Gaming Trends:

[Leslie Lee III]

Suggest your own, comment on others'.

We need less:

Games with levels, why has that come back into style?
Games where you spend every other second picking up a coin or breaking a box to pick up a coin, again, why is that coming back?
Ditto Scores and blatantly Linear gameplay.
Non-Tactical, but pretty looking, FPS

We need more:
People ripping of the POP: Warrior Within Fighting System
Action-Oriented RPGs
RPG-Oriented Action Games
Auto-Aim with ability to adjust (see Scarface, From Russia with Love)
Survival Horror
High Quality Licensed Games (we've had a lot more than usual lately, it seems with older movies you can take more time)
Custom Soundtracks
Non-WWE Wrestling Games
Fighting games on PSP (Soul Calibre, please!)

[Urusai Wrangler]

I'm actually thankful for more linear games...I personally think the whole sandbox thing is way overrated. I also like the collecting thing; always have. Fact of the matter is that I like older style video games better than most of the newer ones, so the breaking stuff/collecting stuff appeals a bit more to me.

Trends I'd like to see:

Less "realistic" games
More cartoony/fantasy styled games
Make scores matter again

[Leslie Lee III]

I'm actually thankful for more linear games...I personally think the whole sandbox thing is way overrated.

I'm no talking about GTA type games. I'm talking about a game like Devil May Cry, where's there's really no reason to have "levels" and only seems to marginlize what you do. i want to be engrossed in the game. Artificial things like levels, scores, and magic coins hidden in crates everywhere only hurts that. I don't even really like it when monsters in RPGs drop money.

I also dislike:

Disappearing dead bodies, by that I mean the kind that just fade out of existence for no reason other than to save RAM (Friggin Resident Evil on PS1 got rid of this mates, sort it out). If you're killing Vampires that turn to dust, okay.

Nonsensical items lying around. Again, old Survival Horror games got rid of this for the most part with limited means, no excuse for new games to do it.

[SAMAS]

I'm no talking about GTA type games. I'm talking about a game like Devil May Cry, where's there's really no reason to have "levels" and only seems to marginlize what you do. i want to be engrossed in the game. Artificial things like levels, scores, and magic coins hidden in crates everywhere only hurts that. I don't even really like it when monsters in RPGs drop money.

Well, Devil May Cry is a bit of a Special case, at least in the case of Part 3. Each "level" was more of a set of mission parameters. If you really wanted to, you could go all the way back to the beginning of the game in many cases. The Missions were cool because they allowed you not only to take a break and prepare for the next one, but you could also go back and fight some of your favorite battles if you wanted, with things you didn't have before.

[Xero Kaiser]

Games with levels, why has that come back into style?
Games where you spend every other second picking up a coin or breaking a box to pick up a coin, again, why is that coming back?
Ditto Scores and blatantly Linear gameplay.
Non-Tactical, but pretty looking, FPS

Other than scores, those things never left

Less "realistic" games
More cartoony/fantasy styled games

Considering that there are a hell of a lot more fantasy games than realistic ones, I'm not sure what problem you're having. Make a list of all the "realistic" franchises out there and make a list of all the fantasy ones. I'm seriously puzzled by this statement, because the population of the two is so skewed towards fantasy that I have a hard time believing that it's hard to find.

But hell, I'd like to see more JRPGs with a main character that's more like Guts or Kenshiro and less like Jessica Simpson

[Kid Kamikaze10]

But hell, I'd like to see more JRPGs with a main character that's more like Guts or Kenshiro and less like Jessica Simpson

Amen! That will definitely bring in a bigger audience (besides anime/manga fans) to JRPGs.

That, and more action-oriented gameplay.

[Serik]

Two gaming trends I hate:

1. In-game ads.

Screw 'em. There's only a handful of games where ads could work, namely in the sports and racing genres. The problem is not the ads themselves, but developers not effectively placing them. Marketing would love to have huge billboards plaster the game world. But that would ruin the experience. I don't have a problem with a character subtly drinking a Coke or eating at some fast food place. There are only a few publishers who I trust with maintaining the integrity of their games. EA, for example, has no problem cashing out and giving us the finger.

Example:

*EA had the stones to include ads in Battlefield 2142, a game that takes place during a new ice age over 100 years in the future. Sorry if I care about the storyline, but I highly doubt that giant Coke banners will be on the battlefields of the future. Worst of all, however, is that EA still charges $50 for the shoddy bug-laden game. If I'm forced to see ads, I damn well better pay less money for the game.


