Creativity is Dead...

[@androtaz2621]

Destiny 2 really is the best example of everything wrong with modern games. On the surface by looking at just how many big creators are miserable with the state of the game you'd think it's tanking and yet its actually doing better than ever (financially) . Corporations have figured out that the 'target' audience loves nothing more than subsidizing it's own misery.

[@balancebreaker1561]

Their target audiences arent the passionate gamers, but the casual player that plays for 2 hours after work and drops cash on it whenever they see something cool

[@MonstertruckBadass]

@@balancebreaker1561 Yep, gaming turned from a passionate hobby into... consumerism.

[@maineman5757]

I was saying that about Destiny 1. Look at what you people did to gaming.

[@themetalpig7613]

Bungie actually admitted to deliberately under delivering because over delivering creates expectation. They have perfected the art of mediocrity.

[@silentbilly7971]

Keep in mind sony bought bungie is going by whatever they say now especially when it comes to shooters they made they stop the lou shooter title because bungie said to and everyone acts like bungie is an amazing developer when they're not the last good game they made was halo 3 now they just want to milk people dry and sony is now focusing on live service games which last time I checked a big chunk of the community doesn't want especially on the sony side of things and you know who's gonna help make the decision for these games bungie

[@darkranger116]

"you cant sell cars that have their rear axle sold separately. Unless its a video game. Because gamers have no product standard."

[@Bryanleerosi38]

"It'll be good in a few years, you toxic fans just have no patience and want to complain about everything. Yeah, paying minimum $60-$70 for something that isn't guaranteed to actually be complete in the future is a necessity bc they need to be paid as well."

[@Bojoschannel]

Tell that to Tesla and other shit companies, they basically sell you cars with DLC and it's not even parts missing or anything, just paywalled basic features like going faster and such. Capitalist (un) inventiveness at its best

[@Calamity_Leo]

​@Bojoschannel better than communism, at least I have a car and food, but in all reality this is cronies capitalism not true, since all those bad regulations are hurting the small guy, in the US the founding father warned of corporations and Lobbyist

[@Krannski]

​@@Calamity_Leo ...without regulation you would ONLY get crony capitalism. Unrestricted capitalism evolves into feudalism, even Adam Smith all the way back understood that. The reason why we have regulations in the first place is because we tried living without them, and discovered that shit doesn't work. But then a certain kind of young, gullible people roll on stage, thinking they are smart, and say "just remove all regulations lol there is no way it can be bad my favourite political pundits all day so".

[@unsuspiciousdweller8967]

@@Calamity_Leo bro legit said 'better then communism' and that its "not TRUE capitalism" I hope to see one of your comedy shows one day

[@PixelOtter0813]

As an indie game dev , thanks for having the much required confidence in us :D and the more you encourage us, the more better product we deliver , its not about money for us indie devs , its about the praise and the players experience :D

[@GimmieDaDnB]

even if someone pirates your game, if you can win over the pirates into your game then you know you hit big time, because even pirates won't play garbage

[@chrisoconnell3942]

See if we had people like you making these AAA games without these greedy seventy-year-old men running the company gaming would be awesome again honestly we don't need corporate assholes to make video games when people are making them in their basement we should be able to make our own games and sell them without publishing them look at shivery to for example the game was developed by six guys or something like that in their basement and it got sold worldwide without a publisher so that means anybody can make a great war game if they have the passion and the patients without getting bought out by these corporate greedy old farts

[@johnperea3360]

I like indie games over triple a nowadays

[@Mr.Honest247]

@@GimmieDaDnB Yes, you know your game is the shit if even pirates will pay up for it out of respect and admiration.

[@MIDO44444]

​@@chrisoconnell3942the problem is triple A games need funding and people who provide said fundings only care about money and revenue not quality for the most part

[@Yilue]

Most companies are afraid to take risks. But hey guess what. Taking risks is what got humanity here today and is what got gaming to be this big in the first place.

[@SpikeRazzor]

Taking risks it too hard, taking advantage of others is easier.

[@OmegaF77]

You're assuming the ones in charge have any humanity left.

[@almalone3282]

Taking risks costs 10s to 100s of millions

[@B_Machine]

The risks now are MILLIONS of dollars more risky than they were before. If we look at the amount of devs needed to create a game, we see that some require 10x more manpower than they used to. Triple-A games are much more risky nowadays and have many more people's livelihood riding on them.

[@77wolfblade]

Only through conflict we continue to evolve!

[@PSOpwnage]

Its not just gaming but corporate America as a whole.

[@FlamespeedyAMV]

Welcome to late stage capitalism

[@id1550]

@@FlamespeedyAMVWe’re not in that at all, what are you talking about?

[@chillhour6155]

It's not just America, japanese developers like Squeenix have been getting away with this crap for years, just look at they're latest embarrassment, it's been more then a decade since they've released something that's good and not just derivative cop out , NOT just something with a popular IP names slapped on it

[@chillhour6155]

@@MozambiqueEnjoyer6097 why do people like you always yell commie, I don't get it, can I call you Corrupies then ?

[@PSOpwnage]

@@chillhour6155 Got to keep our ESG scores high. All my bank invests in shit is pathetic. Last year was etfs.

[@KingKreef]

My theory is that creativity thrives when options are limited. For example, technology was limited back in the day so you need to be more creative to overcome obstacles. Now there are so many tools(options) that overcome the obstacles for you. So there is no need to be creative. Now everything is ran by statistics, money flow and player retention. Art is dead

[@pendergastj]

I would like to see a new console released which is limited in power by design, like an N64 or a DS, it would create so many better games!

[@herskind1364]

This literally makes no sense though. Creativity and innovation thrives when competition is high. And competition is very high in the gaming industry in todayss day an age. Its not that gaming is dying or that creativity is dying, you guys just dont like change, and would rather see gaming go down the path it has been for the past 20 years instead of actually seeing the reality. Creativity is still very prevalent in the industry. Games like RDR2, Elden Ring, The Witcher, God of War, Hogwarts legacy, Jedi Survivor, are all proof that creativity still thrives in the industry. The reality of the situation is that many people have grown up with gaming and are now baffled that they dont enjoy it anymore in their 20s. And instead of realising that their dissatisfaction is caused by them growing up and changing as human beings, they'd rather want to sit in their gaming bubble and blame their decreasing happiness on bad developers and capitalism, when in reality they just dont know what else to spend their time on, because they dont know much else in life.

[@abdulrahmanezat5621]

Silent hill is an example

[@KingKreef]

You ended your entire argument when you mentioned Hogwards in the same list as Elden Ring. I can also list shit AAA games but i dont think youtube allows so much characters @@herskind1364

[@Valentin_126]

@@herskind1364 Objectively wrong, you cannot look at the modern gaming industry and say "it's changed so it's good and the rest of you are stuck in the past" because gaming has just become worse due to greed, pandering and normalization. I paid 60 bucks for my game and now you want me to spend even more money? No thank you. You want me to play a game which actively despises its audience, which is made up of a majority white men? No thank you. You want me to play a remaster of a game that came out 20 years ago because you can't come up with anything new that's actually fun to play? No thank you. You want me to play the same game I have been playing for the past 10 years because this game design is safe and normee safe despite it being unfun? No thank you.

[@kda3113]

That example with COD is extremely accurate. The new mw2 feels soulless, and the campaign is nothing compared to the original mw2. It's like the devs gave up once they realised they can make the same amount of money without putting in any effort.

[@annekristiina7503]

One has to also consider the fact that COD for example(and other longterm titles) has been around for a very long time, so maybe most of the people originally working on the series has retired and moved on to something else, and the new people being recruited to develop aren't creative in the same way, or overtaken by corporate desicions from above their paygrade. I think this has happened to Destiny 2.

[@noone-em3wc]

you have to also realize COD ripped off the Sicario movies to make "their" campaign. some of the maps and characters are literally carbon copies. made me so made to see people praise something so obviously stolen.

[@annekristiina7503]

@@noone-em3wc I see, I didn't know that. But you know half of Destiny is a rip off of Warframe, and Warframe rips off ideas from others aswell, but it doesn't matter. You can still like something even if the story or idea wasn't new. I think it gets attacked when the gameplay loop stops beeing immersive and fun. I bet theres a whole science behind what draws people to play for hours.

[@jordankroonenberg5084]

@@annekristiina7503yea it’s called burnout, from a developer standpoint point, this happens because it’s a job. Consumers/gamers also become burnt out, but we don’t provide much other than revenue for the company that produces a particular franchise, and obviously consumer interest or player numbers. The majority of us don’t provide creative ideas to pitch, only feedback on what’s given. Destiny is a good example but compared to cod it’s to young.

[@chillhour6155]

*it's a remake* by Activision..for a *COD* game, if that doesn't spell creativity is dead then nothing does, think about how fkn lazy and easy it is for the companies to make money off of people

[@Adenybaloi]

I've come to appreciate your brutal honesty.

