Gaming isn't doomed, hardcore gamers are just getting bored

Vince of Gamefocus.ca gives us his insight on the state of the industry, a gamer's introspection.

[NastyLeftHook0]

speak for yourself, as a hardcore gamer im looking forward to

1. the last of us
2. beyond
3. assassins creed 3
4. dead space 3
5. mass effect 1 (ps3)
6. watchdogs
7. gta 5
8. god of war ascension
9. bayonetta 2( wii u)
10. dayz

[Vinc360]

So am I! But in the grand scheme of things, a lot of these games are actually sequels that look a lot like their predecessors, a new console generation, among other things, could help the industry as a whole move forward if you ask me. I think the WOW factor is pretty much gone for most gamers, 7 years into this generation. A lot of people are simply not willing to pay 60 dollars for a brand new game anymore if they feel like they've already played it. Don't get me wrong, I'll get every single game you mentioned right there, but it's getting to the point where I'm also ready for the next step, you know? Watch Dogs, for example, looks absolutely amazing, and it's one of those that looks especially next-gen. Just imagine how good AC3 would be on a more powerful system as well. Having played it, it's absolutely fantastic, but an even bigger scope and new mechanics would shine even more on a more powerful machine.

[NastyLeftHook0]

i can see your point in what you said about new ip's, i always love a new system that comes with amazing ip's and almost always there generally fresh and cool.

imagine a battlefield, 3 scenerio...

.earthquakes.
.tornados.
.hot weather/fatigue
you can lose a limb
blow up everything!
the body's stay
when you come in contact with a nother enemy you can choose a fight scene scenerio like...press x to stab ect...

EDIT ;yes, and other companys will follw and it will set a standard that we thought once we could never had achieved in gaming, and it will be standard. these are remarkable times.

[Vinc360]

Exactly! That kind of scenario would feel fresh and the sheer scale of such a thing would really make the experience even better, right now we see a lot of games that give the ILLUSION of an epic battle and a huge scale with great backgrounds and everything, but making those backgrounds accessible and expanding the scale of games like this would totally get me excited as a gamer. It may seem intimidating to have a larger scale for new gamers, but as I mention in the article, older consoles could just drop in price and serve as an entry point and educative experience for those people!

[neogeo]

I agreed. I don't say wow often enough. Snes made me say wow. Mario64 made me say wow. Uncharted made me say wow. I need more wow in my life.

back to porn.....

and porn has lost it's wow.

[Detoxx]

9 out of 10 games on your list are perfect games for a casual gamer.

Ask yourself, will these games challenge you as an hardcore gamer?

As a hardcore gamer myself I would love to have more games like DayZ, I love a challenge

[Sheep4life]

"9 out of 10 games on your list are perfect games for a casual gamer" Everyone has their own opinion about who a casual gamer is. While we are talking about it, my opinion of a casual gamer is anyone still playing a Wii or someone who plays on a mobile platform (ex - mobile phones). Any single player game over 10 - 20 hours is hardcore, and any game with a robust online offering is hardcore. If you want to make a name for yourself, go find games like Demon souls or dark souls to see if you belong with the crowd, or be an elite top 5 guild in WoW or EQ back in the early 2000's to current.

[ChickeyCantor]

" Any single player game over 10 - 20 hours is hardcore"
So Tetris is hardcore?

Got it.
( Everyone needs to stop with the goddamn definitions. It makes you all look like tools )

[kesvalk]

single player game over 10~20 hours with robust online offering? seems like cityville to me....

when will you guys understand that what is hardcore is not the game, but the gamer, and he/she can be hardcore on ANY game.

[NewZealander]

what exactly is a hardcore gamer? i mean people throw the term out there all the time but really it just sounds like a sad attempt to be part of some cool crowd but nobody knows the rules.

i own over 80 games that cover every genre imaginable, am i casual because ive played viva pinata and banjo kazooie or hardcore because ive played halo and rage etc?

i need guidelines apparently!

[Kurt Russell]

No such thing as a hardcore gamer... there is nothing hardcore about sitting in a docile state with a controller/keyboard in your hand. Replacing "hardcore gamer" with "elitist nerd" and you're forming more factual sentences.

Base jumping... anyone busting that I would consider hardcore.

[FragGen]

+1. Lots of great stuff just out or on the horizon. As for sales: It's the world economy plain and simple!

[StrawHatPatriot]

Those games will be awesome, I'm looking forward to The Last of Us and Beyond as well, but gaming itself is becoming stale.

Many of the games either look the same, play the same, feel the same, or can fit in the same genre. Like will "The Last of Us" really be THAT different from Uncharted? Beyond is gonna have the same dark feel that Heavy Rain had, and might have QTE's.

