Games are too cheap but I reject the doom and gloom around gaming – Reader’s Feature
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A reader advises against too much negativity amongst gamers, even as he admits there are serious problems – including too many cheap games. Every week for what feels like the last three years I seem to see the same old complaints in letters and features.
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Console manufacturers and developers are doing nothing to address the changes in gaming. Single-player games are dead. There are no first party games. Only live service games are being made. Gaming is too expensive. The games industry is going to crash. Gaming is dying.
None of these things are true. Or at least, while some part of these statements have an element of truth to them, the reality is a lot more complicated, though a lot less satisfying. Too often we prefer things to be black and white. To hear things that will make us angry, shake our fist, and blame someone. Anyone. This can prompt us to jump to conclusions, often muddling cause and effect.
Obviously, gaming is changing. As we start to reach the point where the cost of improving graphics gets more expensive, and difficult to discern, it’s harder and harder to justify AAA games and new hardware. With gamers sticking to older machines, a wealth of free games on offer via PS Plus, Game Pass, etc., and backwards compatibility there’s less of a reason to buy new games and new consoles.
It’s a shift that has benefitted Nintendo’s lower tech approach, though that’s exacerbated the problem for Sony and Microsoft as their in-house games have seen even fewer sales. Manufacturers and developers have tried a range of options to try and address these changes: tiered pricing, going direct to consumer, AA games, multiplatform games, live service games, Game Pass, mobile and VR consoles, increasing the cost, DLC, etc.
