E3 is DEAD! The Silent Video Game Crash, No AA Games, and Hope for the Future

E3 is DEAD! The Silent Video Game Crash, No AA Games, and Hope for the Future. From where I'm sitting, I sincerely think we are living in the midst of a video game crash. Forget the supposedly apocalyptic crash of the 1980's (where Nintendo saved all of gaming single-handed), I think right now we are seeing a massive shift where games are either AAA big budget, or low budget indie with little in-between. On top of that, even within the AAA sphere, the scope of what games are being produced has shrunk down to a tiny selection of the same genres over and over and with no new franchises being established. Everything is a sequel and a remake. While this was fun for a few years, it's getting pathetic now. That all being said, this vid is not just doom and gloom as I see within this space of microtransactions, dlc, season passes, and other garbage, a nice opening for real games and upcoming indie studios to step in and reclaim some sales. The recent success of Elden Ring and the Dark Souls franchise has shown that the traditional method of building a franchise - releasing sequels of quality and keeping a focus on the fundamentals of good game design - is still a very powerful option that shouldn't be dismissed just because it takes more time than trend following.
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[@dr_ubo]

AAA gaming is not made for gamers, it's made for shareholders. I've had this chat in depth with fellow traders and ivnestors in the gaming industry. There's a lot more behind the scenes that people don't see and you're spot on on a lot of what you say. We're in a recession and most of the budget from the big guns comes from shareholder money. Since everything is so expensive to make nowadays companies are very risk averse and try to go for anything that 1) Provide steady cashflow and 2) can mitigate the risk of failure. Reality is most companes are all out of liquidity and treasuries, hence why we're seeing so many companies focus on services and M&A (it is no surprise to see Microsoft buying everyone right now or many bigger studios accepting the buyouts from Epic Games). Microsoft has strong services and they subsidize the cost of hardware through those software and service payments, Sony is in a very uncomfortable situation as they're one of the biggest electronics companies in the world but right now Gaming is the biggest division and they're stuck in a loop of being at a loss. They always recoup hardware costs with software sales and licencing, but what happens when all the hardware is in the hands of scalpers? then software is released to no one. How do you convince third parties to do exclusives for a console no one owns whne you can release something for PS4 at half the cost and 10 times the installed base? It's tough, and Microsoft's gamepass is showing the way for GaaS models (Gaming as a Service). This console generation was struck by the earthquake that was the pandemic and so far there's literally no solid reason to own said consoles. Microsoft has been shifting quickly to adapt to market, Nintendo don't even fit the description as they still ahve the value add of portable gaming monopoly (no, steam deck is still not maing a dent in that market) of outdated hardware with exclusives that have solid fanbases (not to mention that the lack of AAA competition and high install base is attractive to AA and Indie developers). Gaming is changing and this isn't unique to gaming either. Same thing is happening with TV and Movies, to a big degree (why do you think we only see "woke" remakes and focus on appealing to chinese audiences there? What was the last thing you saw or watch that wasn't owned by Disney?). This phenomena isn't exclusive to gaming, but we can see a lot of the same things... prepare yourself to see "The Three Kingdoms" and "Journey to the West" plastered as a main theme for hundreds of games in the next few years (not that I complain, I'd rather have that than the "bravado american soldier saving the world" thing). I've talked this topic in depth with friends and have been voicing similar thoughts since the recession officially started (November last year) because, as you may know, I work with all markets (and follow a ton of videogame companies out of hobby). Recession is hitting hard, all companies that aren't being profitable will be cut, and its harder o become profitable when your costs are in dollars but you're an international company from outside the target audience (just look at what Square did selling Eidos and Crystal Dynamics stuff...).Japanese "AAA"s will either downsize and adapt or try to go the gacha/lootboxes/any sort of quick and constant cashflow generating direction they can go. GaaS is more of a thing now with Microsoft's GamePass and companies and indies joining that bandwagon are likely to profit (Tunic would not have been such an indie darling without it). Just like Microsoft changed the landscape for indies in the era of XBLA, they're doing so again with GamePass. Saturation on AAA "by the numbers"/focus group bs is getting high right now, but that's an opportunity for indies and different to shine. As always, sorry to ramble, you know me and you know I have strong opinions about many topics. It's always nice to have a place to discuss these kind of topics because people who work within markets or are business majors are not looking at videogames to this depth and gamers are NEVER looking at how business work or markets move. That's where I stand, in a weird place that both parties don't give a fuck but I can provide insight. Take care and sorry for the long post!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes exactly this is where gaming journalism has completely failed! Since gaming news sites are complete mouthpieces for these studios, they will never dig deeper into the situation or care to report what's going on behind the sales data. I have long suspected (hence making this vid) that gaming companies are not as financially stable as people seem to believe and that the current industry is a house of cards that will crumble with a few good pokes. Microsoft buying Blizzard was a perfect sign of this and no one seemed to take note. The strat for these companies is to dev as little as possible and then run these red-hot monetization schemes on their games until the IP explodes. And before it does hopefully they can take the money and run with a lucrative buyout from the big puppies like microsoft. Companies can't get away with turning out garbage forever, it will all come crashing down soon enough.

[@don5139]

Spot on! Dynamics in gaming have shifted quite drastically these last 10+ years. When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s games were a finished end product. Remember back then they had to make a complete/finished product, that had to be mass produced in factories/facilities and had to be shipped off throughout the entire globe. Different era and mindset. I also feel that developers had "old skool pride" in what they made. Nowadays everything is halfassed (AAA included), almost exclusive digital (meaning no mass production and/or shipping costs which are huge savings for the companies!) and too much woke pussy bullshit in basically all the entertainment industries. Recession with ever increasing inflation are hitting everyone and people will start to cut back on discretionary spendings just to pay the bills.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Even Nintendo is testing the waters for games as a service. They haven’t released a complete sports game this generation (Mario sports games and Switch sports) and go for the “complete it later approach” with updates. I think they’re seeing that old way might not be sustainable.

[@dr_ubo]

@@magicjohnson3121 That's a really good point to be honest, I just don't like Nintendo's approach to GaaS. They're doing the Incomplete Game + "Season Pass" approach, but in a terrible way for most of where they apply it. So not only does it piss off people, but it's also terribly implemented. Smash I can understand and it's decently implemented, Mario *insert Sport here* is terribly done. We also need to remember Nintendo has delved deep into the gacha+waifu stuff on mobile with Fire Emblem Heroes and other practices with Mario Kart Tour. They're no strangers to all of this movement. I guess it's understandable when you see sales figures for Dragalia Lost, Fire Emblem Heroes and Mario Kart Tour.

[@dr_ubo]

@@edz1624 The peak era for that was the PS2 era imho. Everything was experimental and cost allowed "AA" to shine as much as AAA. Nowadays I feel Japanese developers are often "relegated" to be forcibly AA and AAA are multibillion dollar western companies ran by focus groups and shareholders. I'm personally a fan of whatever one wants to define as "AA" (MAybe something like Hellbalde Shanua's Sacrifice or whatnot or basically _anything_ Japanese that isn't Square or top Capcom). I've mostly played Indie and "AA" stuff since 2008 or so. I distinctively remember everything going down the drain when I read a bloomberg or forbes article back in the day that said "The videogame industry is now bigger than movies". Ever since then, AAA gaming has been ran by suits for shareholders and not gamers to gamers.

[@honved_77]

I've been bored with mainstream gaming for at least 15 years. The whole thing has stalled, the changes are merely cosmetic; too much effort with stories and graphics while releasing the same stuff year after year. 😴

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yep 💯 agree here

[@deltatango-six7941]

I feel this way with games, music and movies. I know the rose colored glasses of nostalgia makes everything look better in the past, but there also seems to be something missing these days. I mainly just retro game now, watch 80's and 90's movies and listen to 90's music.

[@honved_77]

@@deltatango-six7941 As for the old days being better: one of the differences I notice is that nowadays there is saturation of everything. There is no way to keep up to date like in the 90s because there are too many releases. Too many games, too many songs, too many series... Couple that with the desire for quick profit and little risk and we ended up with several releases being derivatives of the few things that really worked.

[@subjago4236]

Not sure what the definition of mainstream gaming is here but a lot of very good games were released during that time frame. It's completely understandable if you find yourself bored with gaming (for whatever reason) but that's not indicative of what went on in the industry for the last 15 years.

[@subjago4236]

@@diydylana3151 For sure there's a lot of negatives. However, this generalization of the negatives simply doesn't make sense. Like I said, it's perfectly acceptable to lose interest. What's simply not true is stating that this is a consequence of lack of quality titles. There's so much to choose from out there - from small, indie titles to the so-called AAA games. Clinging to a specific niche and labelling everything else as generic, uninspired, boring, money grabbing stuff, is quite silly, once you realize that the growth of the industry has allowed smaller players to do their own thing.

[@Dimiblossom]

One thing that was always bothering me is that when i watch Game events theres always 2 types of games, first is a AAA Blockbuster cinema game, 2nd is a 2D Indie game, then its a FPS, then another indie, and it repeats. It seems that western Game industry lacks the middle ground, like theres either a huge corporation or a small house studio. No middle studios who can make a Unique Project with an Average Budget

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes that's exactly right. There were so many middle tier releases of the past that were fun and interesting. Also, even the large studios no longer make middle tier titles (like rockstar used to with Max Payne), and instead they just focus on the big pain releases like GTA for years.

[@charlibiris]

The crash was only a thing in the US. In the rest of the world things were different. Japan copied a lot and improved the formula, European games also had their own taste in microcomputers. I’m glad everything turned out well though

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah the CRASH of the 1980's is extremely exaggerated in my opinion. I think it's a very clever piece of Nintendo marketing that has managed to stick around and cement itself into history ha.

