Danny's The Point Makes an Interesting Point

I've made my peace as someone who's played videogames for 28 years, with the idea that innovation is going to be hard to come by this day and age. When I touched a Dual Shock controller I felt that the only place to innovate on controllers were ergonomics. Once games like Gears of War showed up I knew right there that graphics were going to get incrementally better from now on. Film and music had the luxury to advance at a slower pace, games had evolved exponentially faster than those forms of media to the point where innovation is expected every 5 years. Now though, they can only innovate moving laterally rather than just beefing every thing up.

I think the age difference with folks who play games isn't something that is addressed often. Like you and Danny, I grew up playing those very same games, and being blown away with each new evolution and shift. The biggest "wow" factor within that gaming timeline was the consistency of games, and their associated technology, stepped up in terms of power and possibilities. There is (at least on the surface) less frontiers in terms of the next big thing or change, and our age group cannot help but critically judge all games that come out on so many levels. Yes, we were spoiled with evolution, but we were also spoiled with quality as well. If the rate of next-level shit isn't the same as before, then the quality of content better well be awesome.

This is a DEEP cut, and I love it.

I'll just never agree with that general sentiment. Games have tremendous, tremendous potential for innovation and growth on all fronts (graphical and otherwise) and I feel that this is exhibited every passing year. No, we aren't moving from 2D to 3D but that doesn't mean we aren't progressing by leaps and bounds.

@geraltitude: I don't disagree with you but I think Danny means that the 90's were evolving so much and changing so much that even as games change now it may not keep up with what we expect. Growing up with that constant evolution and change may set an unreasonable example for some. Due to that we should just learn that opinions come in all shapes and sizes and no one is really right or wrong.

@finaldasa said:

This is totally cool and true - wasn't meaning to say "not true!" just that I didn't fall in line with his general feelings. I grew up with games and witnessed the changes first hand but for me I just feel that massive changes are still happening today. I appreciate that most aren't as in your face as they were in the past, but I'm still super excited by what people call small things.

As far as Destiny goes.. I'm not sure this feeling Danny is describing is why that game is being received the way it is. He's talked about these feelings (old gamers) before on The Point and I think he's coming to terms with himself in a lot of ways rather than really catching the vibe right now.

I can agree with that sentiment, but I've also never cared whether I agreed with them or not. If anything, the reason I care about Giant Bomb is because they give attention to games that typically wouldn't receive much widespread coverage other than Let's Play videos on YouTube. Well, that and @drewbert and @vinny are the goddamn shit. You guys can use that quote whenever you want. ; )

As for the topic at hand, I think Danny makes a solid and valid point. I have also watched games go from a few blocks on a screen to things much larger, and all during my childhood to teenage years. Now in my adult years, there are few games that genuinely interest me enough to keep my attention. Then again, in most cases, games aren't being developed with me and my age group at the forefront (sorry for the poor grammar on that line). They are being designed for a target demographic because, in the long run, video games are a BUSINESS. I hate that it works that way, but they want to make money. The group with the disposable income is the one that wins out.

On the fringe, though, there are those few that want to make games that reach out to us. Destiny may not completely be one of them, but despite what any reviewer wants to say, it IS a good game. It's a well-made game with a deep world and lore. It hasn't all been seen yet. I feel like people forgot that part where Bungie said in the beginning that Destiny was going to be a big experience that spanned over many years, not just one single release. I look at it the same way as I look at WoW when it first released, with the difference being that leveling up in that game took a while and the raids took a long time to figure out and complete. Sure, this first raid in Destiny took a clan 11 hours. Back in the day, Everquest raids took weeks, and even Blackwing Lair in WoW took upwards of a week or more for a guild to finally get organized, memorized, and completed. That's the nature of MMOs - the product you get at launch is nowhere close to the completed product.

Given that this is one of the few MMO experiences to ever hit consoles, it's not something that the console audience is used to playing or dealing with. I have a feeling that Destiny will grow into something much larger and much more spectacular. Bungie just doesn't fail.

I kinda wish Danny would've hammered home the last 30 seconds or so of the video a little bit harder because, looking at the Youtube comments, it seems like 99% of the people who watched the video clearly...missed the point HAHA. No, seriously though, I think that bit is extremely important. Forget all the "death of the gamer identity" bullshit or whatever, if game and tech websites wanna band together and talk about some shit that really matters, talk about how it's motherfucking 2014 and civil discussions about most video games are still a rarity. Forget Destiny, look at the comments section for a Hyrule Warriors review (particularly those that gave it low scores) if you really wanna see some shit go down.

@babychoochoo: Yeah, that last bit was basically what I've been thinking for a while now, just better articulated.

Bravo, Danny! That was well done.

I think there is something interesting to say there, but didn't think framing it via Destiny was particularly well done. It felt like jamming a square peg in a round hole.

Danny is the boss though. I love how he is on the site often enough that they feel no need to give him much special introduction.

He has a lot of interesting points and some that I agree with but I think some of here have said it best for me.