2013 was a terrible year for videogames.
Don’t get me wrong: every year has its ups and downs videogame-wise, but 2013 was the first year where I felt truly alienated and repelled by the current state of the industry. Throughout the year, I struggled to find games that held my interest, ones that challenged convention and tried to break boundaries. That’s why the majority of my game time is now spent playing Magic the Gathering with friends in real life as opposed to playing videogames online. I can’t remember the last time I was excited about a release or actively wanted to visit my local game shop.
So what happened?
The constant rehashes of the same content throughout the year was a prevalent problem, with Call of Duty: Ghosts being one of the main offenders. We’re all used to a yearly CoD these days, but we’d expect something at least a little different from the previous incarnation. Treyarch commendably attempted and succeeded at this with the Black Ops franchise, whereas Infinity Ward – or at least the shattered shell of what it once used to be – went straight back to the already-mediocre formula of Modern Warfare 3 for its lukewarmly received Ghosts. It’s not a bad game as such, but it signals the downturn of the once-great CoD formula and the downfall of the modern shooter genre in general, as shown by the demise of EA’s Medal of Honor franchise.
I cancelled my pre-order for Ghosts the day before its release and I don’t regret it. Remember when Call of Duty 4 and Modern Warfare 2 were genuinely original and something to look forward to? It seems so long ago now.
The feeling that the launch of next-gen consoles is little more than a cash-grab is also inescapable. Whereas the jump from PSOne to PS2 was huge and the possibilities that the seventh-generation of consoles offered was revolutionary, the launch of both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 near simultaneously seems ill-placed, especially when the current generation of consoles are doing just fine. Whereas previous consoles were launched to continue the legacy of their predecessors, it feels like the new ones have been launched just to get more money out of consumers. We’ve come a long way from the days of playing Wild Wild Racing on your brand new PS2 on Christmas Day.
And what’s the point of a new generation anyway when it doesn’t do anything particularly different to the old one? Some games can only run at 720p only, the hardware is rammed to the wazoo with DRM measures and so-called ‘launch’ titles are available on multiple consoles, including 360 and PS3. Such titles used to make or break a console, now they’re just an excuse to sell the next instalment of a stale franchise as many times as possible.
Gee, golly whiz, what fantastic reasons for trading in my current platforms which already do the exact same things! People were genuinely stunned when I said I wasn’t interested in getting either an Xbox One or PS4, at least not until some decent exclusives arrive, the price drops and they prove to me that they’re worth investing in – if that time ever comes, that is.
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve made a discernable lack of reference to the Wii U. Well, no wonder: a combination of launching with little-to-no fanfare, a paltry number of launch titles and little of note other than the usual Nintendo powerhouses and a poor marketing campaign led to few people actually being aware of its capabilities and even its existence, which has since led to Nintendo slashing its forecast of sales by 70% and an overnight crash in its stock value by 18%. It goes to show how anti-consumer and out of touch with their customers games companies can be these days, made further evident by the fact that any games you’ve downloaded on Nintendo’s Virtual Console system are irretrievable should your console be rendered unuseable and that titles like Animal Crossing: New Leaf are the same goddamn games I played nearly a decade ago.
In Part 2, Michael talks DLC and the upcoming year.
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