[@EspritFidget]

I think the Diablo Immoral scandal is the perfect symbol of the crash you're talking about. It's less an economic crash and more an artistic one. As a form of art and culture, video games are not in a good state right now. And I think the nostalgia market is driven by the thirst for good gameplay.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly my dude! Stuff like Blizzard going from such a gem of a studio in the 90's and early 00's to a horrible plague is a perfect illustration of this artistic crash. i do think there is financial component to the crash as well. Not in terms of these big ass companies not being able to make money, but in that they are no longer able to make money using good business practices (like Fromsoft) because they are so bloated and indulgent. It's a nasty feedback cycle.

[@gpm8365]

art is ok thanks to indi. you may not like outerwilds, discoelysium, or zeroranger, but these are art. aaa games have never been art

[@mishikomishiko9088]

Absolutely agree! I also have noticed that for some time, but thought that something happend to me personally. I just can't watch any new announcement trailer. 10 or 15 seconds and I'm already bored till death.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly ha. I've thought the same thing so many times. Does everything suck, or am I a cranky bastard. Playing Elden ring actually helped me with this though because it reminded me that I can appreciate a popular game, as long as it is actually good ha.

[@Steve-Fiction]

Thumbnail and title already hype me up for the video. I'm ready.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Good deal!!! It s actually a pretty fun video :-D

[@Steve-Fiction]

@@TheElectricUnderground You're right - it *was* fun. These kinds of cold-ass takes are what I'm here for.

[@magicjohnson3121]

I miss when Treasure used to make games. They didn’t follow the trends of the time. They were old school but still felt fresh unlike some indie rip off games. Just wish there were more AA studios like them. They really didn’t prepare well for the future. Most of their important employers left and they never bothered to replace them.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I miss the glory days of treasure as well! They were really on track with Sin and Punishment 2, such an amazing game.

[@HieronymousLex]

Please don’t worry about making videos unrelated to shmups. I really enjoy hearing your opinions on whatever you decide to review or talk about

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you, that s really cool to hear! So I do think of the electric Underground as a channel like a TV channel, where there is a theme to the programming, but it doesn't need to be shmups all the time specifically

[@ShamanNoodles]

Oh man, my favorite type of video; market talk! Awesome insights, man. It can be hard to get a feel for the state of any market. Your finger is right on the pulse here!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thank you so much my dude!! Yes, it's fun to talk about what's going on in the gaming world financially without having to defend microsoft or nintendo, or whatever companies most outlets run cover for.

[@johnrussell8086]

Boom, right on the money Mark. I would love to add more to this but it's exactly how I would express myself about the subject also. 👍

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hell yeah, great minds think a like :-D

[@MarcoAGJ]

I noticed E3 wasn't relevant anymore when, two days ago, I visited the gaming site I visit everyday and saw a poll asking how people have been watching what's happening on pre-E3. I didn't even know E3 was on. I used to watch press conferences religiously in the past, and now, visiting gaming sites, I didn't even know it was going on. And now, like you, I don't even buy games anymore. I basically play SNES games on emulators, games that if I try to buy, I would have to sell my soul to get. Another incident that it reminds me of is when I bought Resident Evil Revelations 2 on Steam. A while back, I was browsing one of their immense sales -- which used to be more limited with REAL discounts -- and saw RE: Revelations 2 for less than 2 dollars. I remembered thinking that it was like going back to real sales where you really got sweet deals. I bought the game. Little did I know that it wasn't the game, it was just THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE GAME. When I actually played it, the sale was over, and I couldn't play the rest. When the next sale came, I just had lost interest in it. I don't feel bad for what might happens to these companies anymore.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh my God dude!!! That resident evil Rev 2 story is insane. Only capcom would think of selling chapters of a game, holy hell ha. Yeah I bet they are salty about steam refunds now.

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

I got Cuphead dlc this june and other indie games, so I'm set for another 30 years. If we put old gamers that I didn't play or that I want to replay, I just don't need mainstream games.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah it is a real shame how the true gems that are coming out, like Cyber Shadow, have about a week in the sun before the world moves on. Meanwhile all these stupid series in the mainstream just go on and on and on ha.

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

@@TheElectricUnderground people want to experience the social aspect more than anything else. We are in "social" time.

[@koolerpure]

I genuinely miss having a weeks worth of video game announcements coming from E3. I mean who didn’t love watching an hour and a half presentations of straight up bangers couple times a day

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I do too, it was like a sports draft for nerds or something. I was really fun to tune in ten years ago and speculate and debate about the upcoming new releases.

[@deus_nsf]

Love it! Totally agree. You crystalized how I felt for many many years. The biggest problem to me that completely emphasizes the silent video game crash is the lack of talent. The Video Game Industry became so toxic those past 20 years that so many talents left it and we are slowly getting only devs good for gacha games and honest but often very amateur indie titles with a serious lack of budget and manpower. It's not looking good. Starfield, Stalker 2, etc... those games are probably the last batch of ambitious high standard gaming experiences. To be fair though, I think I don't care that much, I have so many games to play, even trying to master the classic shmups alone can probably fill up my entire lifetime hahaha! Plus life has so much more than only gaming to offer, even though gaming was certainly a big part of it, at least for me.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I really like the point you bring up about loss of talent! No kidding!!! Anyone with talent would walk away from AAA immediately, such a hellscape to work in for sure!

[@deus_nsf]

@@TheElectricUnderground I highly recommend "The dark side of the video game industry" by "the patriot act" (it's a show on netflix) a super interesting and relatively short documentary about the derivatives of the AAA industry.

[@protoluigi2047]

I've been trying to get into the emulation scene as well since keeping old video games that I'm not going to play much is pretty pointless, which I can relate. However, I can totally also relate to the whole, "trying to buy modern games at the store, but can't find anything good" moment. I go to eStarLand to see if there's any modern game worth picking up, problem is, is that there's nothing interesting that came out since the last decade. All the AAA games don't have much soul. I have been mainly buying more niche games (mainly from Japan) that are finished because they hold their value at the end of the day just like you said. Nintendo isn't safe from the modern AAA practices since a lot of their exclusives (mainly multiplayer ones) are completely unfinished & update reliant. I'm glad you released a video like this, thank you.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah it s like a ghost town these days in the modern gaming section. No signs of life 🧬. Glad you enjoyed the vid!!

[@SpaceDave3000]

So, you're partly right, yes there is a crash coming, but not for gaming in general, only the big boys with their AAA titles. They need to focus on making AA mid-tier games with smaller teams for less money. That's really all it is.

[@deltatango-six7941]

Good video. It's a sad state of affairs right now. Luckily we have our tried and true retro material to get us through these dark times. Sad part is, I'm not sure developers see a problem with the way things are. They're just gonna keep pumping out non-innovative shit and the masses are going to keep paying for it. On a positive note, there's an arcade across the street from my office in Downtown Philly. It has a enormous collection of of old cabs like SF Alpha, SF2, Tekken, and I was really surprised to see a Salamander 2 machine. I have a 45 minute lunch break. I scarfed food down in 10 mins and played Salamander2 for 35 minutes. #priorities

[@TheElectricUnderground]

What's kind of funny is I have an oddly optimistic outlook on what's going to happen in the AAA sphere. I think this level of devving is going to crash in on itself soon and there is going to be a rising from the indie ranks that will begin to push into the AA sphere and the solid AA series, like Dark souls, are going to start to compete with the AAA, like we see right now with elden ring. Also shout out to the arcade next door! I'm jealous ha.

[@sirareus]

I was thinking that it's kind of amazing that there are any AAA games at this point. Phone games just make too much money and cost so little to produce. The good news is that the tools and distribution methods of Indy games seem to improve every year. I just hope that some of my favorite Indy studios don't make it so big that they stop making good games.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

This is exactly my hope as well. Through sheer tech progress the indie space will start to rise into AA and then compete with AAA, which will collapse like a house of cards with real competition

[@coreymark3945]

Great video! Totally agree on just about everything. I've actually been having a bit of a mid-gamer-life crisis the last 5 years or so. Whenever I buy a new game, it generally only holds my interest for, like, an hour. Two at most. I started to become pretty cynical about gaming, and I was starting to think I just didn't like games at all anymore. Then I randomly decided to try playing Mushihimesama and fell (back) in love with shmups. Now I've got myself a little bunker to outlast the video game apocalypse in style!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ha exactly my dude! Outside of shmups I ve spent the last month playing ng2 and dmc3 and the contrast in quality between them and stuff being pumped out right now is crazy

[@mcmcmify]

Hey Mark, new fan of the channel here. I've been playing shooting games on and off for years, but finally got my first 1cc based on your suggestion of Imperishable Night normal mode! I was wondering if you're a fan of GOD HAND? It's my favorite 3D beat-um-up. Ever beaten hard mode? To address the video: it's a real bummer :( Good example of how the corporate business model really hollows out industries.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hey my dude that's awesome!! Can't go wrong with some imperishable night! Gonna do cherry blossom on my next touhou quest here very soon! Also yes I do like Godhand! I'm knee deep in vids about NG2 and DMC3 right now, but after that Godhand is on my radar as a game to cover.

[@oklakugels1]

1st 1CC! ggs, dude!

