs, Season Pass, etc.). As with anything, it's "reduce the costs, increase the benefits", as well as "make it more addictive", even at the expense of the product's quality.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#273

Post by nottorp »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #271
nottorp wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's crap, and there's crap where the design is affected by the need to nudge (or force) people towards buying IAPs.

And trailers and reviews were famously broken for console/PC games historically. Pretty much every product sold in our society has its' design shaped by the need to make money (i.e capitalism). I'm not sure why you're singling out F2P games here specifically, relative to all the other half-baked crap designed to make a profit. At least hundreds of millions of people daily get value out of playing free games without s…

> get value out of playing free games without spending a cent.

Mindlessly grind medallions or whatever. The problem with IAP games (free or not, afaik a Dead Space game was selling ingame crafting materials as IAPs) is they waste your most precious resource: time.

> And trailers and reviews were famously broken for console/PC games historically.

Oh but that's easy. Don't preorder and don't buy games based on just one review. Especially don't buy games based on the developer's trailers :)

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#275

Post by IceDane »

ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

Wow - I'm really sorry you've only been exposed to bad video games until now. It's a decent game but it doesn't even come close to the best game I've ever played.

I agree with the sentiment that video games back in the day were more elaborate in other ways that matter more than what is done today. Several good or promising franchises have also been totally ruined by becoming big.

As soon as it's making large amounts of money, it garners attention from the kind of people who don't really care about anything but making money. DLCs and all the other bad shit is because the people in power aren't the ones that are passionate about making great things.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#276

Post by IceDane »

danjc wrote: post #175
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

I got excited when I saw this - I don't game much but my son is obsessed with samurai and would love this. However, I think it's a bit violent for him - anything similar you could recommend for a 13y/o?

You're deluding yourself if you think your 13 year old isn't consuming much worse than video game violence on a daily basis. Just let him play the game.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#277

Post by Dumblydorr »

Everyone I know plays something: DoTA, candy crush, Codenames, Jackbox, online cards, Skyrim, Zelda, Witcher, DnD on Foundry, even my old relatives play various games on mobile and iPad. Whereas, the younger, especially male, people I know almost all have a gaming system of one kind or another.

I am very into Starcraft myself. It is a wonderful combination of speed, strategy, economics, deception, and accuracy.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#278

Post by IceDane »

Funes- wrote: post #262
ArtWomb wrote: post #80

Ghosts of Tsushima may be the best Playstation game I have played EVER. It's a testament to how late in the console release cycle, developers are just now mastering internals. It's the ideal video game: open world, 13-century feudal Japan, Age of the Samurai. High contrast "Kurosawa" mode, 4K HDR is cinematically photoreal. I really hope it remains a Major IP for many years to come ;) https://blog.selfshadow.com/publ…

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

Exactly. Popular video games today are purposefully engineered products made to maximize addiction and play time with decisions being made based almost entirely on how to maximizing profit for shareholders. It's sad.

Incidentally I've been finding much more enjoyment in indie games the past few years, because these tend to be made by people who aren't doing so to become rich(though I suppose they wouldn't mind that happening along the way).

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#279

Post by IceDane »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #233
catsarebetter wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

dooooooooooooooooo ittttttttttttttttttt

This isn't r/gaming. Try to write comments with at least some substance.

I don't think acting like hacker news is some kind of sanctuary of erudite scholars is helping anyone either. Just ignore his comment and move on.

Re: Over three billion people worldwide now play video games, study reports

#280

Post by Funes- »

IceDane wrote: post #278
Funes- wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As every other mainstream game for the last ten to fifteen years, give or take, it's just a forced course of action narratively illustrated by an interrupted sequence of dull cinematic scenes; the player just follows along with very limited space--if any --for exploration, decision-making, flexibility or creativity. The open world experience is ridiculously limited, as well. Does it look good? Sure! (Although every g…

Exactly. Popular video games today are purposefully engineered products made to maximize addiction and play time with decisions being made based almost entirely on how to maximizing profit for shareholders. It's sad. Incidentally I've been finding much more enjoyment in indie games the past few years, because these tend to be made by people who aren't doing so to become rich(though I suppose they wouldn't mind that h…

>because these tend to be made by people who aren't doing so to become rich(though I suppose they wouldn't mind that happening along the way).

I agree. One I enjoyed recently was Paratopic[0].

[0] https://arbitrarymetric.itch.io/paratopic.

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