37 thoughts on “It's OUR Fault That Modern AAA Gaming 'Sucks' Now”
That's why I stopped buying pokemon games (no Offence) and call of duty games as well only because I know the corporations are only thinking about their wallets not the consumers. That's why I moved on to PC and Other pokemon replicas like coromon and temtem. And ark(with pokemon mods). Same with call of duty. I got Black ops 3 because of the Zombie mods. And I'm going to get the ORIGINAL MW2 for PC because of the soon released SM2 mod for it. And I'm currently creating Mods for 7 days to die with items and weapons to fight off zombies and we already have Hirable NPCs even Pets
Spot on Ed and that’s why I stopped purchasing games without checking reviews on them. Also let me add there’s no justification whatsoever for a fully priced game to have any sort of monetization in it and there’s no justification for live service titles to have any entry fee to begin with since we know it will have monetization systems in place
I think what broke me with pokemon is the recent pokemon direct. They fucking focus so much on their mobile games and showed nothing but teaser images for the dlc. I gave them the benefit of the doubt sometime after swsh and gained hope in my heart with legends arceus. They broke my heart with sv but that direct is what turned it into dust. I cannot be fucked anymore and moving on. I may still like the new pokemon however i can't like pokemon games anymore. If im gonna buy microtransactions, im gonna do it in fortnite. Something i actually enjoy and actually respects its community. They even getting tools to make their own games(not the same but still). Eitherway i have other fixes for my monster collecting itch, they may not give the same feeling but its better than nothing.
As someone that mostly plays indie games nowadays I avoid most of the dull buggy copy pasting from the AAA gang. I don't miss anything, I am quite pleased.
I'm writing this before starting the video…. I believe I also saw it often enough if trouble happened with a game you where told you either suc—– , have a bad PC or are just whining, don't have much money or whatever.
While they are good or even better, they are still lacking in a way, indie games I mean like being to short for my taste sometimes and more expensive than they should be in some chases. This kinda after the beginning. It was an interessting video thank you.
However while I might have other reasons, I admit avoiding news for big titles or just not being interessting. What is hyped on is the usual souls nonsense. I mean other can like it, before anyone claims I don't want them to enjoy it. If they are really able to be compared, I also have my favourite titles in that genre? I think you write it like that.
I think a huge point of concern is also the growing existence of gacha games (and some mobile games). The model of presenting a live service as you've said can easily be traced in mobile gacha games to their beginnings and even though gacha games are in a different submarket than games like Pokemon S/V etc, as a businessman, you can't really ignore the profits that games like Genshin Impact and bunches of other gacha games are making with their business model.
I'd like to say that we're at a point where the gaming market is oversaturated to the point that all other niche markets/submarkets are now in on the competition and arguably competing against everyone else now because people spend big $$$ at times for entertainment.
I myself am guilty of pandering to this business model when I bought Wild Hearts, but on a personal scale, I don't regret it since it's a game I very much enjoy ever since the teasers through to the gameplay as well. I got past the performance issues by simply lowering resolution, but the same cannot be said for others. They obviously didn't perform any good controls for how well their game is optimized etc and ultimately because of the live updates, it felt unfinished. I enjoyed the game enough and don't regret the time spent on it, but on a general level/larger scale, I completely understand when people are dunking on it in the reviews. A $70 price tag on a game that can barely run well except for "high-end PC's" that not many will have is very very disappointing.
Honestly, another problem I have is just how rehashed everything is these days. Everything has human-sue syndrome, everything needs a dragon villain, stories are written out of narcissism with unlikeable, and sometimes hypocritical protagonists, and I've gotten to the point where I've stopped buying games like Wild Hearts, Elden Ring, Horizon, Witcher 3, etc. because I want these cliches to die off.
And the sad thing is, Indie games aren't innocent in this. Hades was a game that proved that Indie games COULD win GotY, but ONLY if they succumb to human-sue syndrome themselves. If your game is devoid of it, it has no chance.
Honestly, I'm just starting to hate the state of games in general, between the shoddy business practices and endless onslaught of rehashed settings.
