Tyr's Rant about the Games Industry.

[Tyr]

Every year I seem to do a rant. I generally forget what they’re about by the next year but I’ve been getting disillusioned in regards to the gaming industry of late so my yearly rants is on this topic. I’ve decided to post it here mostly because I don’t have a blog. Either way I’m sure you’ve heard of people saying “big post ahead”. Those are not big posts. THIS is a big post. The wordcount is 2,440. If you read the whole thing I applaud you but really this writing is for my own “letting off steam”. Either way if you even read enough of it to “get the gist” I invite you to post any response you might have.

I’m a PC gamer. I've only fairly recently categorised myself as one, like many people I found that buying a computer capable of playing the high-end games was an expensive challenge. However I persisted and saved so now I am among the PC Gaming elite, meaning I have a PC that can actually run games. I also help run a couple of online gaming communities which is how I keep up with the latest in gaming news and views. I am a casual gamer and in general I’ve been happy with this choice of hobby.

But I’m starting to wonder why the Hell I bothered. PC gamers I’ve discovered are a consumer base that are repeatedly screwed over by the industry that is suposed to cater to them. However although there are certain circumstances that victimise PC gamers over console gamers there are several issues with games at the moment that cross platforms. Some of these issues I would like to address now.

Firstly I’d like to cover DRM. Now DRM is somewhat of our own making, all those people who choose to pirate games had it coming. I am not among these people. I pay for my games legitimately. Why then, am I the one who has to wade through all the bullshit that DRM brings? I have Microsoft Live and EA Download Manager and probably a number of other things installed on my computer to check whether the games I bought legitimately were in fact bought legitimately. The irony is that if I had pirated I wouldn’t have to deal with this stuff. I’m not saying that developers and publishers shouldn’t implement methods to protect their intellectual property but DRM is not the way to do it. Pirates bypass it every time and the customers who legitimately purchased a game are made to feel like criminals because we are left with the crap that the pirates manage to avoid. I don’t like being made to feel like a criminal.

Think of it like this, and this is the first of many times I can see myself using this analogy, but think of it like you’ve paid to go and see a movie and every ten minutes an usher comes in to check if you’ve got your ticket. It’s annoying; it takes from the experience that you’ve legitimately paid for. Meanwhile all those getting it for free by say, downloading it from the Internet, bypass all this. Not only does it annoy the customer while being ineffective to the pirate but it makes it more likely that your customer will start to see the sense in pirating your product. It’s a loss for everyone – except the pirates.

Secondly, and this time I’m going to start with my analogy, imagine you go to see a movie. You’ve seen a few trailers, read a few reviews and it looks like it might be good. However when going to the box office, instead of buying a ticket you’re made to buy the DVD. This is the situation that all PC gamers face and we’ve come to accept it. Meanwhile console gamers are trading games, renting games, returning games they don’t like to the shop… a PC gamer can’t even return a shit game, can’t even re-sell a game that they’ve played through legitimately. They have to buy a game based on information that they’ve got from trailers and reviews and whether they like it or not they have to keep it. With no other consumer product do you pay for a product and then have no legal standing to return the product if it turns out to be complete shit.

...

[Tyr]

Thirdly, the PC gaming world is stagnating. Everything is looking the same and if it looks slightly different then it will probably still play the same. Now this relates to all games not just those on PC but I’m going to once again whine as a PC gamer because we don’t get the same number of titles as console gamers. This can be said to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise as some of those console games to turn out to be incredibly bad but regardless some variety in PC gaming would be nice. I have five different Call of Duty games. I mean a sequel’s fine, a trilogy’s great but I have five fucking Call of Duty games. The only difference seems to be an increase in graphics quality; the most recent didn’t even bother with that. Look at the upcoming release season, look how many of the big releases have the number two or higher on the end. Compare that to the number of actual original titles – if there are any. Now this is okay, I’m not going to get bitchy about the games industry delivering what people want, but a little original thought would be nice.

This leads me to game quality, again a multi-platform issue. This could be the words of a man who has become disillusioned with the games industry after watching too many of Ben Croshaw’s reviews but really there are very few good games out there. With good I’m not just talking about visually-stunning graphics and good gameplay, I’m talking more about a good story, told well with well-rounded characters that we can relate to, a game with a beginning middle and end. It says a lot about video game characters when the most charismatic and popular character in the last few years is an inanimate cube with pink hearts on it.

There are an increasing number of games that seem to think the “beginning, middle and end” parts of storytelling are purely optional. We’re rarely given a solid beginning but I suppose that can be understood given most people’s simple-minded concern to just get to the action. That doesn’t mean game beginnings should be avoided. Look at Half-Life, both the first and its sequel. The beginnings were slow; they introduced you to the world, the characters and the situation and you became involved in the story. It worked and it worked well. Those Ritalin-popping junkies probably weren’t impressed but fuck them, I’m glad Half-Life didn’t cater to them, they don’t deserve it.

But endings are the real problem. So many games, (and movies it should be noted,) choose to forego proper endings. This is so they’re not restricted so that they can make sequels and continue to profit off the same idea. The problem is that omitting an ending is a real dickhead move. When I see a movie, read a book and play a game I want to find out what happens in the end. Now cliff-hangers are fine when they’re appropriate but that’s not an excuse to tack one on the end just so you don’t have to finish your story.

The F.E.A.R games are the major arsehole in this regard. The original was a plain but compelling horror-action game, its story was interesting, at had questions that I wanted find the answer for. Even the end of it was stylishly done in a traditional horror “it’s not over!” kind of way. The expansions however, and this is not considering that apparently these were irrelevant anyway, committed the mortal sin of answering NONE of the original question while raising a fuckload more. When I heard that Monolith wanted us to disregard these expansions because it wasn’t the story that they wanted to tell I though “great, they actually have a story in mind, they’re just not wandering around to fill in time, there is a reason for all this stuff.” F.E.A.R 2 was a storytelling nightmare. It followed suit of the expansions by asking everything, answering nothing and ending in a cliff-hanger that was so vague and irritating that I have sworn of F.E.A.R as something I was ever interested in. Now I see they’ve released more content and after looking at it briefly I’ve discovered it’s more of the same. Introducing a new irrelevant main character, asking more questions, refusing to answer anything and leaving me wondering if Monolith even has any idea how to tell even a knock-knock joke without delving into irrelevant details about what kind of wood the door was made out of or what colour the handle was – this crap is not cool. If all this has a point I plead of Monolith to enlighten me but after technically five games we’re still right back the fuck where we started!