It's like, where's the variety? Where's the fiction you know? You never get action adventure/action RPG games like The Legend of Zelda on the PS3, based on a fictional world. Heck, there's like only two or three major retail platformers that are for the PS3 (LBP, Rayman Origins), too many shooters or games that try to be serious.

[Phoenix-Ho-Yoku]

The last of us is a survival game while uncharted is a third person shooter-adventure so yea it is different just because the last of us is using the same engine uncharted is using doesnt make it similar.

[Phoenix-Ho-Yoku]

double post sry

[BananaEatingSquid]

That's a fear of mine, that The Last of Us is going to have the same feel as Uncharted. I love Naughty Dog and they're definitely one of my favorite video game developers, but this generation has become... the same stuff over and over.

[Sheep4life]

I agree with you there. There are still plenty of games to be played this generation. Gamefly keeps me pretty busy these days with their 15 dollar blowout on all used games (in fact, there is one going on right now ps3 xbox wii).

[Griffin4871]

Why'd you have to mention Wii U for Bayonetta 2? That was pointless.

[wastedcells]

I agree, if your bored get a PS3, there are a ton of new experiences and great new hardcore IP's. Forget fanboy bullshit and diversify your gaming experience. But new consoles are a welcomed change.

[sdplisken]

My top ten:
1.MGS Ground Zeroes
2.From Software's next "Souls" game
3.The Last of Us
3.GOW: Ascension
4.Dead Space 3
5.Beyond: Two Souls
6.Tomb Raider
7.Bioshock Infinite
8.The Last Guardian
9.GTAV
10. Mass Effect 1

[Campy da Camper]

Infamous 3 is one of my top game anticipations. I friggin love the series. Plats in both and 100% on FoB

[Clarence]

Funny it's not the gamers who say that gaming is doomed. It's the media and these analyst that keep saying gaming is doomed.

[Captain Qwark 9]

exactly lol. i am quite pleased with gaming at the moment, ive played some really great titles this year and still have halo 4, wwe 13, and far cry 3 to look forward too

[Vinc360]

That's true, to a certain point. I certainly see a lot of gamers that comment about this type of things, and the sales numbers speak for themselves, software sales have been dropping for the past few months/years and I'm getting sick of people blaming the economy. Look at the amount of people buying the iPhone 5 when they already have every iteration of the device that came before! Lots of people have the money, but simply crave a bit more innovation or at least evolution in the games industry. I freaking loved dishonored, personally, I gave it a 9.6 on our site and called it one of the best games of this gen. Why? Because it felt fresh and interesting! I think a new generation would re-energize the market and inspire developers to create fresh new experiences, and I'm not talking about fitness or cooking games!

[Munnkyman]

I have found that this generation and havent played games like I used too. I thought it was because I was getting older, but in reality I was getting bored. I don't seem to have as much fun playing games anymore. Even though I stil do play since its still a huge part of my life

[Bumpmapping]

That's why there is a PS3 and PC to cater to our needs.

[ShaunCameron]

Nope. They're not offering much except higher-definition retreads of what's popular.

[ChunkyLover53]

Simply saying hardcore gamer's are bored isn't really covering the wide spectrum. I think we are getting that "been there, done that" kind of feeling. The lack of new hardware isn't exciting us, we should have gotten new hardware a year or two ago, that always reinvigorates the masses.

Sales have slowed because the market is saturated, plain and simple. The majority of hardcore gamers who want a current console already have one, or two or all three.

We have to remember that when this current batch of consoles launched, there wasn't any iPads or iPhones, so we have to take into account that some people might not buy consoles because of those things, I don't think that is the core audience though. I'd suspect next generation we'll see all three console makers try and lure as many different types of gamers as possible, but I think the days of a console selling 100 million are over and done.

[SirBradders]

No it is not hardcore gamers getting bored its losers with no life or job who play games all day, who are getting bored with there meaningless selfs. I'm loving the variety that's available these days.

[unworthy15]

Well besides you being rude, I disagree with what you're saying about variety. More and more titles and franchises seem to be morphing into cover shooters.

[SirBradders]

I did put it a bit bluntly but it's true, if you don't have a life besides games then of course you will get bored. You never heard the saying sometimes you need some egg instead of bacon, it is in our nature to be bored of repetitiveness unless your an addict to something then there's a problem. Your statement of cover shooters is just wrong shooters is one genre of games and there are over a hundred genres. I see what your saying but it's very narrow minded.

