current gen gaming is a lot different. think about arcade games of the 80s and 90s which were very challenging. the machines were expensive and the games had to be the perfect balance of difficulty and fun because for a shopkeeper to drop cash on such costly hardware is a gamble. arcade games were desgined to draw in revenue over a period of years. the thing that made arcade games so good is the provided a measurement if your ability in the form of points score and time. in that respect the player of the game set the challenge, you challenged yourself. but not only that, you challenged the top score holders to be top dog. then youd be knocked out. so youd try again.
these games might be described as minimal in the sense that they had no bells and whistles in their design. it was the complete basics, some would argue that is all which is necessary. there was little to no cinematic experience. there was little to no relevant storyline. it was you, the game, the challenge. you chose the level of depth you wished go. the audience was completely different to the one we see today.
as hardware advanced through the 90s elements of cinema were introduced. theres a reson many refer to the 90s as the golden age of gaming. is argue that the 90s gave rise to the perfect ratio of storyline and gameplay. graphics too massive leaps into the third dimension. but at the same time, the element of challenge and difficulty and longevity and addictiveness was retained in many cases. many games released were still about points, high score, time limits, timing. but games were seeing a radical change in presentation and storylines were getting deeper, cinematic experience was developing.
flash forward to today and gaming is supermassive. its the biggest for of entertainment. call of duty for 3 years running has had the biggest entertainment launches ever. every game released is a AAA cinematic masterpiece. however with such a huge huge audience, there have been sacrifices and changes n perception about what a game really is. games are now developed with millions of dollars with the intention of mass appeal on a huuuge scale. everyone playes games now. games can no longer be too hard, too minimal, too raw, too "gamelike". games are expected to uphold this grand level of immersive story and theatrics. games are becoming an interactive mixed media no longer necessarily about challenging yourself, being the best, getting score, beating the time. in the mass market they are transforming on a wide scale to appeal to more and more people, to be more accesible, thus easier, more film like, less game like.
on top of this we have now seen the training of the gameplaying audience to no longer respect longevity. films run for 120 minutes and its over. now games have full story writing personel, they become limited by their story combined with the watering down they have received in order to make more money. game players expect a game to come in yearly instalments to continue the story. it doesnt matter that they are using the same engine, same mechanics, nothing has changed. none of that matters ti these people. they want to buy another one to see what happens to their hero.
what im trying to say is bioshock is shit.
