I am fucking annoyed with the state of gaming these days. As the Giant Bomb Crew pointed out in their GOTY podcast this year is filled with sequels, and out of all of those, I might be able to pick out two or three I would actually recommend to anybody. Take CoD:MW3 for example, The game is pretty much the same as MW2, "story" progression aside, it offers nothing new to the series. The same goes for Assassins Creed: Revelations, the only "new" thing it introduces is a shitty implementation of the tower defense genera, had it not been for my investment in the stoy, I'd probably never play that game.¨

The core of this problem is the annualized series we are fooled into buying over and over again. The annualizing of games has been a norm when it comes to sports games, but recently it has started appearing in other genres as well, be it driving games, or the Call of Duty series, I mean, Activision has Four studios dedicated to development of CoD games. Give me a fucking break! How long will this go on?

But who's fault is it really, I'll tell you. It is our fault. Us, the consumers, thr gamers. Especially the so called Casual Gamers, the ones thinking "That last Call of Duty gmae was pretty good, I should probably buy this next one." It is your fault, please stop it!

Anyways, rant over!

I am going to sleep now, will review this in the morning and probably delete it. Had a heated argument (after a few beers) with some freinds of mine about the state of the gaming industry, and I jst had to get tihis of my chest.

GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE ON THE INTERWEBS

SEE YOU TOMORROW!

EDIT: Wow, just read through this after sobering up, and while he has serious trouble with his writing, drunk me does make some fair points.

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

Not one that I'm aware of :/

Of course, you saved the $60 you could have spent, so there's that.

Stop playing only mainstream games. There are more games released for more platforms now than during any other time in history, and they don't all come from big corporate studios. 

I had a lot of fun with a lot of great games this year. Many of those were sequels.

@Brendan said:

I had a lot of fun with a lot of great games this year. Many of those were sequels.

YEAH WELL FUCK YOU

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

I dug the original Modern Warfare. That game was sick... but now... yes, you win a prize.

And thank God that Battlefield 3 was a great game.

@Animasta said:

@Brendan said:

I had a lot of fun with a lot of great games this year. Many of those were sequels.

YEAH WELL FUCK YOU

That's not cool. Anyway, we all get annoyed sometimes amigo, the trick is to go masturbate.

@Fajita_Jim: I am playing most of the games that comes out. Its a part of my job. As a matter of fact, my favorite game this year was bastion, made by a small independent developer. Super Giant Games dared to do something different, and not just follow the flow and make the game that will bring you the most money. We need more developers like that. People who are willing to take a risk to please us, the consumers.

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

No, because before they started milking them, they were amazing multiplayer experiences.

why do people act like sequels are some new phenomenon? we had 3 mario games, 2 zelda games, 3 ninja gaiden games, 3 castlevania games and god knows how many bad sequels to bad games in the NES days. Now if you wanna get into the problem with Activision running every franchise it has into the ground, that's a different discussion, but I dont see the problem with games like Gears 3 and Uncharted 3. I hope those franchises go away with this generation, not because there's anything wrong with them, but because I do like seeing new IPs with each new console generation. Sony and MS have, for 2 consoles cycles in a row (3 in a row for Sony), delivered new IPs to us with their new consoles along with, yes, sequels to old ones.

The point here is you cant have a new IP every time a dev puts out a game. The end of a console cycle is almost always rife with sequels because devs are putting their fresh ideas into the next generation of hardware, instead. I am kind of shocked that Last of Us is going to be a PS3 game, honestly.

I agree, mostly. I rather enjoyed Revelations and found it to be the best of the series, all-around. It's hard to improve on a formula that pretty much everyone likes. However, with CoD, there are many more things that people don't like. You might as well say Uncharted 3 was exactly the same as Uncharted 2. They were obviously similar, but they added a little more to what was already a perfectly fine formula.

@VIGGO123: How did you like El Shaddai?

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

@Animasta said:

@Brendan said:

I had a lot of fun with a lot of great games this year. Many of those were sequels.

YEAH WELL FUCK YOU

That's not cool. Anyway, we all get annoyed sometimes amigo, the trick is to go masturbate.

