Now Is The Winter, Spring & Summer of Our Discontent

I always get nervous writing what can certainly seem like a pessimistic article about the *trumpet fanfare* State Of Gaming. For one thing, it’s apparently easy to make a flawed logical leap from the idea that things are in a kind of slump to "we are all doomed" in one or two easy moves. I shouldn’t have to point out the cavernous maw that exists between disappointing and certain to die a horrible, impending death, and yet to establish the scope of what I’m talking about I feel like it may be necessary here. Consider that maw to have been pointed at, identified and now clearly marked with a nice sign that says “You Shall Not Pass.”

That said, if I were to use one word to describe gaming in the first half of 2012, it would be “dissapointing.”

Understand, I do not use this word to describe my own feelings. I’m talking more about a pervasive malaise that has seemed to descend upon all aspects of the industry, the culture and the response to what gaming has offered us these first now seven months of the year. I look, and what I see in the traditional industry spaces is a sense of stagnation as the entire business seems to enter yet another year of holding its breath for “what’s next.”

It’s hard to argue that this has been a particularly great year for gaming so far, with several high-profile, long-awaited titles that managed to choke on their own bloated identities and expectations, along with layoffs and closures galore. I suppose that shouldn’t be a huge surprise in the wake of what have been arguably two of the best years in recent videogaming memory. You could argue that we were due for a year that so far feels like one, long, great, big sigh. And yet, here in the thick of it, I can’t help but think of any other word to describe the current mood of gaming except "disappointing."

I submit for your consideration virtually every game so far released this year that has a 3 as part of its name — incidentally, consider yourself on notice, Assassin's Creed 3. From a games perspective, this year is virtually defined by high-profile launches that have been anticipated for years and yet managed to leave fans frustrated and even, for lack of a better term, disenfranchised. There’s no need to rehash the Mass Effect 3 Incident, or the Diablo 3 Auction House Debacle, or even the matter of Oh, I Forgot Max Payne 3 Got Released This Year. These are well documented kerfuffles that could merge into the saddest wagon train of beaten horses conceived by man.

I can’t help but wonder, if the industry and gamers as a whole were in a different headspace, would we have seen the same results? Have we maybe been spoiled by, or even become exhausted with high profile sequels in an age where what we really seem to want is the big, new shiny? At a time where we were rapidly approach an E3 -- an E3 described by many as “disappointing” -- and hoping for some whisper of new consoles and the future of gaming, what we got was a seemingly tainted Blizzard release of Diablo meets Facebook monetization scheme? My point being, I’m not sure I can think of a worse year, a worse stretch of months to have released a major sequel.

And yet, it’s so easy to just target the classic AAA rehash and classically blame lack of innovation. Let’s go ahead and add that horse to our wretched stagecoach team.

The problem is the two games I think most define the exhaustion gamers seem to be feeling are not technically sequels, though it’s hard to argue that they don’t somehow feel like they are. First, there is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Yes, technically this game launched ten days before 2012, and as I recall there was mirthfulness and joy abound for those ten days. But by early January, that goodwill seemed to have turned on a dime and the uniqueness of the story-based MMO seemed to go from innovative to liability.

“Oh,” people seemed to say, “it’s boring traditional MMO combat with some talking Star-Warsy bits in between. Le sigh.” Then they collapsed into their leather chairs with a lonely fire burning nearby, put the back of their hand to their foreheads in a very swoony kind of way and just basked in the cold glow of ennui.

And, look. They weren’t wrong. This game wasn’t some reinvention of the genre. If nothing else it’s served as a neon warning sign that people are done paying a premium for the ability to run around a stagnant world occasionally pressing the numbers 1-9 until some pixels pretend to die.

For me, however, the game that epitomizes the year to date has to be Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Look, it’s far from a perfect game delivered by a far from perfectly managed company, but we’re not so far from a time in the industry where a game like this gets released, sells a million copies over 3 months (which it did) and everyone walks away with some money in their pocket feeling pretty good about things.

