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It's a mystery the world will never solve.
(Actually, it's a way of marking things interesting - kind of a mild empathetic statement of positive recognition of a thing, but for various, complex, inexplicable reasons, my criteria of that shifts from day-to-day... like most people with certain things.)
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I think the real problem (and certainly one reason I'm so concerned about the ability to find surprise gems) is that most of the game series I've always cared about most are dead/driven into a ditch/totally astray from their roots/don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon/owned by a different company that Doesn't Get them. All the game references I see now are games that I frankly don't give a damn about. They all look the same, they all sound the same...and it's a look and sound I don't like. The present 'boom' in gaming people have already referred to appears illusory to me - there's more games and it's easier to make them, sure, but there appears to have been a severe drain in, shall we call it, memetic diversity. I suspect the Internet may have something to do with it, and that's all the more reason not to welcome all the game stores being online.
Ray Brabury hated the Internet, and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. refused to ever even get an E-mail address - I can't say I know precisely why they felt this way, but knowing them, I can take a few guesses of what they saw in it that made them so hostile...and I think we're starting to see at least some of their baleful vision being tragically validated.
Games aren't in stores anymore?
~Looks at a couple stores~
Hmmm... yeah whole isles of console games and a small offering of PC games. This change is recent. I bought Diablo 3 at the local game store.
Ray Bradbury was a Ludite. His stories were all about the horrors of new technology.
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Ray Bradbury was a Ludite. His stories were all about the horrors of new technology.
Like I said, "tragically validated." We need to acknowledge the fact that Luddites aren't always wrong - but the problem is really when businessmen and accountants take over from the J. Robert Oppenheimers, Philo Farnsworths, Tim Berners Lees, and Jon Van Caneghems of the world.
While not all new technology is good, I would argue that a Ludite is someone who goes to far. Then again, I am all about balance.
EDIT: I would keep an eye on the upcoming Numenera: Torment. It is made by the people that made the Planscape game. I may not have the name right.
Sounds like big biz taking over the vid industry is more an issue than proliferation of the internets.
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While not all new technology is good, I would argue that a Ludite is someone who goes to far. Then again, I am all about balance.
Whereas I deeply distrust any talk of "balance" - the concept strikes me as 1-dimensional very parochial. How does one find "balance" in a cosmos (both material and Platonic) where there is no "center" save the individual ego? Then there's the whole "FOX News Effect," in which crypto-extremists makes complete chumps out of those who claim to champion "balance" by dictating what is and is not "extreme." The fringe is a privileged position, you understand - when you sit down to paint a landscape, it is the boundaries that dictate what you see. Every point in physical/mental space is somebody's "Goldilocks Zone."
Polemics aside, yes, I'm familiar with TORMENT: Tides of Numenera. All that concerns me is that it doesn't appear to take place in the same cosmology, so that kind of dashes hopes of a proper sequel.
Sounds like big biz taking over the vid industry is more an issue than proliferation of the internets.
Correct - however, we are starting to discover that the Internet is, in its own right, not all beer and skittles. It was likely bound not to be; once again, I cite my mother's observation regarding how we're all still learning to distinguish our asses from our elbows within this paradigm-shifting technology.
It does not. It is based on the RPG Numenra by Monte Cook Games. The link is to the RPG company.
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It does not. It is based on the RPG Numenra by Monte Cook Games. The link is to the RPG company.
Right - so it's simply not the sequel we all wanted so much.
Mind you, I'm a bit familiar with the Numenera setting, and were it not for the fact that the setting does sound pretty cool based on what I know, and I'm willing to give it a try on those grounds, I wouldn't be very happy with this.
It's your typical original-dev-gone-indie-on-kickstarter spiritual successor. Like Bloodstained, Yooka-Laylee, Mighty No. 9 etc.
Hopefully better than the latter.
Planescape or not i would just like to see a proper 5th edition video game, in the vein of Torment 1, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights. I want the game that Sword Coast Legends is not.
Sounds like big biz taking over the vid industry is more an issue than proliferation of the internets.Correct - however, we are starting to discover that the Internet is, in its own right, not all beer and skittles. It was likely bound not to be; once again, I cite my mother's observation regarding how we're all still learning to distinguish our asses from our elbows within this paradigm-shifting technology.
Mayhaps. I'd argue that vids not being plentiful on store shelves is not a good reason to unplug the internets though. Clearly, YMMV.
