12 Stupid Gaming Moments That Unwittingly Defined The Last Generation

10. Call of Duty Kickstarts Every Game Giving Out XP For Everything

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a shot in the arm as far as online FPS games were concerned. The single player was itself extremely cinematic and like nothing else I had played, but the online implemented a brand new idea, of taking the mechanics of RPG games, of experience, levelling up, and equipment, and pasting it onto the FPS game. It was a massive success, and as a result, Call of Duty began its status as a sales juggernaut, consistently outselling every other FPS title out there, as it continues to do 6 years later. The problem is that every other game, shooter or not, then tried to out-do CoD's rewards system, such that every game under the sun began throwing XP at you, to give players the impression that they were actually making some sort of positive advancement by continuing to play. It's a clever psychological tactic, but also promotes games becoming one big grind-fest at the end of the day, unless the games are well-designed enough that that achievement is not linked solely to repetition. Still, in driving games, adventure games, shooters, and every major genre in between, the power of XP can now be felt.