[Roccetarius]

I buy a lot less games than i used to, because i feel like they're simply not worth the price. Instead, i watch and weep for what happened to certain franchises.

The most recent game i bought was Dishonored, and it may very well be the last for me this year. I might get Hitman or Doom 3, but that's it. I always research the games that i buy, and if i feel it's worth it, it's a day one purchase.

[Totoro17]

It's developers "quantity over quality" mentality that's screwing the game industry; not to mention DLC's partake in it as well.

[SirBradders]

It's the board of directors/owners of the companies. Developers are their to develop not run a business.

[TheCopyNinja]

I think that's what it is. Also games these days just aren't as fun as they used to be and the fun in them doesn't last that long. Also I could care less for games like COD, AC, etc. Bring something new to the table that will bring the feeling back inside of me!

[hotrider12]

Bring something new to the table that will bring the feeling back inside of me!

I agree, hoping Nintendo WII-U bring back excitement of yesteryear gaming where variety reign supreme. cater to ALL gamers not only HARDCORE gamers as MS and Sony currently doing.

[TheLyonKing]

I have been quite bored with games recently, waiting for a couple to come out but am sure am in the minority.

The reason am bored is cause work is more important right now and there hasn't been a game to really wow me the last month or two for me to sit down and play.

[bloodybutcher]

atm the only game that keeps me hooked is dark souls:)i know it's not a new release, but it's soooo good

[unworthy15]

It's hard to relate to this article because I was never a gamer that was consistently WOWed by video games, and I'm as hardcore as you can get, been this way since I was a child. There were games that were amazing to me when I played them and I could freely admit that, because it was true, but then there were games that WOWed me. Games that WOW me are sort of few and far between. It has never happened that often for me. I'd say this generation has had just a few less WOW-worthy games for me. I honestly don't think it's a significant decrease though. Another thing to take into account though Vinc is our ages(me and you at least). As mere kids, maybe it was easier to get wowed back then. We became adults this generation though. Just something to think about.

I'll tell you one part of the article that's the quote of the century though- "Games that are supposed to be for the “hardcore” crowd hardly are anymore."

*cough cough* Call of Duty *cough cough*

[Jazz4108]

Speak for yourself. Im 41 and have been a avid gamer all my life. I do spend alot on games but I find some real gems in games that have little to no mention. For instance magna carta, lost oddessy, and I have been replaying dishonored. I loved the uncharted series but the last one just felt stale to me. I dont mind sequels if they are well done and not a cash in. Im also very ready for a new generation of consoles as what I play on pc has passed consoles years ago. Its not all about graphics that I am looking forward to its more dead eye AI, less sceeen tearing, higher res, better draw distance and more interactivity throughout the world created. After a long day at work I love to get lost in another world and forget about everyday trials. I will be a gamer for life harcore or not.

[Gr81]

Is the folks who consider themselves 'hardcore gamers' arent the majority of the gaming pie. They can throw tantrums all they want but they don't speak for the masses. Gaming does have a problem though and it comes down to game design.

Many devs think that video games is their vehicle to Hollywood, and think they are making movies as opposed to making games. Games now are shorter than before, but more expensive than before. You have companies who lock DLC on discs, companies that want to punish the consumer for buying a used game. What kind of $hit is that?

Dev costs will continue to rise too. So Companies will opt to charge more for software and be less apt to take risks or make anything other than sequels.

Not to mention an economy that's been in the toilet for a decade.

[ShaunCameron]

BANG! The "hardcore" game was never the majority at any point in time. The casual crowd always made up the majority of hardware sales and the software sales of many popular IP's. It's just that now the stakes got bigger.

<Many devs think that video games is their vehicle to Hollywood, and think they are making movies as opposed to making games. Games now are shorter than before, but more expensive than before. You have companies who lock DLC on discs, companies that want to punish the consumer for buying a used game. What kind of $hit is that?>

Actually the shortest games now are roughly equal in length to the longest games of 20+ years ago. If anything, they just gotten more expensive to make while the retail price barely changed much. Yesterday's games were not that cheap and their length had plenty to do with the technology of the day and design choices (difficult for difficulty's sake used in the arcades to get players to cough up more money)
that developers took with them when making the transition from arcade to home console. Today's game length is just plain ol' excess to give the player the illusion that the game has "100's of hours of content" where 90% is spent on fetch-quests and (online) multiplayer and only 10% is spent on doing anything productive that advances the campaign.

Don't forget online passes, DRM, etc. Greedy consumers with a warped sense of entitlement is what made these things come to existence. The small group of pirates and malcontents ruined it for everybody.