What you guys don't understand is that I keep my cool by masturbating all the time, such as right now.

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

You fucked up, COD4 was awesome.

You should post this as a status on Facebook. You'll gain instant popularity.

Did anyone else play Alien vs Predators? NOW THAT WAS A GOOD GAME.

*sigh* I have so many reasons to yell at this post, but I do not know where to start. Let me just pick something at random. Oh, hey, look at that! A quote!

@VIGGO123 said:

But who's fault is it really, I'll tell you. It is our fault. Us, the consumers, thr gamers. Especially the so called Casual Gamers, the ones thinking "That last Call of Duty gmae was pretty good, I should probably buy this next one." It is your fault, please stop it!

Yea, fuck them for logical thought! Why should they enjoy the next game in the series? Just because it's the exact same thing as something they still love? Where do these buttholes get off? But first, let me turn that very logic against you: why the hell should I hate a game that's similar to something that everybody (myself included) previously admitted to enjoying? I could understand if the game at the beginning of this lineage was bad, or if the more recent games made changes that proved harmful to the quality of the game, but how does being the same harm the overall quality of a game? Video games aren't radioactive materials; they don't decay over time. (Catch more of my reasoning on this very topic here. I like to think that I performed admirably there.)

And I hate to break it to you, but your quest for originality will forever be a fruitless one. No game is original; every single game borrows from some other game, whether you know it or not. I'm not just using this against mainstream games, though; every game is a rip-off of some other game, even if it doesn't look like it. Using originality as a requirement for quality is a very stupid idea.

Wait, my music ran out. Gimme a sec. OK, I'm back.

And so we come to a very important idea: original does not mean good. It's possible for games to be original and implement bad ideas. Hell, just look at Sonic the Hedgehog; that franchise has seen tons of changes over the years, yet very few of its changes have been good. Meanwhile, Street Fighter hasn't changed very much, yet people still love it so damn much. In fact, there are some instances of the series introducing major changes like 3D gameplay or more than two players, both somewhat original for the series, but fans hated those changes. I hope I'm making sense with some of these statements and not coming off as a blathering idiot. In case I did, though, let me sum up my main points:

• Being the same over time does not mean things are getting worse.
• Originality should not be a factor in a game's overall quality.
• There are no original games; everything borrows from everything else, so it makes no sense to designate something as original.

I think it's time we grow up and get over ourselves. Games don't have to be innovative to be fun. Is the game fun? Yes? Then shut up. If you can't enjoy a game because it doesn't have the NEWEST AND GREATEST INNOVATIVE FEATURES, maybe you are doing it wrong. Maybe people should just accept the fact that maybe they don't like a video game
 
I don't know where this change occurred, but we aren't allowed to find games entertaining anymore. Is COD still an FPS? Well clearly they are a POS game and refuse to ever be fun. Is Assassin's Creed still a game? Well fuck you. Does Bioware still make games? FUCK.
 
"ERRRUUGHGHGHG. PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS I DO NOT!!! WHAT THE FUUUUUCK!!!"

I find myself playing waaay more indie games these days as opposed to stale rehashes of tired franchises. A lot of those indie games are quite good too. They are living proof that you don't need a multi-million dollar budget and overly cautious game design to make an amazing product. I seriously hope indie games really come into their own and make gobs of money for actually taking risks and being interesting in a market where development can seem to have become so stagnant.

There's bigger and more important things to be upset about...

@VIGGO123 said:

@Fajita_Jim: I am playing most of the games that comes out. Its a part of my job. As a matter of fact, my favorite game this year was bastion, made by a small independent developer. Super Giant Games dared to do something different, and not just follow the flow and make the game that will bring you the most money. We need more developers like that. People who are willing to take a risk to please us, the consumers.

No offence man but I must be living on another planet than you. I've got bucket loads of excellent games on Steam made by independent and dependent developers alike, more than a few of these published this last year, and if anything my big frustration would be where to start in this pile of digital goodness. On the positive side your wish did already did come true imho ;)

Ps: Bastion definitely was one of those "up there".