But I’m going off topic here a bit, this wasn’t meant to be a review of the F.E.A.R series. Suffice to say though that F.E.A.R is not alone in shit storytelling. FarCry 2, the game that introduced perhaps the most annoying feature in gaming ever, (a deadly disease no less,) told a story that was so irrelevant everyone in it died for no reason. Oh, if you ever cared about FarCry 2’s story and hadn’t played it yet don’t read the previous sentence, it contains spoilers. Not that it matters. Anyway I could go on and on about mistakes in storytelling and character development because very very few game developers get it right but in the interests of not further lengthening an already too long spiel I will move on now.

Lastly I would like to talk about the recent dickhead moves that seem to be proliferating at the moment and are the major reason for this rant. This is mostly in response to Activision either being incredibly cruel or incredibly arrogant but it stems from the recent fact that every Activision title seems to be more expensive. Here in New Zealand games are $100 each, I think that’s the same in Australia so it sucks to be them because their dollar is worth more than ours but anyway $100 is a fair chunk of money especially when you consider the problems that I’ve been talking about all this time. But when browsing one of my local game stores I noticed some changes: $120 for Prototype, $130 for Wolfenstein, I looked at a flyer and saw that Assassin’s Creed 2 could cost me up to $140 depending on what version I buy, (nothing cheaper than $120.) The latest Call of Duty offering is also at least expensive $120. What the fuck Activision? Prototype was a very average offering by all accounts, Wolfenstein, without having played it, looks like an incredibly generic shooter that hopes to profit from the nostalgia factor and nothing else. Assassin’s Creed doesn’t deserve $140 of anyone’s money – it’s nearly a 50% increase! As for Call of Duty… it’s Call of Duty, what do you want me to say? Okay it’s not bad but it hardly pushes the envelope, it’s the summer blockbuster of games, so much so that it reeks of stale popcorn. Good, not great, enjoyable but lacking in any huge amount of substance.

So we’re not paying more because the product is better, any other reasons? Inflation? Recession? None of these explain why out of all game developers and distributors Activision is the only one that is upping prices. My only theory is that Activision wants to know how much they can screw gamers before they crack and the answer seems to be “a lot”. I read the outcry over Activision charging more for their games, people were furious. A few weeks later and Call of Duty the Sixth has broken the record for most pre-ordered game ever. What the fuck gamers!? You can oppose a price increase verbally all you like but if you go out and buy the fucking product it doesn’t mean jack shit! I for one have decided to not buy another Activision product until I see a reason for the price increase to exist. I advise others to do the same if they don’t want to see the cost of their hobby go through the roof. And no don’t pirate it because it will only mean more shit in the long run as game distributors charge ever more to “make up” for those stealing their product, not to mention the addition of increasingly more annoying DRM.

Gamers: If you don’t like something you don’t have to buy it. If you think something is too expensive for what it is, don’t just complain about it while handing over your money, don’t buy it. The reason Activision can so easily raise prices without giving any good reason if because while gamers might say that they disagree with it they still show themselves to be quite willing to part with that extra money and actions speak louder than words.

This all gives a bleak outlook of the games industry, particularly in regard to PC games. Games are declining in quality, they’re stagnating, more and more DRM is being introduced that does nothing but annoy legitimate consumers, all the while we’re paying more for this privilege as game distributors think of new ways they can get us to pay more for less of an average product. Gamers are vocally against all this but not enough to get them to actually do anything about it and people like myself just sit back and wonder when these gamers will actually say “no more” and mean it and what will happen then.

I think it has come to the stage where new ideas will start to take hold. I have high hopes for Cloud Computing, things like OnLive I think will positively revolutionise the games industry – at least maybe when technology catches up enough to make it a viable alternative to the current way of doing things anyway. I believe that sooner or later gamers will crack, they will realise that they’re dissatisfied and they’re tired of being shafted and they will want an alternative. For now though it seems we are happy to weather whatever shit game distributors throw at us whether it be massively inhibiting DRM, poor quality products or increased prices for less content; it all seems to make no difference to our willingness to buy their shit. I hope that changes soon but as is mostly the way people will only start to pay attention once the shit really starts hitting the fan.



Tl;dr: I’m sorry but this is actually too long for a tl;dr.

[BlackCat]

Well written, well said. I can say for me that I'm not buying MW2 until a little price drop for the reasons you have stated. Granted, the price isn't nearly as steep here but still... Definitely agree with what you said, and yeah, I read the whole thing. :)

[ThoughtThinking]

Holy Crap Tyr......
That was epic of so many proportions!
But yes +5 for you!

EDIT:STEVE YOUR BACK!

[Kentucket]

Holy Crap Tyr......
That was epic of so many proportions!
But yes +5 for you!

EDIT:STEVE YOUR BACK!

Or is he?

Anyways despite not being a big PC gamer I can't help but agree with most of, if not all of your points. It does seem at times that PC gamers get shafted by stupid rules or limitations, or that the gaming world is opting to make a slew of sequels, and remakes of old games because they know most of the time it's sure thing, and probably aren't ready (or wiling) at the moment to go out and create new inventive titles. (Although some are as seen by games like Borderlands, and Rage.)

[Nuttz]

In regards to your point about returning PC games, you can still do that at EB within a week, but you still can't trade them in which sucks. I'm lucky that I've never run into and DRM problems, and that usually I shop around for the best price I can find, which isn't too hard for PC because I can always buy it online from America.

[Stuffinator]

I realy enjoyed reading this :) well done and you got some good points right there.

Btw.: Can't wait for OnLive!

[theliberator1]

i usually wait until the hype about a game dies down a bit... i think out of about 50 bought games, only 4 weren't from the bargain bin or half price/2for1 sales.

they were
Medieval II:TW
Empire: TW (regretted it)
Left4Dead (WORTH EVERY CENT)
Fallout3 (I got the stupid DRM shit, but figured a way around. Yaaarrr!)

other than that I agree, games are stagnating to the point that even Mount & Blade looks good for the time being. Heck I've gone back to finding old Commodore64/128, Sega and SNES emulators! and those are often fun, challenging and ORIGINAL in gameplay lol.

Only thing that really keeps me PC gaming is the modability of some games. One of the reasons i got L4D, HL2:ep1+2 etc was for the player made custom content.

[mshield]

I'm going to take some bite-sized bits and comment on them, as to prevent another super long post.

I’d like to cover DRM
Enforced and supported mainly by publishers.

Thirdly, the PC gaming world is stagnating. Everything is looking the same and if it looks slightly different then it will probably still play the same. Now this relates to all games not just those on PC but I’m going to once again whine as a PC gamer because we don’t get the same number of titles as console gamers.
That first point applies even more to console games, as (as your second point mentions) we get much more than you do in the sense of being overwhelmed by choice, in which 90% will be bad, and only 2% of the remaining 10% will feel in any way original.