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I think the real problem (and certainly one reason I'm so concerned about the ability to find surprise gems) is that most of the game series I've always cared about most are dead/driven into a ditch/totally astray from their roots/don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon/owned by a different company that Doesn't Get them. All the game references I see now are games that I frankly don't give a damn about. They all look the same, they all sound the same...and it's a look and sound I don't like. The present 'boom' in gaming people have already referred to appears illusory to me - there's more games and it's easier to make them, sure, but there appears to have been a severe drain in, shall we call it, memetic diversity. I suspect the Internet may have something to do with it, and that's all the more reason not to welcome all the game stores being online.
Triple A games (the ones that get all the hype and you see adds for and such) are in my opinion at an all time low point. They have inflated their budgets to such a degree that publishers are terrified of failure and thus stick to what they view as 'safe' options. Even when they are proven wrong, they are generally slow to shift away from what has made them money in the past. So we get lots of Call of Duty and a lot less MetroidVania.
Its also easier then ever to publish games. Small developers can put something on steam with previously inconceivably limited work. This is both good and bad as small talented developers can put out some amazing games, but we also have to wade through tons of crap published by hack devs looking to make a few quick bucks.
Its easier then ever to obtain games. I can literally go to my computer and in a few minutes buy and download a dozen games from steam or GoG. That's pretty amazing all things considered. I don't have to worry about stock, or keeping track of my physical disk. In fact there are games I have on my steam account from years ago that I long ago have lost my physical copies (never winter nights 2 and portal are examples) that I still pick up from time to time and play, only because steam lets me redownload them and play them. I can even digitally loan games im not currently playing to my friends.
Part and parcel to all of this, an entire new industry has popped up around games. Traditional gaming magazines are more or less dead, but thousands of people now make a living reviewing, discussing and even just playing video games (and especially pc games) for the general public. While there is a massive glut of games to sift through, there are also a whole host of tools to help you sift through it.
For those with patience and a little extra cash, there is also kick starter. Many developers of past classics are turning to crowd funding to create new projects free of the shackles of the AAA industry. I consider this a massive gain, and it literally wouldn't be possible without the revolution of digital distribution and the internet's effect on pc gaming. If you aren't seeing a lot of the kinds of games you used to like being published by normal routes, check out kick starter and other crowdfunding projects. You obviously have to wait for them to be completed but its a new source of genres of games that have long been abandoned by top tier publishers.
Its certainly not all roses and daisies. There are downsides to digital release platforms. Obviously the experience of wandering through a store looking for a gem is more or less gone (through finding a gem on steam can be satisfying, particularly when you consider this game literally wouldn't exist
The moment I realized physical pc game sales where dead was a few weeks ago. I wanted to buy a physical copy of a game for my girlfriend because it was part of some promotion with final fantasy online. I bought Civ V from amazon. Got the disk. Put it in my computer, and you know what happened? The whole package was little more then a glorified steam code. Even if you buy a physical package its likely to be the same thing as just buying the game code digitally. I couldn't install the game absent of steam.
All that said, its really unlikely the clock will be turned back on digital distribution. The only thing we can hope for is that we keep consumer friendly distribution areas like steam and GOG, because the individual publishers want to create their own (Microsoft with the windows 10 store, ubisoft with uplay, EA with Origin etc) and none of those are any good for us as consumers. Steam and GoG actually give us something in exchange for the loss of physical products (a community to discuss the game, automatic installation of patches, and the rather extensive steam sales as examples). The publishers wont give us anything at all.
My biggest piece of advice is to find a lets player (twitch or youtube personality) or reviewer whose tastes are similar to yours. They will do a lot of the sifting through the glut of games for you and help you find the gems. In fact lets play videos are superb for this because they let you actually watch the game being played. Which gives you as good an idea as you could whether or not you would like it.
What sort of games that you liked can you no longer find? Perhaps we can help turn you towards some similar games?
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Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???
I'm not sure how I feel about this, to be honest....
Mayhaps. I'd argue that vids not being plentiful on store shelves is not a good reason to unplug the internets though. Clearly, YMMV.
Well I certainly wouldn't go that far - one thing I have thought of though is the formation, on a "tradition" basis and all that that implies, of a periodical "Internet Sabbath" when people just take a break from all things Internet and reacquaint themselves with everything not-Internet; you wouldn't be forbidden from going online (and nobody could force you, certainly), but the general understanding would be that nobody can be *expected* to be using the Internet during these periods.
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Heh. The internet is here to stay. They wanted to get rid of it, they would have had to do it early nineties. Now? Heh. That is, however, not saying what the shape of it will be. Let us all be thankful it is still in somewhat decent shape.
