2. Gritty Plots
In gamings never ending conquest to re-create real-life, developers have produced more dramatic and realistic experiences that tackle some of the hard hitting questions we have today. Why are we here? Is war the answer? Do heroes truly exist? Is what Id be saying if any of the above was even the slightest bit true. Gaming acts gritty and mature like a child wearing his fathers clothes acts like an adult. Characters swearing every other word in an effort to portray a tough manly temperament, easy solutions to complex problems like how much is a life worth? And, falling back on obvious twists that arent rewarding in the slightest once revealed. And, that's it. your bread has been buttered, and there's nothing left. Its only going to get worse from here and before you know it, games will have become so realistic that the plot is you at your crap job, getting shouted at by your boss and returning home far too tired to do anything.
(Me, and an acquaintance of mine, will be creating this game for a 2016 release.) I have no contention with hard hitting plots that actually require some maturity to play through, but the style of marketing, and who actually plays the games makes that almost impossible. For example, (thanks to http://www.esrb.org/about/video-game-industry-statistics.jsp and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_culture) while the average age of a gamer is 34-37, over 70% of children between 8 and 18 own their own console and a whopping 93% of parents are present when a game is purchased or rented meaning, there is a massive number of under age gamers playing titles that may have an adult rating, but when you look at the language being used, the simple storyline, the themes etc; are playing exactly the right game they've been marketed to buy, or their parents buy for that matter. Until developers learn not to gear 'adult' titles towards the younger generation, we'll always have woebegone plotlines.