<Dev costs will continue to rise too. So Companies will opt to charge more for software and be less apt to take risks or make anything other than sequels.>

New state-of-the-art hardware, new graphics engines, more people to hire....

Rising development cost are bound to happen.

[ninjabake]

The term "hardcore gamer" makes me laugh every time I see it or hear it. If your a gamer your a gamer. You like playing entertaining games no matter the genre or style, dividing it into gaming "groups" is just silly imo.

[unworthy15]

The term is necessary though. There's definitely a difference between your parents playing Wii sports or Dance Central, and then some dude playing Skyrim, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy, Uncharted, and then does research and studies on games like this.

Just as there's a difference between a movie buff and a casual movie goer

[ninjabake]

To each his own. I feel its not necessary. Ratings? Absolutely. Genres? Absolutely. Dividing gamers into groups? Not necessary.

That of course is only my opinion and I respect yours. We'll agree to disagree.

[BananaEatingSquid]

You should hear my grandma playing Gears of War

[Gr81]

Your analogy between an avid movie goer and a hardcore gamer is cute..but flawed.

A movie buff is an adjective to describe someone who goes to movies more frequently than a casual movie goer, it has nothing to do with what they see.

As opposed to your belief that a hardcore gamer plays the games you listed and if they play Wii sports or tetris they are somehow something of a different gamer.

Close but no cigar. You either play games or you don't. No distinction neccessary.

[Sheep4life]

The developers these days are taking advantage of us the gamers. With the on disc DLC, season passes, and online passes, the games are becoming shorter and shorter, but more expensive. Some console makers are dictating that all games have some kind of multiplayer aspect to their games in order for them to justify the price of their online service. For developers to meet this demand, their games are being pushed back further and further (Bioshock Infinite for example), and the single player content or depth of the story is being cut back as future downloadable content. Let the developers have the time to build ambitious games that will revive the industry. We as gamers should not settle for second best. Releasing a new platform or console will not fix the problem we have for long term growth. It will only act as a shot in the arm, but it will wane fast without more creativity or fresh IP's (Playstation Vita for example).

Nintendo finally joined the current generation with the WII U graphically, but as you can see it was not overly ambitious in the hardware department. Nintendo added what the developers said it needed in order to truly make the games we were promised this generation. For example, true 1080p games (not upscaled from 720p). Hopefully Sony and Microsoft are watching Nintendo this holiday season until they launch their new systems. Game consoles are to play games and use an occasional app here and there. However, I could care less if I could watch ESPN or any other cable show on my console. I got a cable box or satellite for that. If we all had browsers on our systems we could access twitter and facebook anytime we want.

In conclusion, make games, huge games, but make sure the games are fixed before they are released (eyeing you bethesda). Hire real gamers to test your products, and get real journalists to review your games (not biased fanboys). Peace folks, got to finish off this game.

[BananaEatingSquid]

I've been ready for next-gen forever... I also feel like I'm playing the exact same thing half the time. Sure, I know people like my brother who is satisfied by playing Call of Duty every single day and then buying another very-similar (to me) shooter, but I just want a fresh experience. I played Journey recently and absolutely loved it, I just don't see many games nowadays that can completely awe me. Dishonored I think is great, but I'm excited for the new experiences I'll be able to (hopefully...) get with next-gen consoles.

[DivineAssault]

Sony is definitely delivering early nx yr.. Many core exclusives are being released to quench our thirst.. I just dont get their strategy.. 1/2 of em shouldve been ready for the holidays to boost hardware sales but then again, 3rd party has TONS of new stuff so maybe they will keep the hungry fed during the drought period.. Oh well, my vita will be getting love this yr..

[smashcrashbash]

Actually except for a a few gems this gen has been pretty boring.Many people concentrate too much on stupid gimmicks, technical specs and apps more then gaming itself. Only a few developers seem to know what gaming is about these days.Many recent games just show how much gaming is slowly slipping away. Long ago you could make a game where the character was a princess riding a rhino with a pie bazooka and a vacuum rifle wielding a giant sledge hammer living in a world make of cake and ice cream fighting a giant evil despot who is a giant bison. Now the idea of fresh gaming these days is to slap some more movie effects into a shooter or make the same game with more colors and a couple of extra power ups or enemies or add in some dumb mode in multiplayer or paste together a bunch of mini games. That is as far as many developer's minds can go. 'Look, I added a sand storm to a shooter that acts like a real sand storm' and people yell 'Oh you are so innovative'. 'Look I found a way to make a controller that is more a chore then any fun and is barely useful in any way' and the response is 'Oh you are so innovative' or 'Look I found a way to paste a bunch of games I would never have played individually but somehow seems fun all bunched together' and you know the answer to that

[MasterCornholio]

Im extremely happy with my PS3 and i dont have a shortage of core games to play especially with PS+ the true online service for those who love gaming.