Look at the upcoming release season, look how many of the big releases have the number two or higher on the end. Compare that to the number of actual original titles – if there are any. Now this is okay, I’m not going to get bitchy about the games industry delivering what people want, but a little original thought would be nice.

Very much the fault of the publishers, once again. Original IP's are usually too 'risky', unless they have some big name like Kojima or Cliffy B behind them, although ironically those people have so much responsibility to dish out the same crap every few years that they are too afraid to take a stand and show that they value artistic freedom over a fatter paycheck.

But endings are the real problem. So many games, (and movies it should be noted,) choose to forego proper endings.
I am glad you did not use Halo as an example of this. As bad as the ending for Halo 2 was, I don't believe Bungie is at fault in any fashion. They gave a solid ending for Halo 1, but Microsoft wanted a sequel. They wanted to finish the series with Halo 2, but Microsoft wanted it finished now, so they had to cut the story in half. They wanted to give a solid ending for Halo 3, so that they could finally leave that story in peace, but Microsoft wanted the possibility of continuing the money-spinner under a different development team. You can see the pattern by now.

The problem is that omitting an ending is a real dickhead move.
http://www.bingegamer.net/epics-capps-make-game-endings-dlc/

... in response to Activision ...
... that every Activision title ...
What the fuck Activision?
We shall see if they are too greedy hoarding money to notice the freight train bearing down on them. Time will tell.

I hope that changes soon but as is mostly the way people will only start to pay attention once the shit really starts hitting the fan.
There will be a breaking point, I can guarantee that much.

You make things out to be very bleak, and in some respects you are right. However, you are forgetting the mini-evolution currently happening in the industry. The growing ability for small developers to sell their work through third party programs (such as Steam and Xbox Live Arcade) may seem like another pipe for the generic game garbage to filter through, but keep an eye out. As I have made clear, most of these problems you highlight are caused by greedy, paranoid publishers, milking creative talent for all that they are worth. By making it easier for development studios to work independently (just look at Bungie, would they be working on a brand new IP if it wasn't for their new found independence?) we are ushering in a new age of game development. It will be a slow process, but inevitably publishers will be forced to change, not by the consumer, but by the evolving system by which the consumers get their products.

The only thing I ask for now is to bide your time, keep a look out and support the developers, not the publishers.

[SlainPwner666]

I completely agree.

It absolutely infuriates me that Activision is making gamers pay more for... what? What makes this Call of Duty better then the others? I picked up Call of Duty 4 because I loved the 5th one so much, and seriously wondered what the difference was. Besides the timelines and the removal of co-op and Nazi Zombies, nothing at all was different. Needless to say, I sold it to some poor sap on Ebay a few days later. I personally will be avoiding this sure to be rehash of the series.

[frogopus]

There was a reason we were so excited for Left 4 Dead when it was a small project, trying to be unique without falling for all the standard zombie cliches...

The world of new IP is stagnant, genres are limited, and everything feels the same.

[Goldkills]

DRM is a wrong system and is falling out of favor to like CD key online activation and cd checks due to poor sales of games with DRM.

Yes well all think COD6 60USD$ price tag on the PC is total BS, the thing is they can get away with it due to there is no way you can boycott the price due to the amount of people who will buy it.

I also think DLC is most of the time total crap and a way for game makers to get away with bugs on the real release of a game back in the day games had no patches or DLC the dev. had to get it right the first time or have a bad game. The only DLC i like are fallout 3 DLC due to it has real value and adds about 5+ hours per and there is 5 of them for under 50$ total.

[Crack5800]

I will say L4D is the only game to come out (imo) to really shake up the industry. Halo, GoW, CoD...all centered around competitive gameplay and really brought nothing new to the table. But when L4D was first announced I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe what (at that time) Turtle Rock/Valve was creating. It was a game that I had pictured in my head years ago. However I will admit it did change over time but L4D even when the final product released blew me away more than any other game and still holds my top spot.

I will say the game industry is jaded in a lot of ways due to the simple fact of breaking the norm. Most developers/companies are afraid to break the norm because they are afraid something new or different will not work and people will be afraid to purchase it because it's "not what there used to."

I see what Tyr says is right in some ways...though i see a lot of biased views and bleak aspects of gaming. However I think things will change once companies are afraid to break the "norm" of games and game types.

[Elite]

I like Tyr's rants, they make people wake up and smell the ashes.

Pretty much summed up if you ask me. DRM is crap, all it does is make it an irritable experience to launch a game. Far Cry 2 won't even launch when I tell it to, it keeps asking me for the correct CD for 5 minutes until it realizes that it is the correct CD...

If I ever see DRM on a game I'm immediately buying the Steam version :P

[Infest0125]

Guys, please do not waste your money on any more CoDs or expansions. Please.

Activision is officially the worst gaming industry in my book.

I've said it before I'll say it again and a million times, but do not call Valve crooks for releasing one sequel earlier then others like you guys wanted, with things you wanted, and then some, while still providing free support for the original.

CoD and other games do this, providing yearly sequels to a generic game, while barely changing it, and charging for DLCs.

Tyr, I'm applauding you. You deserve a medal.

Also, I'm ashamed to admit this but CoD:MW2 is coming into my household, since I pre-ordered and paid for it in full for my brothers birthday gift. This will be a shame.

[Jesus123]

There was a reason we were so excited for Left 4 Dead when it was a small project, trying to be unique without falling for all the standard zombie cliches...

The world of new IP is stagnant, genres are limited, and everything feels the same.

Exactly what attracted me to Left 4 Dead in the first place.

[Elite]

Thats whats attracting me to Borderlands right now :)

[FilButch]

The way the industry is these days is that people are afraid of originality because "it wont sell" and activision is the king of sequels and unoriginality. Borderlands is a great example of a game thats taking risk, and its paying. Before, it was just another shooter with coop that had RPG elements, wich is good but it just looked like every other games. but suddenly, they changed their art style and the game caught people's attention with its colorful graphics and its fast paced gameplay that made it different and more appealing to people who want change but stuff they still know and like.

[Easton Dark]

^ And that is why I will be playing it with all the people on PC

[one of them]

Great rant.
The price increase for Modern Warfare 2 did not effect the U.S. but it still pissed me off. And no, I'm not one of the gamers that will be pissed but still pay for the game, in-fact I have also decided not to purchase Call of Duty: MW2 or any other future Activision games. They think they can just run us over and we'll take it, and they're right. Gamers are pussies when it comes to this sort of thing, people will pay for sequels that don't improve on anything at all (Madden 07-10).
Another thing you didn't mention (but falls in the same category) is DLC. I swear to god, Halo 3 and CoD are the worst. 800g (10$) for additional MAPS. Just a couple MAPS. I mean, if that isn't a Money Hungry move, I don't know what is. Microsoft charges 10$ just to change your damn Gamertag as well.

