Generation Defining Games and Pains (Part 3)
With the new of consoles now in everyone’s hands, I thought it would be good to look back at the last console generation. Like anything else, the gaming industry evolves and changes, mostly for the better. The last generation of consoles has been the longest we’ve had, lasting 8 years. The Xbox 360 released in 2005, heralding the age of high definition (HD) gaming. A year later the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii followed. While the Wii was arguably in a different arena than the PS3 and X360, all three consoles still influenced each other. As the generation continued, many different trends emerged, influencing the current state of gaming. As with any iterative process, there were some growing pains.
I’ve compiled a list (broken into three parts) of what I think best exemplifies the last generation, for better or worse. I’m not saying these are the best games of the generation or console, just ones that are the best examples for the changes and fades we’ve seen over the last round of consoles.
Links for part one and part two.
Fall of the Middle Man – Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (X360/PS3)
Economics is a funny thing. I strongly urge all of you in or considering college to take a 101 class, it’s something everyone should understand. I say this because I remember people foolishly saying that the game industry pre-2008 was recession proof. It seems silly reflecting on it now considering not a month goes by without mention of a studio closing or layoffs hitting major developers. Middle tier developers and publishers are gone. All that remains are larger companies like Ubisoft and EA, and independents. THQ famously closed it’s doors, auctioning off it’s properties. None was more storied though than 38 Studios. They produced an amazing game that sold incredibly well (upwards of 1.2 million units). In the end, it didn’t matter. Whether it was due to lack of foresight or ignorance to the overall industry, the company was forced to shut its doors, declaring bankruptcy. Luckily, some managed to survive by changing directions like Double Fine did after Brutal Legends (go play this game!). Sadly, 38 Studios’ fate as become the norm.
Multiplayer vs. Trade-ins – Tomb Raider (X360/PS3)
Trading in games for store credit has been a practice for decades. It’s easy to find tragic stories of people who traded in their amazing library for the next console. It was a practice commonly accepted until this last generation. With studio closures looming, trade-ins was something publishers tried to combat with a variety of tools. The first step was pushing multiplayer into games that didn’t need it. Look at Spec Ops or Dead Space 2, both were games meant entirely to be single player only. Tomb Raider perfectly embodies this. The logic was gamers were likely to keep their games longer with multiplayer adding more value. Rarely, if ever, was this the case. Further compounding this was online passes. To access the multiplayer, games included codes gating the section. If the code was used, a new one could be purchased for $10. Thankfully EA, the inventor of this concept, has abandoned it.
Death of Servers – Calling All Cars! (PS3)
Online multiplayer has become a major component of many games, whether we wanted it or not. With this, many games require servers to play. Games like Madden, with new iterations every year, have previous entries taken offline with their servers being deactivated. In most cases, no one bats an eye. Gamers have moved on, the servers are pointless costs. With sports games, this would be fine, as theres always a new entry to play. Some games though, aren’t as fortunate. Calling All Cars had it’s servers prematurely shutdown, essentially breaking the multiplayer game. A small note overall, but it’s interesting to think of all the dead games out there (mostly from EA).
Rising Costs and the Cinematic Experiences – Uncharted (PS3)
HD gaming means a HD experience, right? Motion captured, voice acted performances in beautiful 1080p with 7.1 surround sound. This is what gamers expect for their $60. For better or worse, this is the definition of HD gaming. Many games have delivered the all encompassing HD experience, but the first (I think) was Uncharted. Developers continued to do it better as the generation went on, but Uncharted was one of the first to set the benchmark.
The Day the Music Game Died – Rock Band (X360/PS3/Wii)
Is anyone else’s living room a graveyard for plastic instruments? The ‘music game revolution’ was well underway as the generation began. However, gamers ended up as casulaties in the arms race between Harmonix and Neversoft. Rock Band, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero 4 – the bubble was ready to burst. Then there was Guitar Hero: Metallic, and Rock Band: The Beatles, and Guitar Hero: Van Halen. The horse was dead, and thoroughly beaten. Then there was DJ Hero (great game, but way too late). While many want to forget the time and money spent on these cheap pieces of plastic, I still cherish my memories of singing and simultaneously playing “The Hand That Feeds” (both on expert).
It’s a little hard to believe all of this happened in the lifetime of the 360, PS3, and Wii. Some of these are blips on the radar, while others directly influenced Microsoft and Sony when creating their new consoles. Predictions are always fun, but I guarantee people couldn’t have guessed half of this in 2005. Who knows where the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Wii U will take us. I can’t wait!
Think I missed anything? Enjoy this look back? Comment below!
Tony writes for his own site, thecredhulk.com, about comics, video games, movies, TV and more, six days a week. You can follow his updates on Facebook or Twitter. Drop by and tell’em hi.
Loving my PS4.