Instead, what happened was that everyone frowned because they didn’t sell 3 million copies, a bunch of people didn’t get any money at all, and the governor of a small state started shouting at the news about Curt Schilling. In short, things got real ugly, real quick. And all this in the wake of what, at its heart, was a pretty good game set in a pretty promising new universe. Yes, a lot can be said about the missteps that led to the fall of 38 Studios, but I also remember just after the game launched how this company was reaching out and interacting directly with fans to talk about how to make the game better. Whatever you may think of Schilling and some his politics, manner or business acumen, the guy sunk what sounds like everything he had into wanting to be a part of creating something he was passionate about in a game space he was passionate about.

I understand the anger that surrounded 38 Studios’ collapse. I understand the frustration, sadness and hurt feelings. I understand that the business model was flawed in the realities of today’s environment. I understand why the studio collapsed and I understand the awful impact it had on the employees of the company. Beyond everything else, it was just disappointing. Disappointing that a game that sells a million copies just can’t cut it. Disappointing the way the whole event unfolded. Disappointing that someone who seemed so enthusiastic about making games wasn’t actually able to execute.

I don’t really know what the final five months of the year hold. I look at the release list and I see pockets of areas worth getting excited about, but to be honest I don’t feel the same way I did going into fall 2011 and 2010. It’s fair to say that there is a bright spot in gaming within the indie scene, whose evangelists are likely, and from their perspective correctly even now constructing in their head the clearly phrased rebuttal that rejects the notion that there is anything but puppies and sunflowers on gaming’s landscape. And, as always, I believe you get out of the industry what you put into it. Those that make the effort to explore interesting independent titles, try new areas of gaming and most of all keep the whole thing in perspective will probably get the most out of the next few months.

But, ultimately this feels like an industry that needs to transition. It’s like when you’ve been working for too many months in a row, and the best thing you can do is put a week’s vacation on the calendar. Even if it’s three more months away, it’s something to focus some enthusiasm on. Something to look forward to. Frankly, I think until Microsoft and Sony commit to describing the next generation of gaming, it’s just going to feel like another month behind a too familiar desk.

Comments

The problem I see is companies forgetting what they're doing, moving away from a game and being a method to do something else as the reason it exists. Sure, business needs to be part of the foundation that many games are built upon, and while I don't want to wish bad times onto anyone I can't help thinking a crash of the AAA sector of the games market would be good for games overall.

The impression I get from far too many games now is that they are not there for themselves, but as a necessary evil to extract money from people. The Diablo3 RMAH informs the design of the game, it has to or else the system 'breaks'. It's common now for games to be fragmented into expansions/DLC from the start and be perceived as incomplete if you 'just buy the game'. The Assassins Creed series is one which while I'll acknowledge that 5 big games in 6 years is a hell of an achievement, each one (of the 4 currently released) is proceeding down a formulaic path towards blandness aiming to just occupy as much time as possible from the most asset reuse they can get away with.

It's an extremely rare thing now that I feel good about a game.

Who knows if that's backed up by fact in the boardrooms and decisions behind the scenes we don't see, but that's the way it feels to me

I had 2 games to keep me warm over the first half of the year: Mass Effect 3, which ended up blowing up in my face, leaving darker in the cold and colder in the dark, and Portal 2´s Map Puzzle Maker. Thank God for Valve, because it´s been a very sh*tty first half of the year, and map building has kept me happy and interested and invested and addicted since its release.

The second half of the year doesn´t look that promising in comparison to other years, at least for me, as I´ve never been as informed or well-versed as other goodjers here, so the only games on my radar are Tomb Raider reboot, Darksiders II, and X-Com by Firaxis. That´s it.

I have no idea what else is coming out, or that actually interests me (blasphemy, I´m sure, but Assassin´s Creed 3 I don´t care about. Franchise never got me).

