When I talk about this wave I essentially mean this generation of console gaming. I suppose you could include portables or PC but that isn't what I am really focusing on.

Whereas last gen I had the XBOX, PS2, and Gamecube, this time I only have the XBOX 360 so I admit that I am not familiar with PS3 or Wii games.

It seems though that from the demos I've played, videos I've seen and while looking at some of the boxes/instructions of the games at the local VG store, most of the games seem to be more of the same boring annoying crap.

For example, I downloaded the demo of Darksiders and it reminded me of what every game this generation seems to be: 3D third person action/adventure with primary and secondary weapon attacks, use of basic magic attacks, and power ups found conveniently at laid out events or from items floating in the air. It seemed to have almost no story line and the environments felt non-immersive. This is by no means an attack at this game alone. Most games seem to be this way now and it boggles my mind how come with all the power and capability these systems have these days, these unoriginal mediocre games are being mass produced. I'm not buying any of them. Are you guys? Who is buying these games? Do people actually enjoy this style of gaming anymore?

It seemed like last generation the games were more diverse in style.

I don't pay enough attention, anymore. All I know is that the Wii is notorious for focusing more on party games than for brand new adventures, though I'm not sure how true that is.

I am really annoyed by the lack of depth of a lot of modern games - whether it's shallow characters, story, or gameplay. Not that older games didn't have this problem, but there isn't much excuse for it in this day and age. There's a lot of focus on pretty graphics, but that doesn't matter to me.

Go read a book.

Video games. Graphics are a part of it.

Right, 'cause book lovers are the only people who have a problem with game makers focusing on graphics at the expense of every other aspect of a game.

A gilded turd is still a turd, no matter how pretty it looks.

A lack of variety. It seems there's less creative endeavors.

Oh, and when the Wii came out, I really wanted someone to attempt a virtual-reality type game, like where your hand is the wiimote and you can explore an open world. Poo!

Oh, and since nobody has mentioned it, *less sequels, more original IPs*.

Note that I didn't address anything about what makers are focusing on - the only point that was addressed was your not caring about graphics, supposedly. I used to say the same thing until I realized how idiotic a standpoint that is for anybody to say ever.

If you didn't care about graphics, you wouldn't be playing a video game. The whole point of a video game is that they ARE graphic, that they DO have interaction on the screen. Furthermore, they're a simulation of a fantasy world, and the game makers will strive for the maximum level of realism available to them. Back in the days of Super Nintendo, a time period that most video gamers hail as the holy grail of video gaming, the strive for realism wasn't as big of a focus simply because the system wasn't powerful enough to bother.

If you don't care about graphics, you may as well go back to playing with dice or cards. Board games may be a better option - lots of depth there. No focus on presentation. Or stop playing current-gen games, because the rush for realism is only going to keep being more and more of a focus until the system's maximum potential has been reached. Then, and only then, will less time be spent on the development of what you don't seem to give a sh*t about.

TL;DR video game consumers are presumptuous and ignorant.

I said "pretty graphics" don't matter to me; I did not say that "I don't care about graphics at all". You misunderstood my original response.

There are lots of points to video games beyond being graphic in nature. The graphics are one of the least meaningful and least potentially world-changing aspects at this present time. To say that the whole point of video games is that they are graphic and offer on-screen interaction is a rather shallow view of VGs. You're just setting up a straw man.

I agree.

Perhaps. Those may be a better option for someone who does not care at all about graphics. But not necessarily - it depends on why the person plays games. If a person doesn't care about graphics, that doesn't mean that video games don't have a lot to offer them in other areas.

No doubt.

Only until the next system comes out or perfect realism has been achieved.

I'd change that to "all consumers".

I hate how most games (mainly RPGs) are catering to the "average gamer" nowadays. Take FFXIII for example: the game got rid of a ton of stuff like stats besides "HP" "Attack" and "Magic", towns, and the game has very few sidequests. I'm pretty sure they did all of this so that the average gamer (Which I assume SE thinks is a FPS fanboy) can jump right into the game and do what they love most, grinding monsters and walking in straight lines for several hours at a time.

Actually a lot of RPGs have been doing this stuff now. I think the only RPG based company right now catering to the 'RPG Gamer" is Mistwalker, all of their games have a traditional RPG feel.

Super Paper Mario wasn't even an RPG...


Not that that's a valid argument, because it was probably still pretty awesome.

But let's not complain about gaming becoming too easy or appealing more to the casual gamer, because honestly, people have been complaining about how games like Final Fantasy have become too easy since FF7 came out. Back when people were all "Squaresoft only cares about graphics. I feel like I'm playing a movie instead of a game." To be honest, FF7-10 had more gameplay than some games today.

About graphics...as far as I'm concerned we've pretty much arrived at graphics being sufficiently realistic...awhile ago actually. But nothing is more annoying then occupying a graphically realistic looking environment and being told which button to press to activate an event of finding an item just floating in the air. It is all unbalanced. Again I tend to be speaking more about these cookie cutter ho hum third person action/adventure games as opposed to say realistic looking shooters.

The only thing I find annoying are the bad games.

My problem with graphics obsession isn't that it exists, but that it exists so determinedly in this wishy-washy realm known as 'realism', and is obsessed with achieving higher and higher levels of it. Quite frankly, I don't care about that.
I want my games to look good, yes. On every system, old and new, the aesthetic of the game is key, and that manifests largely through graphics.

But more than anything what isn't important to me in a video game, most of the time, is characters and plots and sh*t.
If you've got a game that does that well, by all means, adore it for doing so - but here's the litmus test: Good gameplay can save a bad story, a good story can't save bad gameplay.

What I'm playing for, when I play a 'video game', isn't necessarily the 'video' half of the equation. It's the game, and 'game' doesn't have to mean 'stories' and 'characters'.

Of course the system of judgment takes all factors into account, graphics, story, gameplay, whatever else, but what people (and by 'people' I'm not even totally sure who I mean, at this point; probably game designers, maybe people who rant on forums about 'graphics' obsessions) seem to lose sight of is that I'm here to play a game. I didn't go to a museum, I didn't pick up a book, and I damn sure didn't go to the movies: I sat my ass down to dedicate the next 2-4 hours of my life to playing a game, and as such it had damn well better be fun, or at the very least interesting.

And that's what I see in this 'gen'. Games without gameplay.

Well said.

I was looking on Wikipedia at the list of games for each console I own so that I could make a list of games I want to buy. It seems now that just about every game now or in the future on the XBOX 360 is about some futuristic intergalactic war where the fate of humanity is held in the balance.

COULD WE POSSIBLY TRY AND BE MORE ORIGINAL PEOPLE!!!