sympathytaste
Member
I might be in the minority here but the fact that it runs like hard cheese on the OG PS2 version actually adds to the spectacle of the fights.
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Digital Foundry: Are Gaming and Consoles becoming... Boring?
- Thread starter Artistic
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I might be in the minority here but the fact that it runs like hard cheese on the OG PS2 version actually adds to the spectacle of the fights.
Zathalus
Member
The point of the video was about how major publishers are becoming more risk adverse due to ballooning budgets, how a lot of games now use the same middleware (UE), and how new console hardware is not as exciting as it used to be, due to it standardizing on AMD and not using the custom hardware from days past.
So in that sense it is boring. Not gaming in general.
So in that sense it is boring. Not gaming in general.
Ocean Dweller
Member
slow news day for DF
Interfectum
Gold Member
Hoddi
Member
Yes and no. It's no lie that AAA games have been pretty bland recently but it's only because they're so afraid to risk offending people. Trying to please everyone just makes the product worse and many indies aren't exactly innocent of that either.
But there's also been a brickton of good games in recent years. They might not always catch the public eye but it doesn't mean they aren't there.
But there's also been a brickton of good games in recent years. They might not always catch the public eye but it doesn't mean they aren't there.
sainraja
Member
How is that going to be fun?
Cakeboxer
Member
The AAA space has really declined for me and doesn't have much left to offer. I'm especially tired of third-person action-adventures. I like to call them BBB (bland, boring, bloated). Luckily, there are still plenty of great AA + indie games and also mods out there.
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DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Both consoles next gen could provide something exciting as it seems that both Sony and MS are going for something different instead of going toe to toe and I think the war was over this gen, which maybe reduced viewing numbers for DF.
Maybe they are bored because the war has lost numbers as people actually grew up, they saw their numbers dwindling because people just do not care about ps5 Vs Xbox now.
Theyll see some increased viewings numbers for a while next gen while people who are interested to see the tangible differences, if any to be able to understand the lay of the land then thats it.
It wouldn't surprise me if DF starts to slowly disappear now, which would not bother me really but it would still be something.
I don't think they've been doing as good a job as they used to. They keep missing too much stuff.
We will see I guess.
Maybe they are bored because the war has lost numbers as people actually grew up, they saw their numbers dwindling because people just do not care about ps5 Vs Xbox now.
Theyll see some increased viewings numbers for a while next gen while people who are interested to see the tangible differences, if any to be able to understand the lay of the land then thats it.
It wouldn't surprise me if DF starts to slowly disappear now, which would not bother me really but it would still be something.
I don't think they've been doing as good a job as they used to. They keep missing too much stuff.
We will see I guess.
vodka-bull
Member
Turn off your smartphone and boycott companies that dropfeed you dopamine 24/7. It's the current zeitgeist to not beexcit d by anthing anymore, and I think the root of the problem is mostly social media (our brains can't differentiate between vietual excitement and real excitement anymore) and the constant availability of everything. Spending money on things just doesn't cut it for me anymore, I'd rather spend money on experiences and that brings back a lot of the excitement I felt when I was a kid. Real world experiences are so awesome if not spoiled by virtual impressions.
Soodanim
Member
Haven't read every page, but even if you don't like DF I think there's a legitimate discussion to be had.
There's at least a sliver of truth in there because the industry has changed. Bigger companies swallow smaller companies, risk is less viable so you get a shift towards safe homogeniety, stock assets are more common than ever, UE5 is the latest in a line of devs not making their own engines and (poorly) using the same one as everyone else, and the push towards RT means less work making a game unique so you end up with similar looks across more games.
Luckily that's not all that gaming is, and smaller/indie games still offer an experience to suit every taste.
There's at least a sliver of truth in there because the industry has changed. Bigger companies swallow smaller companies, risk is less viable so you get a shift towards safe homogeniety, stock assets are more common than ever, UE5 is the latest in a line of devs not making their own engines and (poorly) using the same one as everyone else, and the push towards RT means less work making a game unique so you end up with similar looks across more games.
Luckily that's not all that gaming is, and smaller/indie games still offer an experience to suit every taste.
cartman414
Member
A bit overkill, especially on Saturn, which was one of the best 2d systems ever.
Hope you didn't mind paying through the nose for this generation.