I guess we´ll see. Hell, if it all sucks, at least there´s TF2 and Portal 2 for me.

For me this has been a great year, actually. Mostly because it was rescued by surprises. And surprises are the best thing. In any year discovering a game that you didn't follow for 3 years is really sweet. In a year like this discovering games like that is an amazing contrast to what the industry is offering up. I agree that there is a general malaise. "Shooter fatigue", frustration (misplaced or not) that E3 was about Wonderbook and the 360 as a home entertainment hub. But that's been outweighed for me by the glorious surprises. The short list.

- Minecraft XBLA - I know it's old, but it's new for us console gamers
- Civ V: Gods and Kings
- Theatrythm
- The Vita, particularly Gravity Rush
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Fez

I love surprises so yeah. I have a huge pile from this year alone of amazing games. I'm looking forwar with disinterest. Too busy trying to wrap up Gravity Rush, replay Spec Ops or spend much needed time in my world in Minecraft.

I think as games proliferate, we see more games that are cranked out than we used to. I don't think the games industry is better or worse, but like most systems, as you increase the overall population, the crap becomes more noticeable. This is obviously true of human beings, just for the record. But you can see it in books (there are a ton of good books, but also a ton of crap). When the only thing out there was the bible, it was the bomb, but once it got easy to write stuff, anyone could do it. I know we're not talking about "anyone" doing it when we talk about Mass Effect 3 and such, but I'm just saying that the more games we have, the more junk we have. As a side note, I heard that James was Alone is supposed to be great. Haven't played it yet, but I want to...

I think The Walking dead came out this year, and I think that game is a bright spot in this years releases. The auction house in Diablo III had no impact on how much I enjoyed that game, and I think that Amalur got some things right, too bad 38 Studios isn't around anymore to keep working on it.
Things don't seem so bad to me.

The obvious indie breakout this year would be DayZ. It's not for everyone, but, well, it reminds me a lot of when the original CS came out. Not for everyone, but those who like it, love it.

Lesson to game devs: Look at how adored Valve is. Look at the overnight breakout of DayZ and, by extension, ARMA 2. This, kids, is why you let people mod your games.

Which brings me to why I'm the most dissapointed. Tribes:Ascend went into full release with the idea of community maps actively shot down. Another Battlefield game with the BS COD selling maps model.

In essence, more games where the money comes before anything else. Even though it's short-sighted. That's why I'm pessimistic about the gaming _industry_. I'm not pessimistic about gaming as a whole, though. Look at what Valve is doing. The Source Filmmaker is awesome, Portal 2's PETI, and the continuing propagation of the Steam Workshop is great. There are promising indie games coming out, The UDK is improving and seeing more use, and the next major version of Unity will support Linux. (And Steam is working on porting to Linux.)

Outside of Valve, the major studios are a bit of a let down. But more and more the independents and (A? B?) studios are stepping up in a big, big way.

Kannon wrote:

The obvious indie breakout this year would be DayZ. It's not for everyone, but, well, it reminds me a lot of when the original CS came out. Not for everyone, but those who like it, love it.

Lesson to game devs: Look at how adored Valve is. Look at the overnight breakout of DayZ and, by extension, ARMA 2. This, kids, is why you let people mod your games.

Which brings me to why I'm the most dissapointed. Tribes:Ascend went into full release with the idea of community maps actively shot down. Another Battlefield game with the BS COD selling maps model.

In essence, more games where the money comes before anything else. Even though it's short-sighted. That's why I'm pessimistic about the gaming _industry_. I'm not pessimistic about gaming as a whole, though. Look at what Valve is doing. The Source Filmmaker is awesome, Portal 2's PETI, and the continuing propagation of the Steam Workshop is great. There are promising indie games coming out, The UDK is improving and seeing more use, and the next major version of Unity will support Linux. (And Steam is working on porting to Linux.)