You hit the nail on the head. I’ve been saying the same thing for years. The the biggest problem is the definitely how monetization has been utilized to nickel and dime players for experiences that would cost less 10 years ago. It really is insane that quality cosmetic unlockables are pretty much a thing of the past. If you want good cosmetics you have to pay up now. The free-to-play market is also a huge issue in and of itself. Reason being, the free-to-play players and more specifically the current and up coming generation of gamers. Older gamers like myself (still sub 30 but old enough to have grown up playing everything NES forward) we remember the golden days of gaming when it was passionate and fresh and new, when these genre’s were being built to what they are now. When I try to talk to new gamers about the monetization issues and how bad it is they just tell me, so what? It’s a free game. But then you point out how much they spend on useless cosmetics and the pressure there is to look cool in the new season and they say, “eh. The game is free so what if spend $15 or $20 bucks a month on new skins. They make the game more fun for me. I think that is the saddest thing we used to unlock our skins and cosmetics through challenges and achievements. We used to make our own fun with the game modes we had (many of which eventually became dedicated game modes in future games) but those days a long past the new gamer doesn’t find fun by themselves, they are told fun comes from paying for more “content and cosmetics”. That’s not to say cosmetics can’t be fun, they can be but they make no difference to the gameplay, and depending on the game, most of the time you can’t even see them. So what does it really matter if you can’t even see your character? But hey, the game is free so what do I have to complain about? I’m just a jaded old gamer, what would I know?
I thought that when you said you were trying to talk about different topics on your channel, you were saying you wanted to talk about more than one different topic. Why come back on that "gaming is getting bad" discussion? I know you may really believe that, but please, don't let yourself being dragged by this topic because it's just a cancer pool that can just do you harm. Go talk about something else, some another genre you like. And fuck AAA titles, those things are just over-priced cash grabbing traps.
I agree with you on this. I've had this discussion before, particularly about Pokémon, and the replies I got just revolved around how shaming or blaming people for buying into AAA games in an unfinished is toxic. But my point was, and still is, you buy a product that is advertised as finished (otherwise it would be an Early Access title) and it's not, you have every right to bash the company. You can argue different people have different tolerances to bugs and views on what constitutes an "unfinished" game, but if a game comes out with frame rate issues, with serious glitches and bugs, you cannot pin this on preferences and use that defend a company. If a game comes out in a state where issues are apparent right from the start, then there is no way it wasn't a conscious decision by producers, publishers or heads of studio to ship the game like that. In which case, not only will I vote with my wallet and won't buy it, I will say that people that don't hold these companies to a higher standard (because apparently a game that runs well on its intended system or heavily monetized is a higher standard these days) are enabling the companies to continue with such bad practices.
I agree with your point, but disagree on why the past media always feels better. Unless it's horribly bad (like E.T.), we usually only remember the good movies/songs/games.
But yes, the overmonetization and corporatization in modern games makes them objectively worse at being fun. Incomplete and buggy releases are also a much bigger problem now that they can just throw an avalanche of bugfix patches down the line. The game industry is rotten.
God I hate this channel now all your takes just fucking hurt my head to listen to. I used to enjoy your channel because you DIDN'T post shit like this whining about "waaaaaas gaming sucks now because I have to pay half as much as I used to for a game with 100x the quality" like Jesus Christ grow up and realize not every triple a game is for you, doesn't mean its bad
We also saw this with Star Wars BF2(EA). As long as they thought they were going to get away with their loot box filled, intentionally grindy garbage they were perfectly happy to keep the patches coming, but when people called them out on their scummy practices and forced them to remove that aspect to the game, they dropped the price straight into the cellar, dropped a couple of more patches and then just dropped all support. They don't even care about blatant cheaters anymore, and haven't since their lootboxes were removed.
This is bad because with those elements removed you actually see that there's a fun game hidden under all that intentional tedium and with a few more patches it might have been perfect.
Does it though? God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring were amazing, and I’m excited for Jedi Survivor and Tears of the Kingdom soon. I’m doing just fine with AAA games.
Granted, Pokemon is in a terrible place. But I don’t think we should blame the consumer for that one, when it’s clearly the game freak and the Pokémon company just being super cheap.