[@Ïurossa]

What else is there to do

[@Insanepie]

He’s not entirely honest tho

[@chillhour6155]

@@Insanepie explain

[@slimjim540]

@@Insanepie I’ll be waiting for your video that breaks down where he lied lol

[@anon4248]

Believe it or not, it used to be this way all the time lol

[@realkingofantarctica]

Back in the 2000's there was no clear way to design a game, so developers had the freedom to try inventive ideas. This meant that no two game, sometimes even ones in the same series, played identically. It may not have always resulted in the most polished experience, but each one was undoubtedly unique. I'd rather play a 7/10 game from back then than a "10/10" game nowadays.

[@theseproblemsmatter1]

Nailed it

[@laius6047]

10/10 game nowadays what even is that? They're just glorified TV shows. So much cinematics it's pathetic.

[@TylerMBuller12]

A 7/10 from back then is a 10/10 these days.

[@ddsjgvk]

You don't want another Far cry 3 expansion pack

[@VladShpiro]

Creativity didn’t just die… it was murdered

[@todesziege]

The moneymen in each creative industry-be it games, movies, music, comic books or whatever-have always wanted to kill creativity. They always hated taking risks and thinking forward, being much more comfortable with a steady drip of mediocrity than some failures and some masterpieces. Finally they got their way.

[@1roxyfan491]

"Griffin gaming wants to know your location"

[@richardsavolainen944]

​@@todesziegecreativity hasn't died. We just need to look further than AAA gaming and dig into more indie games like Disco Elysium as mentioned in the video

[@todesziege]

@@richardsavolainen944 Of course there's still indie, but the AAA space sucks up the vast majority of resources that could (or should) go towards actually creative developers.

[@anthonyharris2930]

​@@richardsavolainen944People don't want lame indies though. Alot of people grew up on AAA games

[@lambdrey]

Same goes for Valve's old games as well. Take Portal for example: Valve found a bunch of students who created a game, called barnacular drop which is about a princess who need to solve puzzles to get out of a dungeon. Valve thought this is a good game concept and hired them to make Portal. It only took 40 people to make Portal 1 in the end and now it's one of my favorite games.

[@yoshialmighty8324]

Portal is a game that every gamer should play at least once, its amazing

[@lambdrey]

@@yoshialmighty8324 Including both the first game and the second.

[@BoleDaPole]

Valve doesn't need to make games anymore, also if they make a bad game then the mystic goes away. Newell knows this and has protected his brand very well.

[@gtamike_TSGK]

The Talos Principle is a better puzzle game.

[@bricaaron3978]

It's actually 'Narbacular Drop', but yes --- Portal is one of my favorite games as well. It was one of the demos that prompted me to build my first gaming PC in 2008, along with the demos for BioShock, Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R., The Witcher, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and Crysis.

[@lumbertown6040]

it reminds me of what George Lucas once said in an interview, its the Fear of Creativity, i dont think there is no Creativity anymore, but we are at a point where everyone is so afraid of it, constantly walking on eggshells and more concerned to check all the boxes then delivering something really good.

[@jackstraw4222]

absolutely ,thats what iv pointed out as well as lazy developers and ceo's obsessed with money even when they are already rich...and yea some developers are lazy and make excuses as to why they release unfinished games or games with weak graphics...

[@jesuschrist7833]

What’s hysterical is same with movies. Every film is about trying to bring back Nostalgia when nobody is asking for reboots. The entire film and gaming industry is tanking.

[@FlamespeedyAMV]

It started with Music mostly, turned to absolutely filth

[@vallahdsacretor4839]

Movies reached a golden point with Marvel phase 1-3, with everyone trying to be like Marvel. High octane action, well written comedy, interesting plots, memorable characters, all of that. I remember the attempt to make a psychic cinematic universe with Next, Jumper, and Push. Not bad films by any means, but didn't have the public enraptured, so they just fell off the radar. The same goes for games. Everyone is trying to be like the next big thing, even when that thing is already there. Every triple-A game is now a variation of CS-GO and TF2. A live service with loot boxes that have cosmetics you can show off to everyone. PUBG did the battle pass and games like Destiny popularized the new MMO formula: A live service game with story missions, PvP and PvE content, and enough loot to make WoW shed a tear in joy. Large corporations never pursue anything truly original. They see one thing doing well, one trend that is more profitable, and they all copy it ad nauseam. Especially if it starts in the indie sphere.

[@victornoel36]

At least there's a tiny spark of hope for movies. Most of recent Disney remakes have been bombing, it's a sign that the nostalgia bubble is bursting. If the higher ups are smart enough, they'll realize they have to change their strategy.

[@richardsavolainen944]

Again good movies, games, music and art aren't gone. All you you need to do is start looking for them outside your confort zone. All is and allwsys has been

[@MrDibara]

​@@victornoel36 My guy, *it's current Disney.* "Learn from your own mistakes" was never in their vocabulary.

[@Alon_Maor]

this video goes to show why Deep Rock Galactic is such a good game; passionate devs, free progression, endless content. even though the game uses batltle passes and seasons, all the content stays in the game and is simply unlocked through other means, i highly encourage you all to give it a try

[@UrielOfStyx]

Rock and stone! To add to this: the cosmetic DLCs are the ONLY exclusive cosmetics in the game. The seasonal content is absolutely free, and everything you don't get before the season ends is added to both the in-game cosmetic vendor (which uses in-game currency), or as loot in cargo crates and abandoned packs in missions.

[@silentlore2458]

Funny how i was playing DRG 5 minutes before this video

[@Drifter-while-hungry]

Let’s check the list of the death of creativity in games and compare it to deep rock galactic 1. The death of creativity, deep rock is a original idea and a damn good one, like have you ever heard of a game where 4 dwarves who drink beer go on the most rich but dangerous planet in the universe for a big cooperation, and annoy such cooperation with their silly antics, while fighting bug like aliens, which for the past 2 seasons have been infected with a virus that makes them have different abilities 2. Talent is extinct, you need some amazing talent to create such a fun game that’s never repetitive 3. Genuine care is gone, the deep rock developers seem to actually care for their game and want the best for it, providing good content and taking their time on it, with a consistent quality of updates that all improve the game, an listening to the community and by listening, making the game better 4. Gamers have zero standards, I feel like the deep rock community has the standard that every big update that comes out is a good one that will be a good one make the game better, and so far those standards have not changed with every content update meeting those standards

[@nolives]

Did I hear a rock and stone?

[@Anonymous-bk9xy]

ℝ𝕠𝕔𝕜 𝕟' 𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝔹𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝔻𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕗!

[@wwld9823]

I remember when horse armor DLC came out for oblivion everyone laughed as I pointed out that was the beginning of the end, that if they would let that small "insignificant" cosmetic dlc slip through it would set a small precedent and one day the boiling frog would eventually cook to death, I fucking hate how right I was man..

[@kenshinhimura9387]

I said the same thing way back with halo 2 map packs.

[@wwld9823]

@@kenshinhimura9387 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gX60Y3Smj7mopdE

[@Zacatito]

Who would of thought horse armor for like $3 would spiral into armor sets for $15. If someone told me this when I was 8 I would think they were dumb

[@VetriVade]

​@@kenshinhimura9387 the halo 2 map pack was awesome

[@Matanumi]

At least the Halo 2 map pack added considerable value. They were new expanded maps in an already fully finished game (for the most part bugs and all) The horse DLC was a silly cosmetic. It was completely unnecessary yet it sold so much. It set a nasty precedent

[@JamesEatWorld7758]

Your videos have finally freed me of my Destiny addiction. I’ve been playing nothing but story games that I want to play now. Thank you. It took me way too long to realize that

[@NovemberHotel]

Awesome to hear. So many great games out there

[@Zacatito]

Bro him and Aztec cross had made me open my eyes, I still play destiny but way less than I used to. I only really play it for raids now, but these days I'm playing elden ring, halo mcc, or tf2

[@flatpepsi]

Dude literally same here. I was only playing destiny for awhile and then re4 came out and I played the fuck outta that for like 3 weeks straight. Then I went and played all the OG resident evil games. Then I felt like going on a month and a half long fallout NV binge. Once I finished my NV playthrough, I started a new character in Elden Ring. I've also been replaying all the halo campaigns on heroic on and off. I wasn't satisfied with lightfall's story but it took replaying better games to realize just how hard it blew chunks. It's kinda crazy how much I got done by not playing destiny. Lol

[@sexylazercatwizard]

​@Zacatito stop buying the new expansions

[@prettyradhandle]

@@flatpepsi i am now reconsidering my choice of wanting to reinstall destiny

[@bradoalfredo5203]

Also the death of co-op campaign in games is the saddest for me. Almost no game is fun enough to play through solo in the desolate landscape. At least with some friends you can be miserable together

[@shalindelta7]

It's called single-player for a reason. I hard disagree with you, sp are best when i play alone and soak into the narrative. If i want to play with friends I'll play something like apex legends where there's no story just high action gameplay.

[@ebenezerspludge8369]

Baldur's Gate 3 is a great multiplayer game you can play 4 players locally. If you need a list of new games let me know. I actively seek out local multiplayer games.