Outside of Valve, the major studios are a bit of a let down. But more and more the independents and (A? B?) studios are stepping up in a big, big way.

I think the reason Valve, and more generally allowing modding (or free 3rd party hosted servers for another example) is loathed to many developers is that it leaves money on the table and control for other people who aren't you. Valve recognised that by leaving something on the table for others to pick up, and be successful with, it can be mutually beneficial. To use the servers example again, Valve know they would never be able to provide the number and range of servers that are the lifeblood of many of their games, so they let other people do it, and allow companies to build a business around it. Everyone can win.

Scratched wrote:

Valve recognised that by leaving something on the table for others to pick up, and be successful with, it can be mutually beneficial. To use the servers example again, Valve know they would never be able to provide the number and range of servers that are the lifeblood of many of their games, so they let other people do it, and allow companies to build a business around it. Everyone can win.

And they don't have to shut down servers every 24-36 months like EA does, effectively killing their games in favor of a sequel, or sometimes just nothing.

I'm still hopeful for the year. Although I haven't played them yet, I have Witcher 2, and Walking Dead, and I hear very good things about both. And there's a few other 2s on the horizon that I expect will be much better than the failed 3s. Namely Torchlight, Darksiders, and Borderlands. I hope.

The Indie stuff has been great. Legend Of Grimrock, Analogue:A Hate Story, Shoot Many Robots, SOL:Exodus, and so on.

Scratched wrote:

The problem I see is companies forgetting what they're doing, moving away from a game and being a method to do something else as the reason it exists. Sure, business needs to be part of the foundation that many games are built upon, and while I don't want to wish bad times onto anyone I can't help thinking a crash of the AAA sector of the games market would be good for games overall.

Sometimes I feel the same way. It seems like EA, Ubisoft, and Activision in particular only want my money and don't give a crap how they get it, or if I enjoy what I paid for at all. I know everyone can't be Valve, but there has to be some in-between medium between greedy corporation and games for gamers.

2k Sports manages to do a great job with their basketball franchise, somehow making money off a cheap PC port, while still putting out a fantastic console release with new features every year. Yet EA Sports just churns out little more than a roster update, with loads of bugs, every year, loaded down with tons of DLC, an Online Pass, and can't do PC games at all because of evil pirates, despite trying to run a PC digital download platform. Does not compute.

I can pinpoint the malaise there being a sort of soul sucking happening with RMT and being microtransactioned to death.

I think the spectre of the RMAH ruined anything special about about Diablo 3. It wasn't the actual RMAH itself but the mystery surrounding it. If you think about it, a loot grab game is all about the fury of finding gold in a sea of mud. But if in the back of your head, you know major changes are imminent that can devalue anything you find, it erodes the desire to try.

It is not just d3 because we have a surge of day 1 DLC. Pre-order DLC mishmash. 5 costume DLC packs released in a year and it isn't just one game. It seems like practically every game. No matter how talented a developer you are, piecemealing a game is going to roughen the edges.

As far as SWTOR goes, the hoopla regarding story, space combat (in or out? on rails or not?), and longevity completely overtook the fact that the game improved upon many things. Hirelings have been done before but from top to bottom they are far better and more feature rich than has been done before. The combat gave you many subtle options: aoe skills integral to soloing, solo vs group combat (instead of one on one ad nauseum). The space combat is a fresh starting point that needs to be expanded upon.

But all of that was swallowed up by angst over something we knew we wouldn't like past the first 30 days but we kept clamoring for it anyway.

It is like manufactured pre-release slight and internet rage will prevent us from ever recognizing/realizing a true blockbuster again. (despite the fact that we are spoiled with 2-3 a year lately) It makes you wonder if the proximity and amount of these blockbuster releases contributes to our delinquency. Every new feature in X needs to be in Y despite Y being released 3 months prior. Playing A ruins B and C because the tooltips are more readable in the UI.