Absolutely. There is a 200 hundred games per week releasing on Steam alone. Even if you pessimistically count 90% of that as crap that's still 20 per week across different genres. With those big releases and content-rich games in addition, you probably have more games and game hours to play than a normal guy with a work and social life can muster.
Fess
Member
Well it's true that consoles are basically weak PCs at this point. There are minor differences with the UIs and rumble but not really something that stand out for real. And they're usually behind at launch or months later even if they can be ahead on some features at the unveil. Definitely boring.
Crazy Ken and Iwata were true revolutionaries. Out of the box thinking. But I have no idea if that would work today. If they would go with something truly unique then software support could become bad, and many devs need the multiplat sales to survive so can't really go all in on one cool and unique thing without consequences.
But gaming is boring? Nah. I'm having fun enough with the games I'm playing to ignore sleep so can't agree on that. Was up til 03 last night. Wouldn't do that if I was bored.
Crazy Ken and Iwata were true revolutionaries. Out of the box thinking. But I have no idea if that would work today. If they would go with something truly unique then software support could become bad, and many devs need the multiplat sales to survive so can't really go all in on one cool and unique thing without consequences.
But gaming is boring? Nah. I'm having fun enough with the games I'm playing to ignore sleep so can't agree on that. Was up til 03 last night. Wouldn't do that if I was bored.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
OK, but you specifically mentioned storylines, hence my reply. I, for one, am not interested in using AI to make game blah blah even longer and more redundant that devs already made it. Needless banter is the one thing that damaged Nintendo games the most in the last fifteen years or so. Stop talking, let me play.
There's kinda a limited amount of gameplay ideas you can implement in a video game, especially if your game is intended to be played via a somewhat "standard" control system. And gamers at large, twenty years ago, scoffed and laughed at a certain console that tried to shake things up, even when it did some things better than the standard. And even if a lot of variety can be had with a standard control system, you have to take into account the elements that most people like and expect in a video game. A game that completely flips the tables should be the exception, not the norm.
We always had trend setters and trend chasers in gaming, like in everything else. We got Asteroids, and for years everything was a space shooter. We got Pac-Man, and there came the era of single-screen maze games. Mario came out, and for two console generations platformers were one of the main genres. Street Fighter II hit, and 1-on-1 fighters seemed to be the only thing people wanted for a while, together with Doom clones.
You can have a copycat game that's still a ton of fun - good games used to have at least two sequels for this very reason. The problem is, not everyone can make a game fun. And we all know very well that for a few years now, some devs have been very preoccupied with not making fun their priority when making a video game. That, and being very careful not to scare your audience with too much innovation have brought us where we are now.
Team Andromeda
Banned
Yeah, Nintendo, The ones who make the same stuff time and time again & where the last time they took a risk on a major new IP was with Splatoon
Fess
Member
They still innovate within their old IPs. I remember some other dev sitting at a panel questioning if Zelda BOTW were even made by humans.
Team Andromeda
Banned
What innovation. You act like Open world RPG's weren't a thing before BOTW. BTW, You can also thank Western developers for open world RPG's they did long before NCL
Bojji
Member
So many people focus on the title without watching the video... It has nothing to do with console vs. PC.
They say that AAA devs are making very safe projects right now (so "boring"), innovative new games are rare these days (outside of indie or more A, AA titles). Capcom is the only big publisher that seemed to find the balance this gen.
They say that AAA devs are making very safe projects right now (so "boring"), innovative new games are rare these days (outside of indie or more A, AA titles). Capcom is the only big publisher that seemed to find the balance this gen.
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Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
it's just costs, you can't do experiments when it costs you several million just to prototype a game
Fess
Member
They have a ton of systems working together underneath it all, affecting all things and the world. And it still just works. There was nothing else out there doing the things it did. The closest would be Bethesda's games with their physics and interactions but there are no elements mechanics running there.
Tears of the Kingdom are doing the same for building and fusing freedom. There is nothing else like it.
J Required
Banned
DF should understand exactly why developers gravitate toward safer projects.
They should also recognize why Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo design console hardware the way they do. Does anyone seriously expect Sony or Microsoft to build another CELL-like architecture or a fully custom GPU for the next generation? That's simply not financially viable. It would be a nightmare for developers, inefficient in practice, and risks producing an expensive, overly complex, and ultimately underpowered system.