[@bungmonkey2295]

Not everyone has friends who can play when they do. Co op balance is difficult. Too difficult for todays entitled participation badge winners. Many co op games revolve around killing things. Its no fun when you play with people who kill everything themselves. Trying to balance the experience for everyone is too much trouble so you get stuff like diablo 4 where one tryhard kills a world boss in seconds and turns it into an empty experience for everyone else

[@ebenezerspludge8369]

@@bungmonkey2295 I agree that it can be tough to balance but many games get it right. Personally I think the harder the better for multiplayer. D4 has so many problems, That thing is a cash shop with a game attached to it. 9k developers and over 7 years of development time. How much time was spent on the game vs the microtransactions and manipulation tactics?

[@bungmonkey2295]

@@ebenezerspludge8369 is it? To me its a generic arpg with a ridiculously over priced cash shop of so so looking cosmetics. Tbh i had no idea so much time or so many people worked on it most of them must be diversity hires with no clue how to make anything worthwhile. With as many technical failures in d4 like getting stuck in the floor or how absolutely terrible some things are they should be absolutely embarrassed with the end product

[@nicnitpicks]

I would argue that creativity isn't dead at all, it's the corporatization of the gaming industry that is stunting it. When you look at indies, you can really see passion, innovation and creativity pouring out of those projects. The AAA games industry is what is lacking in creativity, and even, it isn't truly. The developers really are creative, it's generally the publishers that stunt that creativity and dumb it down to make the games accessible to the largest possible audiences in the hopes of getting a return on investment rather than making the most fun interactive media possible.

[@laffycade3151]

Your comment is more nuanced than the entirety of this video

[@uku4171]

Exactly. Also, at the beginning of the video he pointed out how people will say that it's his nostalgia speaking. Then, instead of addressing the argument, he goes on to insult the people who make the argument. Later on he talks about how the best games of the year have all been remakes or remasters of old games. This just further proves the point that nostalgia sells.

[@laffycade3151]

@@uku4171 it's hilarious how some of the game he cites as being better than current releases (like arkham knight and gotham knights) had undergone the same reaction during their time where they were considered as a wrong step and the games before them as much better. I remember arkham knight (nothing against that game btw) was criticised at its time for going open world completely, infact some still do. Yet this guy glorifies it into his "old good new bad" rhetoric.

[@uku4171]

@@laffycade3151 Yeah I remember people complaining about the game. I didn't have a PC at the time so I was watching the gameplay videos and wondering if it really feels that much worse to play than to watch, cause it looked so fun to me. But no, it was just a really good game and gamers will always complain.

[@headshotmaster138]

@@uku4171 because only clowns and NPCs make that shitty argument.

[@TeethSkylark]

With studios getting larger and larger, another issue may be that "Too many cooks spoil the broth." That things get bogged down by by the vision and interference of too many people

[@LeMicronaut]

Yeah, those 4 numbers in the video are simple and impactful, but it really needs 5 minutes of who did what looked into. Halo infinite was notoriously built more by contract workers in 1/4 segments of the dev timeline and 343 slowly had to admit they had zero control over the product they underpaid other people to make. I think this is less to do with the complexity of new games and engines needing specialists (a lot of stuff has been streamlined), but rather a model to prevent workers' unions and tightnit teams that will object management in mass. Temporary workers looking to build resumes will usually bite their tongue and pray for the next job. Maybe the publicization for better worker conditions has sort of backfired. Smart people are probably lookkng elsewhere to work and going indie to fill that passion. The politics leave those who do go AAA shaped as a completely different type of team member that isn't up to snuff and a much less trusting investor that knows he has to make a machine instead of a studio. How much each "developer" made annually, as well as the distribution of salaries, would be interesting to know.

[@Alopen-xb1rb]

Or it could be like Star Citizen where nothing gets done because management likes to chase its own tail all day and never gets the overall game development moving along.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

Prime example of this would be Turbo Overkill and the complete butchering of the bike level, exodus, along with the bike itself. People kept complaining the bike "controlled like shit" (it controlled like a bike) and now it's been turned into a slow and lame hover-scooter, and don't get me started on how the level itself was ruined

[@LordSluggo]

It's like they say: 4 programmers can do in a month what one programmer can do in a week

[@GwyndolinOwO]

I'd say it depends. I blame a lot of the lack of creativity on economic min-maxing. A lot of companies are learning how many corners they can cut while still getting the profits they are hoping to make. In the gaming industry, that means things like live service games, reusing old ideas, mictrotransactions, and DLC/content sold separately. Some of these ideas aren't inherently bad but as these studios shifted from passion projects to corporations, its easy to see how they might use these ideas to see if they can lower costs while maintaining profit, or even increasing profit. They really aren't looking for the next cool idea anymore, not unless they think it would mean making money but the risk needs to seem worth it. So in a way i think studios getting bigger does ruin certain things about the games they make I'm just not sure its a "too many cooks" situation (at least not fully). At least with these larger corporate studios you generally have a few people at the top making the decisions, and these are the people that are generally the most worried about profits. And these are the people that will then coordinate their ideas with their dev studios. There could be ways for devs in the studio to bring up their ideas but I'd be a little surprised if there isn't some kind of approval process. Scope creep (adding in way too many ideas) can still totally happen, I'm just not sure its because the dev team itself is larger. Indie devs run into this issue all the time as well. I think its more of an issue where someone with a lot of power in the project really wants something done a certain way, and there's no way to tell them no.

[@suiken3149]

Scarcity breeds creativity. Back in the day, devs have to be imaginative and creative because they lack resources and resorts to making really great atmospheres, excellent sound and level designs. Nowadays, devs especially at AAA studios are fed with so much resources that they don't know how to spend or utilize those said assets properly. Sometimes, less is more.

[@TheBcoolGuy]

I believe that this is a cultural problem. The same thing happens in basically everything. All creative fields are starved for creativity. There are absolutely creative games, videos, films, songs, etc., but for every one of those, there's at least a hundred mindless copies that only exist out of desperation. It's all about "the grind" - about getting your work deployed as quickly as possible and passing whatever bland noise you made off as something valueable. It reminds me of when I was about 8 and a friend and I played that we were running a business selling chinese/japanese sayings in big characters on papers, and we went wild making all of these things. We must've gotten through at least 30 papers before the after-school lady put a stop to it and banned us from the paper.

[@atomictraveller]

there's an embarassingly obvious fraternity who pretty much have everything wrapped up amazingly tight. walt disney was a member, j.q. adams was not, but he was an anti member. that should explain everything you see humans doing. don't waste any time on it, it's been done.

[@jensenraylight8011]

i had a hunch that the Gen Z are severely lack of experience, they're good, and had a good fundamentals, but they're too shallow compared to the generation before them. i don't blame them because the previous generation was very hands on and grounded. but genZ, they had no story worth to tell and no experience worth to share. they had no strong feeling, their experience was like everyone else at their age. everything that they created was derived based on their limited experience from their Social Media feeds. they already achieved everything they want in life, which is a decent job with a good pay, and they want nothing more because there are brain drain currently happening, and which the older people are retiring left and right, the knowledge and skill wasn't getting passed down. therefore we saw a disjointed gap in quality, Thoughtless product, awfully mix and matched concept the end result is a Homogeneous product because everyone had the same experience and the same thinking pattern, this was the result of a very sterile and uniform education reinforced with a very uniform social media. and this problem was aggravated by the current "fast production" with the emphasize on getting return on investment to the shareholder as quickly as possible. i won't be surprised if US will get overtaken by the other country soon, because their product wasn't competitive anymore.

[@diewott1337]

​@@jensenraylight8011"Decent job with a good pay" Yeah, that's isn't really the case...

[@crowickedone4037]

Excatly

[@crowickedone4037]

​@@jensenraylight8011True that, trying to appeal to trends, biggest inclusivity groups, and what advertisers "think" is right results in this. Not everything is for everyone. Gatekeepers were kinda right. Im going gack to taboos, nobodys gonna ruin my latex catsuit orgies any time soon.

[@IEATTREES975]

Well creativity is not dead, it’s just lost and needs to be found again, thats what games are created by, Imagination, and taking their time on creating games and not have a deadline is what makes a really good game.

[@richardsavolainen944]

Finally someone with a brain in this comment section

[@atomictraveller]

don't say that word, the i word is all kinds of special now, it's about visualising things using your brotherly lodge powers. when you write it in full caps IMAGINATION, cover up the legs of the M and see what's in your imagination.

[@rps215]

No more art, they have been replaced by a product out of a factory production line.

[@BoleDaPole]

The west is , to a large part creatively bankrupt. Many of these people don't even know if they're male or female, or what a female even is lmao. They're lost.

[@shadowsnake5133]

It's not even really lost, just that they refuse to use it. Indie developers have plenty, it's honestly the easiest part about making a game. The implementation is the harder part.

[@shoon3032]

It's videos like this that make me go "Man I knew the things I've been saying was on the money". People that I've played games with would defend the (Bad) gaming industry and their decisions simply because they don't have many options nowadays. (At least, this is how I view it) The amount of gratitude I had when Elden Ring came out was immeasurable. That game really made me think that I've been depraved of good games from developers that cared about their community. It reminded me of when I really was happy playing video games, and not hopping onto my console/computer *as a job* .

