Photo Credits – “control!” (CC BY 2.0) by Mark Bonica
Everyone needs to calm down about the state of video games. I understand that people across the gaming news sphere are constantly talking about the lack of quality in the gaming industry right now, but the fact of the matter is that video games are getting better. Today’s video games are arguably some of the best that there have been. Just not in the AAA sector of gaming.
The AAA gaming space has been plagued. With game producers wanting constant attention for one product while pumping out other “infinity” games, no games of actual merit are left. Games of little or no value are used to merely advertise additional content, leaving those who bought one game constantly seeking satisfaction from another one. This infection of the industry has crippled everything: fighting games, mobile games, multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs), massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) and more.
But the independent video game space (also known as the indie space) is fine.
Somehow, by some miracle, the indie space has mostly been left alone, allowing indie producers to create fascinating games with great foundations and good ideas. Just by looking through the list of smaller studios making games, you can see that there are a wide variety of genres represented. Some genres, like the mystery dungeon genre and puzzle game genre, have been mostly abandoned by larger studios. When was the last time a large studio with a massive budget made a puzzle game? It’s practically unheard of, and thus, the indie market can create the games that big producers have pushed aside.
This has been the case for quite some time now. The AAA market sees an idea taking shape, whether it be another damn “Battle Royale,” and quickly takes the idea for their own personal use. That is until the market capitalizes on the same concepts so much that the game is now worthless. Once AAA producers dump the corpse of their game in the same alleyway that they shoved the bodies of motion controls and “Guitar Hero” peripherals, the indie sphere looks at the core foundations and somehow makes beautiful things from it.
Take Pachinko games, known mostly as Peggle in the U.S, Pachinko games have rarely seen any kind of evolution ever since the original “Peggle.” Hardly any game since has had that kind of electrifying success and thus, the AAA sector discarded the idea. However, Red Nexus Games — whose other game has seven total reviews — developed “Peglin,” a refreshing take on “Peggle” and games like it by adding additional elements that made the concept fresh and exciting. While kind of expensive, it shows how the indie sphere is constantly making unique games that, frankly, the AAA space would never make.
Take rhythm games. I know that I derisively talked about “Guitar Hero” peripherals, but it is only due to the dedication of a select few people that it’s even possible for gamers to play these games today. Without being reused by the AAA industry, gamers would have to use now-ancient hardware. But with that being said, rhythm games have also evolved greatly through indie producers, surpassing games like “Guitar Hero” to become games like the incredibly challenging yet rewarding “Spin Rhythm.”
When looking for games, the very first thing people see is how that game looks. It’s not often today for games to have demos, so that first impression is all a game can get.
That is why the AAA space is inundated with aesthetically-pleasing (or close to nice looking) games that are incredibly shallow or incredibly broken. The indie market rarely receives that leniency. Since almost all indie games have a smaller budget, it’s pretty normal to find games that don’t meet the standards of AAA quality graphics. But here’s the thing about visuals: the graphics of a game don’t tell you anything about how that game plays. The only true way to know if a game is playable is if you have a controller in your hands. By the time that happens, you may have already regretted spending the 60 (or potentially 70) dollars on that aesthetically-pleasing AAA game, and there’s even a chance you can’t get a refund depending on where you bought it from.
The indie market is different.
For the budget of 60 dollars, you can get multiple full-length experiences that are completely different from one another. Indie games are potentially different from anything you’ve ever played. Every time you spend money on the indie market, remember that instead of complete animals like Bobby Kotick getting your money, studios and people who actually could use a boost in capital can use that money to make another fresh idea.
So yeah, games are far from “getting worse.” To say that the games are getting worse by simply looking at the AAA sector of games is like looking at one rotten apple in an entire orchard and assuming the rest are just as bad. Trashing all games because of your experience with AAA games completely ignores the hidden gems that are simply waiting to be found and played. So look around. Find new games.
Edward Park is a fourth-year Secondary Education (English) major. EP909756@wcupa.edu