@N7 said:

I think it's time we grow up and get over ourselves. Games don't have to be innovative to be fun. Is the game fun? Yes? Then shut up. If you can't enjoy a game because it doesn't have the NEWEST AND GREATEST INNOVATIVE FEATURES, maybe you are doing it wrong. Maybe people should just accept the fact that maybe they don't like a video game I don't know where this change occurred, but we aren't allowed to find games entertaining anymore. Is COD still an FPS? Well clearly they are a POS game and refuse to ever be fun. Is Assassin's Creed still a game? Well fuck you. Does Bioware still make games? FUCK. "ERRRUUGHGHGHG. PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS I DO NOT!!! WHAT THE FUUUUUCK!!!"

I agree with this. Whenever I mention that I play COD solely for entertainment.. I get odd stares. Sure, MW3 wasn't innovative at all. But it was still fun to play. Same with Black Ops' multiplayer. Kind of seems that a game gets a shit score/rep if it doesn't innovate, even if it is fun to play.

I hardly see how this year was bad, though. A lot of the sequels(Skyrim, Arkham City, Gears 3, etc.) were actually very enjoyable.

@VIGGO123: Nobody's fooled into buying anything. We like something so we pay to get more of it. I'm pretty sure this generation isn't the first to contain sequels... consider Mega Man and Metroid. Neither of these series' first games were the best, but they both contain fantastic games which were ITERATIVE SEQUELS. Sometimes it takes a few attempts before a series can really hit its stride. After that, it will take time for the success to wear off and the series to die out. This is nothing new.

If it's your opinion that there is nothing commendable about any of the current generation series, well, consider the first five Tomb Raider games. That was an annual series in which every game was worse than the last, and it still came out in time for the holidays every year for FIVE YEARS. Still, people recognized the games were getting worse and the series died off. Tomb Raider still exists today, but nowhere near the dominating role it once held in the video game market. The point is: if the games are truly bad, they will stop making them.

Most of the modern series you're complaining about are only up to 3 or 4 (MW3 is really the 4th game in a series)... AND it seems that many of these series are wrapping up so the studios can move on to something new. I don't know why anyone is freaking out about successful games getting sequels... that has always been the case. Usually, when a game is successful that also means it is at least pretty good. However, if it doesn't suit your tastes, that doesn't mean there aren't also unique and totally new games for you to play. Check Steam or XBLA every once in a while. Downloadable games have become the bastion (har har) of experimental game design.

You didn't list any games that you DO like, so I don't know what to use an example of something positive. If you're mad because everyone is buying MW3 and not "Game A," just remember that if everyone did buy "Game A" we'd eventually be getting "Game A 6: The Reckoning" and everyone would be sick of it.

In conclusion: There will always be bad video games, but there will also always be good video games, so cheer up. Sometimes series will go on for too long, but then they will stop and exciting new series will rise to take their place. It's the circle of life.

@TentPole said:

@VIGGO123: How did you like El Shaddai?

Oh what's that? You didn't play it or any of the other interesting and innovative games coming out. Then shut the fuck up and stop buying sequels.

I for one like quirky new stuff and big polished sequels.

@Enigma777 said:

There's bigger and more important things to be upset about...

Like pikachu hitler.

Don't mind me just making sure giantbomb reaches it's "godwin's law" quota before the new year starts.

I don't think sequels in themselves are a problem but yeah, this pattern of annualised sequel doesn't seem to be helping the franchises it's applied too. None the less, while there are a lot of things in gaming that irk me (one of the most frustrating perhaps being the industry's reluctance to innovate) I don't think annualised sequels represent the state of gaming as a whole, it's a practise that while adopted for larger franchises only affects a very small number of them. I also think that to say it is purely the fault of consumers is wrong. The consumers are at least partially responsible but the developers and publishers are certainly at fault here as well.

@Fajita_Jim said:

Stop playing only mainstream games. There are more games released for more platforms now than during any other time in history, and they don't all come from big corporate studios.

The current Steam Winter Sale encouraged me to finally play some of those indie/smaller titles I've bought for a song over the last 1-2 years and I was surprised how many fresh ideas there were. This is definitely "a" solution to the problem. Look at all the underdog games nobody buys: there's a lot of great ideas (that might come with slightly flawed execution) and usually for a comparatively low price. Same goes for overlooked games on the big-scale side of things like El Shaddai, Shadows of the Damned, Alice, Rayman Origins.