[@rdubayoo]

The people defending the gaming industry are a phenomenon I've noticed, and it's not just in games. Some people seem hellbent on defending mediocrity and inadequacy to the point where you begin to wonder what is wrong with them. Are they afraid of things changing for the better and prefer a substandard world?

[@AdonanS]

​@@rdubayooI think those are the people that view your criticism as a personal attack because they like the product, or have a lot invested into it (momey, time, or hope). When someone starts pointing out the flaws, it makes them wonder if something is wrong with them; it makes them feel lesser because they like something with numerous flaws. Obviously, they're not lesser for it, but they feel lesser.

[@bananas2aday]

​@rdubayoo this is deadass one of the best years of gaming weve ever had. We have baldurs gate 3, spiderman 2, starfield, hi fi rush, sea of stars, totk, harry potter, jedi survivor, pikmin 4 all these options but people are saying gaming is dead. Like its literally not dead id say the issue is there are TOO MANY choices for gaming.

[@bricaaron3978]

@@AdonanS Imagine how a small child would react if you started criticizing his latest favorite toy. I have to add that I have believed for quite some time now that the corrupt gaming media has a lot of culpability in the degeneration of the industry. Just like the image translators of the Matrix, they can't be trusted... because "they work _for_ the construct".

[@durakeno5575]

@@rdubayoo When people defend the gaming industry, they're not defending the braindead games like Ubisoft open worlds or the new COD title. They're defending the gaming industry as a whole. Like the all the good Indie games that people who make these kinds of videos practically ignore. I'm not even gonna watch this vid because I know it's just baiting people and I don't want to contribute to his view count.

[@ASwordElite]

I miss the old Halo days. Back when you had a piece of armor that said, "This player did something really difficult or cool". I miss players being like "oh shit" when they saw me and my friends wearing a full EOD armor set in Halo 3, because they knew we were good enough to beat the campaign on legendary. I'm saddened that those days will never come back.

[@MasterAlpha1000]

Ok boomer

[@mishagaming1075]

@@MasterAlpha1000Ratio.

[@yenbi4020]

​@@MasterAlpha1000Zoomer called a Nostalgic Chad a boomer. Average situation.

[@Influfferious]

I remember the launch of Darktide. Where in the Beta all cosmetics avaiable were the really cool and often difficult to get, and I felt really proud to parade my full outfit of the best achievements. Then it launched, with a cash shop... Without earnable currency that they promised, and EVERYTHING in it looked more flashy and "cooler" than what you could get in game. I never touched that game again

[@lewispooper3138]

@@yenbi4020nah he’s right Games now will be remembered fondly by whoever plays them now and they’ll talk smack about new games. How do you not see the cycle?

[@CoolExcite]

On the topic of the 200 vs 3000 developers thing. In software development there's this idea of the "10x dev" a developer who is highly motivated and passionate and does 10 times the work of the average employee. The thing is if you take the 10x dev who studied software because they wanted to make fun video games, and then tell them that they're instead going to make live service garbage, I'd imagine they'd because a 1x dev pretty damn quick

[@atomictraveller]

get their balls in a nasty lodge approved witch and burn that old boy in a jif

[@TheBrazilRules]

More like, 9 pregnant women can't give birth to a baby in 1 month

[@TheBrazilRules]

I was reflecting about this while watching gameplay for the 2001 Duke Nukem Forever prototype, and I think modern development methodologies may have a role. In the past, programmers would tackle multiple game mechanics in parallel, trying to include the most they could into the game, while nowadays, you are expected to focus on 1 Jira issue until you are finished with that, which may take time that could be used on other stuff while you are spinning in place on the current issue and even thinking about your own gameplay additions you could propose to be added later

[@chrisbenson6753]

This has been my sentiment for a while. It’s kind of hard to keep leveling all of the blame at greedy publishers. They are a massive problem, but not the only massive problem. Glad to know I’m not alone.

[@NoiseTank]

Former Destiny player/creator here. It's really sad to see friends in the community still struggling with letting D2 go. Bungie has people by their psychological balls and I think this video and your other about live service really drives home how bad it is. Even though your content has negative connotations it really resonates how I've been feeling about gaming lately. I jokingly say to my friend group Elden Ring ruined gaming for me because of how much of a master piece it was in this awful time line of gaming we live in. Keep up the discussions dude great video.

[@NovemberHotel]

Thanks I appreciate it. It really is sad to see how many players are willfully participating in their own exploitation. When you play games like Elden Ring or some older titles it really puts into perspective just how bad AAA gaming has gotten.

[@mr.fister4738]

​@@NovemberHotelThat's the reason I can't play new games. Older games are just so much better in every aspect except graphics that it's hard to play the newer and downgraded stuff. I wish I was born earlier to experience the hype and community feeling that games like Bungies Halo games, Treyarchs CODs or the old Battlefields had when they were revealed and released. Shit's crazy nowadays, man...

[@paulhudalla9527]

@@mr.fister4738 same here. I wish I could have been around for some earlier generations, the 1990s to most of the 2010s was when lots of great games were made. At this point, I don't care much about the new games, I've just wanted to play older games. I find that multiplayer stuff sucks nowadays. Online gaming is mostly boring, I really used to enjoy playing with my friends in local co-op/versus. the early days of online actually do seem like they were fun (idk, I'm too young to have experienced it myself), and online games feel like nothing anymore, its just... lame and boring.

[@hermitcard4494]

ELDEN RING? Speaking of creativity ER falls exactly into this. ER is just Demon Souls 5 with jumping and open world. Skyrim is way superior, specially with Dark Souls mods; lacking only multiplayer, which is what I guess are your and your friends "psychological balls"(what you mean Bungie has them from). Nothing beats the quality of single player games/experiencie, it doesn't rely on "any shit is fun with friends".

[@headshotmaster138]

@@hermitcard4494 Just admit you sucked at ER and move on.

[@ohthatpie]

I think a good point also is because AAA video game projects are so much more expensive to make now that they have to be as generic as possible in order to appeal to the general audience similar things as movies right now

[@lycanwarrior2137]

EXACTLY. And why they are more expensive??? A combination of both MASSIVE inflation and technological progress. And both of those are a consequence of the rock-bottom interest rates and QE (essentially money printing) that's been used by the Federal Reserve and Central Banks over the past few decades.

[@id1550]

@@lycanwarrior2137No they’re more expensive because that’s what people are willing to pay for them. That’s the only reason why games were $60 to begin with: because companies wanted to price them as much as possible, without the fear of nobody just not buying them. $60 was the standard price. If they cost more, people will complain, if they cost less, they get less return. It was a good number. Obviously this is true because we see all the people complaining about $70 games

[@reethardio6432]

they dont have to be generic, look at monster hunter, witcher 3, metro exodus, and even the early access of baldurs gate 3. hell elden ring alone proves that notion wrong. they dont HAVE to be generic, its just that the shareholders want a safe bet, and very few people have the balls to go against share holders and ceos constant greed for infinitely growing profit

[@tokusatsukeyblade797]

This is why I keep telling people to go play AA or indie games if they are looking for creativity, since the AAA mainstream market sure as hell isn’t going to provide any.

[@metroiddoom5178]

Companies like Sony purposely started making games with inflated movie like budgets purely for investors. The idea that they actually spend hundreds of millions just to make a game is laughable

[@georgejungle2760]

You said everything that needs to be said about modern games and cover everyone of us who still has a few working braincells. Thank you 🙏

[@macho8240]

Hey, I've been checking out this channel for a while now, and your probably not gonna see this, but your videos have helped me get out of my gaming addiction. Whenever I see the state of the industry, it just makes me sad. I only play Minecraft for fun now because I'm pursuing my degree in Engineering Leadership, and I don't have the time to play like I used to. I may be a zoomer, but I know where my priorities and standards lie now. I'm not going to have my attention span fried again by most of these lazy and greedy companies anymore. Thank you for sheading light on these topics ❤

[@NovemberHotel]

Hell yeah man that’s awesome! Best of luck chasing that degree!

[@gogetaa11]

I think your point about game stories no longer taking advantage of the fact that they're games is spot on. Stories like the Last of Us, Spec Ops the line, Far Cry 3 and others use the medium to get you to think beyond the game. That blend of storytelling through gameplay and well written dialogue in cutscenes gives experiences that can't be had elsewhere. I'm hoping more games start to realize that again. Great video bro.

[@yol_n]

Funny how last of us part 2 hates being a game lol

[@gogetaa11]

@@yol_n lol yeah which is one of my main issues with it. Hates being a game yet is almost three times as long for no reason.

[@yol_n]

@@gogetaa11 we all know why ;)

[@labelnine]

i still play red dead 2 after 4 years , i already beat the game around 7 6 times and didnt find anything interesting to play

[@yol_n]

@@labelnine starfield? or the red dead redemption port lol

[@lowang9708]

My friend literally COMPLAINED about the fact that Prey 2017 has a small map with too much things at every corner... i can't believe myself, you are on point especially at the end.