[@riggel8804]

It's hard to think of an artistic pop culture Industry that is thriving in the west right now. Music? No. Movies? No. Comics? Hell no. I honestly can't think of one. Maybe retro games. But I'm not sure I would count that. Retro stuff is more like archeology than art. At least as far as the business side of things is concerned. Or maybe it's more like necromancy-animating the corpse of dead art.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly!! I can't think of one. Certainly not youtubing either ha. I really like the necromancy comparison, I might need to steal that analogy from you, it s too good not to repeat ha

[@riggel8804]

@@TheElectricUnderground go for it. It sounds dramatic. I got the idea from people calling franchises "zombie", like "zombie Simpsons" or, "zombie star wars".

[@theconsolekiller7113]

Great video. I missed the first big crash as I started gaming in 86 and thought the Atari 2600 was the current console at 6 years old (even though it was 8 years old). Benefitted from the super cheap 2600 games until I got the NES some years later. They were probably around 10 bucks at Kaybee toys. Cheap enough to be able to convince my parents to pick one up every once in a while when we went to the mall. From there I developed an obsession with the box art of the games and loved being able to quickly switch from one cart to the next. It was like an adventure to me, despite the simple visuals. I got some games for a dollar each off of some garage sale in the neighborhood too, so ended up with a decent little collection at the time. Prior to that I saw the console at my cousin's house, where we were staying for a while, with Space Invaders. From a business standpoint its hard for me to say where games are heading. Its undeniable that there are massive changes going on in the industry. A shift to digital is one of the next big things thats coming, and is already almost realised. There is maybe 5, at best 10 triple A games per year that I enjoy probably. Though there may only be 2-4 really big hitters that I would want to get at full price. Even though I often beat and sell newer games unless I plan to replay it alot. I rebuy the games later when the consoles die now. All the other games I wait for them to drop to half price or even 15-20 bucks. Theres only a small number of games I want on the day they come out. Lately Ive been enjoying the indie games like Final Vendetta, Cuphead, some of the shooters you reccomended, etc, more than alot of big budget releases. Gameplay is king for me but we have a market driven by alot of less critical and casual players. People who are impressed more with flash or being able to pay to win to bulk up thier online persona. I see it as good and bad. Gaming has alot more money to work with as a whole, but theres alot of bullshit thats been creeping into the big budget games too. One thing that irritates me is the multi-cultural, multi gender, cram every sexual prefference into the game to make it feel inclusive. Ubi soft is real bad with this especially, Last Of Us 2, etc. Its like these companies are meeting some bullshit quota, but thats another topic, ha ha. Its sad to see that we dont really get the same kind of singleplayer games as often as we once did. A game like God Hand is something you dont really see today. Those types of games rarely come out. You seem to either have low budget or super high budget but not alot of mid budget games , like you said.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Excellent comment my dude!!! Yes I think the total shift to digital, which is almost here, is going to have larger impacts than people realize

[@theconsolekiller7113]

@@TheElectricUnderground Always appreciate the feedback. Yea, I think it will be hard for alot of collector's to process. I made the transition back in the early 2000's when I fully embraced emulation for my old consoles that I was able to run well that way. Luckily my good friend knew how to do shit with computers, because Im horrible with that shit, ha ha. Over time I ended up selling all my old consoles and games that I was able to emulate properly, so I already dealt with that transition. I do like owning modern games physically, unless they are indie type of games, but its been losing its meaning anyway. Most of these games are not even fully contained on the disc anymore with all the patches, online only and other shit that has contaminated that aspect. Physical means very little to me at this point. Keep KILLIN THAT SHIT brother !!

[@lunaria_stg]

Since a few years ago, I already had a feeling we were headed to a crash. I've followed Skill Up for over a year and a half to keep in touch with mainstream gaming news, and while his videos are entertaining, the games that came out... not so much. Most of the games that have a distinct appeal to them are all indie games, while the AAA games just kinda blend together. Looking at the games I bought and enjoyed, the newest games are indie/doujin games, and they are also the only ones I have on my Steam wishlist. For AA games, I only bothered with those from the X360/PS3 era, which are still really solid and unique. And of course, good ol' arcade games. Honestly, M2 ShotTriggers ports are the only reason I would even consider buying a console (still haven't, since I have plenty of games to play on PC). If M2 would port to PC (even if the ports aren't arcade accurate), I wouldn't bother with consoles at all. The other exclusives aren't anywhere as appealing. The gaming industry is changing, and the irony that we're returning to an arcade-style of monetisation is just hilarious to me. I never grew up with arcade games, but I think they're a lot better when you don't have to pay per play. I bet the general audience has a bad impression of arcade games for this reason, not because the games were necessarily bad. People who do crazy feats like hitless Dark Souls runs would probably enjoy arcade games in the modern era. But look at the direction AAA games are going in: they're following the mobile market, where everything is even more aggressively monetised. Games like Genshin Impact are also blurring the lines between AAA and mobile games. We're returning to the days of having to pay to play. Rather, we're already there.

[@BASEDSAKRI]

never really thought about it that way, interesting

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Great point! Yes, mobile monetization models have had a really nasty influence on our mainstream games!

[@accountname8819]

Looking forward to Tempest Rising, hope this turns out good. The last great for me was the C&C Remaster, Blazing Chrome was nice too.

[@Christof_Classen]

*In the 1980s and 1990s every Day was an Adventure, today every Day is a Disappointment ;(*

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Great summary ha

[@lob5645]

Yeah we are definitely in the middle of a very slow burn industry crash or at least stagnation. The Covid pandemic has definitely made that more prevalent as well. AAA games have just become too stale and too expensive for many people to care about. Unfortunately it seems like the replacement for conventional AAA games may well be at least equally as bad GaaS treadmill bullshit. We'll just have to see how things progress.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes we need to flee from games as services models like the plague. I think it was a horrible mistake for fighting games to go down this path and I do think they will pay for it in the end, financially.

[@Galaxy40k]

Yeah I agree with you man. Over the last 15 years or so, there's been this slow homogenization of AAA games towards something that I personally don't find appealing, but they still sell so incredibly well and tons of people love em, so I can't say that they're "bad." What irks me more is that when we DO get AAA games that try to do something a little different, people don't hold them to the same regard as these kind of "mature cinematic" games. Why is God of War 2018 high art but Alien Isolation, The Wonderful 101, Rain World, Cuphead, and NieR Automata not? Granted NieR definitely got it's love from fans and KZbin analysis videos, but it doesn't get the same respect from critics for GOTYs and stuff as Sad Parents Walks Through Snow With Crafting In A Semi-Open World #479

[@damonke79]

God of War 2018 was awesome. Nier Automata was also awesome. What really irritates me is when games attempt to do something different and get shit on. The Last of Us Part II took real risks. Death Stranding was extremely unconventional in it's design. People bashed them. People say they want different things but when different things are made, people stomp all over it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh yeah the new god of war is peak AAA "artistry" lame comprised gameplay with a lame story that it forces you to "experience" ha

[@damonke79]

@@TheElectricUnderground I liked it a lot but I'm also someone who really enjoys plot/story over gameplay in a lot of instances. That series needed to try something new because God of War Ascension felt wholly unoriginal and formulaic.

[@tonberrymasta]

I actually have gone back to reading books and doing math, lol!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Me too ha XD Well the books, not quiet desperate enough for math ... yet.

[@PaStef37]

There's tons of indie games coming out all the time. That's where the creativity is at, more than ever, and that's not going to change any time soon.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

For sure! Though hopefully those indie games will rise into AA and then into AAA (souls series kind of did this). But they gotta avoid these sandtraps of make an indie game and then just release dlc for it for 8 years.

[@benevans7564]

Yep, and some genres are still thriving, e.g., RPG's where ironically, Square Enix of all people is pumping out high quality AA titles like octopath traveller/triangle strategy etc. These are all the classic "slow and steady" release model talked about in the video.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Indies have their own cliches. I mean how many procedural generated rogue likes do you want? Or 8 bit graphics that look worse than a NES game?

[@PaStef37]

@@TheElectricUnderground Let's be confident there will always be new blood arriving to replace those turned rotten ;-)

[@PaStef37]

@@magicjohnson3121 True, I indeed think low-fi pixel art has been overused and I'm fed up with the "90s feel" gimmick. But then there are always those who manage to stand out by bringing something new and/or very well done to the table. The thing is, as indies don't have any limitations in term of creation, there will always gems and renewal right around the corner.

[@Kyle_Riel]

Sub'd. Good for you, dude. Culture itself has stalled. Games, music, movies. Entertainment is a factory now, not an art. And there is art there, but we have to dig to find it. It *feels* like soon it'll be gone completely.

[@torrentthom4734]

I went to EB Games with my kids and we ended up buying plushies lol. Just take that in for a sec. And, yeah, I had the same feeling as you did "Geez I gotta like buy a game or something." Clearly, I went with "something." To your other point about industry: If you want a semi-informed take, the mid-tier games are going to be new IPs which several studios are working on right now. Yes, some of them will be life-service, some will be sequels, or offshoots, but some will def will be new IPs - it takes time to build a game from ground up after all, especially a mid-tier AA game. Also, I can see some rouge studios, pick up a forgotten IP of old like (just and example) The Shadow/Zorro/Phantom(maybe ?). Just recently Square sold some of their IPs like Deus Ex/Tomb Raider, Kain, so that stuff may be picked up by the market too. As for shmups ... you may want to make your own :D

[@TheElectricUnderground]

that EB games story is downright tragic my dude, and I know I'd end up doing the same thing ha. I bought my son a star fox plushy a while back ha, no interest in it at all XD Yes so what I see happening is that I think a lot of the current AAA studios are either going to crash, sell themselves to a big fat buyer (extremely likely), or possibly scale down in the best case outcome. In their place we will see a gradual growth of indies into AA and AA's, the few successful ones like Souls, will start to look more and more like AAA, but with a more solid financial basis. I don't think the mainstream gaming world will die, but it is going to continue to be stagnant until this replacement process takes place.

