1. Not What We Grew Up With
It's just not the same anymore. When a generation was growing up with Battletoads, Castlevania and Zelda, others grew up with Call of Duty, Halo, fetch-quest RPG's with no ambition, and numerous other uninspired efforts. While I am, by no means, a nostalgia monger, nor do I believe everything was super great back then (E.T., anyone?), I have to recognize success when I see it. Our generations are not without their gems - Okami, Metal Gear Solid, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario Galaxy, The Last of Us, Gears of War, Pokemon, GoldenEye - but, the way I see it, quality has diminished over the years, and the game makers of today have to stick with what their audience grew up with. Make no mistake, I'm not undermining the success of Halo and Call of Duty (named above). I passionately play both, as I do with most games that come out. I play each for their strengths
and their weaknesses; as in, I want to see how the developers could make the game better the next time around, it's just pure curiosity after all my years of digging through piles of games of every genre imaginable.
Example: Nothing explicit
So, there you have it. What is, in my opinion, the downward slide of gaming from challenging and rewarding to ho-hum and irrelevant filler content. What's the cause? Is it the lack of passion? Is it the mega-corporations? Is it that money speaks louder than fans? I don't really know. But what I do know is that gaming has to reinvent itself, if it wants to become that great getaway from reality it once was. Note: this is my first article as a contributing writer for WhatCulture!, and I've got to say, I'm pretty excited. I want to learn and improve on everything in my life, so don't be afraid to state your criticisms in the comments below. I know some of you will agree, some will disagree, some will start a wonderful discussion -- whatever applies to you, please do it in a civil way. With that said, I'm off to find another subject to write about. Until next time, have fun gaming!