[@Elemental227]

I'd also say with such an excessive number of developers (3000 in cods case) there is no possible way you could keep any focused creative intent/vision in a project. Companies seem to just throw bigger and bigger numbers at studios and expect faster and higher quality work, but after a certain point I think having too many devs would slow things down more than anything.

[@todesziege]

You certainly can't allow as much experimentation during development as was common during the '80s-'90s and early 2000's.

[@secretname2670]

​@@todesziegecannot, or won't?

[@uku4171]

@@secretname2670 corporations pretty much just can't. If you're the in the leadership corporation that is known for making these BS low-risk yearly releases such as Ubisoft, and you suddenly take a risk, expect to be kicked out. Even if the risk pays off, the investors that put money into your corporation, put it there assuming that you will not take risks.

[@uku4171]

I'm not sure. Things like physics and graphics engines or development tools just NEED big teams, or they won't improve nowadays. You also need a shit-ton of writers, voice actors, animators, and all kinds of artists and programmers to pull off a big game, such as RDR2 for example. I think you just need to get the structure and leadership right, as well as getting the right people working on it of course. Also, maybe most importantly, you need time. Also, I know that people don't like to hear this, but the blame is also partly on the gamers. Not just for buying the yearly garbage that big studios put out, but also because of the overall culture in gaming. I'd make a longer comment about this, but I don't even know if people will read this one.

[@dioniscaraus6124]

​@@uku4171It's a shame people are satisfied with slop

[@exowodia7505]

damn, the message of this videos hits me, as an aspiring artist that wants to work in the industry really woke me up a lot, and about how creativity is dead because boredom is getting less and less because theres so many things that can keep us entertained, i can almost relate to that because when i was a kid i would draw because i was bored and now drawing bores me and just open youtube, facebook and all this social media thats what i feel like is more entertaining and here i am dreaming to work in the industry, this video made me realize that im just a dreamer and not a creative who wants to make cool stuff, this video woke me up a lot and I will change my "lifestyle" and will try my best to get out of this " dopamine hole", i know this isnt the main point of the video but yeah.... this video is good and ive learnt something from it you really deserve the sub (mb if my english is bad, its not my 1st language)

[@Crunchyspatient]

Same

[@justsomeguy2142]

There isnt a whole lot to keep us entertained its just that we’ve reached a point where the standard simpleton can be entertained with barely anything so as long as it gives us the illusion of entertainment like seasons pass and dlc when in fact we arent getting shit

[@vallahdsacretor4839]

It's easy to just... do something. It's very easy, and that's what it boils down to. You aren't any less bored, you're just doing something to do something. It's enough stimulation to not feel bored, but it's not enough to really enjoy the experience. That's why I left Destiny 1, I could feel myself just doing things to do things, and that's not why I play games. What I recommend doing is simple: Get off social media, all of it. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, TikTok, Instafuck, all of it. KZbin is great for music and actual long form content, so I don't really hold that as social media. Then just go for walks, let your mind wander, and come up with ideas. Then figure out how to translate those ideas into a creative medium. I'm a writer and wanting to get into game design. I've been paying attention to how games are made, learned programming, and have been looking forward to making time to work on things. This works well enough that I have a plethora of ideas and concepts to work with once I actually sit down and get going.

[@def3ndr887]

Join or become a indie dev, what the video mentioned, creativity is not dead for indie devs

[@vernaltear]

Indie devs right now have finally been getting the chance to blow up with the decreasing popularity of triple A games and I think that’s freaking brilliant. You should check out Escape from Lavender Town, one of the most creative and unique games I’ve played in recent years!

[@daviddedios8273]

I'm sad that these companies I love turned into these money loving goblins. So what other games are there that ooze creativity?

[@jackstraw4222]

its odd because back in the 1990s and early 2000s they were also obsessed with money,but the landscape back then was trying to make a better game than the other company,even if it was in the same genre...they dont do that anymore ,not since the early 2010s...

[@firun2635]

Finally, someone who also realized that the lack of boredom, coupled with an overabundance of easily available distractions is one of the cores of everything that's wrong today.

[@atomictraveller]

i kind of wish i could find that vibe, > 50 and, as a dev, games interest me. it's just so hard to find one that doesn't make me want to nuke the entire planet jesus

[@alex62965]

remaster, remakes and reboots are probably very popular from a business point. They are safe options that are most likely to bring in the most consistent money. This is because these old games that are getting said treatment have already shown themselves to be popular. Sooo big companies can take advantage of this by monetising a game that people have already paid for in the past + any new monetary schemes (battle pass, microtransactions, live service or any other paywalls) creativity definitely hasn't died, the gaming world has been optimised for max monetary gain. This optimisation sadly doesn't incentivise new, creative, out there, dangerous, pushing the boat out ideas that made gaming be so popular in the first place.

[@aztumtheknightofwumbo7060]

That's 100% what I feel is also happening on top of everything applying in this video.

[@kamitorings]

creativity is ruined by absurd monetary gain, you're wrong, creativity is dead because of their incessant greed, its about quantity not quality, what is quality? CREATIVENESS.

[@alex62965]

@@kamitorings the reason I say creativity isn't dead is because of the creativity of smaller games like: gunfire reborn, halls of torment, battle bit remastered, risk of rain, children of morta, dead cells, deep rock galactic, noita ect ect ect. There are exceptions with bigger games like elden ring, the newest final fantasy (XVI) seems to be received well, diablo 4 (all though that does have greedy aspects) legend of Zelda: tears of the kingdom, hogwarts legacy, god of war Ragnarok,

[@id1550]

And I feel like people are viewing remakes of games as a bad thing for some reason. I’ll take ff7 remake for example. Do you guys seriously think there’s anything wrong with remaking a game released in 1997 with AAA graphics and gameplay? There is nothing wrong with that. They actually need a lot of creativity to expand onto the game. I think that argument is ridiculous and people don’t realize you actually need creativity to remake a very old game with next gen graphics and design

[@DemiCape]

One reason remakes is a thing is because of consoles becoming old so they have to release the same game for the newer console.

[@celestinahuang3483]

Creativity isnt dead imo, i know quite a lot of artists and writers dying to share their ideas to the industries. The issue is people being too afraid to branch out and take risks with new ideas hence pitches are often rejected unless they fall into popular trends or are adaptions of super popular existing works

[@Stunex]

yep, games (as well as movies) are made with a formula nowadays, there's simply no room for creativity or innovation in the process. I think that's also the reason why the truly talented and passionate people leave big companies after a while and, more often than not, start their own (indie/AA) studios. These games sometimes become big successes, the company gets acquired by EA, Ubisoft, etc and the cycle continues.

[@lenowoo]

If it didn't surface, it might as well ded

[@WhiteGryphus]

@@lenowoo Or rather, if it can't surface, it might as well be dead af.

[@bobisconsumed520]

The greatest embodiment of this decline in creativity is Destiny franchise/Bungie: Destiny went from some fantastical sci-fy rpg to a stimulant MCUish shell of what it originally began as.

[@jldkrank]

it was empty at launch.

[@TheDirvish]

​@@jldkrankExactly. I'm one of those Halo fans that followed Bungie into their future and holy shit the story and lore of Destiny is so boring and bland. Bungie litterally gave up their awesome genius and unique sci fi sandbox shooter in favor of a great colored flavorless nothjng burger of a fcking game with no story 😂 And then they fired and sued the shit out of Marty Odonnel - their golden goose and INSISTED on just getting worse and worse. I loved old Bungie, but I cannot forgive their betrayal of Marty nor the fact they completely abandoned Halo and its fans to the vibrantly worse 343.

[@Superunknown190]

Hell, I’ll bring up another problem. Sometimes game companies will “remaster” their beloved older titles, fuck it up, and pull the original game off digital stores to force you to shell out more money for an OBJECTIVELY inferior product. GTA trilogy is a perfect example.

[@ModBros8434]

I think the main problem is that companies have realized that it’s not profitable to invest a ton of money into a high quality game when they can compensate with brand recognition, tech appeal, and other tactics

[@ebenezerspludge8369]

I wouldn't say "it’s not profitable to invest a ton of money into a high quality game" I would say they are looking to maximize profits.

[@Sound557]

1:14 this, I’ve had this idea in my head for a few weeks. Games are kind of like life: they’re special because they don’t last forever. Being immortal would get boring and empty, and I’ve yet to see a “live service” game that makes people truly happy.

[@hey_its_travis]

This is what happens when you hire people for other reasons than a talent or passion for making great games.

[@annekristiina7503]

Yeah, makes one wonder how these developers can be happy and content at their jobs, right? ...and you know what kills creativity so fast? Discontent.

[@basedlordprime]

@@annekristiina7503 They're happy because they get paid big bucks to do jack shit in some kushy office all day.

[@kenshinhimura9387]

Diversity hires ruin everything

[@annekristiina7503]

@@basedlordprime Some maybe, but the real people making the games can't be that happy for not getting to use their creativity at work for the long run. After all, they signed up for a pretty creative career.