What's frustrating is that they rarely move the conversation forward. Labeling something as "boring" without explaining why it feels that way—or what could realistically be done to change it—doesn't add much value. There's a real opportunity to educate their audience on the trade-offs, constraints, and decision-making that shape the industry, but that context is often missing.
Too often, the analysis comes across as black-and-white, when in reality this industry operates in a vast gray area shaped by technical limitations, cost pressures, developer needs, and long-term platform strategy.
Doing that is true journalism, something DF used to do in the distant past.
Team Andromeda
Banned
LOL
BOTW is doing nothing new & for an open world game is really lacking with the number of NPC's populating the world
I will agree with you only on the lack of bugs. I'll always credit NCL Q&T dept as the best in the business
Lucie Goosey
Member
People need to take a break from gaming. Like multi-year break. Go learn how to fish or some shit, gain some perspective on life, let your dopamine system properly reset and come back to a new game series you've never played before and prepare to be floored.
Two years off gaming and Mario Tennis at a friends place was exhilarating.
We're also in the age of remakes and cinematic universes. There's literally nothing less cool then taking your favorite butter and spreading it over 50 pieces of toast. So yeah it's fucking boring (some remakes are decent).
Honestly the AA and indie scene is where it's at. And with better tools that allow them to approach AAA quality they'll probably take over the industry. Corporate is poison for the soul.
Two years off gaming and Mario Tennis at a friends place was exhilarating.
We're also in the age of remakes and cinematic universes. There's literally nothing less cool then taking your favorite butter and spreading it over 50 pieces of toast. So yeah it's fucking boring (some remakes are decent).
Honestly the AA and indie scene is where it's at. And with better tools that allow them to approach AAA quality they'll probably take over the industry. Corporate is poison for the soul.
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Fess
Member
It's like you haven't played it lmao
That number of underlying system working together underneath it all had never been done before. That's why that other dev was so impressed. It made games like Horizon Zero Dawn seem paper thin. There are videos about that. BOTW was like a Bethesda game with physics and weight on everything but with added systems for elements for warmth, cold, wind, raining, drying lightning, time, snow, ice, fire etc. And everything just worked.
9 years later I struggle to list any other game that has catched up. Besides Tears of the Kingdom. What else is there??
Horseganador
Member
No, what's boring are the half-hour videos you make. And now that the PS5 vs. Xbox war is over and few people care anymore, you don't know what videos to produce to generate views.
thismeinteil
Member
And this what this video is about. Going to say this and then when Helix gets revealed they can regurgitate this MS shill's point. Only for the Helix to change nothing and sell half that of the Series, if it's lucky. While PS6 sells 100M+ yet again. All a broken record.
dragonyeuw
Member
You're largely correct, our brains have definitely been re-wired to respond in the manner you're describing.
Still I don't dismiss the effects of aging in and of itself, and as it pertains to my experience with gaming. I've been at it since the early 80s, seen alot of games and systems come and go and the various peaks and valleys of the industry. The last piece of tech that gave me the 'Mario 64' moment was the first time I played the Astrobot demo on PSVR1( not the main game, I mean that little mini-game they released with the VR Playroom). At that time my mind exploded with thoughts of being immersed in Mario, Donkey Kong, Ratchet and Clank, and 'name your favorite mascot platformer' VR worlds, but we just never got there.
Now the cost of development is so high that you simply can't take the risks with all the experimental tech of past gens( someone pointed this out succinctly in a post earlier). You're just getting the next iterative hardware upgrade of what's current.
So at this point, I don't expect any real excitement in console tech or even in mainstream games. Its more interesting to me discovering hidden Indie gems, because I have no expectations of whatever the modern hardware equivalent would be to how I felt the first time I put on the PSVR1 headset or playing Mario 3D land with glassless 3D or hell, even the first time I swung the Wiimote around playing Tennis in Wii Sports. I just don't think we're going to get those kinds of novel experiences anymore as far as tech goes, for better or worse. I guess now that I think about it, the original Switch gave me something I didn't know I wanted, and while we all seemed to merely want a better version of that( and that's precisely what we got), the reality of that is inherently less exciting to me.