Blizzard is by far the worst when it comes to prices. World of Warcraft for example; First you buy the Main Game (20$). Then you buy both expansions (60$). THEN you pay 15$ a month for online play, which is required in order to even play the damn game. Still, Blizzard has 11.5 Million Subscribers. 8 Million of which own BOTH expansions. Not only do they make a TON of cash off that, but they charge you 25$ to CHANGE SERVERS. If you don't like the Realm you're on (whether it's lag, or lack of friends, etc.) you have to pay 25$ just to switch your character to another realm. They also recently introduced Faction Changes, which is ALSO 25$.

[Easton Dark]

Blizzard is by far the worst when it comes to prices.

Oh only in that one instance, otherwise they are very fair in their pricing.

[one of them]

Oh only in that one instance, otherwise they are very fair in their pricing.
Charging their biggest player base massive amounts of money is hardly fair. The only reason their other prices are considered "fair" in other games is because they make $172,500,000,000 a month off of WoW.

[Goldkills]

Guys, please do not waste your money on any more CoDs or expansions. Please.

Activision is officially the worst gaming industry in my book.

I've said it before I'll say it again and a million times, but do not call Valve crooks for releasing one sequel earlier then others like you guys wanted, with things you wanted, and then some, while still providing free support for the original.

CoD and other games do this, providing yearly sequels to a generic game, while barely changing it, and charging for DLCs.

Tyr, I'm applauding you. You deserve a medal.

Also, I'm ashamed to admit this but CoD:MW2 is coming into my household, since I pre-ordered and paid for it in full for my brothers birthday gift. This will be a shame.

Well for COD4 and W@W the DLC is free on the PC and it will be free for MWF2 it might take 2-3 more weeks to get it for free but well its free

[Easton Dark]

Charging their biggest player base massive amounts of money is hardly fair. The only reason their other prices are considered "fair" is because they make $172,500,000,000 a month off of WoW.

Good thing I dont play it then, huh.

[PropheticMerc]

So EA finally got off the hook of sucking?

[Infest0125]

We are in a midst of many gamer industries and suppliers essentially ripping us off... Yet we let all these gamer coporations do it. I'm not paying for any activision games after MW2, as this is essentially already bought.

I'm still tired of people calling valve cashwhores compared to everyone else. REALLY?

[Bloodshed269]

Being a console gamer myself, I cannot personaly relate to what you are saying. But, I agree nonetheless. I rarely buy games anymore. I usually just rent. But some of the sequels I'm getting this year(L4D2, MW2, AC2) are sequels to games I ABSOLUTELY loved. The story's of Modern Warfare and Assassin's Creed really drew me into the game. I love the co-op and mandatory teamwork of Left 4 Dead. I am looking foward to Modern Warfare 2 because of the story and co-op(Special Forces) I rarely play on-line (I don't have fun most of the time) But, yeah, I read every word of the post(s) and I agree with you. Good job! (Felt good to get that off you mind, didn't it?)

[lawlhat]

So EA finally got off the hook of sucking?

Yeah, they realized they sucked ass, then proceeded to pass the torch of "Olympic level of fail" to Activision

[OrangeCat X]

I'm still tired of people calling valve cashwhores compared to everyone else. REALLY?Yeah, I know. REALLY-REALLY?!?!

[candyman25]

I don't know about you guys, but I never bought COD4 because even still, the price is 40.00 usd. But I have a feeling that a month before MW2 comes out, they will do a special where if you preorder MW2 on Steam you will get COD4 for free. Not a bad deal eh?

[Infest0125]

I don't know about you guys, but I never bought COD4 because even still, the price is 40.00 usd. But I have a feeling that a month before MW2 comes out, they will do a special where if you preorder MW2 on Steam you will get COD4 for free. Not a bad deal eh?

After their no reason price raise, I wouldn't hold your breath on that deal!

[Elite]

I don't know about you guys, but I never bought COD4 because even still, the price is 40.00 usd. But I have a feeling that a month before MW2 comes out, they will do a special where if you preorder MW2 on Steam you will get COD4 for free. Not a bad deal eh?

No because COD4 absolutely fails at its SP campaign and that will be all you will be playing since everyone is going to move on to MW2's multiplayer.

[Bloodshed269]

No because COD4 absolutely fails at its SP campaign and that will be all you will be playing since everyone is going to move on to MW2's multiplayer.

We get it! You don't like CoD.

[Grieverlionhart]

I'm getting into the games industry to hopefully make a game and story I've been planning for a long time now. Even if i make it just as a hobby that's enough for me. But i really want to work on games no matter if it's barbie's pony hunt or Call of duty Oblivion Warfare 7. To put my all into making it the best game it can be. I sit there looking at my pc and xbox 360. I look at my shelf of games all top titles and can't help but pull out the gamecube, or PS2 and play a classic RPG or fighting game. I am bored of the games of this generation and even though I am looking forward to Assassins Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2 etc. I just feel meh about them.

Even Dead Rising 2 for which the first one was the reason i worked my ass off for months on end to get a 360 for. I feel that those hopeful days of good looking unique games with a mystery of nostalgia around them are gone. Today i can fully expect and get right what the game will deliver to me and it then just becomes fun to play over at a mates house on a sleepover.

My kind of hobby i guess in games at the moment is to bring these dusty fucking relics of games like Grandia, The Bouncer, Ring of red and play them at my mates over playing Gears of war 2. It just feels so much more fun to play the last gen games over this new copy paste shit that's been going on lately.

/top off my head rant

EDIT - I purely bought modern warfare 2 because
A. It gives me a reason to use the xbox360
B. Cod4 lasted me a fucking long time, 2 years pretty much so this one may aswell get
C. Pre order is £45 whilst if i wait for the shops to sell it will be £55 I did this because pre owned copies of COD4 are still being sold for £40, that's a normal price for new releases!

[Elite]

We get it! You don't like CoD.

We get it you don't like intelligent conversations!

The gaming industry is going downhill pretty bad now :P

[one of them]

So EA finally got off the hook of sucking?
No.
EA is now -1 on the scale.

[Tyr]

EA is different, it has a couple of titles it spews out every year, (EA Sports,) and the rest it doesn't really get involved in, short of just doing their job in distributing. EA was known as a bitch because gamers felt it was to blame for buggy titles being forced out before they were fixed - Battlefield 2 was heavily critisised. Again with the Battlefield series EA introduced another dickhead move - booster packs. Essentially what used to be given for free in patches, (new maps, weapons,) were now half-expansions.