What i hate about PS+ is that Sony gives too much. I have such a huge backlog of digital games that i don´t know where to start. For now i will be playing dishonored but when im finished with the game who knows what other free games Sony will give us plus users.

[mochachino]

I'd call myself a hardcore gamer, I've been gaming since NES and owned every console except 3DO and Jaguar as well as quite a few handhelds. I buy about 12-15 games a year so my collection is fairly extensive and I'm currently saving to build a PC gaming rig.

I'm completely bored with this gen, current consoles are holding everything back.

Sure there are some good games coming out but the most exciting and rewarding time in gaming (for me) is during the first 3 years of a next-generation. That can't happen when the majority of gamers are stuck playing 7 year old consoles. Even PC games are just more polished versions of now underpowered consoles games.

[Npugz7]

They are bored of this generation of consoles! There's nothing that really blows away a person anymore everything looks the same year after year! We need the 720 and PS4 to get that excitement back!

[IQUITN4G]

The trouble for a lot of gamers is that we've played the same concepts for long enough to realise games for the most really are just a process of trial and error. You start off not knowing how to do this and that regards to the method or skill and then you eventually you do. Trial and error skill learning really gets a bit boring after so long because it's a given thing and it's reward a lie. Perhaps an odd concept but one that will eventually be felt by more and more by gamers if games remain stuck in this same way

Games can boast new layers on top of existing gameplay templates of course but it's still the same thing essentially albeit with twists. And this was fine at first but some gamers are slowing losing interest. This is something though you can't at least level at some dynamic games

Truth is there is an infinite amount of game ideas you can come up with but 99% of these are still formed from concepts we've played for just too long now. Playing the same thing over and over no matter how different it may seem will eventually lose it's appeal for certain people- that is to say those that are becoming aware of this

We now have a new generation of people starting to understand the enjoyment of games but this just delays an inevitable crash as devs struggle to realise what exactly they can do next to make big money from this industry. Just a matter of time

It's very rare personally speaking that I genuinely enjoy a game in the same way I used to. If and when games start to realise better on truely dynamic and interactive forms, it's then gamers of old will feel that same magic they once did. As it is though, what a lot of gamers talk about when stating they enjoy games or their so called enjoyment of "gameplay" ,what it is they're more likely describing is their enjoyment of the story or characters etc- and is exactly the reason games tend to get just the one playthrough generally speaking by people these days

[Picnic]

Launch of Commodore Amiga
Dog jumps through window in Resident Evil.
Conker's Bad Fur Day on N64.
Launch of Dreamcast
Max Payne 1.
Some parts of Rage (I'm a fan of the graphics).

Those were the real WOW moments, although seeing the Xbox360's Kameo on a HDTV reminded me of that sense of polish that the Dreamcast brought.

And if you are bored of this generation then you probably don't have a PS3 because Puppeteer's coming out next year and that looks great. And if you're not crazy about beautiful 2D platform games you're not 'old school' old school. You're just 'old school' at best.

[tiffac008]

I don't see how one can be bored when your enjoying something and we definitely ain't playing something we don't enjoy.

[kesvalk]

all the games i wanted were already released and i still didn't finished them

torchlight 2
Borderlands 2
X-Com: Enemy Unkown

[1upgamer99]

You know what, I am so sick of hearing about what the "hardcore" gamers thinks..MOST people who play games have lives outside of them. So if they(hardcore gamers)
are getting bored I have this to say. GET A LIFE, GO OUTSIDE, and a little UV light would not kill you. In a recent study done only about %10 of gamers are "Hardcore" too many gamers think they are, but in fact they are not. Just because you play Doom,FF,WOWC,or FF17, is not the case for making a "Hardcore" Gamer...Also Most of those who think they are "Hardcore" have not even played any Zelda on Wii....Two of the best scores on a game EVER....So I think they are mostly,quote me on this "Hard Up"

[glennco]

pick and choose. if you play all the crap it will get old fast as most of it is not new

[StreetsofRage]

It's because it's time for a new gen. This gen is already tired. In the meantime I have these amazing games for this year...

Forza Horizons
Halo 4
Black Ops
Assassin's Creed 3
Dishonored

This is just for this year so I have no complaints. :)

[I_am_Batman]

I wouldn't say this gen is tired. Some of the highlights are still to come and 2011 and 2012 are among the strongest years this gen with 2013 looking to become a great year too. There is still so much to come especially for PS3.