Is this happening to you too? More and more I feel like I'm in a state of anticipation for something to happen in gaming - I keep waiting for any game to give me an experience of something new, but I'm not getting it and its starting to drive me crazy! Every game I pick up nowadays turns out to be a bore on some level, even the best ones! I think it has mainly to do with an overall lack of bravery from professional game developers, but also a kind of retarded artistic sensibility. Where is our Shakespeare or our Tolstoy? Surely not in Shigeru Miyamoto, as much as I enjoy his games, let's be honest, he's just not on that level. Those masters of other artforms, they produced works that when you experience them you are changed as a human being. Where is that in games? We have undeniable technological geniuses like John Carmack, but look at the sort of games he's involved in. I mean really, just look. Portal is the only game in recent memory that's given me some hope of the future. And whenever I read other people's reactions to that game, I hear the same subtext, "Finally, somebody's moving in the right direction!" I don't mean to be inflammatory, I just felt like venting. I feel like something needs to be happening in game design that isn't - that there's this kind of lurking boredom at the heart of gaming...does anyone else feel the same as me?

I think it's just the way the game industry is going. Games are becoming more and more expensive and longer and longer to make, so they REALLY play it safe these days, aka clones.

I really think the indie devs are going to be what keeps pushing the industry forward, and with things like Steam and PA digital distribution system, It just gives the indie games more power.

But there is always exceptions, companies like Blizzard, whom can create any game they wish with millions of dollars of funding.

But really what I'm predicting is sorta a merge between indie dev's and commercial games. Indie teams will become bigger, and commercial teams will start to downsize.

But with all predictions, you never know, time will tell. IMO the indie model is far better for game development then doing it commercially.

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Original post by JimDaniel Where is our Shakespeare or our Tolstoy?

within a deep forest
dwarf fortress
cave story

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Original post by Kaze Quote: Original post by JimDaniel Where is our Shakespeare or our Tolstoy? within a deep forest dwarf fortress cave story

Those are fantastic games, but in no way would I say that Cave Story is our "Shakespeare"... it's a quality game made with lots of love, but in no way are you "changed as a human being" after playing it.

Portal probably is the best example, though Braid (coming to XBLA soon) is amazing... possibly even more mind-blowing than Portal is. After beating Braid, you are changed, and you will never look at games the same way again. [smile] (I will say no more, lest the spoilers ruin the fun)

Passage is pretty different.

The problem is that the most popular games are those that sell well, but they're not necessarily the ones that have the best value for an experienced player. Most of the big companies gear everything they do towards the shareholders rather than the players. That means create something you know will work, rather than trying for something risky.

But it doesn't mean good games aren't coming out. If you dig deep enough, you'll find them. Just don't look for a life changing experience from the likes of EA, Nintendo or Ubisoft... Their games are extremely popular, sell like hotcakes... But they're really shit (very objective, unbiased statement, I know).

Anyway, we are the future, as they say. The 21st century kids who have real passion will come to replace the old rich dudes who just see sales and statistics. Hopefully, this is just a stale period that will go away.

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Those are fantastic games, but in no way would I say that Cave Story is our "Shakespeare"... it's a quality game made with lots of love, but in no way are you "changed as a human being" after playing it.

That's why he linked other games as well. I would say that Dwarf Fortress really does fit that bill: it is a game of staggering (and always expanding) scope and depth.

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Posted by JimDaniel Why do I find most games tedious? ... Where is our Shakespeare or our Tolstoy? ... Those masters of other artforms, they produced works that when you experience them you are changed as a human being. Where is that in games?

Why do you find most games tedious? The answer is simple: you don't really like games, much as I don't really like static artworks.

Experiencing the works of Shakespeare in no way changed me as a human being. The number of games that had a greater effect on me are countless.

You "feel like something needs to be happening in game design that isn't", but you can't name it because it isn't there. Portal is a common UI exploiting a single, previously under-used mechanic. If one only played games in the 3D human avatar genre, then maybe for them it really is "hope for the future", but taken as a whole, gaming is richer than it has ever been before.

Dwarf Fortress has been mentioned, and with good cause. Immortal Defense is also a beautiful game in its own way. Game developers *create worlds* (not just Origin), and exploring a world is a lot different to following a story. Both are interesting in their own ways, and if books are more compelling to you, then you should read more and play games less.

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Original post by JimDaniel Is this happening to you too?

Nope.

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Original post by Argus2 Why do you find most games tedious? The answer is simple: you don't really like games, much as I don't really like static artworks.

I have to disagree with this. Take me for example - I love novels. I adore novels. So much so that I spent 4 years studying English and would have been happy to go on to grad school if I could have found one which had more than one measly course in my area of interest. In particular my genres are science fiction, fantasy, and romance. Now, ask me if I am excited about any books due to come out this year. [sad] I still read, but nowhere near as much as I used to, simply because I've read so many novels that new ones tend to seem no different from the ones I've already read. And from my broad experience I can imagine which elements an author could pick and choose to create a novel I'd love to read, but 'books perfect for sunandshadow' is such a small niche that its unlikely any particular author would be interested in writing them, and if one did get written its unlikely that it would be published (at least in paper format, yay ebooks and online fiction archives).

Now considering that a novel can be written by a single person in a year or two, that person need only have talent with the single medium of words (compared to programming, art, music...), many many more novels than games are published each year, not to mention the continuing limitations of AI and other technology, and the barrier of the investment in purchasing software and hardware, and the targeting of the average game a younger audiences, I don't find it surprising at all that an experienced gamer would be bored by the majority of the games published each year.