For me, it's hand holding not so much the monetization.not only do you have map markers and x ray vision and a glint trail. Or push a button to see everything you can interact with. Gutting games for monetization is horrid. Online patches made ceos brutal with releasing beta test versions instead of a full price product
As usual, Pokemon is a great example of what not to do.
Unfortunately, I am in the camp of 'will buy mainline Pokemon day one'. And by that I mean both copies / dlc versions. I simply love shinyhunting, and the connectivity between all the games is a must. Don't get me wrong, Pokemon sucks especially in comparison to other games in the genre, but I don't see myself stopping being a part of the problem anytime soon.
Of course Nexomon: Extinction is my third favorite game, and no mainline Pokemon game has come close to that, but man have I been caught hook, line, and sinker! Great video as always Ed!
Summed up perfectly! One of the "best" monetization things I've seen is a certain game that charges you $20 for an exclusive skin (for that "season"). Then when they start a new "season" you're back in the base skin unless you buy the new exclusive skin. I played Fortnite for about a month. Then I started coaching my daughter's 4th grade basketball team & have never gone back. That was about 6 weeks into season 1.
I still love Pokémon and I don't really mind the NatDex cut that much we have over 1000+ Pokémon now. But I wish The Pokémon Company didn't pushed GameFreak to release Scarlet and Violet in the buggy state they're in as we just had Pokémon Legends Arecus. We usually have new mainline games every 4 years for a new Gen with many spinoffs like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games and other games. Now it's every 3 years, which is 1 year too fast tbh. Maybe the best thing to do now is just wait for news if the games are buggy or not or play the demo for first impressions.
Game devs have shown that if I wait, I'll get the base game+all the DLC and all patches included for cheaper. Thats why if I'm interested in a game, I steam wishlist it, then wait for when it's finished for cheap. Your actually getting a inferior product for buying on release.
Ar this point, I'm just buying from 2 triple A games, gunfire games (Remnant of the Ashes 1 and 2) and Fromsoftware. And I'd I already got their games, I get indie games
Something weird I have seen lately is people complakning about Tears of the Kingdom being 70$ even thought ehey all loved paying 60$ for BotW. And still are paying that. It is like they don't see a problem paying 60 plus more with unifished games and lame DLC. Or worse microtrasactions. But a game that proved before that don't have any of that bullshit amd is promising repeat it but better is not worth the extra 10$. Games have being price around 60 for ages, but the cost of development only increased. I would rather pay more for complete games if that means aboid all those modern forms of expending money that AAA use nowadays
Thats pretty on point Ed, as someone who is kind of poor but still has a little of money to buy games, what I truly hate are paid games that force you to spend more for a unfinished product, I don't see a problem with instead expanding a already finished and properly bug-tested game but there is no excuse to the current situation with CoD and I fear Pokenon might be heading to a grim future if the recent sales are anything to go by…
Now when comes acceptable monetization, cosmetics honestly dont really bother me unless they actually affect gameplay and are harmess in my eyes otherwise, and when it comes to online F2P games like fortnite and mobile gachas it really depends on HOW the monetization is handled, the true issue with japanese gachas in particular is how these games have plenty of content and variated ways to play without money, but only in japanese because the moment said game gets a english western server, lots of f2p resources and content are removed, forcing anyone who can't read japanese to play a more greedy and p2w version of the exact same game.
There's a reason why I keep wanting to look at indie games instead of AAA titles when most (or at least, like, 20-30% of them) aren't doing the job right or just feel like they're there to make another cash grab. Those who keep throwing money to games over multiple factors (not being informed, not knowing better options, sunk-cost fallacy, etc.) are enabling malicious practices in videogames that a good chunk of playerbases don't want in a truly quality experience, or are even marring the experience. "Voting with your wallet" means a lot more than one might think.
The producers will respond in kind to the behavior of the consumers. Consume responsibly and companies will react in kind. Don't reward bad behavior with your wallet.
