Quote Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno View Post
Bad Trends:

The decline of good JRPGs - If it wasn't for Atlus I'd be really worried but doesn't it feel like the traditional JRPG is disappearing? I mean great titles that inspire you and make you do crazy things like write fanfics or cosplay as them. Games like Persona 3 and The World Ends With You are amazing titles but why does it seem like they appear every blue moon. Even high budget fare doesn't feel as promising anymore. The genre has been so crowded lately its difficult to find gems anymore and with Capcom not working on any new BoFs or Konami deciding to reinvigorate the Suikoden series, it seems like we're stuck hoping Squenix doesn't run out of ideas.
I'm still hoping from something new from Camelot (another Golden Sun).

Still waiting for the Next Generation of gaming to start - I'm probably alone on this one but I just feel the new generation has not presented anything that feels like a "herald of the next generation". We've seen a few good sequels on better hardware but nothing has really gotten the ball rolling it feels.

Sony is still trying to salvage the PS3, Microsoft is stealing their exclusives in between their system dying, and Nintendo is squandering technology to make games for your grandmother. I guess for me, it seems like only the PS2, PSP, and DS are getting excellent titles nowadays. Hell, even the PC is getting "must have" titles, and it just seems like I can get the same content from this new generation from somewhere else. I find myself trying to decide which console to buy by what old games are available on the DLC network... That doesn't feel right.

Its been getting a bit better lately but it just seems like this generation lacks any titles that can really show off the new generation, its just been a prettier version of the last gen at twice the cost.
I could've told you that when the consoles first came out. There is nothing revolutionary about any of them. The Wii is the only one that changed anything (with the Wiimote), and a lot of people didn't like that change. A better CPU does not a revolution make. We aren't going to get a true next gen in gaming for a long time. Graphics and controls have gone as far as they are going to go for a while. Sure, screen resolutions and object counts will increase, but nothing fundamental will change, which means no next-gen.

Casual Vs. Hardcore - This whole nonsense seems a bit silly to me. I know I get labeled as "hardcore" on these forums cause I welcome a challenge and I wish games weren't so easy but even I have titles that I play for causal fun. I do bitch about the Wii being marketed exclusively for casual gamers but its more because I feel the Wii technology presents several innovations for gaming and its getting squandered on making Mario Party knockoffs. It could easily be a system enjoyed by casual, traditional, and hardcore gamers but it caters to one group exclusively.

Basically, I wish casual gamers would stop making games so dirt easy, I also hate hardcore gamers making companies insist on making ridiculous challenges to gain rewards that weren't worth half the effort. I want games to be made for everyone to enjoy, granted both groups can have their niche genres but we don't need the entire industry to cater to one over the other. They could easily fix this by incorporating a well balanced system that allows you to choose the appropriate difficulty level, which brings me to...
This I am hoping and believing will go away on its own, as developers get a better feel for what casual gaming actually is, and realize, that casual games can still have some difficulty to them without losing their wide range appeal.

Bad Difficulty Settings - Why must Normal be "press A to win" and hard mode must be "mind numbing, soul shattering, hard"? These are just the two basic settings and they still have an easy and crazy mode. Why can't I have a happy medium?
Add in to that "beat easy to get to normal, beat normal to get to hard". A really idiotic trend I want to go away.