[@torrentthom4734]

@@TheElectricUnderground Bigger fish eating once big fish 😄

[@ShmupsBR]

I didn't get the Olivia Munn's reference on the video, but I have to say I loved it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That s Olivia Munn at e3 back when she worked on attack of the show ha. Their e3 coverage was pretty fun

[@silverfoenix]

I blame the recent policies of EA, Blizzard & the whole digital only purchases .... then NFT & in-game pay to play I miss the old times where dad bought us Warcraft 3 + frozen throne The boxing screamed quality! it never asked for in-game purchases, battlenet was well maintained etc... At that time Demonstar was the shmup every one plays at home...

[@snesfan8935]

If there is a real new video game crash - so be it.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'd welcome it personally. I think it would be a good thing.

[@mig_zvm]

You want to talk about a crash, talk about the music industry. They must be making money solely off of Spotify deals and vinyl record sales at this point.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ohh no kidding! What a nightmare!

[@mig_zvm]

@@TheElectricUnderground The price of Vinyl records have skyrocketted. It can't be because of the chip shortage right?!

[@danielwebofrito2]

I'd say it's more of a "video game recession" than a crash. Like we didn't "crash" like in 1982 and it doesn't seem likely that we crash the same way considering how big the industry is. But we're stagnating like the anime industry in Japan back in the mid 90's. People are losing interest, most products feel the same, and hence people don't buy as much, or only buy cheap to not invest too much into something they don't care as much about.

[@TheSamuraiGoomba]

So, the interesting thing about your point here, is it applies to genres outside of arcade or retro gaming. Think about when the last really good western RPG or cRPG came out. If you're thinking about a new(ish) game, the odds are extremely high it came out of the indie space, via greenlight or some backer program, and from a small studio. Even Divinity 2 was essentially an indie game, despite its massive success. Or what about tactics games? There really aren't any except in the indie space. There are some good games out there, but Battle Brothers will never be on store shelves. Like you said, the games are all digital. If you're lucky, you might get the privilege of overpaying for a limited run print copy. But more likely, the (new) games which are actually good won't get any physical release. When I stop to think about all the gaming genres that I really enjoy, most of them are dead, dying or recycling titles from 10+ years ago. I think what gaming companies don't understand is that the "endless subscription/endless games-as-service" model dilutes your fucking brand. Sure, you make a lot of money up-front and you continue to make money from auto-renewing memberships on your "live service." But people start to associate your product with garbage. They eventually stop paying. So then you have to bundle your games into some other membership service like Ps Plus/Now or Gamepass. Your product just becomes another in the endless pile of dross that nobody cares enough to pay money for, except as part of that all-inclusive service package. It's the difference between purchasing a Criterion Collection DVD of a favorite movie, vs paying for a Netflix subscription. Netflix doesn't put good shit in their service because licensing good movies costs money. Good movies are sought out. You could pay for Amazon Prime, but you'll still have to buy your own copies of Kurosawa movies if you want to be able to watch them. There's just certain shit you rarely/never see on streaming services because the quality is too high. The gaming landscape now is comparable to a Netflix movie catalogue.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Ohh excellent points my dude! I m on the same wavelength! Yes when did they come up with a really strong AA or AAA franchise lately? Bayonetta on the Xbox 360 maybe, that was so long ago. It s becoming pretty clear that Netflix has crushed traditional dvd sales which has damaged mid budget films that rely on DVD sales to help make up from revenue

[@TheSamuraiGoomba]

@@TheElectricUnderground I'm going down the list of genres in my mind, and I just can't think of any genre that had a really big, killer new game come out. I keep picturing all these titles from around the xbox 360 era, which is old as hell by now.

[@zuffin1864]

Indie games are getting better than what AA games were, but much is still lost with less and less AA games 😔

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I m hoping to see indie games cross that gap in the coming years! For now though, rough times!

[@user-vx4vr8rb7i]

Remakes and ports can be a good thing for shmups, it depends. You have Fast Striker, Ghost Blade, Caladrius Blaze and others released on ps4 even though they were all released on other platforms before or during the same time. You also have a bunch of ps3 games remade for ps4 which is great because they used to be locked to ps3. I would have thought the ps4 library was a bit less exciting without them.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'll have to do a vid on this topic actually, because I do have some thoughts on when and where ports and remakes make sense, and when they do not ha. I'd explain in this comment but it would be a few pages long ha. I do think you have a point though.

[@magicjohnson3121]

Porting Ikaruga on a toaster.

[@overkill1473]

Financially bankrupt? Far from it. Creatively bankrupt? For more than a decade now. We'll see if ultimately one will lead to the other. But there is definitely a consumer fatigue going on recently in all the gaming markets, from used retro games due to scalping to AAA titles due to shady business tactics.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Think about all the financial shake ups we've seen recently though. Like Microsoft straight up buying Blizzard/Activision and the falling sales of stuff like COD, I do think there are some financial issues going on with these studios that just aren't being looked into more closely.

[@sibbyeskie]

Have you picked up Odin Sphere or Dragon’s Crown? Phenomenal games on disc. I know you like beat em ups and technical play but don’t recall you talking about these much.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I've played a little bit of them, I'll have to try them some more!

[@clooebooie]

Neon White is an indie game that has given me hope for games again. That game just came out it's actually so fucking good... Shame that it probably won't get a physical release

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yo Boghog just sent me the steam page of the game, it does look really interesting! Indie and smaller studios are starting to make exciting moves :-)

[@clooebooie]

@@TheElectricUnderground definitely check it out, its super fast paced and exhilarating. always wanna try and get my times lower which is never a thing ive strived for in these kinds of games.

[@bobhasashotgun8951]

It's hard to be a doomer when a Fromsoft game out preforms COD. Who could have imagined the day? Definitely see a change in the guard occurring. And if not? Oh well. There are still tons on 30 year old arcade games to play.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

But I talk about this case specifically in the video and explain why Fromsoft is a bright exception! Also I think the tone of my vid is misunderstood. I'm not reporting doom and gloom, I'm reporting a failing of the nasty business models of western studios like Blizzard/Activision which I think have been covered over. So it's not doomer news, I'd say it's optimistic news if you are not a fan of these companies, which I am not personally.

[@zchen358]

I wonder if you can get an interview with the guy running the video game shop you visited.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

That would be interesting!!

[@Mingodough]

A lot of games I buy are from the 90s re released with quality of life stuff added. I was born in 2000s so even I can see a lot of the newer stuff is lacking lol. People really like wii sports for example and I liked it too but It's just 6 mini games, when they re-released it now everyone is like "what it's just 6 mini games, nintendo is lazy!" . Nostalgia really is powerful

[@damonke79]

I've been doing the same. Bought Chrono Cross and Grandia HD Collection for my Switch. Gonna buy the Final Fantasy games as well. Gonna be playing the Mega Man Collections here soon. Still waiting on my physical copy of Castlevania Requiem. Almost all my money goes to games from the past.

[@Mingodough]

@@damonke79 Haven't gotten the Chrono cross game yet, I want to try it, but I'm a little hesitant as all the games in my backlog are rpgs, unlike shmups where I feel satisfied and don't consider it in the backlog after an hour of playtime (not a diss to shmups I can replay them over and over and feel more than satisfied). Rpgs I really have to be hooked or just be in the mood and with how long they are it's a little hard to knock off the "complete list" compared to shmups. But buying a bunch of those really makes you think, do we really "need" more games? Probably but I wouldn't complain if it games "ended" in the next generation or two

[@damonke79]

@@Mingodough I don't think games will end completely but I think we could be looking at no disc drives in the next consoles, streaming directly through an app on your tv, games being further and further pushed into monetization through dlc/microtransactions/etc. I buy a lot of shmups too...it's why I'm commenting on this channel lol...but I suck at shmups and can't ever get far. So I have a different problem. I do keep buying all the ones I want though. Super stoked for the physical Switch releases of DoDonPachi Resurrection and Espgaluda II. Probably my favorite announcement all week

[@Mingodough]

@@damonke79 same here dude I buy shmups a lot but other than some Darius games I haven’t 1cc’d a lot. Games won’t end but me collecting and buying physical probably will end at the switch. When everything goes digital I’ll be that guy who waits on a sale on everything or just emulate it

[@damonke79]

@@Mingodough I've always said I won't support an all digital future. I'll pay the exorbitant retro prices and play them however I can before I go fully digital.

[@therichwhite]

I wish more companies would take M2 ShotTriggers Approach to these remakes. I think it is riskier to overhaul a classic game than to just expand/modernize the original. I could see Limited Run pushing some of their releases through LameStop to expand their empire.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Agreed!!! You would think limited run might be able to setup a deal with some old school brick stores or something

[@therichwhite]

@@TheElectricUnderground Limited Run does partner with local independent game stores. If you go to the bottom of their website there is a link to partners. I live close to Warp Zone here in the great state of Ohio. The owner is the person who originally recommended your channel to me!

[@snesfan8935]

Heh, i just recorded Sin and Punishment Successor of the Skies gameplay on camera (yeah oldschool KZbin right here).

[@TheElectricUnderground]

HELL Yes, sin and punishment 2 is amazing. I have raw footage of the game on my hard drive I need to turn into a vid soon.

[@Godsgood111]

Their definitely is a lull in announcements, hoping this is the eye of the storm. I just want raging blasters for NA eShop.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah be sure to tune into the vid!

[@Godsgood111]

@@TheElectricUnderground thanks again for that awesome shmupjunkie Collab on recca92. The passion you guys have for the genre shines in your videos and your community engagement is next level. Your guys truly invigorate a sense of camaraderie amongst stg fans, including the new ones you pull in like my sons.

