Interface the biggest hurdle for modern games?

DevilRedeemed

teh
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Was just watching something related to Last of Us 2 and I get the sense that these type of games are fundamentally immersive experiences where your success is or should be based on how well you tackle the terrain so to speak. There are games where the well regarded player is judged by their manipulation of the controls and/or controller (fighting games, 1st person shooters, Dark Souls type games).
But when a game puts you in a context where it wants you to engage meaningfully, I find that the fidgety nature of the whole thing becomes an ordeal. I'm sure I'm in the minority here but I find the moving the camera around and trying to use the controls properly is too distracting and takes away from the experience.
This all aside from the fact that I have a fundamental hate for games which try to engage with youmeaningfully. Fuck off.
Maybe there isn't a way around it, but as games become ever more experiences in a virtual reality type setting, non of the systems available today seem to be of the sofistication that we are seeing in other areas.
Yes Virtual Reality headsets and controllers. Possibly some day.

*another thread brought to you by grumpy old man, creator of threads such as IGet Eyestrain and Migrains from Playing Newer Games
 

famicommander

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For me the biggest hurdle is actually getting to a point where you get to play the game.

Buy a new game disc, stick it in the Xbox One
Xbox One needs an update, update it
Xbox One controller needs an update, update it
Game needs to install, install it
Game needs an update right the fuck after you installed it, update it

Game finally boots up, turns out there's not a menu system but a giant over-complicated hubworld where you walk from one physical location to the next to pick game modes.

Then you find out once you start the actual fucking game that there's a 20 minute opening cutscene you can't skip followed by a 45 minute tutorial you can't skip.

So I usually abandon ship halfway through the process and start playing Truxton or Doom 64 instead.
 

AppleiDog

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This is the main reason that Xbox one is the worst console ever made.

god damn those updates.
 

@M

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I dislike when you have to play outrageously long tutorials before they'll even let you play the actual game. Some games are complex and need in depth tutorials, true, but a lot of times it's stupid shit like press button A to jump!
 

Heinz

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I have a feeling my experience with Death Stranding will define my view of future gaming.
 

SouthtownKid

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For me, the biggest hurdle is the time sink. Thinking about the sheer size of the investment is enough to put me off a game before I even begin. Games used to be measured in hours, then days, and now some can take a month or more.
 

Heinz

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For me, the biggest hurdle is the time sink. Thinking about the sheer size of the investment is enough to put me off a game before I even begin. Games used to be measured in hours, then days, and now some can take a month or more.

Anything more than 30 hours is a stupid waste of time for a story.
 

smokehouse

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For me the biggest hurdle is actually getting to a point where you get to play the game.

Buy a new game disc, stick it in the Xbox One
Xbox One needs an update, update it
Xbox One controller needs an update, update it
Game needs to install, install it
Game needs an update right the fuck after you installed it, update it

Game finally boots up, turns out there's not a menu system but a giant over-complicated hubworld where you walk from one physical location to the next to pick game modes.

Then you find out once you start the actual fucking game that there's a 20 minute opening cutscene you can't skip followed by a 45 minute tutorial you can't skip.

So I usually abandon ship halfway through the process and start playing Truxton or Doom 64 instead.

This is the primary reason why I don't modern game anymore. The PS3 era really killed it for me, the never ending updates, the massively long cut scenes or tutorials...

I bought Metal Gear 4 on the PS3 years ago...I wasn't that long into the game when I got caught in the middle of some absurdly long cut scene I couldn't get out of...I turned it off and never played it again.

My daughter still plays Minecraft on the PS3...it requires an update easily 50% of the time you go to play it.

For me, the biggest hurdle is the time sink. Thinking about the sheer size of the investment is enough to put me off a game before I even begin. Games used to be measured in hours, then days, and now some can take a month or more.

This...part of the reason why my retropie appeals to me so much is because I can sit down, game for 30 min, quick save where I'm at, and walk off.

I rarely have time for a 4 hr long game session anymore...and I mean rarely. When you go to play a game and it requires a 42 min update download and install...the time has passed, I don't get to play it. I set it to download and walk off.
 

