The video in question.
If you’re not interested in watching, here’s the summary:
Video Games have become lame since the 90s, because:
- They’re all the same.
Targeted mostly at AAA FPS titles. - They treat you like you are an idiot.
Hand-holding, QTE, omniscient mini-map, lack of fast travel. - They are too focused on realistic graphics.
Want to be too much like movies. - They’re boring.
Repetitive challenges, no narrative structure, no interesting characters, ludo-narrative dissonance. - They are not challenging.
Delivery quests, predictable obstacles, games don’t make you feel smart for figuring them out, hyper-“masculinized”.
Unfortunately, the video doesn’t go into much depth with its points, or seem to be aware that video-game opportunities exist outside the mainstream highly marketed titles like COD. This is totally understandable, but it doesn’t speak well of our community that outsiders are aware of only big-name titles.
It’s also comedy, so he’s probably exaggerating his own ignorance to some degree, if not fabricating it outright for effect.
Here are a few more thoughts on each of the points:
- While this seems to be mostly a problem with AAA games, the “indie scene” chases their tail a lot too. I’m looking at you artsy-2D-side-scrolling-platformers. As Keith Burgin likes to say, what we call “genere” in games are really are just copies of individual games that are re-themed.
- I can’t disagree here. This is one of the main reasons I decline to play nearly all video games. There are some exceptions, but they are rare.
- Can’t really add much more than what I’ve already said, other than that I’m not sure “good graphics” was a valuable direction even in the 90s.
- This point is not invalid, but it feels like a cop-out. There’s so much depth to explore here. In short, I think the comment “they’re boring” is, itself, boring. Recursive self-aware critique? Perhaps. Laziness? No doubt.
- It seems that games have largely gravitated around things that are dangerous, sensational, or forbidden in real life as hooks for excitement. Without real-life peril, though, boredom is the inevitable result.