Strong "gaming" words from the man himself...

[cernex]

No, not Hideo Kojima, but Doug TenNapel.

For the ones who weren't on the gaming side of things in the 16-bit era (ah, the nostalgia of weird advertising and silly decisions by Sega come to mind) Doug TenNapel can be considered, in a sense, one of the most talented persons back in the day, not as a game designer "per se", but as a content creator and "main guy".

Why? Simple: he created and co-planned (along with David Perry this last one) one of the most awesome games back in the day: Earthworm Jim!

In any case, found this interesting words in his forum just today:

"I have hundreds of gaming ideas and I love the medium of games. I didn't leave games. Games [became] a stupid, assinine business that forgot how to both be creative and make money by innovating while supporting a broad audience.

The peak of gaming art/business? Grand Theft Auto 4. I saw that coming 15 years ago.

The problem with gaming is also its strength: technology. Back before the tech exploded we had to focus on simple characters in a fun but limited game. Then you give these young, undeveloped entertainers enough power to pull off any ideas and you have the Lucas effect. Star Wars had power due to limitations of the medium, remove those limitations and you get Sith.

Games will come around, and I hope I'm still alive when that happens."

I found this words interesting, and also very accurate. What do you guys think?

[A.G.]

It's true. But the problem isn't just with the game developers. A lot of issue are with the users. The fact is, vidoe games "back in the day" did not consumer lives. Today, they do. So many kids do NOTHING but play games. And as the result, they get jaded. Remember the MGS2 trailer at E3 2000? People went NUTS! Today, it's nothing. People are no longer impressed with anything. Hardcore games are the worse, by far. You downright have to pull a miracle out of your ass to get them at least somewhat impressed.

Take the PS3. So much bashing on it. But nothing that Sony did wasn't a response to previous critisism. PSone and PS2 were the weakest systems in their respsective races. So Sony finally made a powerhouse. Now there's complaining about the price and a lack of exclusives. It all tails back to the simple fact that gamers don't have a f...cking idea of what they want. And they never will. Nothing will ever be good enough for them. Why? 'Cause games aren't "fun" anymore. They are not games anymore. That's why.

The guy is very right about the limitations thing. What made MG2 and MGS1 great were the limitations of the systems and working through and with them. You take MGS4... well, back in 1998 you would wet your pants for a chance to play it.

Gaming needs a new direction. That's why I'm opposed to future MG titles. Let's wait until the industry evoloves again, then think MGS.

[cernex]

Since I'm not touching the PS3 thing AGAIN (I have done that plenty of times before. All I'm going to say is that those are REAL problems you mentioned there), I can say I agree pretty much.

HOWEVER, I think the real problem is not so much the fact you can't "amaze" hardcore gamers anymore, but it is that games are getting STALE in their development. Think about it, back in the 16-bit, and even 32-bit era, not ONLY you had to work with limitations (and finding your ways around them), but also DEVELOPMENT cycles, which were quite short back in the day.

I mean, we saw plenty of Final Fantasies (as an example) in the old consoles. Why? Because the old consoles were (somewhat... there's always the Saturn or the Jaguar for "developing clusterf...cks) easier to program for. With more, cheaper programing, you REALLY had to make things interesting to make your game sell.

Now, with games taking so much time to develop, and so many little and indie developers being left out because of the exorbitant price to develop vgs now, games are not only "less interesting", but also, since fewer are coming in, suddenly, the need to evolve, to be "something else" isn't there: "hardcore" gamers will buy the product ANY way.

That's what I think, at least.

[The Mad Jackyl]

I think there exists a sliding scale for games. I somewhat miss the imagination one needed to enjoy a game. I still love a TON of the old NES games! Seems like the older I get and the more visual the games become, the harder it is for me to be captivated, some of the problem for me is that I don't have to use my imagination at all. Games like the original Castlevanias, Metroids, yes - Metal Gear, Kid Icarus, Master Blaster...all those games, part of the adventure was in my head. It's what I often couldn't see that captured my imagination. I'd see the rudimentary or rough-hewn graphics that, while not totally stripped of detail, still made me imagine how things would look were you actually a part of the action. There's no headwork needed now as all the imagination is made up for you with the superior graphics. I can still enjoy games for sure, but I still like having my own take on the reality of a game.

[A.G.]

Very good point. And that leads to "brain-dead" users. Kids aren't using their own minds. So when they end the game, they need another "fix", hence the HIGH demand from the industry. The Industry seeks to profit from that demand and end up creating garbage. Hence the endless loop.

[The Mad Jackyl]

I used to, and still do maybe once a year, draw video game inspired artwork; my own re-imagining, if you will. I used to play certain games like crazy when I was little, then make my own games, drawings and make-believe world based on those characters. Growing up sucks.

[cernex]

I don't think the imagination is an issue here... no.

Of course I agree that using the imagination was one hell of a fun thing to do (ATARI, c'mon! almost NOTHING looked like what it was supposed to be), but it has more to do with gameplay and ideas. I mean, look at us, MG (and hence, Solid), which leaves NOTHING to the imagination, is one of our (if not THE) favorite franchises ever.

A game is good by different reasons. Some people dig multiplayer, some people dig racing games, some people like soccer games... but in the end, the titles are becoming less and less varied...

I mean, a quick example: how many REAL soccer games we used to have back in the 16 bit, or even 32-bit era? FIFA, ISSS, Super Soccer, Hat Trick (at least I think that was the name of one)... and now? Only FIFA and PES and... that's it.

No. I think that the dev kit price and the development cycles are the real "problems" here. Why? Look at the "not so expensive to make, and not so time consuming to make" titles like PixelJunk Racers, or PixelJunkMonters, Flow, or the whole collection of WiiWare titles... titles that are REALLY inventive and original because THAT market is destined to become PRETTY DARNED big in the future because of the (relative) low prices to produce.

I mean, even gameloft got to make a game for the Wii... imagine that, a cellphone and ex-N-Gage developer on the Wii!

Point is, the easier it is to make a game, the more difficult it is to be original, authentic (which equals sales 76% of the time. We can't forget the fun factor here, right Killer 7?), and the more you have to fight to be so. Ergo, more effort in the development. Ergo, more ideas.

That's how I see things, though.

[A.G.]

I don't think you can go, "no that's not it" when we are discussing how each one of us sees the issue. There is no 100% accurate explanation for how things are.

Imagination is part of it. The general mases are so "brain-dead" that all they care about is the next gaming fix. As long as they do that, there is the high demand to CONSTANTLY release SOMETHING. As for the comments on the Hardcore games, the fact is, the scale is shifting into that direction. Casual games are spending more and more time with games and can easily be classified as "hardcore" compared to say a decade or two ago. The line between casual and hardcore is getting more blurry with each passing year.

I think it's a mix. It's hardly ever just one thing that's the cause. The gaming community is resembling drug addicts more and more. The industry, just like movies, with great graphic ability in hand are no longer interested in content. And as the demand grows, they use shiny graphics to cover up lack of content in order to get a quick release date. The gaming industry grew so fast that many attributes of quality got lost in the rush.