like Sony AND Microsoft seem to do everything in their power to upset veteran players, one reader says they’ve had enough and are turning their backs on the current generation.
As a long-time gamer who’s been playing since I was old enough to reach for the joystick on an arcade machine, and someone who’s been reading Metro for as long as it’s been around, I’ve always really enjoyed diving into the reviews about the games over the years.
Falling into some of mine too Reader featureIn the past, I’ve recently spent a lot of time just sitting and reading the room on the current state of the gaming industry. But right now, I felt it was time to put pen to paper once again. At 49, I find myself beginning to reflect on what gaming has really given me over the decades and how drastically things have changed.
Take a look at the modern gaming landscape right now – especially when you see cynical, Fortnite-pursuing clones like those recently discovered Gathering of the Horizon Hunters – and it’s hard not to feel completely exhausted by it all. There is a massive generation gap opening up in gaming, and the executives in charge seem completely oblivious to it.
Sharing is quite simple. There’s a whole generation of us who remember when games actually had purpose, soul, and a bit of creative spark. We remember Capcom standard 90’s and early Jaws. When I was a teenager, I used to flip coins Street Fighter 2 cabinets or insert into the first Monster hunterdevelopers weren’t just following the latest zeitgeist; they were writing the rules. You bought a cartridge or a disc, and that was it – a complete, fully featured experience. Want the best stuff? You actually had to play the game and get good at it.
Things started to go really wrong all around Xbox 360 AND PlayStation 4 era. What started with that infamous horse armor DLC has mutated into this empty, corporate treadmill of direct service models, microtransactions, and endless loot boxes.
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The real tragedy is that the new generation – the kids born with tablets practically glued to their hands – have no idea what they’ve been missing. They are basically indoctrinated by a manufactured ecosystem. For them, a game is not an independent work of art; is a digital storefront that actively penalizes you if you don’t log in every day. They don’t even question why a title is half-baked or why they’re expected to fork over extra money for basic features. This saccharine, corporate greed is the only version of the hobby they’ve ever known.
But many of us older players are finally hitting the brakes. As we become fully aware of what comes next, if it is the impressive price of the new release Steam engine or the near prospect of one PlayStation 6 and whatever Microsoft has planned will drive prices to absurd heights. I’m just giving up on it all. It’s too expensive, and frankly, I’m not the target audience anymore.
With these spiraling hardware costs and the current leaps in photorealism giving us diminishing returns, those of us who know better are simply walking away. We’re diving backwards into the absolute gold mine of retro gaming. We are embracing things like the return of Neo Geo and investment in physical media that actually belongs to us – no server handshake required. We only want standalone experiences that we can finish and proudly put on a shelf.
It’s all too easy to get caught up in doom and gloom when you’re staring straight into the abyss of this digital-only corporate future. But if we stop for just a second and look back, the whole picture changes. You see an age filled with joy, boundless creativity and true art.
There is so much to be thankful for in the history of this medium. We don’t have to follow the corporate machine in the dark; we can choose to go back and celebrate the masterpieces that already await us.
By Bristol reader Pete
Reader features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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