But still, giving booster packs and asking that people pay for them pales in comparison to forcing your prices higher just... because. I chose not to buy the BF2 booster packs, others did the same. Come Novemeber I have news that EA and DICE is giving them away for free anyway, (although I personally haven't played BF2 for ages now.) But if you want to play CoD6 you have to pay whatever they're charging and in my case that's $20 more than I'm willing to part with.

But what's also happening now is the aforementioned stagnation of the gaming industry. Instead of just asking "what's next" gamers are beginning to ask "what's new" and the answer is "not a lot". There are very few games that actually push the envelope and those that do are almost done half-heartedly, like while making it the developers kept thinking "this probably isn't going to work". Look at Mirror's Edge, a game that didn't work as a whole but it was still something new and different. Look at Left 4 Dead - the first co-op game to actually be co-op. However these kinds of titles will not catch on, (the exception being Left 4 Dead because it actually had a dedicated developer who wanted to make it work and work well,) and people will always go back to the Halos and the Call of Dutys because they're safe, unexperimental and boring.

[Infest0125]

I agree Tyr. I haven't experienced Mirror's Edge but when I first viewed the trailers it seemed pretty cool. It was just applied badly from basically all I heard.

Same with L4D in the new experience perspective. I can't really think of many co-op games with actual co-op. CoD had very few enforced thoughtfullness and strategic ideas, but after a while they just got repetitive and bland. With Halo, co-op just meant bring along a buddy and same with many other games I've played.

Anyone hear of Psychonauts (I think thats how it's spelled)? It sold very few copies, but everyone who played it apparently loved it because it was very unique while being very fun. There's a lack of games like that on the market.

When you play enough generic shooters, they start to feel old and bland.

[Tyr]

Anyone hear of Psychonauts (I think thats how it's spelled)? It sold very few copies, but everyone who played it apparently loved it because it was very unique while being very fun. There's a lack of games like that on the market.
Psychonauts was part of the Adventure Game genere which mysteriously vanished in the early 2000s. Maybe they're trying to bring it back again with Monkey Island getting a few chapters tacked onto it. "Grim Fandango" is another fantastic adventure game and still ranks among my favourites.

[Nuttz]

Psychonauts was part of the Adventure Game genere which mysteriously vanished in the early 2000s. Maybe they're trying to bring it back again with Monkey Island getting a few chapters tacked onto it. "Grim Fandango" is another fantastic adventure game and still ranks among my favourites.

I thought Psychonaust was a platformer? Anyway, I miss Adventure games, probably my favourite game genre.

[PropheticMerc]

No.
EA is now -1 on the scale.
So what is Activision?

[Tyr]

I thought Psychonaust was a platformer? Anyway, I miss Adventure games, probably my favourite game genre.
It was an Adventure Platformer if you want to pigeonhole it.

[ThoughtThinking]

Phychonaust was a very awesome game.
When i played it i nearly shat bricks because it was more special and weirder!

OT:I dont get the whole new price thing of MW2 can someone explain please?

[SlainPwner666]

OT:I dont get the whole new price thing of MW2 can someone explain please?

Activision raised the price on Modern Warfare 2 by ten dollars for no adequate reason, and I think... it was the CEO or something that said that he would gladly raise the price higher if he could.

[Zorgy]

I refuse to give any of my fucking money to activision. Their arrogance is astounding. To just jack up the prices without explanation for what is basicaly cod 4 but with a few athestic upgrades and very few new features pisses me off big time.

[SlainPwner666]

I refuse to give any of my fucking money to activision. Their arrogance is astounding. To just jack up the prices without explanation for what is basicaly cod 4 but with a few athestic upgrades and very few new features pisses me off big time.

Not to mention the CEO is being a total dick and saying he would, and probably will, raise the prices AGAIN in the future.

[Zorgy]

Activison is the new EA then. Except I won't buy any games from them at all unlike EA.

[Bloodshed269]

I refuse to give any of my fucking money to activision. Their arrogance is astounding. To just jack up the prices without explanation for what is basicaly cod 4 but with a few athestic upgrades and very few new features pisses me off big time.

Not a lot has been realesed about the game yet. Go ahead and start the flame.

[Infest0125]

So we're paying cerca 70 bucks for the same old crap?

Actvision, take notes. Portal was sold with 4 other games for only 50 dollars. It was new and unique and people loved it, and it was a very fair price.

A higher price does not make your poor excuse for a new game any better.

[Bloodshed269]

I'm buying it. Price didn't get raised for the 360. (I think)

[Paradox Viper]

Psychonauts was part of the Adventure Game genere which mysteriously vanished in the early 2000s. Maybe they're trying to bring it back again with Monkey Island getting a few chapters tacked onto it. "Grim Fandango" is another fantastic adventure game and still ranks among my favourites.
Ah, Psychonauts, the only game I own in which using cheats is actually rewarded with easter eggs. It was a shame that when you finally get into the swing of collecting the brains, it's all over.

[ThoughtThinking]

Activision raised the price on Modern Warfare 2 by ten dollars for no adequate reason, and I think... it was the CEO or something that said that he would gladly raise the price higher if he could.
WTFFFF
Does this effect USA and the xbox360?
Because if it does ill rage.:mad:

[Goldkills]

WTFFFF
Does this effect USA and the xbox360?
Because if it does ill rage.:mad:

it only effects the PC ver in the USA due to the Xbox ver is already 60$ the PC ver before the change was 50$. i could care more but its like if i had to pay for one of the DLCs on the PC out of 2 or more that will come out

[ThoughtThinking]

it only effects the PC ver in the USA due to the Xbox ver is already 60$ the PC ver before the change was 50$. i could care more but its like if i had to pay for one of the DLCs on the PC out of 2 or more that will come out

Sweet!
I doesnt effect me!!

[one of them]

Speaking of Activision, I just read a very interesting article.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/09/actiblizzard-ceo-kotick-policy-rewards-profits-removes-fun.ars
Activision Blizzard is a company filled with creative, talented people. I remember the first time I was shown X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and how genuinely enthused the developers in the room seemed about both the project and the character. When we played the full game it was clear that it wasn't a show; this was made by people who wanted to produce a solid, fun Wolverine title. They succeeded. I can share many, many other stories about good experiences with Activision Blizzard employees and their products.

Which is why it's so frustrating that they seem to be lead by such a joyless man. I'm not sure if a video game beat up Bobby Kotick when he was a young man, but he seems to find the industry genuinely distasteful, even as it makes him rich. Here are some choice quotes from a presentation at the Deutsche Bank Securities Technology Conference in San Francisco.

He points to the newly acquired business acumen of people in his company. "You have studio heads who five years ago didn't know the difference between a balance sheet and a bed sheet who are now arguing allocations in our CFO's office pretty regularly," he stated. Of course, that may be due to the fact that his incentive program "rewards profit and nothing else."