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FUBARx89
Member
I kinda get what they mean when you're watching all the stuff that replaced E3. It's always the same stuff.
Weebo shit that looks like it's a mobile game port, the Chinese knock offs of Soulsborne games, the next big GAAS that doesn't stand a chance, playing it safe sequels, we're still suffering from the Covid years and remasters and remakes galore. Everything runs on shitty unreal engine 5 near enough so it has the same problems across every release running on that engine.
But there still are good games being made, but when your job is to pixel count and play everything coming out you're going to feel like you can't be arsed anymore.
But they're also shit. They rush everything out now. They're increasingly wrong about things and refuse to admit they're wrong. Then there's the drama and John kicking off making them look unprofessional. Nevermind the fact they lick publishers arses.
Remember when GTA V removed graphical features in a patch and they were all over it? They don't do that anymore. Look at RE9 removing all of its ray tracing for pretty much all Leon's sections after the hospital. They don't do shit like that anymore.
Weebo shit that looks like it's a mobile game port, the Chinese knock offs of Soulsborne games, the next big GAAS that doesn't stand a chance, playing it safe sequels, we're still suffering from the Covid years and remasters and remakes galore. Everything runs on shitty unreal engine 5 near enough so it has the same problems across every release running on that engine.
But there still are good games being made, but when your job is to pixel count and play everything coming out you're going to feel like you can't be arsed anymore.
But they're also shit. They rush everything out now. They're increasingly wrong about things and refuse to admit they're wrong. Then there's the drama and John kicking off making them look unprofessional. Nevermind the fact they lick publishers arses.
Remember when GTA V removed graphical features in a patch and they were all over it? They don't do that anymore. Look at RE9 removing all of its ray tracing for pretty much all Leon's sections after the hospital. They don't do shit like that anymore.
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Esppiral
Member
No, responses like yours on the other hand, absolutely.
Esppiral
Member
Ps5 pro the dominant console? Are you on drugs?
Katatonic
Member
Dominant gaming platform, period.
archangelmorph
Gold Member
A cast of YT nerds who literally spent the last 10+ years focused entirely on pixel counting in games instead of playing them…
& encouraged an entire generation of gfx whore fans to do the same…
is supposed to have an opinion about how fun/boring games are today… that I'm supposed to give a shit about…?
Are you fucking with me right now?
GTFO here with that noise!
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
That would be mobile, unfortunately
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
Look, i dont think BotW is a bad game or anything (even if i didn't particularly liked it), but he is right, it ain't exactly doing anything new. Its main milestones comes from streamlining survival & immersive sim mechanics for casual players as well as its scale (especially considering how polished it is). You'll find tons of parallels with games like FarCry 2, MGSV, Prey, Dishonored, Arx Fatalis, (or already mentioned bethesda games).
Btw Horizon Zero Dawn seems paper thin because it is paper thin.
Tomorrow
Banned
consoles are boring outside nintendo. PC is great as ever except the whole price thing but that's affecting consoles too now. so financially gaming sucks but in terms of games then PC is a having a good time. switch 2 is a little disappointing compared to the original but still good. lots of exclusives i want to play.
DF....ffs it's the damn games most are broken at launch along with subjective themes that certain people are tired of .That is why retro gaming won't ever die.
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Fess
Member
Those games aren't even close. You're just thinking about the open-world aspect, which is mostly like an Ubisoft title with movement freedom and small enemy camps and high points opening the map etc.
It's the systems underneath that makes it so special. How mechanics for physics, weight, material, heat, cold, wind, lightning etc etc etc are always on, making it a playground of systems like no other game. There are so many possibilities how to handle things.
Bethesda's games have the physics and general interactivity, which are also ahead of most games, but it's not like you can throw a sword close to an enemy an watch lightning struck him down or start a fire in the grass and have the wind spread to burn the enemy down or anything like that. But I believe they added cold and heat in a survival update in Skyrim, after BOTW.
Tears of the Kingdom is even more complex, in how they let you use the building and fuse mechanics.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Not if you're into retro gaming and systems.
Neo Geo AES+ has entered the chat.
And I'm still looking forward to Steam Machine, whenever Valve actually start talking about it more :/
Neo Geo AES+ has entered the chat.
And I'm still looking forward to Steam Machine, whenever Valve actually start talking about it more :/