[@Digger-Nick]

The result of hiring based on skin color and gender over qualifications. DEI is a joke 🤣

[@RayWearer]

Totally agree! It's just sad, but true gamers still exist and new masterpieces will come out from time to time (most probably from indie devs)

[@B_Machine]

AAA games have gotten so extensive and graphically intense that studios now have no choice but to use sometimes 10x the amount of developers they once needed. Video games have become crazy expensive investments, which means they're also more risky business wise as well. Companies are incentivized to take a safe route when creating new video games, which is to go with what works. It means making generic stories, following data trends, and increasing the surface value (higher quality graphics, bigger maps, greater player counts, etc) to reach the biggest audience possible to meet high financial expectations.

[@sword_of_damocle5]

Same applies to the film industry. Too much money and too much to lose if things go bad.

[@thesilverjedi8663]

It’s so refreshing to not be the only one who thinks this shit

[@terminasitor769]

Totk is not a game with a "large empty open world" literally every 5 minutes you get distracted by something that will take you at least half an hour to explore. As far as creativity goes, I don't think you can get more creative than the fuse mechanic, that allows you to build literally anything you can imagine. All of this is to say that creativity is not completely dead in aaa videogames, it's just a risk and when a game has as much budget as a movie, the corpos want to play it safe.

[@mrbigglezworth42]

So I think I can figure out a part of the issue. Devs from earlier eras not only had to try to design new engines, but also had to figure out the quirks of said engine. They also had to deal with technical limitations of the hardware of the time, so interesting workarounds had to be designed in order to create the intended, or close to intended, effect. Limitation breeds creativity as well, as the solution to problems can be pretty damn impressive. Of course, many early era devs were also older individuals with experience in other fields and life in general, so had a larger pool of skills and talents to draw from. Modern devs are comparatively entitled children, demanding the same prestige but none of the talent to back it up. Are you seriously going to tell me that Warcraft:Reforged is as good as the game it's "remastering"?

[@atomictraveller]

it's difficult to appreciate. in my era, both going outside and meeting dangerous people were considered natural. following the evolving threads of cultural fiction gets real slim going backwards. i agree with your post, it's still true, eg. i can rag on everyone for using quaternions for everything. the other thing people often miss tho is the pretty much exclusive m450nic corruption. they're not real bright people. clever, yes.

[@QuandariusHuzz-bq1jn]

The fixed camera angles of og resident evil games instantly come to mind when you said technical limits

[@tickleberrypie8662]

A big problem I have with the current AAA game’s is that it feels like we’ve lost the diversity of older titles. I remember when each studio would put out a wide variety of different games, there were puzzles, platformers, rhythm games, RPG’s, so on and so forth. But now every game is an “Esteemed 3d realistic open world RPG”. And when I hear one of these fail, the blame is always “It should have been more open.” Or “it should have been more realistic.” Even series that don’t fit into this binary I still see people saying “Should have made it a 3D game.” And people wonder why all games feel the same now smh

[@Skumtomten1]

Indeed. It was alot more specialized, each studio developed their own games with their own identify in their own genre. Regardless of type of game or genre, you could find a developer that put out a good game for you back in the day. These days, and in the past decade, it has been all about chasing the latest trends, copying mechanics and ideas from the latest most successfull game. All of it follow a formula that attempt to capture as many people's attention as possible and appeal to the lowest common denominator, regardless of the type of game or genre. The end result is that all games becomes the same and have the same systems, becoming worse copies of the games they try to take inspiration from. While I agree with the video that modern devs generally lack competence, this is entirely the fault of upper management and their decisions. They decide what projects gets funding and what type of game the devs should make, and the strategy has sadly been to just follow the latest best selling game and making something similar. That is actually against all theory and basic principles of management, but I guess those people didn't listen to the lectures at all.

[@Skumtomten1]

Also quite ironic how diversity is being promoted to such a degree today yet we live in a time of creativity, problem solving and unique thinking crisis. If diversity is so important why are they all making the same games?

[@lafourmiedesbois5901]

AAA are held by investors and speculators all they are concerned about is the game ROI. So AAA developpers are not directed by the consummers or their passion but by their financial stakeholders and so they will not take any risk whereas indies are under a lot more risk right from the start they can take a risk by trying new stuff, AAA will always be behind indies now and they'll have to find a way to catch this creative energy a little bit like mario did when it started they bought all the dev companies they could until it was deemed monopoly action.

[@hadookin47]

The 3D one is a big problem. When Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze was remastered for the switch, one of the most polished and creative 2D platformers ever, so many people didn’t even bother with it since it’s “just” a 2D game. I also think Sekiro is a masterpiece but I had even more fun in Dead Cells

[@userxy6987]

Aren't modern gamers the ones who want every game coated with "modern paint"/ homogenized? Hell they have been saying this to classic titles which are more unique and iconic than the modern slops we have nowadays.

[@liamnigenda2849]

I love how you bring up its dead, when 2023 has been a great year for games. Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Stars, Final Fantasy 16, Resident Evil 4 Remake (basically a different game), Pikmin 4, Street Fighter 6, Armored Core 6, etc. A lot of what I listed are AAA games. That’s not even counting Spider-Man 2, Mario Wonder, Alan Wake 2, Mortal Kombat 1, etc. Why don’t you guys just try playing stuff other than First-person shooters and games from companies with a bad track record?

[@cidtorrez2953]

those are all sequels💀

[@terenz4242]

@@cidtorrez2953 hi-fi rush and sea of stars are sequels?

[@cidtorrez2953]

@@terenz4242 u know what i meant, a majority

[@FebbyFaber]

@@cidtorrez2953Me when a game series sticks to a genre: GAMING IS DEAD 😱😱

[@ExtraLifeReviews]

​@@cidtorrez2953fantastic sequels to other fantastic games, some of which aren't direct sequels either like FF XVI and BG3

[@TheFool87]

Back in the old days of gaming: - Let's make a good game that everyone would enjoy and then we can make good money out of it Today's modern gaming : - let's make a game that we can make insane money out of it by using every psychological trick and exploitation in the book to make people addicted to it. You know, like drug dealers.

[@igorpolak6246]

yea and then if something good like for example Baldurs gate come out devs from other companies cry to not set new "impossibile" standarts

[@Lagchunk]

Finally someone who isn't delusional about devs. People act like every dev are perfect angels who do no wrong, such a breath of air to see someone not delusionally attached to the devs.

[@vurhn2009]

Yeah! And of course for me this leads to pessimism for me, can't trust anything.

[@metpach]

I got a buddy who used to be a developer, he says they're all garbage lazy loser trash, and their the majority of the reason why games suck. Yes upper management is terrible, but the lower-end people don't care. That's why he quit.

[@vurhn2009]

@@metpach I got that feeling as well

[@FlamespeedyAMV]

​@@metpachmost people defend Devs and blame the publisher's, I blame them all, scumbags.

[@metpach]

@@FlamespeedyAMV facts

[@tjfrye11]

The best way to put it is that games nowadays have a lot of fluff before you get to the actual game play. That fluff makes it seem a lot better than it really is & by the time you've cleared through the fluff & you're left with just the game as intended, you've already become hooked in to something you don't necessarily like

[@BrokenCircle1]

Im only 4 minutes in and wow this is a fantastic video. You hit the nail on the head.

[@mishimareina]

I think another problem that these games have is that because of the esports trend of being able to compete and become rich whenever a multiplayer game comes out it's almost always about grinding and getting good. I wish there were more multiplayer games that encouraged interacting with other players, having fun, harmless trolling instead of chasing wins all the time. It's easy to brainwash these kids when they go to college and see that there's an esport division.

[@todesziege]

eSports is a cancer upon game design.

[@Johnnyjawbone]

Remember local multiplayer games? The Switch is the only platform doing them anymore

[@chiefawesomeness]

So glad you threw Masquerade: Bloodlines in there. A perfect example of a CREATIVE and GOOD game. It was broken beyond belief, had so many flaws, but you could see the passion and creativity bleeding through all the cracks.. And that’s what made it so amazing regardless. You see the effort, you see the vision that the team wanted, and even though they couldn’t give you the vision THEY had for it, they still gave you a little piece. But that TINY PIECE, is nothing short of an artistically crafted experience.

[@todesziege]

Unfortunately it killed the developer. Troika had a short run, but what a run.

[@botezsimp5808]

Such a good game. I remember buying it on a whim for 5$ on steam. I was blown away by how much fun I had on it. Some cool mods for it as well. So many different choices you could make.. the world was small but packed full of neat things. Bigger isn't always better.

[@snazzypants57]

Sometimes I think gaming was such a “new” and “niche” industry for the first 30 years that the only people taking it seriously WERE the gamers. Even at the studio level. Studios making games they wanted to play. And as long as corporations like Microsoft and Sony could “passively” profit off of a small demographic, then they didn’t care how it happened as long as it did. Then the explosion of gaming popularity (including mobile) and the “investors” and CEO types started to see the potential cash cow that was there, and they couldn’t help but insert themselves into controlling game development and driving down the path of maximizing the cash cow potential and stripping that “cow” (industry) of all of its life in the process.