He continued with that message: money, money, money. "We have a real culture of thrift. The goal that I had in bringing a lot of the packaged goods folks into Activision about 10 years ago was to take all the fun out of making video games."

"We are very good at keeping people focused on the deep depression," he stated.

Now, these quotes are taken from GameSpot's reporting, and we don't have the entire speech to give these statements context. The problem is I'm just not sure what kind of context would make these quotes look any less bloodless. This is the man who controls Blizzard. This is the man who controls the Call of Duty franchise. This isn't the first time Kotick has been very upfront about wanting to squeeze his franchises for everything they're worth.

Things may be looking good for Activision Blizzard right now, but gamers are a fickle bunch. When you invite a vampire into your home, it's possible he may be able to simply take a little blood every now and again and be a genial guest, but at some point you know he's going to lose control and bleed you dry. At that point you'll be dead, and he'll be out in the night looking for a new home. The worst part? It's hard to argue that you didn't know what he was when you invited him in.

[lawlhat]

The complete surrender of creativity to profits is why I get more into titles like STALKER that offer something different. Taking that example, you cant compare it to much (maybe Fallout 3, but that's a stretch.) It was buggy as hell on release, but the major shit (blue screens) are all ironed out by now. Aside from that I play CSS (mostly just with people from my clan) and a bit of other titles. I try to squeeze the most out of games with fun mods (currently playing Sven Co-op) and other customized crap. Big rant part is that most of my games are fun because I have fun with the people, not the game as much; because of this I cant really enjoy myself playing with some random joe, I have to get friends to play it with me otherwise its pretty stale. Also, with single player games the story seems to be getting increasingly less attention. Now it's missing the drive that actually makes me CARE about the damn thing. Hopefully Alan Wake will deliver on that part...

/extremely random rant

[Crack5800]

Speaking of Activision, I just read a very interesting article.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/09/actiblizzard-ceo-kotick-policy-rewards-profits-removes-fun.ars

This makes me really upset to see someone not give a damn about a industry that is almost generates more profit than the film industry.

[Paradox Viper]

Bobby Kotick Wanted To Take All The Fun Out Of Making Video Games (http://kotaku.com/5359567/bobby-kotick-wanted-to-take-all-the-fun-out-of-making-video-games)

I mean, come on!

Edit: Fudge, looks like someone got a similar article before me.

[Zorgy]

Not a lot has been realesed about the game yet. Go ahead and start the flame.

What? No. Have you seen the multiplayer gameplay videos? It's the same fucking game!
Oh but wait! I can ride a fucking snow mobile. Woopdefuckingdoo.

[Tyr]

I'm not surprised at all to learn about Bobby Kotick.
"No creative thought, nothing new, just pump out the same shit that's proven to earn us money!"

Yeah, hope he gets a shock one day when gamers give his company the big finger.

[Infest0125]

At the Bobby thing, he looks really greasy.

That quote was either taken really out of context or he's a complete selfish dumbass.

[Bloodshed269]

What? No. Have you seen the multiplayer gameplay videos? It's the same fucking game!
Oh but wait! I can ride a fucking snow mobile. Woopdefuckingdoo.

I've seen all 4 or 5 videos.

[Elite]

I'm not surprised.

This is sort of expected if you really pay attention to detail.

[ThoughtThinking]

What? No. Have you seen the multiplayer gameplay videos? It's the same fucking game!
Oh but wait! I can ride a fucking snow mobile. Woopdefuckingdoo.
Have you seen the fucking multiplayer of both games?
They do not have the same multiplayer.
And the snow mobile is in campaign as far as i can tell.


Off Topic:How did a thread ranting about the gaming industry turn to a thread about MW2 and Activision?
Lol:D

[Bloodshed269]

Have you seen the fucking multiplayer of both games?
They do not have the same multiplayer.
And the snow mobile is in campaign as far as i can tell.


Off Topic:How did a thread ranting about the gaming industry turn to a thread about MW2 and Activision?
Lol:DBecause that is what the flavor of the month is.

[ThoughtThinking]

Because that is what the flavor of the month is.
Wait.....
Your saying Activision has a flavor??
Is it vanilla?!
I <3 vanilla!

[Bloodshed269]

Wait.....
Your saying Activision has a flavor??
Is it vanilla?!
I <3 vanilla!

No, pineapple coconut, sprinkled with sour warheads.(NOSTALGIA!)

[ThoughtThinking]

No, pineapple coconut, sprinkled with sour warheads.(NOSTALGIA!)
I am now saddend.


OT:MW2 will be a good game =D
*Runs away and puts tinfoil hat to prepare for flaming.*

[Bloodshed269]

I am now saddend.


OT:MW2 will be a good game =D
*Runs away and puts tinfoil hat to prepare for flaming.*

I agree. You on XBox?

[ThoughtThinking]

I agree. You on XBox?
Well i has an Xbox but as of now i am not on it.
:D
I think you sent me a friend request?

OT:MW2 looks fun and why is people so mad over paying an extra 10 dollars?Now PC pays as much as the Xbox does.
I Think...
I dun know....:confused:

[Tyr]

For the record I don't think MW2 will be a bad game. I think it will be a mediocre game. A game that refuses to push the envelope. A generic title that exists for the sole purpose of profiteering off an already popular franchise. I also think that it is not alone in this regard.

Actualy check out Yahtzee's "Extra Punctuation (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6516-Extra-Punctuation-On-Generic-Games)", he actually talks about "generic games" with considerable insight.

[Elite]

I feel like I have just run out games to play.

Fallout 3 is now as stale as ever, COD4 is... well COD4. L4D is still stale due to the lack of variety. I won't even touch Far Cry 2, so that leaves me with TF2 and a bunch of source mods...

Oh wait I still have Oblivion which I never finished playing.

[FilButch]

Oh wait I still have Oblivion which I never finished playing.

http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/classes/cmpe012/Winter08/labs/lab5/ecstatictf2.jpg

You should playit, i played it without mods and played it for like 300 hours

[Crack5800]

Sadly I never finished Oblivion (turned into a god damned vampire -_-)

[SlainPwner666]

HAH. You guys think COD is a milked series? I point you to Activision's other series that refuses to die, Guitar Hero. Seriously. Minor graphical upgrade, new song list, charge 60 bucks for it. AND, as if that wasn't bad enough, charge for most of the DLC. I think, it's 2 bucks a pop. Really?