This year was a wonderful year in gaming for me. I had the chance to play so many fantastic games. Sure there were some stinkers in the mix, but overall, this year was one of the best, and I didn't even touch a first-person shooter.

The best part is that not all of the games I enjoyed came out this year. I know it's crazy, but sometimes it's nice to just catch up on some of the games ya miss from yesteryears. I got a chance to catch up on games like Valkyria Chronicles, Mass Effect 2, and Uncharted 2. All great games in their own right.

In closing, video games are great.

I agree. That's why I haven't bought an AC game since the second. I dislike buying sequels, that capitalize on the establish material, without bringing something new.

@Enigma777 said:

There's bigger and more important things to be upset about...

Fuck off.

That was pretty coherent for a drunk blog post.

@SpencerTucksen said:

I agree, mostly. I rather enjoyed Revelations and found it to be the best of the series, all-around. It's hard to improve on a formula that pretty much everyone likes. However, with CoD, there are many more things that people don't like. You might as well say Uncharted 3 was exactly the same as Uncharted 2. They were obviously similar, but they added a little more to what was already a perfectly fine formula.

I see where your coming from but Uncharted 3 while being simular in the sense of characters and gameplay they did make major strides in the totally different setting as well as adding a ton of gameplay tweeks with a much broader multiplayer experience. If there was more story in Revelations then people might not have been so harsh on it but the fact you can almost see behind the curtain because of the way nothing happens it is more obvious that it was made just to make money.

Also VIGGO123 a very nice drunken rant. As the giant bombers were saying its mainly down to no one expecting for the consoles to go on this long....hell im even for making my consoles last as long as possible as I clinged to my ps2 for 2 years before getting in on this generation and I think its time we had new consoles already.

There is still totally awesome original content coming out all the time but its like if your went to Mcdonalds (Activision)where millions of people eat every day and expect a 5 star meal you would be considered a fool. And thats the way I look at COD games and sadly my increasing view of Assassins Creed (which I love) which are just getting milked to death cause they can and people will still hunker down on junk food until they run out of money or one day catch them self in the mirror and say to them selves 'how the hell did i become such a fat fuck.....ohhh yeh Mcdonalds.....i should really eat something else'

Maybe you should quit playing games and become an old crotchety fuck ready to tell people why X was sooo much better in your day.

@TheDudeOfGaming said:

That's not cool. Anyway, we all get annoyed sometimes amigo, the trick is to go masturbate.

I misread that as

the trick is to go menstruate.

I don't know which is worse.

@Video_Game_King:

FF8 had the best music.

Once you've eaten, say, a creme brulee, do you think to your self: -"Man, that was good. Now I never want to eat another one of those because that would be unoriginal."?

No? Then why would that thinking apply to games? Sure variety is great, but there's also something to be said for reusing a proven recipe.

You could make this exact argument decades ago.

WHAT? ANOTHER MARIO GAME? Contra 3? Castlevania 4? It's all sequels all the time for SNES Arrrghhhhhhhh

Where is the innovation 16bit games suck!

yep, this generation was the generation of sequels. sometimes it was good, forza series. they released a new one like every 3 years, which is great. the sequels that come out every year is pretty bad. it usually is the same game just maybe a new graphics or something like that.

@Bwast said:

@Enigma777 said:

There's bigger and more important things to be upset about...

Fuck off.

Here's some Midol for your cramps:

@N7 said:

I think it's time we grow up and get over ourselves. Games don't have to be innovative to be fun. Is the game fun? Yes? Then shut up. If you can't enjoy a game because it doesn't have the NEWEST AND GREATEST INNOVATIVE FEATURES, maybe you are doing it wrong.

It's not a matter to me if those features are bad. COD's gunplay is awesome, but I'm getting sick of it, so I did not buy MW3.

And yes, the hate train against COD is way out of line. COD is still a good game IMHO. But wanting something more innovative is not uncalled for.

