I Just Want To Play Games…

I have been thinking for quite sometime that there must be something wrong with me. That I have invested into next gen and so far have been rather underwhelmed. I use my next gen console primarily as an entertainment hub rather than playing games on it. If you were to look at the time spent on games verses YouTube and Netflix, games fall by the way side. I began thinking that maybe I really am getting older. Am I growing out of gaming? Have I reached that point in my life that games no longer interest me? That’s a scary and confronting realization for me as gaming has be such a huge part of my life personally and socially for as long as I remember. I then reached out to my friends and asked them if they’re having similar thoughts and feelings as myself. To my dual shock (pardon the pun) and my glee I have found I am not alone.

It’s not me. It’s you. (points at game console)

Or rather the game industry as a whole. I realise that with each launch year of a new console generation that there really is a period of sub par game experiences or lack of standout titles but be damned! Both the Xbox One and PS4 have had some real corkers so far which is great. Yet they really aren’t anything we haven’t had before. Is that just the mindset of a spoiled gamer? In part admittedly yes. The Xbox 360 and PS3 era was probably the best era of gaming in a long while. There were so many amazing and ground breaking titles coming out so often that looking back it’s almost overwhelming.

Our new generation of consoles started off with a very rocky start. Games were and are still being released broken and bug filled with the promise of Day One patches to fix issues that should not have been there in the first place. Promises of DLC in and out the door like it’s going out of fashion and alienating gamers across the world, myself included. So far, not entirely enjoying this. No wonder why I’m spending more time watching YouTubers and my favourite movies and shows on Netflix.

We know games are being harder to produce as costs consistently increase and AAA titles are falling victim to that effect. However as a consumer I shouldn’t have to worry about that. We shouldn’t be made to bear the fallout of those production constraints. Some of you out there might feel that is insensitive but I’m inclined to disagree and challenge you to see my point of view. Just forget about pressures from investors and publishers for a moment. Say you go buy a brand new car you’ve been looking forward to all year and when you go to drive out of the lot the fan belt is making funny sounds and the gears don’t lock properly. You ask the salesmen about it and they tell you not to worry, they knew about the issue when they sold it to you but they will recommend an auto repair shop you can take it to and they give you a free coupon. You would feel ripped off and the enjoyment of your new car experience is tainted. I’m sure there are a lot of real world issues you can find in that but please just humour me.

Us gamers should feel confident in putting money down to pre-order that game you hold such anticipation for and know that it will perform as it should off the disc or after the install is completed. You shouldn’t be sitting through Day One patch updates and to then find game busting bugs later on anyway. Yes it is easy for me to sit on my nice recliner typing away like a keyboard warrior, however sometimes enough is enough. Gaming as an expensive hobby. $499 for a console at launch and $99-$110 for each game at retail afterwards forever. For that money I expect quality. Not only that but I want more diversity in genres. How many shooters do we need anyway? They’re like a well oiled machine at this point, same product with a different skin and slap out a “new” game. Yes, I am aware it’s not that simple but you get the gist.

Amongst this rant filled critique I wish to express my frustration that I am not enjoying gaming as much as I used to. That is because of the games I want to play just aren’t there at the moment on any platform. At least not enough to make me throw money down on a WiiU just to play something Mario oriented. I want to love you Nintendo, I do, I just can’t justify you for your IP’s alone. Leading up to every gamers Christmas, is E3. Personally, I’m very excited to watch it all unfold live via video streams and to see if the industry is going to show me a sign of better times to come. I will be watching very intently on Microsoft’s press event as Xbox is my home, I want my home to be awesome-er. I will be also reporting on what their announcements are here on Novastream so keep an eye out for that, article and video report alike.

So I remain a cautiously optimistic gamer, however I will be damned if I’m forced to go outside to find interactive activities after all these years. I won’t have it. (shakes fist)

Stick around Novastream for all your E3 updates as they happen or as fast as we can report it to you! I have a feeling this is going to be a knock out event.

– Chris Hunt

Follow Chunt on his YouTube page here