[FilButch]

HAH. You guys think COD is a milked series? I point you to Activision's other series that refuses to die, Guitar Hero. Seriously. Minor graphical upgrade, new song list, charge 60 bucks for it. AND, as if that wasn't bad enough, charge for most of the DLC. I think, it's 2 bucks a pop. Really?

world at war was really unnecessary IMO

[Elite]

Sadly I never finished Oblivion (turned into a god damned vampire -_-)

Me too :P

I got back into it by avoiding quests that include Oblivion Gates >.<

[ThoughtThinking]

HAH. You guys think COD is a milked series? I point you to Activision's other series that refuses to die, Guitar Hero. Seriously. Minor graphical upgrade, new song list, charge 60 bucks for it. AND, as if that wasn't bad enough, charge for most of the DLC. I think, it's 2 bucks a pop. Really?
Agreed.
Realy stupid how people keep buying those Guitar hero series.
Hey CoD Series may be milked but its a hell of a lot more better then guitar hero.

[Infest0125]

HAH. You guys think COD is a milked series? I point you to Activision's other series that refuses to die, Guitar Hero. Seriously. Minor graphical upgrade, new song list, charge 60 bucks for it. AND, as if that wasn't bad enough, charge for most of the DLC. I think, it's 2 bucks a pop. Really?

Yeah Guitar Hero got so stale after 2. Rock band 2 is still pretty fun though.

[Tyr]

Guitar Hero was invented in 1989 (http://iphonelife.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/103679_4mg1.jpg) by Milton Bradley. Of course Milton Bradley didn't have the innovative idea of putting it to music. Same basic concept though.

[gehn6]

Interesting read. For the most part I can't see where you are coming from with it though.

I've never had a problem with DRM. It is true that it doesn't really do anything, but they have the right to TRY to protect their shit. Also though I thought about this for a bit. You talk about DRM like it is intrusive and what not, and I have seen this from a lot of different people. The thing is though, I don't see it at all in my experience. I bought BF2 through EA Downloader (does it even have the DRM issues you talk about if you buy it in the stores?) and that is the only game I've ever even NOTICE DRM. I tried to launch the game and it said EA Downloaded needed to be running and logged in. Took all of 15 seconds to do and that was that, not issues since then. I sure as hell wouldn't call that intrusive (not like its asking me to log back in every 15 minutes while playing or something, i only had to do it once). Every other game I play(ed) I have never had an issue, and I own a lot of EA, Activision games too. Plus all my steam games (not just Valve done), Fallout 3, GTA4, etc. Keeping in mind that I have been using Windows 7 since the beta so I've had a few reinstalls in the last few months.

I'm sorry a lot of you seem to be having such a hard time with DRM but of all the hardware I've had I've never had an issue with it being intrusive. Who all has had issues with DRM complaining to you while you play the game? Who has only had it complain to you when first starting the game or installing the game? (The difference being, someone asking for your ticket DURING the movie and someone asking for your ticket BEFORE the movie.)

Now. Of all the different COD's I've played (1-3, MW, W@W) I have to say I enjoyed all of them but W@W (except for Zombies) greatly. I enjoyed the single player in 1-3, MW and their multiplayers. They all had different experiences, be it setting, weapons (which greatly affects how well I can do depending on the type of weapons they were or how they are designed to work in a game), the change from health packs to the current system. For FPS I personally love WW2 settings so that sells me on games a lot, but i did enjoy how MW was so different and the adding of ranks and unlocks was a GREAT idea on their part to keep me coming back for more. Also, all but the last two used a different engine. Sure its all relatively the same in regards to its first-person and you shoot shit, but I had fun playing all of them and thats all that really matters to me. I don't need originality for things to be fun, though it can be nice.

What do you consider original? There are what I would call original titles out there, but they all still fall under similar ideas from previous games. Fat Princess is original I think, but it's still essentially based off of other CTF games. I also greatly enjoyed how you own five of the COD games. :)

The price increases suck. I hope it changes.

Free Idea: Someone should design a Football game that doesn't have a number after it and allows its owners to change out the stats and whatnot of different years for a small fee. :) Do it up!

I'm not sure I would agree that the quality of games its getting worse, but you may be right. I remember back in the day I played each of these games for at least a 6 month period and nothing else (Tribes 2, Quake 2 (KOTS mod), Quake 3 (instakill), SWG (over a year)). They were all just that good for me, i needed nothing else. I would say there are just being more and more games being created then back in the game and I'm all for that. I'll gladly take charge in deciding what games I deem are good enough for me to buy and which games aren't. MMOs are a great concept though, SWG had me hooked up until the CU. WoW had me hooked for all of the original and half the time of the second expansion. EVE Online I currently play for 80% of my gaming time, the rest is on games I already own for a change of pace (mostly TF2 or L4D).

Sure, I may be paying $12-$13 a month to play EVE, sure you may have had to pay for an expansion for one of my MMOs, not in the instance of EVE keep in mind, 11 expansions so far and still all free. But I would much rather pay $13 a month to play the same game over and over with more and more content being added then buying a game, playing for a few weeks, buying another game and playing that till i'm bored.

Let's put it in some more interesting terms.

I own three EVE Online accounts. Lets say they cost me a total of $45 a month to play. Expansions need not be calculated in since while they are released about every 4 months, they are always free.

Now, looking at my steam page (http://steamcommunity.com/id/gehn/games) I've played EVE a total of 50 hours in the last two weeks. Lets times that by two to give me a month and knock 10 hours off, so 90 hours a month. That comes out to what? 50 cents an hour? i will more than gladly pay 50 cents an hour to be thoroughly entertained.

This is much cheaper than:

your average rent/theater movie.
your average cost for an amusement park
your average cost to drink at a bar
I myself love to ski and that is shit expensive.

I hope i didn't come of as attacking you Tyr, I didn't mean it if I did.

[Goldkills]

For the record I don't think MW2 will be a bad game. I think it will be a mediocre game. A game that refuses to push the envelope. A generic title that exists for the sole purpose of profiteering off an already popular franchise. I also think that it is not alone in this regard.

Actualy check out Yahtzee's "Extra Punctuation (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6516-Extra-Punctuation-On-Generic-Games)", he actually talks about "generic games" with considerable insight.

Right like a take what he says to heart, he is a guy who would gladly take it from gabe all night long (ie Half-life) half-life has been the same-old thing for 10 years lol

anyway, I really like Call of duty(only the IW stuff) I loved COD4's single-player and it had a great MP that really changed how people thought of a continuous XP system in a FPS my guess is that people think that W@W was a true COD game the price raise was bad for the international market and for PC players but the COD franchise got nothing on the GH one lol, 5 main games(only 2 are good) 4-5 other games that add close to nothing for 60$ each and also DLC for all of the games for money.