[@agent42q]

I think you have a lot of good points. But I thought something similar a few years ago. What I saw was every few years there would be a bevy of really cool games all in one year and usually three in one month (March). So I think stuff is coming but there's a lot of crap out there.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah what makes these discussions nuanced is that it's never clear 100% certain. It would probably be impossible for there not to be a few cool games that squeeze out every so often. However, I would argue at this point that they are def the exception and much more of an exception than in the past. So there is no black and white of, no good games will ever come out, but it's more that the pace and density of good new games has become very thin.

[@agent42q]

@@TheElectricUnderground Well. Taste is also a factor. Like you're into HARDCORE GAMES! But I'm getting a new TMNT belt scroller this week. SOR4 is the biggest belt scroller that came out in like 20 years, and probably will be for the next 20 years. If you're into flight sims Project Wingman came out last year and will be the big push in that area for a while. Racing Sims Rally types are waiting to see if EA's acquisition of Codemasters is gonna ruin Dirt Rally 3.0 or if that's going to be the next big thing. SF6 could breathe new life into fighting games, or sink that genre. But if you're into JRPGs you're living fat. Open world games, you can't even keep up. Strategy games and turn-based games are having a renaissance. Shmups are in a weird place. I think the ESP De.Re. Shot Triggers port will be translated and brought over next year? THat's a big deal. But Sol Crestra was a missed shot. I think Dranius was a great experiment and a great game, but it was a flash in the pan. I think we're struggling with a 'new' era. How to make noise is a new equation. We're past arcades, we're past just being a good game on the market (like during the console days of Nintendo through PS2), and past the indy boom. Now a lot of good things have happened. Price variance, access, and tools are more democratized, but there are also technically dozens of 'decent' games coming out every week. So what stands out? How do you climb above. The truth is it's dramatically easier to get ahold of so many SHMUPS on any platform for a reasonable price than it was even 5 years ago. Is it really a crash? Or do the new games not hold a candle to the Cave ports you can get for the same price? The truth is, we need less shit coming out and more time baking great games I think.

[@korolczukkamil]

again on point. I've also watched summer game fest out of curiosity and it was as exciting as a day-old, cold mcdonalds fries; and the clear influence of cinema's worst practices on the gaming AAA industry was genuinely terrifying. it's as if the movie companies-after destroying cinema-took on a mission of messing up the gaming... Many games feel repetitive and unoriginal, including many indie games. It takes so much effort to go through piles of uninspiring, mediocre indies (often taking a single mechanic from an already popular game and trying to build a whole game out of it, just to sell it for 3 eur on steam) in order to find something decent. I have recently replayed the original Tomb Raider and, while it's not the best game ever :), it managed to keep me engaged by simply having a decent gameplay, uninterrupted by constant cinematic 5 mins long cutscenes. I remember how exciting was to see a new title back in the 90s, when the promise of something new and exciting actually meant something. Of course there are occasionally good titles coming out today but it really does feel like a lot have changed for the worst. hopefully the new crash will be short-lived, like mcdonalds fries...

[@miltiadiskoutsokeras9189]

There's hope. My last visit I got Ganryu 2 and Infernax on Switch. Both physical. But in general, yes there is no interesting stuff in shops.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I know isn't that sad how few of the cool games out now actually make it into a store? Even a dedicated video game store

[@isabellugobeltran5679]

Theres a couple fighting games on shelves for sure

[@TheElectricUnderground]

True, but stay tuned on my thoughts on the state of fighting games (i have a podcast recorded all about it about to come out). We are seeing an increase in the number of games, that's for sure. But Fighting Games are an interesting case I'm digging more into.

[@superpowerman4354]

Pretty much agree with this. Been telling my buddy that it feels like a industry crash is immanent. I have a PS5 that is basically a PS4 pro super, just so I can play my backlog at a decent frame rate. No true next generation games, almost all cross generation. It’s crazy because most of my retro/arcade gaming I do on switch. You did mention that you don’t like the RE remakes, but how do you feel about RE village ? Also, what do you think about the SF6 footage and info so far?

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It s not that I dislike the remakes necessary, I just find them very underwhelming. Feeling the same way about sf6 so far. Not hating it or anything but meh

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

That's why I prefer retro, indie, and middle market games at this point.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

For sure, that's where the delicious gaming is right now.

[@sneedis9909]

It's not really a video game crash, it's a full scale economic/social collapse. Video games are just one victim.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I dig the bigger perspective here ha! Yes very true. I'm just the canary for when it hits gaming.

[@NoctLightCloud]

I partially agree. I agree that the flood of chopped off content for DLC, expansions etc is extremely damaging, and it has even led me to boycotting a few games. But remakes, remasters and general rereleases etc have been around since the 90s, at least in Japan, and they aren't inherently a bad thing. And I remember back in the PS2 and PS3 days having just as much trouble finding a new exciting game to play, just like I am having now for my PS4. There's just so much shovelware, but actually there always has been. But there's hope! I found a new favourite in the Switch. It has had amazing games coming out and even many new IPs to offer, like Astral Chain, Octopath Traveller, Triangle Strategy, Ori, Dragon Quest Builders, Hades, Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Celeste, even Ring Fit Adventure. Switch games (especially the Nintendo owned IPs) are charming and generally remind me of the old Gamecube days a lot. And overall, imo Japanese game devs are above the rest when it comes to originiality and fun games, and that hasn't changed for the last 30yrs. I personally don't see any issues at all with sequels, as some of my favourite games are sequels. Resident Evil 2 Remake was fantastic, and so was Resident Evil 7, and Devil May Cry 5. The latest Zelda, Xenoblade, Smash Bros, Super Mario, Mario Kart, Metroid, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, and Animal Crossing are ALL critically acclaimed, and the Pokemon Legends Arceus tried out sth new as well for the huge Pokemon franchise. Maybe you're just focusing too much on western devs and are trying to find the appeal there - and appeal that classic Japanese devs have offered during the older Nintendo times and are still offering on the Switch.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm going to follow up on my thoughts on remakes and re-releases because yes they def has been around for a very long time (like super mario all-stars), but I think there has been a very dramatic shift in their role today versus their role in the past. I'll make a vid about this in the future but with more details, but imagine if the only Super Mario game that nintendo released on the SNES, was super mario allstars. That would be grounds for people selling their snes at the time, I would say. But these days this is how remakes are treated, they've gone from an additional release to fill out a schedule, to the sole focus of studios.

[@NoctLightCloud]

@@TheElectricUnderground I agree 100%. Will be watching your follow-up, too. Great job you're doing.

[@JogosMofados]

Good points, except for very few games, I end up mostly buying games from limited run and similar publishers, or straight from the publisher for the limited editions that ain't get to stores anymore. And it fits your pattern, those quirky, indie and arcade games are not available at stores anymore - like of a game won't last 300 hours it's not even worth getting shelf space

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly and I think it s a huge bummer. There are so many gamers who still go to shops and they won t even know these games exist

[@adamrenfrow]

There was also a video game crash in 1977.

[@error4159]

E3 is comeback next year. They announced it the other day.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Tune into the vid :-) and you ll see what I m referring to

[@error4159]

@@TheElectricUnderground Gotcha.

[@lob5645]

E3 will never be as big as it once was before covid though. Since it doesn't seem like Sony and Nintendo will be coming back for E3 anytime soon. If another one of the big game publishers like Ubisoft or EA leaves, there really won't be a whole lot left.

[@error4159]

@@lob5645 There's really no point for E3 or any other industry trade show anymore. All the upcoming games get leaked on Twitter and the videos are on KZbin in seconds so nothing the publisher show is a surprise anymore. Plus the VGAs have taken away a lot of shine E3 once had.

[@shinbakihanma2749]

Sad to say Mark, but you have gamers to blame for the awful state of the gaming industry, as GAMERS themselves continually support the asinine business practices of these developers. People can blame the developers, their shareholders, etc. but at the end of the day, if gamers didn't speak with their wallets and consistently purchased unfinished games upon release, along with microtransactions, overpriced season passes, and the like, then developers would have no choice but to end these practices, as they would have no sustainability. I ALWAYS point the fingers at the gamers. They tend to treat gaming like a necessity, instead of the luxury hobby it generally is.

[@nemoguy]

Whales are not gamers

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Very true my dude! I'll also throw in the gaming press a lot here as well though. Because the job of the "press" if it were a real concept in gaming is the be a powerful in-between for the players and the studios to critique the studios and go after the shade, but this is not a thing because really the gaming "press" is just marketing mouthpieces. No one is reliable or critical enough in my book.

[@h.t.steiner5567]

All games I've been buying physically have been either from play-asia or Limited Run. I don't even bother going to gamestop anymore because I know they won't have anything I want (Indies, weird japanese games, arcade games). This generation (Ps5, Series X) has not put out a single game I want so hard, that I forget ps4 and xbone aren't still the current gen consoles, and i used to buy all the new consoles. Luckily, there are so many cool arcade, pc98, turbografix, etc. Games I've still been discovering that my SHTF plan of living in the mountains and playing DOJ for the rest of my life is still years away.