@iam3green said:

yep, this generation was the generation of sequels.

Compared to what generation, again? Every generation has had sequels out the butt.

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

Only from hipsters.

@AlisterCat said:

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

Only from hipsters.

You're referring to me, right?

@Enigma777: It's a video game website. It's not like he's ranting about video games on an Aid for Africa board. He should be able to complain about them here without people being condescending dicks.

HAHAH NOW I GET IT. I HAVE PMS. DO YOU WRITE YOUR OWN MATERIAL?

@TehFlan said:

@McGhee said:

I've never bought a Call of Duty game in my life.

Do I win a prize?

Not one that I'm aware of :/

Of course, you saved the $60 you could have spent, so there's that.

Approx $180.00, over time for the overpriced pc MW versions. Steam sales would negate much of that joy, though. I personally would not have wanted to miss Call Of Duty 2 though. That sequel managed to surpass the excellent first COD. COD 3 suck though, at least relatively. Unfortunately I didn't win the Mcghee prize for that.

And just to say, I like the majority of sequels. They develop and idea and make it work. Look at Dead space 2. And functionally, if you ignore what they did to the story in the end, Killzone 3. Assassin's Creed has absolutely blossomed for it, though I can understand Ryan's burnout. I myself do not hate sequels till they are run into the ground. The installment plan, like what MW3 is reflective of, is yes, irritating, but as long as that format isn't the only beneficiary of Sequels, well that's life. I do hope Price retires now...

@Bwast said:

@Enigma777: It's a video game website. It's not like he's ranting about video games on an Aid for Africa board. He should be able to complain about them here without people being condescending dicks.

HAHAH NOW I GET IT. I HAVE PMS. DO YOU WRITE YOUR OWN MATERIAL?

For your information I'm always a condescending dick and I never make any exceptions.

As for your question, no I get it shipped from Chile. It's cheaper that way.

So, drunk me makes some fair points, but he doesn't formulate them very well. There have been some great sequels this year, like Dead Space 2, Portal 2 and Saints Row: The Third. And it's been a lot of really good indie games coming out.

I take issue with the way games are being churned out for profit, and loosing all passion and innovation in the process. Especially I really dislike the way Activision is handling their IP's. When they find a formula that works, they stick with it and milk it for all its worth. And it pains me to see this tendency spread to other publishers as well, as EA did with Dragon Age II and like Ubisoft is doing with Assassins Creed.

And finally, in reply to @Video_Game_King:

I don't demand originality from every game I play. I am well aware of the fact that almost every game borrows elements from something that exists already. But using an idea as a base for building upon is not the same as releasing three copy pasted games in a row! When you build an entire collection of developers who's sole purpose is making this ONE game over and over again you're taking it too far. Take a look at MW3, five different studios made that game!

But I guess that is the way it has to be done when your schedule demands another one every year, because your only thought is making as much money as possible, instead of actually taking a risk at something that will bring innovation to the industry.

You just have to remember that along side the sequels you don't enjoy, you have those that succeed to entertain.

Portal 2, Skyrim, Gears Of War 3, Saints Row: The Third, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and more.

@VIGGO123:

But if they're all copy-pasted from the same original game, where do your complaints come from? They have to come from the original game, right? I'd love to see you reconcile Modern Warfare 1 being noticeably better than Modern Warfare 3 if they're the same game. "This game sucks because it's exactly the same as this game I admit to liking" is not a good argument. And who the hell cares if it took five studios to make Modern Warfare 3? Yes, that sounds excessive, but since the end product is good, I don't see any reason why I should give a shit. That would be like saying L.A. Noire sucks because of how much time and money Team Bondi invested into it.

Again: WHY IS INNOVATION GOOD? HOW IS DIFFERENCE A QUALITATIVE THING IN THE FIRST PLACE? Games can innovate and still be pieces of shit. Which scenario would be better: a diverse range of shit or a copy-paste field of AAA games? I'd go with the latter simply because, by definition (in this scenario), they'd be good. And I might as well let you in on a little secret: developers and publishers HAVE to focus on making money. They're corporations. They have shareholders. They're required to seek the most profitable route. That's how business works.