The 5 events that shook the video game industry in 2012

Gamasutra news director Frank Cifaldi continues Gamasutra's annual year-end roundups series by looking back at the five events that defined 2012.

[Tetsujin]

Bombshell for me was ME1 being ported to PS3, I figured it would only be a matter of time however it's nice now that I can play all 3 games from the start without having to buy another console; Not that I'm against owning another console but not for just 1 game.

Thirty Eight studios going under was a big let down as well; KoA was a really good multiplat that kept me busy till I bought Dragons Dogma, they will be missed.

[gaffyh]

The "The Last of Us" thing is really stupid. If you look at the situation and the story, then blowing the dude's head off is completely valid in TLOU. It's not needless violence like you might see in other games, it has a reason, and a good one at that.

Why do you think The Walking Dead is one of the most popular TV series on at the moment? Because it isn't afraid to show violence when it needs to, and that violence works well in the story.

The violence isn't there for no reason, and I find it quite ridiculous that this issue comes up with TLOU, but GeOW and GOW are WAYYY more violent. But, I guess it's just because of the realism that Naughty Dog brings to their games that people get their "feelings hurt".

[Thefreeman012]

i feel bad that the doctors left because of the pressure from EA. they are completely ruining bioware

[Deku-Johnny]

I agree with the last point. It is quite pathetic how so many companies rely on such graphic violence for their games to be considered good. I like a game with violence as much as the next guy but it doesn't mean developers need have a contest to see who can make the most violent game.

[Hicken]

Of course you would agree with that last point. And it has nothing to do with that BS reason you just made up. That you think it has something to do with a "contest" just shows how out of touch you are with what was REALLY going on at that showing. I mean, who were they competing against?

I'd say you should watch that trailer again and try to grasp the raw brutality of the entire situation, and understand how perfectly SENSIBLE(yes, that's right) it was for that confrontation to end that way, but you would come back with more nonsense.

Edit: Your opinion is invalid. For one, games have ALWAYS been violent; it's just that the hardware is finally capable of rendering that violence in a realistic fashion. The most popular games this generation have either been Call of Duty or casual stuff like Wii and Kinect Sports. Only the former is violent, and its content isn't nearly as graphic as a game like Shadows of the Damned, which doesn't get anywhere NEAR the sales.

And you keep talking about a "competition," but there is no such thing. There is no indication that developers are competing with each other to make ever more violent games.

You agreeing about The Last of Us is because it's ABOUT The Last of Us. Your "opinion" on the subject, as I said before, is just a weak cover for that, which is a reflection of your disdain for Sony-related products.

Here's the thing: that trailer was a tense, emotional ride. People cheered at the end as the tension came to a head; you were happy to see Joel come out on top in such a dangerous situation. The author seems to make some ridiculous assertion that the audience was cheering the gratuitous violence, and you're cosigning that fact without any comprehension of the CONTEXT involved.

You're trying to argue that the trailer- and the response from the crowd- was indicative of some trend in the industry that's using violence instead of quality. You're arguing- baselessly- that the game is relying solely on violence. You categorically disregard any and all context(such as the display of AI and realtime item creation) with the situation and treat the violence as if it's the only thing the game has going for it.

That's the opinion you're presenting, and it's wrong.

Deal with it.

[Deku-Johnny]

How does it not have anything to do with the reason I gave? I was stating my opinion. I didn't mean they are having a literal competition. Think about games over the past decade, they're getting more violent because violent games sell the most. Developers are 'having a contest' to see who can make the most violent game as that will mean they'll probably have the better selling game as games without violence are seen as kids games. How is that "nonsense"?

[Riderz1337]

The violence is completely justified in The Last of Us. It's an apocalyptic setting where people are willing to do anything it takes to survive even if it means backstabbing their closest friends/family. It actually makes the story better because you can see the emotion in the game when the character goes from wanting to kill Joel, to begging for his life when he is confronted with a shotgun in his face.

[th3n00bg4m3r]

Why The Last Of Us? The violence perfectly fits into the game. Why don't you complain about Gears Of War's over-the-top violence?