[@h.t.steiner5567]

And whenever I wanna find a new game to play, gaming news sites are only interested in telling me why the games I like are problematic or sexist or some dumb shit, so I I only check, your channel, Shmup Junkie, Iconoclast and ATARIHAZUREおもしろTV if I actually wanna find something new and cool to play. Gone are the days when you pick up a gaming magazine and see cool screenshots of new upcoming games, it's no wonder kids these days only play shit that gets force fed to them via the youtube algorithm, because finding anything else would be nigh impossible for a child these days.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah I ve been in that boat a long time. But since I ve decided not to buy retro anymore, it does make my local game ship, which has a big selection, seem like a waste of time to visit, which is depressing

[@Isaac-is4li]

I agree completely. I think, to put it simply, that video gaming as a medium has plateaued. When we speak of graphical fidelity for instance, it can only get so detailed or realistic, and it reaches point where there’s just nowhere left to take it-you reach a plateau. I think we’ve just reached that point in general with the current arrangement of how the video game industry operates. Not to sound too pretentious, but I think we can draw a comparison here to the postmodern condition in general: the postmodern condition is the cultural condition of plateau. It’s the condition of reaching the “end of history,” and the feeling that everything has already been done, been mapped, been discovered. In the early 20th century, one man’s theories (Einstein’s) caused a total paradigm shift in the field of physics-totally changed the way people thought about the universe. Nowadays thousands of scientists spend endless hours and billions of dollars-they work together in a colossus effort-to discover some particle or something, which is only a tiny, incremental advancement. I think the medium of gaming has reached that point as it stands. All we get now are tiny incremental changes and small iterations on the same things, the same formulas. It may be sad to say, but all peaks are immediately followed be decline, all golden ages must be accompanied by dark ages.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes I love this analysis! The age of exploration in the video game sphere has def been stuck for a decade plus

[@jaydee1124]

Game stores are disheartening. I feel a bit better about games today on digital stores. The problem there is they aren't forever.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yep Wii shop and 3ds shop

[@astreakaito5625]

>look at the pile of new AA games FROM THIS YEAR that I have yet to have time to pick up, much less finish I kinda respectfully disagree, there are still plenty of games. But subbed.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Thanks for tuning in! I can't think of a single AA game that caught my interest at all. But maybe more in the rpg sphere or something like that.

[@Metushalakh]

Agreed. This is by far the most underwhelming console generation I can recollect. The AAA titles are mostly horridly bland. The described slow death of AA developers has had a wider impact on the originality and sustainability of all genres in the last 15 years, be they fighters or even rpgs (contrast with the PS2). Indie developers have filled these niches, however It would seem we are also transitioning into some awful Microsoft service cloud monopoly that could equally damage the indie side of things in the long run. Hopefully, the PC stays less centralized.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

yes exactly. Since the industry press basically ignore the goings on of AA studios, or don't care about them that much (like treasure), then their absence and loss of contribution to the medium has gone un-noted.

[@TheSamuraiGoomba]

This is the first console generation in my living memory where we are so many years in and people still can't get their hands on the """current gen""" consoles. I find it hilarious. PS4 would have died ages ago if not for that fact.

[@NoctLightCloud]

The PS3 era was worse. I literally own only 5 PS3 games while my PS4 and Switch collection is growing monthly.

[@Metushalakh]

@@NoctLightCloud It was worse to many genres, though handhelds compensated, to a degree. I fear we are in a similar situation but without said compensation.

[@NoctLightCloud]

@@Metushalakh I don't think handhelds compensated for that tbh. The Nintendo handhelds maybe, but only a big maybe that is.

[@TheCelt76]

Ive just got back into Shrups, reason beeing games on xbox one latley have been diabolical, the games now are long winded grinds, rare that you get decent pick me up and play games. So just getting into shmups has given me a alot of new games to get into. Plus taking me back to the 80' and 90's when me parents got me into gaming. But we need more on xbox one.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah my Xbox 1 is just a ninja gaiden 2 machine mostly. Play the backwards compatible dead to rights though! Amazing game!

[@menhirmike]

One thing I noticed about recent Xbox and Playstation showcases is how derivative games are. They probably always have been to a degree (how many Space Invaders, and then Doom clones were there in the 80s/90s?), but it's harder and harder to become excited about new games if I have a feeling of deja vu with a lot of them. That said, I'm still finding good stuff that interests me and this year is a treat for me thanks to some strong RPGs/Story-driven games, and some Indies, but I think when it comes to the FPS genre, we're stagnating. Which is a pity because the Battle Royale genre did shake up things for a bit, I just never could get into Fortnite. That said, I'd still rather play Fortnite or Call of Duty than the latest Microtransaction-laden Mobile game that probably will branch out into NFTs.

[@WHYZEE]

But isn’t that what people associate with fortnite and CoD? Not trying to be snarky, just want to know how/why you distinguish them from the latter.

[@kyral4978]

Plot twist, AAA crashes the digital markets then the indies resurrect arcades across the world!

[@JohnshiBRPG]

Maybe Exa Arcadia can rise from the modern game video “crash”

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I'm prepared for anything at this point. 😀

[@jepettoNFT]

I understand your opinion 100%, when you see that "The last of US 1" gets a remake (for full price), you know that a certain low bar has been reached. I love LoU1, i pre-ordered both Special Editions on PS3 and bought it again on PS4, but WTH is going on...and good games in terms of gameplay, 90% of the time are Japanese games and stay in Japan to never get released for us, in EU or US, or when they get released, they are digital only...that's the state of creativity in gaming, either release the same kind of games ad nauseam or release remakes of 5 years old games. Can't wait for the remake of Horizon Forbidden West.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

exactly. and I am so close to releasing a parody video where I demand capcom release resident evil remake, the remake XD

[@jepettoNFT]

@@TheElectricUnderground 🤣

[@TheCrewExpendable]

And now E3 is actually dead, dead, truly dead for real. (The ESA just announced that E3 is permanently cancelled).

[@philmason9653]

This was interesting. I completely forgot E3 was supposed to be around this time, but also that E3 wasn't a thing. It wasn't until I saw the (hilarious) Limited Run Mega 64 video that the lightbulb went off. I accepted years ago that the mounting costs of leading edge visuals meant AAA was going to become a tighter and more risk-averse space. It got to the point that I was feeling guilty for running past random foliage or rock formations in games without stopping to look. Because I knew some poor Hungarian guy didn't see his family for 3 weeks at crunch because bored internet people mocking screenshots of bland environments compared to OTHER GAME for 2 days is the marketing apocalypse. It's been clear for a while that that smaller devs, indies and 1st party flagships were where the good stuff was largely going to be. But I've been ignoring pop music and network TV my whole life, so that wasn't a big deal. The realities of lowest common denominators mean playing the odds in most every industry is the consistently winning scheme. I've probably ignored most AAA since the PS360 generation too as a result. And it's been healthy TBH, being caught up in the hype cycles of consume-next-product was soul draining, but also gave a really skewed view of what was good and what wasn't. But there was still always stuff to look forward to, you know? I was an early adopter of all sorts of systems from the Dreamcast to the PS4 & Vita. But the PS5 has just been completely off my radar. I know the pandemic has a lot to do with that, but really, I've just been buying piles of retro stuff (that I do play!) and imports/small print run stuff on Switch or PS4. Most of which also ends up being retro rereleases, but chalk that up to familiarity. I know there's tons of cool indie stuff happening all over the place. But I didn't realize things had gotten so weird overall.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It s like you were at a party and everyone was dancing. Then you went out for ice and came back to find everyone blacked out in pools of their own vomit. You don t know exactly what happened, but it isn't good. 🤮

[@philmason9653]

@@TheElectricUnderground Lol, that's not so far off. At least we got a new King of Fighters.

[@sebbev9678]

I'm excited for Street Fighter 6 at least. There are others that I'm excited for, that were showcased during this summer games fest, but I could see with those a lot more people who maybe wouldn't be

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I m impartial to sf6, kinda disappointed with the visual direction honestly

[@sebbev9678]

@@TheElectricUnderground the graffiti? There are other ways of doing this of course, but I'd say it makes those hits feel more impactful. I think I'll be fine with how it looks

[@sebbev9678]

@@TheElectricUnderground street fighter has got some great character design. Having those high graphics gives more ways to add to it

[@ty_wilkins]

Those studios that demonstrably put a TON of love into their product will survive. DotEmu is a perfect example of this. You look at Streets Of Rage 4, Windjammers 2, and of course, Shredder's Revenge. Especially Shredder's Revenge. They weren't even willing to show us much until they felt it was excellent to do so. And created a frenzy in the process. Even the way they gave us a concrete release date was the Chef's Kiss. June 16th cannot come fast enough.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I m really looking forward to it!! Recording a commentary for a hard mode no death clear of og turtles in time tonight :-)

[@streetmagik3105]

AAA developers spend more time working on dlc crap, than the actual games. Halo Infinite is a perfect example, as it released in an unfinished/unpolished state ridled with bugs and graphical issues, but you better believe the cosmetic dlc shop worked perfectly, lol. I've got the ps5 and a Series X, but I've been mostly playing indies on Switch. I've been really disappointed with these non E3 shows over the last week or so, and it's kinda sad.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah it is a big bummer how there is so little to look forward to. I remember not so long ago where I was excited to see what would be announced and such during e3

[@tobjord]

Passion gets lost when money creeps in

[@TheElectricUnderground]

absolutely!

[@guerrillavanilla]

Good. Been waiting for a crash for a few years now. I used to buy a game every two weeks. Now I buy one every 4 months.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Same here for sure! I hardly buy mainstream games these days, and whenever I buy them I hardly ever play them past a few hours.

[@gpm8365]

its another transitional state to something different. thing are evolving overtime, we may not like its results, but thats how the process looks like

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yes and I think the transition we are currently in is a quiet very drawn out crash. I do think things will improve in the future, but first some significant shifts will occur.

