Is this the worst generation ever for games?

[abigsmurf]

One thing I will say about this generation. It's shown up just how important art design is.

Gears of War, Resistance etc. may be pretty, well made games that are enjoyable to play and may have a certain amount of visual spectacle but I get fed of of playing gruff, shaven headed soldiers who are permenently scowling. I get tired of playing through ruined skyscrapers and apartment blocks (you CAN do ruined cities in a creative way). Insect or lizardlike humanoids are uncreative and all too often lack character.

Bioshock was brilliant because it showed just what you could achieve if you put real time and effort into the design work. There's a lot of critisism about people who gush over Japanese games and criticise Western games but I do find they put a whole lot more work into creating an interesting world with lots of character in their games. The weakness of the Japanese gaming market this generation has meant a lot more games use the western practice of "Graphics > design" that the typical Japanese methology.

[Ady]

One thing I will say about this generation. It's shown up just how important art design is.

Gears of War, Resistance etc. may be pretty, well made games that are enjoyable to play and may have a certain amount of visual spectacle but I get fed of of playing gruff, shaven headed soldiers who are permenently scowling. I get tired of playing through ruined skyscrapers and apartment blocks (you CAN do ruined cities in a creative way). Insect or lizardlike humanoids are uncreative and all too often lack character.

Amen to that. That sort of thing has always been a turn off to me, to be honest. Games like this make me feel as though I am being patronised and treated like an adolescent boy.

There's a lot of critisism about people who gush over Japanese games and criticise Western games but I do find they put a whole lot more work into creating an interesting world with lots of character in their games. The weakness of the Japanese gaming market this generation has meant a lot more games use the western practice of "Graphics > design" that the typical Japanese methology.

The interesting thing this gen is that the west has finally caught up with the Japanese in terms of game design (for the most part). Games like Dead Space, for example are as good as anything the Japanese have put out over the years. In fact that game's nearest Japanese equivalent this gen would be Resi 5, a game that is inferior in every way. I'd say even stylistically we're seeing more interesting western stuff what with the likes of Braid and Mirror's Edge.

What has happened with the Japanese this gen though is that they have become a lot more conservative and stagnant, more so than a lot of western companies it seems. I feel this is largely due to the Japanese trying too hard to cater to (perceived) western tastes rather than sticking to what they are best at.

[kernow]

ugh god, I am sick of playing through games and getting to the last couple hours and wanting to turn it off, but also wanting to see the ending - lasting it out, seeing a 10 second long ending and then a 25 minute long credit roll.

sigh

[Team Andromeda]

The interesting thing this gen is that the west has finally caught up with the Japanese in terms of game design (for the most part). Games like Dead Space, for example are as good as anything the Japanese have put out over the years. In fact that game's nearest Japanese equivalent this gen would be Resi 5, a game that is inferior in every way. I'd say even stylistically we're seeing more interesting western stuff what with the likes of Braid and Mirror's Edge.

RE5 isn't inferior in every way, Its Graphics are better , and is has Co-op

Also I find that post quite insulting to western developers , I don't were most people were inthe 16 or 8bit days , but Western development was every bit as good as that of Japanese development , and games like Manic Minner set the bench mark , long before Sonic or Mario set thier mark

Some of the best games and games that pushed the Mega Drive to its limits were Western developed titles , EA alone did more than most , and even on the Saturn and PS a great number of my Fav titles were made by Western developers , including the one and only Lobotomy .
Imo Exhumed is in a class of its own , with perfect level design (as good as any Mario game) and pushed the Saturn as hard as most Japanese titles

Gears of War, Resistance etc. may be pretty, well made games that are enjoyable to play and may have a certain amount of visual spectacle but I get fed of of playing gruff, shaven headed soldiers who are permenently scowling

You could use that , for pretty much any generation of games. Oh I'm sick of yet another cute 16 bit platform , oh I'm sick of yet another 32 bit Japanese RPG with big eye's . If people say that, people like you will no doubt hit back with a list proving me wrong .

You replace Platformers with FPS , you replace Cute with War , and this generation isn't that different , really

[importaku]

I have to admit that this generation EA are doing suprisingly good, they are actually making an effort at least. In the past i was one of those eww western games people as they just never seemed to appeal to me but finally the west has indeed caught up & japan is falling behind (well in some areas at least). One of the reasons i got my 360 was because there are some games that just will never make it to the wii. The 360 gets a lot of games that i think of as having a western feel, the wii gets a lot of games that have a japanese feel (there are exceptions on both consoles though). Now i get the best of both although after saying that im expecting the usual (OMG nothing but shovelware **** on the wii LOL)

I must admit the FPS genre is probably my least favourite genre (after sports games), however it just goes to show that they are making some amazing games when they can tempt me of all people to play a FPS.

Theres been a lot to keep me going this gen so far & theres still loads out i want, so no i can't say this gen is the worst for games at all, enjoyed so far.

On 360

Bioshock
Mirrors edge
Dead space
Oblivion
Fallout 3 (depressing as hell but so much freedom)
Portal
Dead rising

On wii

Mario galaxy
Twilight princess
Captain rainbow
Fragile
Taiko no tatsujin
Madworld
We cheer
Fatal frame 4
Super paper mario
Metroid prime 3
Odoru made in wario
Kororinpa
Cooking mama
Naruto shippuden gekitou ninja taisen

[Kubrick]

This generation is fine. In fact its probably on course to be the best one ever, if it isn't already. The only thing that's maybe lacking is the quirky Japanese stuff that used to appear regularly on the PS2/Cube last time round.

That kind of thing is still appearing but its mostly confined to handhelds now, particularly the DS.

That said, I haven't really missed it since Western-made games are much better these days, plus my taste has probably changed.