RAZO

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Most of the new games I play are remakes or compilations of older games. I do still enjoy a solid Triple A title like God of War or Read Dead but for the most part I prefer the older style games with simple stories and you could just jump right into the game.
 

Ralfakick

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They should build doom or truxton into the loading screen.

Al a Ridge Racer, screw some of these new games, give me an updated arcade version of this, not enough arcade racers this generation, Gravel and Horizon Chase are the only two that come to mind
 

famicommander

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Al a Ridge Racer, screw some of these new games, give me an updated arcade version of this, not enough arcade racers this generation, Gravel and Horizon Chase are the only two that come to mind

There are some rad kart racers at least:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
Team Sonic Racing
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled
 

Ralfakick

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There are some rad kart racers at least:
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed
Team Sonic Racing
Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled

I agree! I thought Team Sonic was a bit of a step backward compared to All Stars but I did play it all the way through and it was certainly enjoyable, I have yet to play Crash Team yet, I did like the PS1 version back in the day
 

neo_mao

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It's hard for me to stay interested in games these days...but the Nintendo eShop on Switch has kind of rekindled my interest. Lot of great pick me up play games that you can have <$20.

Best console since the SNES.
 

famicommander

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I agree! I thought Team Sonic was a bit of a step backward compared to All Stars but I did play it all the way through and it was certainly enjoyable, I have yet to play Crash Team yet, I did like the PS1 version back in the day

All Stars Transformed is indeed the better game, but I'm glad they released Team Sonic. It's different enough that if they go back to the All Stars formula next, it'll still be worth playing Team Sonic on its own.
 

Ralfakick

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All Stars Transformed is indeed the better game, but I'm glad they released Team Sonic. It's different enough that if they go back to the All Stars formula next, it'll still be worth playing Team Sonic on its own.

That's certainly a good point, that would give me a reason to go back to it as well. I downloaded the og Sonic Racing a couple weeks ago on steam for like $1 (I got F1 Race Stars for the same price) I really liked that one too
 

jro

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For me, the biggest hurdle is the time sink. Thinking about the sheer size of the investment is enough to put me off a game before I even begin. Games used to be measured in hours, then days, and now some can take a month or more.

That's exactly why I generally try to stay away from games that bill themselves as "live services." Activision, Ubisoft, they think that the idea of a game that never ends will appeal to people, but I hate the idea.

edit: I know that's how MMOs have worked for years, and I stay the hell away from those, too.
 

BIG BEAR

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It comes down to who's in control? You or the video game? If the video game wants to control you,dump that sh8t..
BB
 

Lastblade

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This is the main reason that Xbox one is the worst console ever made.

god damn those updates.

PS4 is similar, and even Switch is like that for many games where it requires an update before you can even play.

I hate this gen for this very reason. If you have not turned on your machine in awhile, good luck playing that new game you just got. You might as well make a date in the near future and just do something else entirely.
 

DevilRedeemed

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When the game lets you take too many liberties it puts me off. The idea of being able to do whatever was once appealing but to me, a gimmick. I miss arcade games and arcade style games.
As I said in the first post, I see the worth of being able to pan the camera around, but nowadays I don't really want to be transported into a gameworld, I wish game developers could take a step back. At least the developers that matter. Linearity is fine with me if it is well implemented
And just to be a little more precise regarding my i itial post, controlling the game the way we do nowadays is becoming cumbersome and rudimentary. Making games look better is fine, it is becoming all the less important though. Making something fun does require the interfase be worked on.
More well made alternative controllers for different games, steering wheels, custom controllers for mech games. The controller will one day be an integral part of the game itself hopefully, if folk like the creator of Res has anything to do with it. There's not enough money in it maybe, but part of the reason games where fun back in the Dreamcast era was because all these things where custom made for specific games and companies took risks.
Digital media has become the norm, the possibility of fun interesting controllers to emerge I think will be the real fun. So the Wii controllers where horrible and WiiU was a bad idea, that should not be the end of it, just the begining
 
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