[@gpm8365]

@@TheElectricUnderground things may improve but in ways, we will not consider any good

[@RaydinAE11]

I think what really happened is that market got saturated with too many franchises on different platforms. The monopoly of the hardware companies are going to back the teams that illustrate their hardware and so the market is sliced up to only that line of gaming. Now the platformer market has to deal with an ever growing mobile phone market. This saturation and division model has peaked. I think a strong analogy is the anime market. It got saturated with too much crappy mass production. This is why the 80/90s anime and retro gaming is still growing strong and insane prices. Quality over quantity.

[@liquidboss2719]

Metal Gear Survive was actually a lot of fun, especially when you play the multiplayer with friends after the main game.

[@notnoaintno5134]

why is the audio in the outro weird? also why is the suggested game thing in the youtube description FF7?

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Just to try and make it distinct ha. As for ff7, youtube actually did that on it's own!

[@BASEDSAKRI]

While there has always been terrible ripoff generic games, at least since maybe before the mid 2000s they were goofy and had a certain charm to them while the industry was figuring everything out. Nowadays those same games are so lifeless and almost offensively bland.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It' is brutal how boring and lame games are. I tried super hard to play FF7 remake beyond a few hours, no dice ha.

[@BASEDSAKRI]

@@TheElectricUnderground I own it and never played it lol

[@AzrielArcade]

Honestly, for me gaming is doing great! …at least, niche wise. We’re getting Switch, PS4, and PC ports along with Indie hits. Even new Fighters are doing pretty well overall, not to mention Fighting games and the occasional remake or two. I’m more hyped for stuff like the Klonoa re-releases and Battle Network collection. …I don’t know if that’s a good thing though, not having a good mainstream. The last real mainstream hit was Fortnite, and that game is a black hole. I say that because we need to bring in a new audience with our favorite genres, I’d say the option of having a casual difficulty would be perfect, but to also have a traditional difficulty as well. If we do that, we can really thrive.

[@GojiGuy]

Very interesting video, but as someone who gets to attend the investor calls discussing the industry, the real "problem" here is that people absolutely love these big AAA games in droves. Developers don't need to make GTA VI because they can repackage GTA V and people eat. it. up. We don't need Mario Kart 9 when the port of 8 outsold the original. The truth is, there is not an appetite for original content in the industry anymore. There is an appetite for the familiar, the known, and the broadly advertised. They are safe bets in a world where game budgets are skyrocketing and publishers are increasingly risk-averse. Why make a new game when you can re-relase Last of Us a third time and people will buy it? And the truth with indies is that no one is making money there. The number of indies that break even is miniscule (we're talking single digit percentage) and the number who actually turn a profit is statistically insignificant. So of course they aren't making sequels to their games- they can't!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I can imagine what I am saying probably would not go over well in an investor call, but let's say I owned a game company I think this mentality is completely wrong. What it sounds like to me is that when these companies stray from repackaging the work from the past and then try something new that flops, their conclusion is "welp, that proves it! The masses are stupid and won't' buy original games." When really there are so many counter-examples to this over the years, but it's a nice way to deflect from the fact that the game they tried plain sucked ha. Basically, I think it's just a useful justification for re-heating the same games over and over and over. Someone needs to say that this model won't work forever though, there will come a breaking point and I think we are starting to see it. It's like a little kid refusing to do his chores because the broom keeps falling out of his hands ha.

[@GojiGuy]

@@TheElectricUnderground I totally agree. But I think at this point it will fall entirely on deaf ears. I'm not even sure there -are- many solid counterpoints left because of how rampant this problem has become. Or it doesn't matter to "pump and dump" companies like Activision because they'll figure out how to get paid no matter what. Even without having a "failure" of a game as a counterpoint, Rockstar will continue pumping warmed over GTA V ports until people stop buying them.

[@GojiGuy]

It's also an issue of discoverability- TMNT Shredder's revenge is getting more love than the tons of other beat em ups because its an old nostalgia IP and people are less willing to buy new games. It's great for that game, but not for the genre.

[@TRADESMAN-xt4ce]

Returnal was the last new game that I got hyped playing. Your right though, great games are thin on the ground in terms both releases and also in terms of ideas

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I know it s gotten to be a rarity to see a cool Mainstream game come out

[@Dennzyl]

i personally feel like gaming just stagnates since about a decade. re-use mechanics, implement 1 or 2 "new" mechanics, polish the gameplay, change the setting in which it takes place and BOOM a new Far Cry is born! but for real now the Far Cry series is, to me, the best example for a stagnating state in which you just dont have the balls anymore to try something special or even maybe an entire new franchise, you just keep using whats working and copy and paste it. and this is super ironic if you think about how Far Cry, like it is today, was brought to light... OUT OF COMPLETE CHANGE AND WITH THE BALLS TO TRY NEW STUFF!!! i dont know man Ubisoft, EA and Activision/shit-tard are my most hated companies right now. once for how they fucked up the gaming landscape as a whole and 2nd cuz they do the shit i already mentioned or even worse: they put out broken unfinished stuff for full-price and i bet EA will find a way to even fuck up the Dead Space remake.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Exactly my dude!!! It's a huge bummer that companies like Ubi Soft went to crap so badly. I really enjoyed playing the original Splinter Cell for example, but since about Splinter Cell 3, the company has been going downhill Hard. Probably the turning point was Assassin's Creed.

[@Dennzyl]

@@TheElectricUnderground oh i remember Splinter Cell just tooo good, the franchise up to part 3 wasnt maybe the most polished, in terms of gameplay and story but it had a big thing going for it, it was original and it had a special feel to it, which honestly? i think even today would be pretty unique if they go back to the old style of the franchise cuz right now? i cant think of any other game that is close to the atmosphere of Splinter Cell. i hope but kinda doubt that they will achieve this with the Splinter Cell remake.

[@nemoguy]

Wish it would go faster really

[@TheElectricUnderground]

My too, I'm ready to watch it fall apart and gloat the entire time. Sounds fun XD

[@PaulvonOberstein]

Well, if there is a crash and the value of the companies plummet, it would me a good time to pick up some cheap stock to sell off later if it rebounds. Should have bought some Nintendo stock when they were busy fucking up with the Wii U in 2015. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

[@radiorah768]

Well said!

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Cheers my dude!

[@takemetoyonk]

I feel like this is a really dark defeatist outlook on video games, dude. But it's your truth; hope you feel better. Just as examples: I played Eastward, Steel Assault, and some Playstation VR underrated games. Do those not count as AA? I'm not saying I disagree, but it's a question of satisfaction and perspective being a desensitized veteran gamer-- does there need to be 5 or 10 favorite games for each person in any given year? Thinking of video games as this constant network of business is silly to me, as a studying game composer. I think amazing games can be born as long as random individuals carry on the past knowledge of devs and programmers who pass away.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

It's def not "my truth", that sounds very passive-aggressive ha. I don't think my outlook is "dark" or "defeatist" at all. On the contrary, I think I am being much more objective and honest than the normal puff pieces that people churn out. In the video, I do show objective sales data over time that supports my points. Do you have evidence that refutes what I am saying? Just because I am the only one willing to say anything, doesn't make it "my truth." Just look at how the gaming press covered the giant Buyout Microsoft did recently. Not a hint of investigation or reporting. They either merely reported the fact or went to bat for Microsoft like Digital Foundry or maximilian dood. I know in the landscape of places like Nintendo Life where every discussion around the industry just sweeps the realistic drawbacks under the rug, but I have no interest in doing that ha. I'm personally not defeated at all by the state of the industry or gaming ha, I'm perfectly happy to play retro and indie games from this point forward. But I'm not going to pretend like there's not a larger issue. Also no, Steel Assault is FAR from AA. It's 100% indie. AA would be something like Dead to Rights by Namco or even the first few Dark Souls Games. There is a massive gap between AA and something like Steel Assault.

[@takemetoyonk]

@@TheElectricUnderground uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I should leave haha I'm very much not a part of a circle to know what any of that means. I just like talking about creations. (Didn't mean to be passive aggressive or anything. Maybe this isn't your truth then?) Take care and thanks for the games you spotlight

[@rurouni82]

To think too it can still get worse. I always said what Microsoft is doing with their GamePass is actually bad for the industry. If the others follow, that will truly kill the market. The smaller studios won’t be able to sustain because the profit opportunity has been capped. As a result even the big studios will be limited to what they can do because of budget. This where things like more micro transactions/dlc will happen or perhaps ads in video games could happen to try balance it out. But those are changes that won’t be tolerated forever. It’s starting to show in the movie industry with people allowing streaming to takeover. Video games is smaller in comparison, so they won’t have as much time to recover if all goes to hell.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh my God the day I see an in game add pop up on my console is the day I set my console on fire 🔥. Yeah Gamepass is the soma they want to shove down our throats

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

The only game that caught my interest is Gungrave GORE and I really really hope that it isnt made to suck money on the wallet. Its the only game on that show that interests me and I hope that its actually good.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

I WILL ABSOLUTELY LOOK into this game, I'm a huge fan of the Gungrave anime.

[@TheSamuraiGoomba]

Who is making it? I'm just going to assume it's an indie project. I played the hell out of Gungrave: Overdose back in the day.

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

@@TheSamuraiGoomba where can I play that game? I want it!! Gungrave is the only modern shooter game that caught my interest.

[@robertjohansson9853]

Souls game has been the highpoint besides remakes and indie titles since 2010. Still enjoy some AAA games from nintendo and doom/wolfenstein. But mostly agree

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah Dooms good stuff. But it is one of the very few western exceptions (which is sad). As far as wolfenstein, I liked the older reboot ones but I felt they too have gotten worse and worse.