Making a living making let's play movies, well, it always comes down to the same things: Charisma, a unique perspective, entertaining banter, comprehensive knowledge and understanding of your product, and a way to make money from it. Right now, however, it IS possible. Who knows in a few years.
Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???
I'm not sure how I feel about this, to be honest....
Are you not familiar with youtube and twitch? Particularly among the younger crowd (dern kids with their new fangle media) this is a very popular form of entertainment (please note I don't just mean traditional internet things, but everything, Movies, TV, Books, and games all from the internet). I mean have you never sat next to your friend and just watched him or her play through a game? With the right personality (that matches you) it can be quite fun. Its also great for learning about games as mentioned, its how I find out about most of the games I buy.
Its not really any different then traditional media other then being more targeted. They are effectively making a low budget tv show, and they get paid via adds that youtube coordinates. I guess how you feel about it is sort of Irrelevant, its sort of a big thing now money wise. And lets be honest, I am not going to begrudge someone for finding a way to make a living out of playing games just because I never worked that one out.
Well I certainly wouldn't go that far - one thing I have thought of though is the formation, on a "tradition" basis and all that that implies, of a periodical "Internet Sabbath" when people just take a break from all things Internet and reacquaint themselves with everything not-Internet; you wouldn't be forbidden from going online (and nobody could force you, certainly), but the general understanding would be that nobody can be *expected* to be using the Internet during these periods.
Mayhaps. I'd argue that vids not being plentiful on store shelves is not a good reason to unplug the internets though. Clearly, YMMV.
Welcome to the new world. Everyone is expected to be online all the time. For most people in the industrial world this isn't something you can roll back. Many get all or most of their entertainment via the internet, they also use it for virtually all of their communication with friends, family and work. Your tradition literally wont happen on any kind of wide scale. The internet isn't a box in your house anymore. It comes with you everywhere you go for most people. And its a vital part of most of our lives. Asking most younger people to go without the internet for a day is like asking you to go without using your legs for a day. Sure you can do it, but it would be a pain, and not make a whole lot of sense.
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Oddly enough, I don't own a cell phone; smart or otherwise. I see some value in unplugging myself from time to time. While all my video and gaming needs are met by digital delivery, I still purchase Vinyl records for relaxing listening pleasure. I map out my trips before hand and often spend long weekends with no net at all. I'm part of a rapidly decreasing demographic though I believe. Welcome to the (dis)connected new world :)
Oddly enough, I don't own a cell phone; smart or otherwise. I see some value in unplugging myself from time to time. While all my video and gaming needs are met by digital delivery, I still purchase Vinyl records for relaxing listening pleasure. I map out my trips before hand and often spend long weekends with no net at all. I'm part of a rapidly decreasing demographic though I believe. Welcome to the (dis)connected new world :)
Obviously there are those that follow such a path and more power too them. But in terms of the general population (whose consensus is generally required to create a tradition of unplugging) short of apocalypse, nothing is putting the internet genie back in the bottle.
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I never said anything about "putting the genie back in the bottle," merely an increasing number of people becoming fatigued and realizing that maybe it's healthy to step away periodically.
Also, machines DO break down, things DO happen, the unexpected is to be expected, so a total Apocalypse is actually NOT necessary for the Internet to be, just like any other basket, one you don't want to put all your eggs in.
I'm not anti-Internet. At all. The coolest thing about it for me is how I can meet (and even make friends with!) people from countries I've never been to. I just don't want to be trapped without alternatives.
Yeap, I was sort of long windedly agreeing with you about not holding breath for traditions away from the internets.
To be fair, if the apocalypse happens, getting video games at the store will be your last worry.
Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???
I'm not sure how I feel about this, to be honest....
How do you feel about television? Because 90% of TV is in the same vein.
Let's Plays let you watch games you're not playing.
Top Gear (and similar) let you watch people drive cars you're not driving.
Porn lets you...
You get the idea.
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How do you feel about television? Because 90% of TV is in the same vein.
Let's Plays let you watch games you're not playing.
Top Gear (and similar) let you watch people drive cars you're not driving.
Porn lets you...
You get the idea.
I don't watch shows like that, though.
My TV diet, such as it's been, of the past several months has been Mystery Science Theater 3000, episodes of The Twilight Zone left over from the annual New Year's marathon, and Marx Brothers movies.