[gehn6]

Goldkills you made me remember something. I was originally going to post that my fav CODs were 1 and MW but i didn't because i really did enjoy them all but w@w. I just looked at it and it just so happens that the ones i enjoyed the most were the IW ones, which I think makes a lot of sense.

One more thing that I see a lot of people do that I NEVER understood.

Why when someone talks about a game do they seem to think about the publisher and not the developer? lol. I've seen this a lot with regards to EA and Activision. When I think of COD i've always thought of IW, not Activision. I mean sure they are owned by Activision Blizzard now, but developers still have a lot of say in the design of the game. (notice though that I didn't say if a someone decides to make a new game)

[Tyr]

Stuff
It didn't come across as attacking me, don't worry.

I hate the principle of DRM. Although, like both of us said, developers have the right to try to protect their intellectual property. However I don't think that shoul go as far as treating evey customer with suspicion. I like what they did with the Arkham Assylum game, that is creative DRM that, for the moment at least, works and doesn't effect people who legitimately bought the game at all. Dealing with shit like Microsoft Live, (in particular,) is irritating. When playing Fallout 3 I had to make sure I was signed in, and my "Microsoft Live" was up to date and if it wasn't then it would refuse to let me play the game I legitimately bought off Steam. That pissed me off. When Spore only lets me install the game three times before I have to get in contact with EA to continue using a product I payed money, not to rent, not to borrow but own then I think DRM is too intrusive.

As to CoD, I did say that it was the "summer blockbuster" of games and I like going to see the summer blockbuster as much as the next guy. Unless it's directed by Michael "God I'm such a fucking Hack" Bay. But each CoD game is $100 for me, (new release,) and that looks set to increase. That transcends the realm of "a bit of entertainment" and turns into a bit of an investment. Hey, I'm a student, I'm skint. Now the CoD series is a solid bit of entertainment but it's a pretty standard first person shooter. Locations, weapons, set-pieces may be different but it still goes through the same motions as all the other ones. CoD4 mixed it up again before Treyarch's offering actually took away most of the positive thoughts I had towards CoD4 and repaced them with negative thoughts I had towards CoD5.

Whatever, I suppose I ripped on the CoD series because I don't like the perception that the series is particularly special enough to warrant getting a price hike.

I will never get myself involved in an MMORPG, least of all EVE, (actualy least of all WoW.) I can see it being a massive time-vampire, more of an addiction than actual captivating entertainment. That's just me though.
Right like a take what he says to heart, he is a guy who would gladly take it from gabe all night long (ie Half-life) half-life has been the same-old thing for 10 years lol

Can you translate that into something I can understand?

Oh, and Infinity Ward are a hundred times better than Treyarch. I never played #3, (no console for me thanks,) but WaW reeked of bad level design and pacing.

[Goldkills]

Yahtzee is a huge valve fan boy almost to the point of absurdity but if you look at it the half-life series of games have not changed much(game play wise) and still sell a ton The CoD games (by IW) have not changed too much since CoD4, but game devs have done much worse reusing ideas and game-play.

[Tyr]

Yahtzee's a Valve fanboy? To the point of absurdity? Aside from saying that Portal was beyond criticism, (which is a stance taken by pretty much every other notable critic,) he's been pretty honest. With his Orange Box review of HL2:e2 he noted that the set-pieces repeat themselves, that the promised non-linearity amounted to nothing more than a finale arena, the story suffered from being the "middle child", the promised extra length was nowhere to be found, introducing a new main character out of the blue that no-one had ever heard of before was a bad idea, bundling HL2 and e1 under the premise that people could "gift" the game to their friends was a questionable idea and, like most gamers feel, Valve was incredibly irritating with it's constant release delays. He didn't rip into it with his assortment of entertaining analogies like he usually does he just said "you could do a lot worse" which you certainly can.

Yahtzee's not a gun for hire to rip into every game he reviews, he's a critic. Just because he didn't give the Orange Box a negative review doesn't mean he's a fanboy, you may as well say he's a "Saints Row 2 fanboy" or a "Painkiller fanboy" because he gave those games pretty favourable reviews too.

And Valve often is held as an example for others to follow as far as developers are concerned. Whether that's "fanboy-ism" or just the fact that Valve is a pretty good developer can be left up to your own opinion.

[Paradox Viper]

There is only one game that I am fan-boyish about, and that is Okami. Even then, I accept that my friend calls it "a bunch of zelda wolf crap" while he goes off to play some more Halo Wars.

I'm sick of people using the fanboy card whenever a person makes a strong argument for a game. I once argued that Halo 3 has a very detailed and interesting plot, but the person seemed to ignore the part when I went "... but the story itself is presented very poorly, with most of the interesting parts requiring far too much 'research' to appreciate." Instead he said I only say good things about Halo, and that I'm therefore a fanboy.

/nano-rant

[Elite]

Lol Halo.

Yahtzee is a critic, he praises good games and annihilates bad ones. The best part is he doesn't give games scores, that part is up to you.

[one of them]

Lol Yahtzee.

Some critics these days try harder to find the flaws than they do to find the good things. It's not a problem when they list all of the good things, but when it's a rant about only bad things... it only shows how poor of a critic he is, or that he isn't a critic and just likes to make fun of games.

[Nuttz]

Yahtzee is a terrible critic, his videos should be taken with a grain of salt, and nothing more.

I personally think he's smart-alec fuckstain with his head up his arse who thinks he's God's gift to the fucking world, but that's just me.

[Tyr]

Some critics these days try harder to find the flaws than they do to find the good things. It's not a problem when they list all of the good things, but when it's a rant about only bad things... it only shows how poor of a critic he is, or that he isn't a critic and just likes to make fun of games.
That's the same with all critics. A bad review is a lot more fun to write and, more importantly, to read/watch.

Yahtzee is an able critic and although he's known for being fairly scathing his reviews are surprisingly balanced. Of course his talent for sarcastic and mean-spirited analogies is unsurpassed, even by ex-Internet King Maddox, so they're infinately more noticable than when he actually points out the good things in a game.

I don't think being overly critical is a bad thing. I certainly think it's better than saying a game is awesome when it only just scrapes in at being average.

his videos should be taken with a grain of salt.
Completely agreed.

Didn't this used to be about something else...?

[Infest0125]

Tyr, is your next rant by any chance about how L4D2 is banned in Australia?

[Tyr]

I dunno if I'd call it a rant, it's only 375 words which is a pretty standard length for me.
http://www.left4dead411.com/forums/showthread.php?p=325545

[lawlhat]

I dunno if I'd call it a rant, it's only 375 words which is a pretty standard length for me.
http://www.left4dead411.com/forums/showthread.php?p=325545

It was well written enough to be an epic rant in my eyes.

Seriously though I call BS on banning L4D2.