It’s now 2019, and that means everyone will be starting new hobbies and hobbies that they will likely drop within the next two weeks. However, sometimes these attempts at self betterment actually wind up sticking, which makes it hard to knock New Year’s resolutions. But if any industry needs some self reflection and improvement, it’s probably gaming. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at some New Year’s resolutions for the gaming industry at large and some incredibly bad gaming trends that need to come to an end in 2019.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Printing Unfinished Games
The idea of a game going gold and being ready to being printed on a disc has completely changed over the past couple years. While day one patches are completely understandable and often a good thing, there is no real upside of half of the game not being available on the printed disc like the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. Having to wait hours for a new release to finish downloading is a miserable experience for consumers, and it’s all a side effect of the rushed development cycle that so many games are on.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Games Not Having Subtitles
The gaming industry has come so far, and yet major publishers like Activision continue to treat basic accessibility support as optional additions to their titles. Both of the recent Crash Bandicoot and Spyro remakes did not include subtitles, which is completely ridiculous. Accessibility needs to be a mandatory inclusion at this point, and hopefully console manufacturers step up by requiring them in the future. If not, consumers need to stand up for the handicapped and actually push publishers to do the right thing.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Exploitative Microtransactions
Everyone is sick of the loot box discourse by now. Regardless of whether or not you think they should be classified as gambling, there’s no doubt that they are a predatory system that prey upon the gambling instincts of some players. There will probably wind up being a breaking point in the future, but hopefully publishers can use alternative pricing schemes to turn a profit rather than reaching a moment where intervention becomes “necessary.” Sadly, the latter is much more likely to happen since the industry rarely stops milking an idea before it is dry.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Way Too Many Sequels
Sequels can be incredible. They give developers an opportunity to fix flaws of previous games and can continue an interesting story. However, we don’t need a new Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry game every single year. Even when the quality remains relatively high, these quick sequels are not surprising. It’s becoming a chore to get through what is largely more of the same with whatever twist that is being marketed as an innovation on the back of the box.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Using Cursors in Console Games
There has been an ongoing trend in games like Destiny to use the analog stick like a mouse when selecting options in a menu. Not only does this do the opposite of speeding up the process any, it doesn’t feel natural at all. These types of menus work perfectly fine on PC, but a console controller will never be a mouse, so developers shouldn’t try to make it one. They just aren’t the same. Sifting through a ton of gear is why these are usually implemented but there should be other user interface options.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Online Petitions and Spineless Boycotts
This one goes out to players themselves. Ridiculous consumer petitions aren’t anything new, but 2018 arguably took them to a new low due to absurd topics such as the puddles in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Consumers should use their rights when they think they’re being wronged, but most of the organized online boycotts are just empty posturing as they still buy the games that they are complaining about. And most of the time, these petitions are incredibly tone deaf or immature whining.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – Lying About Collector’s Editions
Collector’s editions of games have largely been a con since their inception, but they remain an opportunity for mega fans to get some cool memorabilia. However, the past two years have featured an increasing amount of blatant lying going on about the quality of what is included. Ranging from the laughably bad Infinity Gems found in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite‘s limited edition to the downgraded bags in Fallout 76, publishers need to do a better job of not showing one thing in a mock-up and a completely different one in the finished product. Clearly things change during production, but there is absolutely no reason for this to not be communicated clearly.
Bad Gaming Trends That Need to End – The Increasing Size of Open World
Games should push the technical boundaries of the medium, but we’re seeing diminishing returns with regards to the size of open worlds in gaming. Rather than focusing on interesting locales that feature stories around every corner, we’re seeing more developers focus on just an incredible amount of land mass without much purpose. Smaller, dense worlds are sometimes more preferable these days to a vast landscape filled with repetitive stuff that’s there for the sake of having stuff.