I don't watch shows like that, though.My TV diet, such as it's been, of the past several months has been Mystery Science Theater 3000
Wow, this is the best example I could have hoped for. MSST3K is basically the same format as a lot of Let's Plays. They watch the movie (play the game) and make commentary over it, usually for comedic effect.
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Wow, this is the best example I could have hoped for. MSST3K is basically the same format as a lot of Let's Plays. They watch the movie (play the game) and make commentary over it, usually for comedic effect.
True - and I actually had thought about doing stuff like that myself (never imagined I could make money off it, though).
It's just that it's not quite the same as the examples you mentioned. They ARE performing (as opposed to driving cars or...driving each other), and they do skits and an independent storyline outside heckling the movie to boot. I also would be hesitant to equate heckling a movie with playing a video game while commenting.
I did watch somebody do that with Takeshi's Challenge (since I knew I'd never be playing that game myself), and frankly, it felt different from Mystery Science Theater 3000 - although perhaps with a bigger budget, better talent, and a less casual format, that might be different. MST3K feels like a movie/TV show, though. That Let's Play didn't.
Was it JonTron's? He's primarily running a comedy show, where "Look at this weird ass game (or movie)" is the catalyst for humor, rather than a Let's Player.
He used to be part of Game Grumps, which DOES use that format.
Sounds like big biz taking over the vid industry is more an issue than proliferation of the internets.
Much like Kolokotroni said, Triple A quality is at an all time low as far as public opinion is concerned. There are a large number of small team devs making great success since Steam Greenlight, Kickstarter and the proliferation of game coverage out on the internet right now.
With a bit of imagination you could even google for games very similar to your old interests.
Torchlight for example was made by old members who worked on Diablo.
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I never said anything about "putting the genie back in the bottle," merely an increasing number of people becoming fatigued and realizing that maybe it's healthy to step away periodically.
While it may very well be healthy to step away, its also not going to happen. Literally. People use it to work, play, communicate and basically do everything else in their day to day life. Most people do this. Since the rise of the smart phone, the internet is part of the core of modern society. As mentioned, it would be like asking you to take a break from using your legs.
Also, machines DO break down, things DO happen, the unexpected is to be expected, so a total Apocalypse is actually NOT necessary for the Internet to be, just like any other basket, one you don't want to put all your eggs in.
Given the amount of commerce and communication done by the internet, no, if the internet stops, that itself would be apocalyptic. All of our eggs are already in the basket whether we want them there or not. If the internet suddenly stopped markets (including the values of national currencies) would literally drop to zero effectively instantly. And given the sheer number of redundant machines that would have to break down to make the internet stop, that in and of itself would cause an apocalypse.
Our dams, our aircraft control towers, our power and water supply, our communication networks, basically all our infrastructure relies on the internet. Many such places no longer have engineers at each location of importance but instead staff single remote monitoring stations that, as you might see the patter, use the internet. Between that and the massive lost commerce, there is literally no way there is no apocalypse there.
This isn't a bunch of kids using their facebook and google maps (though of course that would go to) its most of what allows modern society to function.
I'm not anti-Internet. At all. The coolest thing about it for me is how I can meet (and even make friends with!) people from countries I've never been to. I just don't want to be trapped without alternatives.
Its sort of like saying you don't want to be trapped without alternatives to the internal combustion engine. Sure you could technically still own horses. But that's a very limited solution for a very select group of people in the western world.
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You CAN still get *video games* at the store - if that doesn't prove that there is indeed a difference between them and *computer games,* I don't know what does. They'll always be different to me.To be fair, if the apocalypse happens, getting video games at the store will be your last worry.
There's literally no valid difference in this false dichotomy you've set up. So you can buy console games in stores and games for your computer online. That reflects a difference but that difference iis not the one you are trying to promote. Many of these games are available for both consoles and computers which makes the distinction fuzzier than you seem to want it to be.
As far as the rest, people aren't going to cut down internet usage to satisfy Luddite preferences or even concerns about any given industry moving most of its business online. Overall these shifts are a good thing and make games more accessible.
Also, the memetic similarities you describe are not nearly as encompassing as you say. There's quite a lot of diversity in game design, especially as was pointed out, outside AAA titles (although I'd say even those aren't the array of memetic clones you described).
Yesterday I spent the day without Internet, celebrating the Fourth with my extended family. We had a picnic, played some non-digital games, watched the antics of the newest member of the family, did a lot of in-person talking, and in general had a blast.