[@robertjohansson9853]

@@TheElectricUnderground Yeah, the first wolfenstein was great and the sequel good. Then it fell of completely

[@boghogSTG]

That's not really a "video game crash" and more like the stagnation of a very specific bloated subset of the industry, one that's not really "for us" anyway. Go back 10 years ago and what would you get, the new Mass Effect, Diablo, Ass Creed, COD? Cmon now. You'd be here complaining about how stagnant AAA has become due to rehashing instead and how Japanese devs are murdering their series by appealing to western players in clumsy halfbaked ways with stuff like RE6, NG3, as I and most other people did at the time. AA itself has a very unclear definition here, what exactly is it that you think we're losing? Is it mid-budget games, relative to AAA budgets? Then you've defined AA in a way where it'll always shrink provided AAA budgets grow, even if the team sizes, amount of polish, etc. remains the same. Is it games with budgets of 10-20 million or what? Another issue is traditional PC game styles & non action games, I imagine you don't play stuff like Chivalry 2, Disco Elysium, AOE4, Sea of Thieves, Valheim, Mount & Blade, 4x/Grand Strat games, etc. but you can't really talk about the market in broader terms without taking them into account. Cause if you have a ton of popular well received releases that PC players love, all you'd be saying when complaining about a lack of AA games is that there's a lack of games that fit your rather limited tastes specifically.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Cmon Now! That phrase gets me ha. By every metric I think it's very easy to defend that both AAA and AA were in a much healthier place ten years ago, and to a significant degree. I don't know how you would argue otherwise my dude. You're saying the medium is healthy in a niche way, if you're into these niche releases and such, and sure that could be true. But that's not my point at all. I am saying that the mainstream sector of gaming is collapsing in on itself and I don't know how you would argue otherwise. Almost all of the AA style series or even AAA if you don't see a distinction have massively dried up. I show some sales data to prove this and also on the ground reporting of what I've observed going on in stores over the years (the specific account I give was just the most recent and absurd). I think you've gone straight from adaptation (play niche, play pc) and forgotten the initial observation step. Imagine this, you have a new person you want to bring into gaming. You send that person into a game store in 2022 versus 2012, you feel comfortable saying that I'm wrong about the massive shift in quality and availability of great games in that store? Mainstream gamers aren't hunting for Age of Empires 4 on steam, many mainstream players still play on console only.

[@boghogSTG]

@@TheElectricUnderground My entire problem is that you are conflating a stagnation in AAA with a broader video game crash by roping in whatever AA games are to you. I don't think picking out some COD sales stats and anecdotes from your local store is enough to make a convincing case that AAA's less profitable either, because their revenue comes from more sources than that which you pointed out like live service games and digital. I don't blame you for not giving thorough stats because devs don't share them very much, but extrapolating a narrative based on very limited data isn't a good choice either. You do have a case of there just being less massive games overall, and the industry's increased reliance on remakes but the quality arguments are a crapshoot (I'd much rather play the Horizon games or the new GoW than the crappy cinematic shooters of the early 2010's) and it's not a given that this model isn't sustainable, or that AAA simply won't get better at milking players through live service crap. The vague definition of AA causes issues in your response too - the games I brought up are not niche they are just invisible to you because you aren't interested in that style of gameplay. For example Valheim sold 10 million copies which would be a hit for an AAA game 10 years ago, Diso Elysium sold 6,7 million, Chivalry 2 sold over a million in 2 months, Dyson Sphere Program sold almost 2 million, etc. These are only niche numbers if you measure them up to the incredibly bloated AAA industry as it stands now, otherwise they either compete with AA games of the past, or even AAA games.

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

I've had this exact experience in game stores and I agree that these shows (or browsing gaming sites' frontpages or whatever) is an absolute snoozefest. But as far as I can tell this is still bringing in lots of cash (and other people have expressed excitement about these games, though I don't see why). Consoles are still flying off the shelves and the handful of service games that take off make money hand over fist. From Rockstar's perspective, obviously they've rather collect recurring revenue from the same game than make a new one that might or might not be successful. My read on it is that many games now want to be The One Game You Play, which makes all the traditional channels less relevant and sucks all the air out of the room for everything else, because it's a flop if it doesn't get tons of simultaneous players at all time buying the season passes. And in my opinion, the endgame with all this Game Pass-style subscription stuff is that games turn into cell phone games where they can't make anything up-front so they milk the players on the back end with extreme levels of mtx and timewasting. The math just doesn't work on that otherwise. Don't really know what to do about it though.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Yeah it would be really interesting to compare stock values of GameStop and places like that with how they were doing 10 years ago. I'd be willing to be there has been a sharp decline. People sell consoles and such, but I think there has been a steady loss of sales overall. I'd love to get more comprehensive data on the situation, but games sales data is annoyingly difficult to track down. I was able to track the decline of the COD series, however, which has been the highest selling series for a very long time. It was still the highest-selling series last year at 13 million sales, but that was a very sharp decrease from the typical 30 - 25 million sales.

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

@@TheElectricUnderground Oh yeah Gamestop is definitely struggling and these days more than half the store is given over to tee shirts and trinkets. But it's hard to tell how much of that is just because of digital sales (which are more opaque, I think) versus a decline in games in general. CoD has also been cranking out a lot of games for a long time and people might just be bored of it or have moved on to battle royales or whatever. But fewer sales of new games is a result I'd expect of more people primarily spending their game time on a single "service game," along with all the channels you have to get free games or games on a subscription these days. I guess this is all a longwinded way of saying that it's hard to really do an apples-to-apples comparison unless we get the financial statements from the major players over the years and compare them.

[@MaknaEXMachina]

Hey Mark I made a demo for a little game I'm working on, would you be willing to tear it apart bit by bit and telling what's wrong with it? I remember you give devs reviews but I don't remember if that was a Patreon perk or not--how does it work again?

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Oh sure no problem just send it to me on discord. It might take me a bit to get to (crazy sched right now), but I'll give it a shot and let you know what I think.

[@MaknaEXMachina]

@@TheElectricUnderground Sure I'll send it over! There's a few things I might add in the meantime, so waiting's totally ok. Anytime you feel is fine, though-- it's _mostly_ ready already. I've been getting some responses on what to improve so I'm planning out goals again.

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

I will try your demo and I hope I remember it. My memory is getting worse recently.

[@MaknaEXMachina]

@@soratheorangejuicemascot5809 Whoa thanks but what do you mean it's getting worse? If it's significant you really need to get it checked on, your entire self is a collection of your memories!

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

@@MaknaEXMachina I am just forgetting more often. Dont worry about me though

[@brightsuperstition]

An industry that behaves like every other late capitalist industry isn't going to be immune from the negative effects of such behavior that have affected all other late capitalist industries. But as you already pointed out in the video, the indie scene is where all the gold is at. Most of my favorite games of the past decade have been indie titles. If I were to make a top 100 games released since 2012, I estimate that about 90 of those 100 games are indie titles. Name the genre, and chances the best games of that genre from the past decade will be an indie title, whether it's Run-and-Gun games (Blazing Chrome, Valfaris, Huntdown), Twin Stick Shooters (Nex Machina, Jet Lancer, Nuclear Throne), Roguelites (far, far too many good titles to mention), Metroidvanias (also far, far too many good titles to mention), Boss Rush games (Furi, Cuphead), Beat-Em-Up games (Fight N' Rage, Streets of Rage 4) or Shmups (some of the best all-time shmups have come out in the past decade). As you can see, multiple genres have been growing in the past 10 years despite the very real industry problems you outlined in this video. And I see no reason why they won't continue to grow no matter how worse things may get in the next 10 years. So regardless of what is around the corner, videogames will continue to survive and thrive. It just won't be the same kind of gaming utopia of bountiful AAA titles you and I dreamed of when we were kids (I'm 33 and I'm assuming you're around the same age as me, maybe older).

[@jons9239]

I moved to "retro" games a few months in to covid lockdown. Been playing the hell out of Burnout 3 for PS2.

[@TheElectricUnderground]

Hell yeah!! You gotta check out project Gotham racing on Xbox, very overlooked game!

[@yogsothoth915]

Actually, I'm looking forward to the sequel to Jedi Fallen Order. And not because it's Star Wars, it plays like a better Zelda with good fighting mechanics. And It feels like a fantastical adventure way more so Zelda, in something between a post apocalypse and a rising dystopia. How something so well made came out of a company forced to work under the stupidity of EA is a miracle. Here's what I think is happening, supposedly, back in the Ancient times, MGM Studios would crank out crappie movie after crappie movie to keep steady income coming in, But.., every year or so they picked One project to actually put decent effort and money into, that way they can keep a relatively good reputation because the good movies are actually memorable., they also get a chance for awards and recognition and all that. it's how The Wizard of Oz got so much funding and rewriting and effort (they also proceeded to famously more or less torture their actors) Id honestly like to believe This is why Metroid Prime 4 keeps being pushed back despite Nintendo not having much going on right now otherwise, You'd normally expect a company to rush out claims and advertising for it even after it got pushed back just to have something advertised people will talk about, but instead they just pushed back production and didn't draw attention to it. (Though Metroid Dread was incredibly fun to 100%) That being said I can't think of much else from big name companies that's any good, the Doom DLC.? Tiny Tina's Wonderland? "It Takes Two" and that studio have put out great stuff with big money but somehow still feel Indie.... Hmmmm.. Honestly, I'm inclined to agree but since near everything I play is Inde I honestly can't say I'd know even if there was hypothetically more good stuff floating around.

[@LuminesDragon]

It's ok i have like a 600 game back log, games could die for 5-10 years and i would be fine. I think a lot of people are in the same boat with having a 200+ game steam back log.