I've been finding myself spending time in betas of games I am drooling for (definitely not the Mechwarrior Online beta), or discovering little gems that I either missed (Dungeon Defenders) or games that I have enjoyed that continue to evolve (KSP).

But I can't wait until some of the games come out later this year like Dishonored or XCom.

Sean, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to associate you with "the saddest wagon train of beaten horses" for quite some time.

SWToR and Diablo III were my big choices for the first part of the year, and both were disappointments relative to my expectations for them. But honestly I'm not sure if that speaks more about me or more about the games.

I got 50 or so hours of enjoyment out of both of them (if I recall), but when I was finished I was left more. Part of me thinks I should just be satisfied to have played pretty good games in all facets (graphics, sound, story, etc.), but the other part of me can't ignore that we're talking BioWare and Blizzard here. The fact that it was THESE two, especially in light of the fact that nearly all of their other work rocked my proverbial socks off, coming up short in certain ways (lack of innovation, questionable replay value, technical problems, ramming always-on/online DRM and AH down our throats, whatever the case was) just seemed to magnify my disappointment even more.

Once convinced I'd extracted every ounce of utility from both (sadly didn't take "long"), I went back to enjoying SSX (surprisingly good), the new table releases from Pinball Arcade (iOS) and the newer maps/game types for CoD: MW3. While each of those is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, it's been fulfilling playing something relatively simple, for a longer while, that I enjoy among friends, which is really all I SHOULD ask for.

I think that major releases do tend to be bland. They're Major Releases; it's like saying that the latest blockbuster movie lacks depth, or that the latest major fiction release isn't well-written.

Politely: well, duh.

I'm not (really) a hipster, if only by merit of age, but I continue to find that the interesting stuff seems to come from the periphery rather than the mainstream. Sometimes, it's good enough to either become or to influence those more well-known releases, as has happened with Minecraft or DayZ. However, if you want to keep yourself engaged and surprised, especially if you've been playing games for a long time, I believe strongly that you need to be seeking out releases that don't coincide with massive marketing campaigns.

ScurvyDog wrote:

I got 50 or so hours of enjoyment out of both of them (if I recall), but when I was finished I was left more. Part of me thinks I should just be satisfied to have played pretty good games in all facets (graphics, sound, story, etc.), but the other part of me can't ignore that we're talking BioWare and Blizzard here. The fact that it was THESE two, especially in light of the fact that nearly all of their other work rocked my proverbial socks off, coming up short in certain ways (lack of innovation, questionable replay value, technical problems, ramming always-on/online DRM and AH down our throats, whatever the case was) just seemed to magnify my disappointment even more.

TheHipGamer wrote:

I think that major releases do tend to be bland. They're Major Releases; it's like saying that the latest blockbuster movie lacks depth, or that the latest major fiction release isn't well-written.

Politely: well, duh.

I guess part of the discontent comes from the hype. These companies try to sell themselves as the best, industry leaders, vast resources, and then.... ehhh.

It says something to me when people compare Diablo 3, made by Blizzard and a game from a 30 person studio for Runic (Torchlight), or 18 in the case of Grinding Gears (Path of Exile). Sure, the games may not be directly comparable in all measure, but in many they are. Hi-Rez (Tribes Ascend) has 45, Riot has around 70 for the most played PC game with League of Legends.

Now go and compare that to the Starcraft2 credits. I'm not even going to try counting that.

First, I'm disappointed with the use of the word "dissapointing."

Second, I do see your point. It is amazing to me that I am got planning on getting Diablo 3 or Mists of Pandora, even though I have played every other Blizzard game and have several collector's editions on my shelf. Something is changing, but I don't quite know what.

However, I agree with DSGamer in that this has been the year of pleasant surprises for me. I first heard of Kindoms of Amalur 4 weeks before release, and I loved that game. Dragon's Dogma was also a game that came up suddenly that I really enjoyed. I look forward to the next big surprise.