Now I'm back home, telling folks from who knows where in the world about it using my (almost) always connected portable Internet device that also happens to make phone calls. Later on today I'm planning to go try some of the video games I bought on sale and left downloading while I was gone.
There's room for both in your life. :)
Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???
Heh. Google Pewdiepie. I'll give you the quick summery....made $12 million off his YouTube channel in 2015, and has an estimated net worth of $78 million. Primarily from gaming videos on YouTube. (That being said, I can't stand his videos, and from what I've seen, he comes off as a bit of a jackass as a person as well.)
Wow, this is the best example I could have hoped for. MSST3K is basically the same format as a lot of Let's Plays. They watch the movie (play the game) and make commentary over it, usually for comedic effect.True - and I actually had thought about doing stuff like that myself (never imagined I could make money off it, though).
If you really want to make money at it, most of the ones that are at the top of the YouTube pile don't make any kind of funny/witty commentary, however. In fact, they rarely dip into comprehensibility. They mostly just shriek incoherently at any moment of slight interaction within the game.
Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???Heh. Google Pewdiepie. I'll give you the quick summery....made $12 million off his YouTube channel in 2015, and has an estimated net worth of $78 million. Primarily from gaming videos on YouTube. (That being said, I can't stand his videos, and from what I've seen, he comes off as a bit of a jackass as a person as well.)
I hate his videos, but by all accounts he's a pretty cool guy in person, especially by internet celebrity standards.
He looks like a jackass in his videos because that's the formula that rakes in the views.
Waitwaitwaitwait...so you can now somehow make a legitimate living just uploading videos of you playing computer games now???Heh. Google Pewdiepie. I'll give you the quick summery....made $12 million off his YouTube channel in 2015, and has an estimated net worth of $78 million. Primarily from gaming videos on YouTube. (That being said, I can't stand his videos, and from what I've seen, he comes off as a bit of a jackass as a person as well.)I hate his videos, but by all accounts he's a pretty cool guy in person, especially by internet celebrity standards.
He looks like a jackass in his videos because that's the formula that rakes in the views.
In the history of all entertainment ever, its pretty well proven the masses like or at least are drawn to watching jackasses be jackasses. They even cut out all the subtlety for a while and created half a dozen sort of celebrities from a show called jackass.
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My question: If I can't browse boxes in a store, how do I discover entirely new computer games in this crummy new world without having to get irrelevant armchair-critics and the Internet culture I'm so sick of involved?Feh. Kids today, with their music and their pants.
*crotchety old man voice*
"In my day we liked our silence and didn't wear no stinkin' pants!... And get off my lawn!"
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Damn it! Now I gotta find Kenny Rogers' Jackass on YouTube.
NOW we have politics doing it too? =)
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I sometimes feel nostalgic for the old stores, but man, spending $50 as a kid on a game and having it turn out to be crap really sucked. I'm much more thankful for the market places available to me today. I can both identify games that are good much more easily, I also tend to pay significantly less for them.
There's nothing really social about the process either, so I'm not sure why this is considered a hangup. If you don't want to read reviews, you don't have to. Just look at the pretty pictures, read the manufacturer blurb and make your purchase if that's what you really crave.
Steam has a bunch of curated lists of reviews. This one is really insightful.
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I grew up purchasing games from brick-and-mortar video game stores. There is literally nothing about that experience that I miss. Absolutely everything about gaming is better today than it was fifteen or twenty years ago. I mean everything. The games are higher quality, the community is much stronger, the logistics are a cakewalk, the variety is insane, all of it is better.
And I've never thought that gaming sucked. It was always fun. But today's world is a g~@@%#ned paradise for an active gamer. The children we were could not have even imagined having it this good.
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NOW we have politics doing it too? =)
I'm with you. People claiming that politics has only now gotten out of hand amuse me.
Go look up the election of 1800.
[President Adams is a]...hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.
Jefferson's campaign manager ended up serving prison time for his slander of Adams.
Not that Adams was much better.
[Vice President Jefferison is]...a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.
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Well, I'd hesitate to say without qualification that modern games are better, but ootherwise, yeah.
Name an old game that isn't available today that you would want to play.
What does that have to do with what he said?
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NOW we have politics doing it too? =)I'm with you. People claiming that politics has only now gotten out of hand amuse me.
Go look up the election of 1800.
[President Adams is a]...hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.Jefferson's campaign manager ended up serving prison time for his slander of Adams.
Not that Adams was much better.
[Vice President Jefferison is]...a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.
At least members of Congress aren't beating each other with canes anymore. So that's better.