9 Crippling Problems With The Video Game Industry (And How To Fix Them)

Whether it was the weirdly stilted start to the generation, or the fact that many of its best games only emerged across the last year and a half, this console cycle has absolutely flown by. To the point where both Sony and Microsoft - especially the latter, given the distance they're creating between the Xbox One's launch and the Scorpio - are already looking to when they can release another system.

All of which forces you to look at the industry overall: Are we in a better place now than last generation? Are developers able to capitalise on their creative visions, or are they hamstrung by increasingly seismic budgetary concerns? Are microtransactions and the mobile gaming scene a threat to objective quality, and if so, is there anything we can do to stop it?

It takes only a few seconds to step back and contrast the abject high-points of this cycle - the Witcher 3s, the Overwatchs, the Rocket Leagues, DOOMs and Shovel Knights - with the last (one that went out with a bang as Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us and GTA V closed 2013), to see that actually, there are quite a few worthwhile issues to address.

Let's start with...