That's why I stopped buying pokemon games (no Offence) and call of duty games as well only because I know the corporations are only thinking about their wallets not the consumers. That's why I moved on to PC and Other pokemon replicas like coromon and temtem. And ark(with pokemon mods). Same with call of duty. I got Black ops 3 because of the Zombie mods. And I'm going to get the ORIGINAL MW2 for PC because of the soon released SM2 mod for it. And I'm currently creating Mods for 7 days to die with items and weapons to fight off zombies and we already have Hirable NPCs even Pets
Spot on Ed and that’s why I stopped purchasing games without checking reviews on them. Also let me add there’s no justification whatsoever for a fully priced game to have any sort of monetization in it and there’s no justification for live service titles to have any entry fee to begin with since we know it will have monetization systems in place
I think what broke me with pokemon is the recent pokemon direct. They fucking focus so much on their mobile games and showed nothing but teaser images for the dlc. I gave them the benefit of the doubt sometime after swsh and gained hope in my heart with legends arceus. They broke my heart with sv but that direct is what turned it into dust. I cannot be fucked anymore and moving on. I may still like the new pokemon however i can't like pokemon games anymore. If im gonna buy microtransactions, im gonna do it in fortnite. Something i actually enjoy and actually respects its community. They even getting tools to make their own games(not the same but still). Eitherway i have other fixes for my monster collecting itch, they may not give the same feeling but its better than nothing.
As someone that mostly plays indie games nowadays I avoid most of the dull buggy copy pasting from the AAA gang.
I don't miss anything, I am quite pleased.
Yeah, it would be lovely to get enough people to do this but its like real life problems. people just complain and do nothing to actually help.
Consumers gonna keep consuming in capitalistic western society.
yes
I'm writing this before starting the video….
I believe I also saw it often enough if trouble happened with a game you where told you either suc—– , have a bad PC or are just whining, don't have much money or whatever.
While they are good or even better, they are still lacking in a way, indie games I mean like being to short for my taste sometimes and more expensive than they should be in some chases.
This kinda after the beginning. It was an interessting video thank you.
However while I might have other reasons, I admit avoiding news for big titles or just not being interessting. What is hyped on is the usual souls nonsense. I mean other can like it, before anyone claims I don't want them to enjoy it. If they are really able to be compared, I also have my favourite titles in that genre?
I think you write it like that.
I think a huge point of concern is also the growing existence of gacha games (and some mobile games). The model of presenting a live service as you've said can easily be traced in mobile gacha games to their beginnings and even though gacha games are in a different submarket than games like Pokemon S/V etc, as a businessman, you can't really ignore the profits that games like Genshin Impact and bunches of other gacha games are making with their business model.
I'd like to say that we're at a point where the gaming market is oversaturated to the point that all other niche markets/submarkets are now in on the competition and arguably competing against everyone else now because people spend big $$$ at times for entertainment.
I myself am guilty of pandering to this business model when I bought Wild Hearts, but on a personal scale, I don't regret it since it's a game I very much enjoy ever since the teasers through to the gameplay as well. I got past the performance issues by simply lowering resolution, but the same cannot be said for others. They obviously didn't perform any good controls for how well their game is optimized etc and ultimately because of the live updates, it felt unfinished. I enjoyed the game enough and don't regret the time spent on it, but on a general level/larger scale, I completely understand when people are dunking on it in the reviews. A $70 price tag on a game that can barely run well except for "high-end PC's" that not many will have is very very disappointing.
Honestly, another problem I have is just how rehashed everything is these days. Everything has human-sue syndrome, everything needs a dragon villain, stories are written out of narcissism with unlikeable, and sometimes hypocritical protagonists, and I've gotten to the point where I've stopped buying games like Wild Hearts, Elden Ring, Horizon, Witcher 3, etc. because I want these cliches to die off.
And the sad thing is, Indie games aren't innocent in this. Hades was a game that proved that Indie games COULD win GotY, but ONLY if they succumb to human-sue syndrome themselves. If your game is devoid of it, it has no chance.
Honestly, I'm just starting to hate the state of games in general, between the shoddy business practices and endless onslaught of rehashed settings.