[@NovemberHotel]

Exactly true dude. Games used to be developed BY gamers, MADE for gamers. REAL GAMERS.

[@todesziege]

The point where megacorporations like Microsoft and Sony got involved was the point where it began turning for the worse. Before that the industry was led by actual game developers.

[@ViperVenoM13]

Civilization is declining not only video games industry

[@Max-kq8kg]

Very true, I feel like it has become way harder to monetize/market "the new thing" in entertainment in recent years. Because everything is so readily available.

[@MonkehMike]

This kind of made me think about when Minecraft started to get popular. I think the main reason this game blew up like it did to begin with was that it didn’t really have a purpose for the player. It forces the player to use their imagination and/or creativity. And through that make their own goals and adventures in the game. To let people tab into that part of themselves was probably the main reason why people loved this game, knowingly or unknowingly. Because what else in life gives you that kind of experience. Some of the fun features in Skyrim came about in the very end of the development of the game - where devs were allowed to make whatever feature they wanted: they called it a “game jam”. Look it up it might just bring a smile to your face when you hear these devs presenting their idea then showing it off to their colleagues.

[@atomictraveller]

"mine - craft"

[@sleepingxawake]

You just hit every thought that I have towards modern AAA gaming today. Epic video

[@4zureSapphire]

I think originality is drying up because most of if not all original ideas and innovations have already been done before and most new things are mirrors reflecting original ideas while trying to put a spin on them. It is a struggle to create something new and original without spinning it off of something that has already been done before.

[@ArjunTheRageGuy]

I bet a video about the real reason why gaming isn't fun anymore has an answer that's similar to yours

[@chillaxboi2109]

You could make something right now without any close outside inspiration and people would still point at whichever thing they deemed it took ideas from. My perspective is that, we have this warped idea of what games are where, if it's not "the best" then it's nothing. We play too many games as well, we become jaded of gaming because we don't have rests. And... Originality is a myth. If I told you that the term pseudonym was coined by the Greeks then it probably means that the actual term probably was made by another civilisation or at a different time. Most likely BEFORE Homer even became a thing. Thus, the Odissey wouldn't be the first of its kind. We are talking about a historic book, a book we still keep close to our culture with lots of references to it. Names like Jason, Homer and Helen being a thing are thanks to this book.

[@sandmanthesandman2460]

As always, I appreciate that you're always fighting for the consumer out here on this Godforsaken platform

[@Jamazed]

I'm glad you didn't hold back the punches. So many people are willing to call out games for being failures but always caveat that the hardworking developers aren't to blame. But they're actually part of the problem if the writing is awful, if the game is littered with bugs, and if the team bends over backwards at the drop of a hat to monetize the fun out of their game. It's not just the publisher or a single executive's fault - some game companies are just compromised all the way to their core.

[@stickguy9109]

As someone with a potato pc I am glad that I got to play and appreciate the older titles for how much of a masterpiece they are.

[@eraumavez9330]

Same

[@chrisparsons2791]

Me 2

[@hadookin47]

Even to this day they fill up less Steam Deck space and almost always run perfectly

[@stickguy9109]

@@hadookin47 This. How do Batman arkham games manage to look so good and run well

[@kinghearts4497]

I feel this so hard when the only FPS I've been constantly going back to and genuinely addicted to, in a healthy sense, is Ultrakill. I don't play it every day but when I get that urge every few weeks? I'm in it. It does exactly what you say the AAA companies don't do AND AS OF THE WRITING OF THIS COMMENT IT'S STILL IN EARLY ACCESS.

[@todesziege]

There's been a healthy wave of creative indie shooters over the past few years, Ultrakill being one of them.

[@Beelzeboogie]

Dusk got me back into caring about games again.

[@AlexYaremchuk]

Why everyone feels they have to edit in random stock clips into everything? It impossible to watch.

[@AJ-ed7mx]

I get what you are saying brother. Games used to feel like an adventure through someone elses vision. Now its just like, heres a square room we filled with shit 😂

[@jameswayton2340]

''Genuine care is gone'' ' and '' people have zero standards'' is something that is infecting everything these days not just gaming. For example, i love techno music. And years ago i often went to places with techno, like partys. And often times when the DJ was doing a bad job (Bad track selecting, bad transitions betweens sets) people would not even NOTICE. Most people did not even care about the music.

[@minussoup9183]

Indie games are probably destined to steal gamers away, as more of us start to unironically say “fine, I’ll do it myself.”

[@ngoutz00]

The really interesting part about employee turnover in different videogame companies is Treyarch. A lot of the devs that worked on WoW, BO1 and BO2 left and formed Respawn and made the first two Titanfalls, then a lot of them then left Respawn throughout Apex's lifetime/EA's acquisition and you start to realize how these talented people who worked on WoW, BO1 and BO2 are all in very different places now

[@Rogue_Tiger]

Bro it's hard. Everything has been done already. In a world with so much history, everything is cliche ..

[@Big_kahuna_guy]

Been playing destiny since the beta in 2014. We as players saved Bungie from falling off the map. And you know what we got in return? A kick to the head and thrown to the side for their new baby marathon. The true destiny killer was always itself

[@kenshinhimura9387]

Destiny was a trash game from day 1. It was super boring, had zero enemy variety, bad ai and every boss felt like a bullet sponge which is the exact wrong way to do an fps game.

[@Big_kahuna_guy]

@@kenshinhimura9387 that’s your opinion. Raid and dungeons to this day are some of the best content out there as far as games go imo. The issue is the greed and lack of care in other aspects of the game. If you don’t like it, don’t play. But you can’t tell me it doesn’t have it’s good parts despite all the bad. It’s like saying Minecraft is boring because there’s only like 10 blocks because you only played it in beta in 2011.

[@kenshinhimura9387]

@@Big_kahuna_guy bro the game is garbage. Even halo 1 on original Xbox has more enemy variety and better gunplay

[@coregod109]

Great video i feel a large part of causes this lack of talent you see now a days is that most newer hires are people who went to school to learn how to use unreal engine or unity where as if you look at older media from studios (bungie behind the scenes) comes to mind they were programmers that had a passion for games. The stuff they made was technically sound and it reflects in the levels of interactivity en performance those games had compared to current releases. Crowbcat videos showing off gta 4 vs gta 5 for example shows how much newer releases have regressed on a technical level

[@todesziege]

True. A lot of younger developers never learned to do things 'from the ground up', starting with off-the-shelf toolsets like Unreal or Unity, working further from the 'metal'.

[@richardsavolainen944]

You don't have to be a programmer in order to be a good dev. Thats like saying you have to craft all the ingredients for dye and make brushes from scratch in order to be a good painter. You just need to know the tools you're using and how to use them well. Kind of a biased and elitist view of how actual creative development works

[@todesziege]

@@richardsavolainen944 You don't _need_ to be a programmer to design games, but knowing some programming can definitely help. There is more overlap between constructing program systems and constructing game systems than people often think.

[@coregod109]

@@richardsavolainen944 your painter example doesn't make sense unless you count asset store flips as actual game development. You can't make a game without writing code I don't get what you're trying to say your example should be you can be a painter without being able to paint yeah sure you are just a bad painter then which is what I was saying about devs

[@SammyEdgeINC]

All your points are excellent. However wr cannot forget that specificly for the ground level grunts/developers/programmers it isn't so much "incompetence" as it is "being used and ground into the dirt" between super crunch, toxic environments and overall poor treatment and pay there are more than enough factors to rob these people of their creativeness

[@FrederickGuese]

The last AAA game I felt was different was Death Stranding. The focus on traversal is great despite it being Kojima at his unfiltered (for better or worse). Anyways, about your video, I have no skin in the looter shooters and only play CoD for shit and giggles. I think I know why I feel so alien going back to school for game design. My frame of difference is so different with games having meat. Can see why some of my professors are former devs.

[@EggEnjoyer]

There is a lack of talent in game studios. I can explain why. Remember when Elden Ring dropped and a ubisoft dev called it bad game design and said that they dont understand why the game is popular? The reason for this is because the Ubisoft dev only has an institutional understanding of game design. As in their knowledge of game design only comes from college and from the their corporate job. They themselves do not have an intuitive understanding and love of game design. They have an academic understanding and that's it. So when someone breaks away from their rigid understanding of design, it confuse and frustrates them. And you see this in all creative fields. You've got writters who's parents paid for them to go to college and then they got a writing job in their hometown of LA. And then you've got people who have been writing fanfiction since he age of 15, are avid readers, a profound and organic understanding and love of literature, but are gate kept from the writing industry because the industry is filled with the same college "educated" morons. The truth is that college isnt a bad thing or anything, but it can often act as a means of elevating mediocre or even incompetent people. There are a lot of uncreative people in creative fields because they know how to perform well in academia. There are people in STEM who are honestly almost braindead, but they know how to study and do well in academia but lack the ability to think critically or in unique ways.