"Then they collapsed into their leather chairs with a lonely fire burning nearby, put the back of their hand to their foreheads in a very swoony kind of way and just basked in the cold glow of ennui."

I'd mostly agree with this but I'm not sure it's the majority so much as the very vocal minority. Every kind of gaming forum I've read so far this year seems to be populated by the whiny, the bored, the content locusts and the addicted to adrenaline. Result? Boredom and disappointment.

However, personally, I've found a couple of gems that will keep me happy for quite a while: an RTS browser game called Lord of Ultima and the mmo The Secret World. And when I need some cheerful company, I head to The Shire.

I think that the disappointment in the industry has more to do with the big-name publishers than with anyone else.

I mean, hell, the first half of the year has been awesome in my opinion!

Crusader Kings 2
Kingdoms of Amalur (debacle aside, the game is a blast)
Paths of Exile
Legend of Grimrock
Endless Space
SSX
Civ 5's expansion
Xenoblade (well, the US release at least)
DayZ
Dragon's Dogma

I'm really looking forward to getting and playing Kid Icarus and Theatrhythm, too.

So... yeah, looks like it's mostly been a "blah" year if you're focused on the big name stuff, really.

Jaedor wrote:

"Then they collapsed into their leather chairs with a lonely fire burning nearby, put the back of their hand to their foreheads in a very swoony kind of way and just basked in the cold glow of ennui."

I'd mostly agree with this but I'm not sure it's the majority so much as the very vocal minority. Every kind of gaming forum I've read so far this year seems to be populated by the whiny, the bored, the content locusts and the addicted to adrenaline. Result? Boredom and disappointment.

I think that probably is a factor. There seems to be this need to ramp everything up to 11, otherwise presumably it's not big and serious enough, and it gets tiring when everyone does it all the time. I remember being quite happy with The Witcher 2 when although you have a big set-piece fight at the end, it also has a fairly low-key grounded conclusion to the main character's quest.

It seems most noticeable in games probably because the player is more involved, although other entertainment media do have it, it somehow seems to fit better.

Aristophan wrote:

However, I agree with DSGamer in that this has been the year of pleasant surprises for me. I first heard of Kindoms of Amalur 4 weeks before release, and I loved that game. Dragon's Dogma was also a game that came up suddenly that I really enjoyed. I look forward to the next big surprise.

Oh yeah, forgot about Dragon's Dogma. That was a huge surprise.

Farscry wrote:

So... yeah, looks like it's mostly been a "blah" year if you're focused on the big name stuff, really. :D

Indeed. There was a lot of angst around E3 precisely because it looked like more of the same with a dash of non-game stuff. I was as angsty as anyone. But when I took a step back and looked at the cornucopia of surprise games I was enjoying I realized that was the wrong way to look at things. I have way too many games to play, most of which aren't huge franchises. That's cool.

Spy vs Spy just released on iOS. We are all doing great again!

I agree that it's been a disappointing year so far, but there have been several games that I've enjoyed. The thing that's saved this year has been the Vita. I've been playing that thing to death, Hotshots Golf, Disgaea 3, Uncharted, Gravity Rush, and playing through tons of PSP games. I haven't touched my DS in months.

There's been very few games for other systems that I've enjoyed. I liked Kingdoms of Amalur, I enjoyed Final Fantasy 13-2, I'm sure I'll enjoy Xenoblade once I start it, but other than those I've mostly been playing my backlog or buying older games. I finished Muramasa. I'm playing Skylanders. I finally beat Ys 7. Finished Rochard... All in all, I'm getting a lot accomplished because of a slow game release cycle.

I think combination of sequel fatigue with not even a whiff of a next-gen announcement at E3 is bound to create a bit of a lull, but there are a couple of positives that can be taken.

It's a great time for backlog catch up! So far this year I've played and really enjoyed; Castlevania LoS, Hot Pursuit, Civ 5, Crysis 2 and Dead Space 2. All titles I'd been meaning to get to for ages.