Because gamers are doormats
"OUR" hang on here… 😂
You hit the nail on the head. I’ve been saying the same thing for years. The the biggest problem is the definitely how monetization has been utilized to nickel and dime players for experiences that would cost less 10 years ago. It really is insane that quality cosmetic unlockables are pretty much a thing of the past. If you want good cosmetics you have to pay up now. The free-to-play market is also a huge issue in and of itself. Reason being, the free-to-play players and more specifically the current and up coming generation of gamers. Older gamers like myself (still sub 30 but old enough to have grown up playing everything NES forward) we remember the golden days of gaming when it was passionate and fresh and new, when these genre’s were being built to what they are now. When I try to talk to new gamers about the monetization issues and how bad it is they just tell me, so what? It’s a free game. But then you point out how much they spend on useless cosmetics and the pressure there is to look cool in the new season and they say, “eh. The game is free so what if spend $15 or $20 bucks a month on new skins. They make the game more fun for me. I think that is the saddest thing we used to unlock our skins and cosmetics through challenges and achievements. We used to make our own fun with the game modes we had (many of which eventually became dedicated game modes in future games) but those days a long past the new gamer doesn’t find fun by themselves, they are told fun comes from paying for more “content and cosmetics”. That’s not to say cosmetics can’t be fun, they can be but they make no difference to the gameplay, and depending on the game, most of the time you can’t even see them. So what does it really matter if you can’t even see your character? But hey, the game is free so what do I have to complain about? I’m just a jaded old gamer, what would I know?
I thought that when you said you were trying to talk about different topics on your channel, you were saying you wanted to talk about more than one different topic. Why come back on that "gaming is getting bad" discussion? I know you may really believe that, but please, don't let yourself being dragged by this topic because it's just a cancer pool that can just do you harm. Go talk about something else, some another genre you like. And fuck AAA titles, those things are just over-priced cash grabbing traps.
I agree with you on this.
I've had this discussion before, particularly about Pokémon, and the replies I got just revolved around how shaming or blaming people for buying into AAA games in an unfinished is toxic. But my point was, and still is, you buy a product that is advertised as finished (otherwise it would be an Early Access title) and it's not, you have every right to bash the company. You can argue different people have different tolerances to bugs and views on what constitutes an "unfinished" game, but if a game comes out with frame rate issues, with serious glitches and bugs, you cannot pin this on preferences and use that defend a company. If a game comes out in a state where issues are apparent right from the start, then there is no way it wasn't a conscious decision by producers, publishers or heads of studio to ship the game like that. In which case, not only will I vote with my wallet and won't buy it, I will say that people that don't hold these companies to a higher standard (because apparently a game that runs well on its intended system or heavily monetized is a higher standard these days) are enabling the companies to continue with such bad practices.
I agree, this was a great video ed
pokemon fans will literally defend nfts before they actually boycott game freak
I agree with your point, but disagree on why the past media always feels better. Unless it's horribly bad (like E.T.), we usually only remember the good movies/songs/games.
But yes, the overmonetization and corporatization in modern games makes them objectively worse at being fun. Incomplete and buggy releases are also a much bigger problem now that they can just throw an avalanche of bugfix patches down the line. The game industry is rotten.
God I hate this channel now all your takes just fucking hurt my head to listen to. I used to enjoy your channel because you DIDN'T post shit like this whining about "waaaaaas gaming sucks now because I have to pay half as much as I used to for a game with 100x the quality" like Jesus Christ grow up and realize not every triple a game is for you, doesn't mean its bad
We also saw this with Star Wars BF2(EA). As long as they thought they were going to get away with their loot box filled, intentionally grindy garbage they were perfectly happy to keep the patches coming, but when people called them out on their scummy practices and forced them to remove that aspect to the game, they dropped the price straight into the cellar, dropped a couple of more patches and then just dropped all support. They don't even care about blatant cheaters anymore, and haven't since their lootboxes were removed.
This is bad because with those elements removed you actually see that there's a fun game hidden under all that intentional tedium and with a few more patches it might have been perfect.
Does it though? God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring were amazing, and I’m excited for Jedi Survivor and Tears of the Kingdom soon. I’m doing just fine with AAA games.
Granted, Pokemon is in a terrible place. But I don’t think we should blame the consumer for that one, when it’s clearly the game freak and the Pokémon company just being super cheap.
Would you be able to fire off a quick recap of 3ds monster tamers so we can what to grab before it's too late?