2. Microdownloads, "booster packs," episodic content

These are buzzwords for total greed. I read that a new GT racing game will cost an additional $70 just to download the extra content. **** that. I just paid $50 for the game. How about just including the content with the original game instead of nickel and diming us for new tracks?

Again, there's only a few companies who I trust with pulling this off. Valve has done a good job with the Half-Life 2 episodes. But EA (again) had the dumb idea of releasing "booster packs" for Battlefield2. So instead of getting a crucial aircraft like the A-10 Warthog with the original game, we have to pay another $10 for it. Worst of all, few servers even kept booster pack maps in rotation, making it hard to even play with your new content!

You can choose not to download this stuff (I won't be downloading horse armor anytime soon). The real problem is devs actively picking stuff not to include in the original game so they can later sell it. This greed, I think, will corrupt the game design process as devs (probably under direction from marketing) leave out otherwise good ideas and force you to pay for each one later.

I know these guys are out to make a profit, but some of this stuff is shameless. To think that back in the 1990s, Cavedog released free units for Total Annihilation. Today, that kind of stuff would cost you only one east payment of $.50 per unit!

[Stellar]

i didn't get the whole ad thing in Battlefield 2142 either. i was thinking about getting it, then a friend called and said he had it so i went over to play. i was like WTF?? not only do you need a high end pc to run this game properly, but those damn ads were EVERYWHERE. that's $50 that's staying in my pocket.

they were annoying enough in NFS:U2, but at least they fit in there

[Leslie Lee III]

Yeah, playing an RPG with someone who isn't a mansissy femboy would be pretty nice. I'd like to see an MA rated RPG to.

[The Fury]

I agree with the action Orientated RPGS and RPG orientated action games ideas.

Also, online capabilities that aloow you to gain extras but are in no way essential to the game are good. FFXI would have been better like that.

Again like said before, less realistic games, I don't own 1 yet they keep getting made.

And more PSP games that allow online play, there are not enough in my view.

[Urusai Wrangler]

Considering that there are a hell of a lot more fantasy games than realistic ones, I'm not sure what problem you're having. Make a list of all the "realistic" franchises out there and make a list of all the fantasy ones. I'm seriously puzzled by this statement, because the population of the two is so skewed towards fantasy that I have a hard time believing that it's hard to find.

I'm not saying there's not a lot out there, all I'm saying is i want to see more. :D There's near-endless artistic styles out there, and yet so few are explored...the recent PS2 game Okami is a good example of the kind of games I love (though I don't own a PS2).

I kinda disagree with he Guts/Kenshiro/Simpson allegory; honestly I can't get into the archtypical "cool badass" hero types. I prefer heroes like Earthworm Jim, Dr.Muto, Munch, Kameo, and Raz (Psychonauts). RARE games in particular are favorites of mine.

[Donald M.]

Yeah, playing an RPG with someone who isn't a mansissy femboy would be pretty nice. I'd like to see an MA rated RPG to.

Yeah, and while we're at it, why not some RPGs in genres other than Fantasy, Sci-Fi or a mix of the two?

Wild Arms is nice and all, but how about a real Western RPG?

There's absolutely no reason the genre has to be limited to remaking Lord of the Rings and Star Wars a billion times over.

[Donald M.]

I'm no talking about GTA type games. I'm talking about a game like Devil May Cry, where's there's really no reason to have "levels" and only seems to marginlize what you do.

See, I have no problem with the GTA style of game design, I just wish more developers would employ that style in something other than the emerging "crime" genre of gaming that the series inspired.

Other developers need to focus on incorporating the basic design style and gameplay mechanics that make the GTA games fun and fresh and less on copying superficial elements.

The GTA games aren't fun becuase you can go around killing people and causing random destruction, they're because they're fun. Killing people and causing random destruction is just a bonus. :evilsmile

Hell, Rockstar itself has proved this. Bully is amazingly fun with no kiling, no foul language, no guns, no carjacking or even ability to drive cars.

[Black Atom]

There are certain types of games I like more than others, but I wouldn't want to see any go away necessarily. The market's as diverse as it's ever been, and that's a good thing.

There are certain game elements I'd like to see go, though, like game-paralyzing load times, though.

[Leslie Lee III]

I could deal with less cartoony games. GTA is freaking cartoony in a lot of ways. It's rare to see games that can capture a strong sense of realism. Games that really allow you to become engrossed. I think RE4 was the last game that really did that for me. Silent Hill 4 was pretty good at is, as was Fatal Frame III.

It's like a lot of developers think going in, "Okay, we're making a VIDEO GAME," instead of really trying to draw the player into an experience. Then they wonder why people pass them up for GTA and Madden. If you've got such unique gameplay ideas they could work without distorted cartoon characters.