[@damarkisallen1013]

I think the biggest problem with gaming is that too many people are willing to buy anything, triple A devs don’t care to make anything because why would they put in more effort when they can do the bare minimum spend less time and money and make more money than they did before.Remember consumers have power than most of ppl think

[@bullylowenthal2683]

Too bad most of you guys choose to complain instead of doing something about it or actually exploring other games and genres. You guys remind me of I was born in the wrong generation people

[@HAYL0W]

bro, i still play oblivion. lol. thats where im at with games.

[@detectivestudios7699]

Remedy is my favourite game developer studio, they haven’t made a lot of games, but each one has been a phenomenal experience. To my knowledge pretty much all the main people working there are the same ones from the beginning. Also I must add that Control is my favourite game off all time. The main reason is probably because its world, in all aspects, is so imaginative and and creative.

[@roblonsote]

The best time to be a gamer will always be today, because you can replay all the good games that came in the past, and once in a while you play a AAA that's actually worth playing. (That happens once every 2 to 3 years)

[@bricaaron3978]

Those AAA games that you claim are "worth playing" (and "worth playing" is hardly a glowing compliment in my opinion) are not anywhere _remotely near_ the greatness of past AAA games _at the time they were released._ I believe that one of your problems is that you are comparing your reaction to a modern game to your _modern_ reaction to an older game --- and not your reaction to the older game _when it was actually released_ (or to the general reaction if you never played it when it was released).

[@matthewwilliams3827]

@@bricaaron3978well said 👏

[@Dailyfiver]

I am such a massive cod zombies fan so it’s nice to see somebody else talking about the quality dropping off a cliff. I felt like I’ve been yelling into the void for so long saying that zombies isn’t nearly as good as it used to be. I’m a beginner indie dev, but Makes me want to develop a zombies-like game. Obviously I’d have to change up the style to like robots, automaton, or other monsters though lol. If anyone has any ideas I’d love to hear it.

[@Dailyfiver]

@fishy2939 bro wtf are you on about 🤣🤣 why are you so angry lol. C H I L L

[@foob420]

I found FF16 to be a breath of fresh air this year. It's a flawed game, but it has soul and it's nice to get a full, complete and unique experience out of a video game for once. No MTX, no live service bs, just a solid game that stands on it's own.

[@atomictraveller]

japanese games are a breath of fresh air, as long as it's japanese air. crack open that w3st p4puan game, whew!

[@TheBrazilRules]

That just show how expectations are rock bottom. What a trash game to be giving this much praise to.

[@Christwodafur]

This is why I love games like Sly Cooper, stylized, fun, and heart. You can really feel that in a game! GREAT VID 🔥

[@hadookin47]

I didn’t play Sly Cooper until it was released on the PS Vita, was absolutely in love

[@syl_ster230]

I have been saying this for a very long time now any time someone brings it up. I don't doubt game development is hard, but it is extremly sketchy that years ago, the games would just work. The teams behind those games were smaller and maybe even less experienced. There is no excuse for the same companies to launch and support games the way they do now. If modern games would launch the way they are now 10 years ago the companies would go bankrupt because nobody would even dare defend that bs time and time again.

[@kenshinhimura9387]

Gen Z is the reason modern gaming is so bad. They accept garbage and defend the devs who sell them this garbage.

[@todesziege]

The smaller teams were likely a reason _why_ the games worked. It's much easier for a smaller team to work as a unit than some 2000 man hydra spread over dozens of companies.

[@_SimpleJack_]

Gaming has turned to Hollywood for inspiration, reboot, rehash and regret.

[@FlamespeedyAMV]

I wonder why that is, couldn't be because the same people who run Hollywood, also seem to run the banks, media, etc?

[@thecaptain3594]

I feel like the original creators of properties such as Halo, Fallout, Souls, God of War, Mass Effect, etc., did so for the pure love of creation and a passion for their art. Even movie makers like George Lucas, Peter Jackson, or Ivan Reitman were the same. Now, it seems like all of that is gone, and the ONLY motivation is corporate suits trying to grab up the next dollar they can get their hands on by any means necessary, by taking beloved franchises and squeezing out as much content as humanly possible, with no regard for the IP or what made it great in the first place, and with absolute contempt for the fans who made that IP famous to begin with. It disgusts me how these companies have killed art and creativity in the name of greed. It is infuriating. And you're absolutely right about the mindless consumers who will just gobble up any content the devs hand them, no matter how bad it might be. It is a dark alliance between greedy corpers and braindead consumers that is killing creativity and art in the modern era.

[@DiscordN7]

Been enjoying this branching out of content and dives into the gaming industry talking point videos. It’s an enjoyable thing to listen to and discuss plenty of topics and comparisons one can do on how gaming has changed.

[@solonocphoenix]

I think part of the blame also falls on people themselves, as they often prioritize realism over pure entertainment, gameplay, and story. Not to mention the growing crowd of RTX enthusiasts nowadays. My constant belief is that videos are all about offering a good time, not about strict realism. I'm not looking for games to mimic reality; I'd rather they remain a distinct form of escape where I can immerse myself and forget about the real world for a while. Yet, the trend seems to lean towards demanding realism in every game. There's a nostalgic longing for the Xbox 360 era. Back then, there seemed to be a better balance. These days, it feels like we're inundated with talk of the PS5 and its potential, even to the point of needing a PS5 Pro. But for what purpose? How many original games have truly emerged, setting aside remasters and remakes? This year, the only two that stands out in my memory are "Hogwarts & FF16"

[@bricaaron3978]

What is original about _Hogwarts: Legacy?_

[@i_jetlag]

Part of the problem that goes unnoticed is because of quotas. Private companies should not be forced to hire a certain group of people. Everyone should be hired based on their skill in the specific field. Gender, sex, political views should not be a factor when hiring people.

[@David-pt3mh]

The answer the answer is simple: AAA and GaaS studios split their development team resources to add monetization and seasonal drip content. When you have a huge percentage of your workforce implementing a cash shop that the game has to revolve around, actual development and creativity takes a backseat.

[@offline20012]

I hope at this point that a new generation of devs emerge and realize it’s time to build new ships from the ground up

[@annekristiina7503]

Agree, new innovators and fresh perspectives.

[@callusklaus2413]

I have disagreements with your conclusions, but this is a really well structured video essay, well done on keeping it tight. I appreciate that you clearly edited and kept yourself on track. That idea around how boredom is good really resonated with me. I recently spent about three weeks without a phone because I just didn't have the money to purchase a replacement after water killed it. I definitely prefer working out with the music for motivation, but everything else became much better. I wrote a little lore document for a project I have been working on *on paper* for the first time in forever. I even wrote it in my target language because I didn't have anything *easier* to get sucked into on my phone. My mind was a little quieter, and I noticed more of my surroundings on campus. It was excellent, and honestly I think I need to get my hands on an old MP3 player for the gym and just unplug more. I don't like "Phones r bad" posting, but maybe phones are bad for me.

[@NovemberHotel]

That’s so awesome to hear. I definitely agree with you. The more I’ve unplugged the better I’ve been. Deleted social media, focused on the “quieter” moments as you said. It’s done a lot of good for me mentally. I think everyone could stand to have more quiet moments.

[@hellobro789-je6qp]

I really like where youre going with your channel. Cant stay on D2 forever like the bots do.

[@larza966]

Great video. Spot on. I started playing on the NES when I was around 6 or 7 years old. Graphic means so little to me. The important things except creativity are music/sound and how good the game feels to play. I also like exploring in games finding hidden areas.

[@Demonos3]

100% exactly what I've been feeling over the last 10 years.

[@Levi-gh1sq]

I agree with the boredom thing. explains why I've brainstormed some of my favorite game ideas during math class and other places with my short attention span

[@ericson_of_eric]

This essay is more emotional than meets the eye. You got me that time man, I felt this one. Especially with the bit about the origins of Pokemon and Souls.

[@tmrabanus]

It's just not video games. It's all entertainment. As audiences get dumber there is less of a need to be creative

[@todesziege]

It's not just entertainment, either. The economy as a whole isn't healthy at all, being more focused on moving money around than actual investing and producing.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

​@@todesziegethe further you look the more dire you realize the situation is

[@garbandgulyberdimuhamedow4604]

YOU ARE JUST REMEMBERING THE GOOD STUFF. NOBODY REMEMBERS THE CORPORATE TRASH OF THE 2000s. THIS IS THE SAME WITH MUSIC, PHYSICAL ART, ETC. YOU'RE JUST OLD.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

@@garbandgulyberdimuhamedow4604 it's not though.

[@garbandgulyberdimuhamedow4604]

@@kaden-sd6vb Do you remember any of these games released in 2005? You only remember re4, san Andreas etc. Arkham Horror (originally released in 1987 by Chaosium) Anachronism Australia: Aufbruch ins Abenteuer Axis & Allies Miniatures Beowulf: The Legend Bonaparte at Marengo Breakscore Case Closed Trading Card Game Caylus ChiZo Rising Codename: Kids Next Door Trading Card Game Cyberpunk V3 (role-playing game) d20 Apocalypse (role-playing game supplement) d20 Past (role-playing game supplement) Dark Millennium Dawning Star (role-playing game) Descent: Journeys in the Dark Diamant Diceland: Cyburg Diceland: Dragons ’’Dinosaur King’’