For me, it's hand holding not so much the monetization.not only do you have map markers and x ray vision and a glint trail. Or push a button to see everything you can interact with. Gutting games for monetization is horrid. Online patches made ceos brutal with releasing beta test versions instead of a full price product
As usual, Pokemon is a great example of what not to do.
Unfortunately, I am in the camp of 'will buy mainline Pokemon day one'. And by that I mean both copies / dlc versions. I simply love shinyhunting, and the connectivity between all the games is a must. Don't get me wrong, Pokemon sucks especially in comparison to other games in the genre, but I don't see myself stopping being a part of the problem anytime soon.
Of course Nexomon: Extinction is my third favorite game, and no mainline Pokemon game has come close to that, but man have I been caught hook, line, and sinker! Great video as always Ed!
The moment any game has microtransactions of countless DLCs, it means the product is soulless.
Well said!
Summed up perfectly! One of the "best" monetization things I've seen is a certain game that charges you $20 for an exclusive skin (for that "season"). Then when they start a new "season" you're back in the base skin unless you buy the new exclusive skin. I played Fortnite for about a month. Then I started coaching my daughter's 4th grade basketball team & have never gone back. That was about 6 weeks into season 1.
Can u see when is full coromon version is coming
I still love Pokémon and I don't really mind the NatDex cut that much we have over 1000+ Pokémon now. But I wish The Pokémon Company didn't pushed GameFreak to release Scarlet and Violet in the buggy state they're in as we just had Pokémon Legends Arecus. We usually have new mainline games every 4 years for a new Gen with many spinoffs like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games and other games. Now it's every 3 years, which is 1 year too fast tbh. Maybe the best thing to do now is just wait for news if the games are buggy or not or play the demo for first impressions.
The cosmetics is a huge BS and it pisses me off how a lot of guys buy these female skins 🤦♂️ damn simps.
Game devs have shown that if I wait, I'll get the base game+all the DLC and all patches included for cheaper. Thats why if I'm interested in a game, I steam wishlist it, then wait for when it's finished for cheap. Your actually getting a inferior product for buying on release.
Ar this point, I'm just buying from 2 triple A games, gunfire games (Remnant of the Ashes 1 and 2) and Fromsoftware. And I'd I already got their games, I get indie games
Something weird I have seen lately is people complakning about Tears of the Kingdom being 70$ even thought ehey all loved paying 60$ for BotW. And still are paying that.
It is like they don't see a problem paying 60 plus more with unifished games and lame DLC. Or worse microtrasactions. But a game that proved before that don't have any of that bullshit amd is promising repeat it but better is not worth the extra 10$.
Games have being price around 60 for ages, but the cost of development only increased. I would rather pay more for complete games if that means aboid all those modern forms of expending money that AAA use nowadays
Thats pretty on point Ed, as someone who is kind of poor but still has a little of money to buy games, what I truly hate are
paid games that force you to spend more for a unfinished product, I don't see a problem with instead expanding a already finished and properly bug-tested game but there is no excuse to the current situation with CoD and I fear Pokenon might be heading to a grim future if the recent sales are anything to go by…
Now when comes acceptable monetization, cosmetics honestly dont really bother me unless they actually affect gameplay and are harmess in my eyes otherwise, and when it comes to online F2P games like fortnite and mobile gachas it really depends on HOW the monetization is handled, the true issue with japanese gachas in particular is how these games have plenty of content and variated ways to play without money, but only in japanese because the moment said game gets a english western server, lots of f2p resources and content are removed, forcing anyone who can't read japanese to play a more greedy and p2w version of the exact same game.
gasp how… how could you say such things? I have no words for your accusations flabbergasting
There's a reason why I keep wanting to look at indie games instead of AAA titles when most (or at least, like, 20-30% of them) aren't doing the job right or just feel like they're there to make another cash grab.
Those who keep throwing money to games over multiple factors (not being informed, not knowing better options, sunk-cost fallacy, etc.) are enabling malicious practices in videogames that a good chunk of playerbases don't want in a truly quality experience, or are even marring the experience. "Voting with your wallet" means a lot more than one might think.
The producers will respond in kind to the behavior of the consumers. Consume responsibly and companies will react in kind. Don't reward bad behavior with your wallet.