Also, as mentioned, there's the chance for a few smaller games to really get some attention. Two arcade games I've played are I Am Alive and Fez. I Am Alive had issues, but there were some really interesting combat mechanics in it, and I enjoyed the way it gave every pull of the trigger weight. It unravelled a bit in the second half, but I'm pleased I got a chance to play it.

Fez I totally fell in love with, despite thinking I wouldn't really enjoy it. The cryptology really hooked me in, and I think part of the joy was playing it at the same time lots of other people were puzzling through it and discovering. Not sure I would have had that experience in a busier AAA year?

Sparhawk wrote:

Spy vs Spy just released on iOS. We are all doing great again! ;)

Oh wow, I didn't realise that was coming out, I used to LOVE that game!

Journey came out this year, therefore, it cannot be disappointing.

I dunno, I had an awful lot of fun with both Mass Effect 3 and Diablo 3. Sure, they were both disappointing in some respects, but they were both still pretty great games overall. People just like to focus on the negative.

I really haven't even had time to notice the disappointment of big releases because there is so much cool indie stuff coming out all the time.

Painting a broad stroke, gamers are mostly jaded and impossible to please.

Dyni wrote:

Painting a broad stroke, gamers are mostly jaded and impossible to please.

Some gamers are hard to please because they're just unrealistic. Some of us have been playing games since the dawn of the home computer, and aren't interested in the same old crap. I don't know of any gamer who simply never enjoys playing games; don't conflate objecting to the predominance of commercial appeal with being impossible to please.

Not that you were, but I've seen that argument made and nodded at, and it's crap.

I'll shake my cane and quote Dan Bern:

Too much money ruins things
Seen it ruin music; I've seen it ruin sports.

There's only a sense of malaise if you follow the industry. If you, you know, actually play games, it's the best time in history to be a gamer.

What tboon said.

Also, if you're disappointed with gaming over the last 10 months, you clearly haven't played Saints Row: The Third.

cube wrote:

What tboon said.

Also, if you're disappointed with gaming over the last 10 months, you clearly haven't played Saints Row: The Third.

Yup, while some of the AAA games were of varying quality (Thumbs up to ME3, thumbs down to SWTOR), the next tier down has been bursting with great games like Crusader Kings, Uncharted for Vita &c.

Dyni wrote:

People just like to focus on the negative.

This.

Dyni wrote:

Botanicula came out this year, therefore, it cannot be disappointing.

FTFM

Also, I counter the claim that this is the year of the (disappointing) 3s with proof that it's the year of the (terrific) 2s: Torchlight 2, Guild Wars 2 and Borderlands 2, all of which I expect know will be the opposite of disappointing for me.

I'm not complaining too much. I discovered Warlock - Master of Arcane thanks to the podcast (and quickly sank roughly 60 hours into it.)

My gaming group has been knee deep in League of Legends which has been that sweet spot that we never found with a game. We always had too much skill disparity in FPS titles and could never quite sync our characters in MMO's. LoL isn't for everyone, but it gave us that tight knit MMO team play, with a level reset every match and a never ending learning curve that keeps things interesting.

Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 were both great. I didn't pay much attention to any opinions prior to checking them out and was feeling just like I did with the first two in both series. A badass with serious challenges that never got spoon fed achievements.

The one disappointment so far has been Endless Space. I can not break the barrier to entry (or fun) on that title. I feel like I really need to stumble through a good 10 hour game before I start linking any sort of relevance to the walls of upgrades and perks.

tboon wrote:

There's only a sense of malaise if you follow the industry. If you, you know, actually play games, it's the best time in history to be a gamer.

Second best. The late 1990s were the sweet spot, at least for the games I purchased, played, and still enjoy replaying. The current environment is great, but will I/we pick up these titles in 10 years and still love them?

Distant Worlds, Sins, and Minecraft, probably. Not sure what else might go on that list.