Gaming Rant - 11/12/10 - Narrow Focus of Audience

My latest gaming rant, talking about the narrow focus of a specific part of the gaming audience, specifically the FPS genre.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• elbryan42
• gaming
• rant
• narrow
• focus
• audience
• half
• life
• call
• duty
• black
• ops

[CaliforniaTD]

I wish people would stop bringing up the terms "Casual gamers" and "hardcore gamers". Everybody seems to have their own definition for them, that is just one of many reasons why either term holds no meaning.

[elbryan42]

Casual gamers play games that require little to no learning curve, have lower difficulty and are in it for solely the fun. Hardcore gamers are there to master a game, have games with at least a learning curve, have at least a decent challenge and to fully immerse themselves in the games and the experience.

A narrow focus means they cater to a narrow audience, who don't want a new experience. It's easier to market to a group that's already established. It's easy money, and that's the problem.

[Bungholio281]

I feel like the degradation of the Resident Evil series sums this video up quite well. What was once a game of tension, problem solving, and resource management, has been dumbed down to a sub-par shooter with online play, completely throwing out the isolation factor. Sadly, Resident Evil is only one of many victims of this change.

I hope games that immerse you in single player mode will continue to hold their own in the marketplace; that's one of the things that has always drawn me to games.

[elbryan42]

Hmmm... Now that I think about it, you're absolutely right. Resident Evil was really getting great, more immersive, and more imaginative. Especially with REMake, Zero and Code Veronica. Then RE4, while great, is very narrow in focus. Fast fluid gameplay. Not much else.

Same thing with Dino Crisis as well. The first and second ones, freaking great, a great evolution. After that, simple and boring.

[KriztofferSwank]

Rob, have you ever played "Thief: The Dark Project"? (I may have asked this before.) It's a game that has numerous objectives based on the difficulty you play, but it doesn't necessarily take you through a scenario in the sense that it forces you to fulfill some objective right away. Tons of exploring in that game; I love it. But it's also not a shooter. ;) It's a slow-paced "sneaker," where stealth and avoiding conflict are key. My favorite first-person game by far.

[elbryan42]

Thief is one of those games I always wanted to try out, but never got around to. Someday I hope. ;)

[SNESFanboy64]

@elbryan42 Totally agree with this video, games these days are just too simplified.

[stupidvid5229]

I agree with everything you said. Gaming is becoming more about money making and less about actual gameplay. But even if we brought the gameplay of the likes of DOOM or Duke Nukem back I don't think it would last and it would start all over again with games like Cod and Halo. Why? Because of the current games, gamers have gotten lazy and narrow minded only focusing on what they know they will enjoy, not trying anything new. That's my opinion.

[spicyechidna94]

@nesnahprotsdam Not necessarily. The platform has nothing to do with the complexity of a game these days. I agree with you on the fact that FPS gaming is indeed becoming more and more and more narrowly focused, but that isn't the consoles' fault.

Consoles are a lot cheaper than gaming PCs, and thus they have a wider market for casual gamers. Developers could create complex console shooters if they wanted to, but all people seem to want these days is Call of Duty.

[Bungholio281]

@elbryan42 I wish I were in a position where I could buy the rights to the game... hire some of the original brains behind the series, bring it back to its roots while utilizing the strengths of modern systems, etc.

[jago2k31]

I love your opinions on games and your channel updates! Keep it up!