Will gaming crash again.

So now that all the next gen systems are out, I look at the future and honestly I don't see what's so great. Everyone keeps saying a new console generation has new "possibilities" yet the hardcore gamers fail to see the world slowly falling apart around them.

Last generation, for all the fancy HD graphics and massive online networks, came so much that is bringing down the game industry.  Bloated budgets of AAA games leading to games selling millions of units and not making profits.  Games more interested in being interactive cinematics than being actual games. This cracked article sums up why modern gaming sucks so much now.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-insane-ways-video-games-changed-during-my-9-year-hiatus/

Everything in this article is sadly true. Too much hand holding, unreliable hardware, dumbing down and lack of variety.  Combine these with other greedy industry practices like EA's forced online for SimCity (now being updated to be played offline), games being filled with micro transactions so a $60 game can now run upwards of $100 and of course all the crap Microsoft wanted to do with the Xbox One before their now famous "180."  Yet there are still the blind followers thinking everything is going great.  "OMG PS4 fastest selling console. hooray!!"  It's funny how Game Sites only focus on the negative when it comes to Nintendo totally ignoring things like Sony's "junk" credit rating and poor Vita sales or the fact that Xbox investors want to "sell off the Xbox" brand.  Why is no one singing of doom and gloom for them?

The video game industry is in decline. The next generation won't bring about anything new or innovative, at least as AAA blockbusters are concerned. Expect to play all the same shooters, sports games, etc. just with slightly prettier visuals.  If anything new or innovative comes about, it will be more than likely from the indie scene.

Look at the most recent, major hit, big selling video game.  Minecraft.  Here's a game with no story, no real characters and graphics that look like Legos.  Same with the Wii and games like Wii Fit and Wii Sports. They were cheap to make, simple to learn but no this stuff was blown off as "casual garbage" and the game industry ignored it despite tons of sales.  You'd think successes of this would make the game industry folks say "wait a minute, maybe it isn't all about fancy graphics and CG cutscenes."  But nope we have to push forward with more polygons in order to please the hardcore gamers aka fat nerds who sit around all day posting on gaming message forums.

When Nintendo gave up on the radical approach to the Wii and resolved to just make an HD Gamecube with a tablet screen, I found myself so badly wanting the industry to crash like it did in '84, that way it could be reborn and be good again. 

For those not familiar with the Video Game Crash of 1984, here's a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv7DJrLAZus

Another crash today would be slightly different but the signs are there namely, the industry getting too big for itself.  We already saw a lot of studios closing meaning less games will be coming out.  It's not making new customers, just trying desperately to keep the hardcore coming back and how much longer will that last?

There was a period early in 2013 when we knew about Microsoft's scumbag plans with the Xbone and some worries the PS4 was going to do the same and I remember thinking "yes. It's finally happening.  The greed got too strong. The console market will crash and can restart a new." Then Sony had to go and say "hey were letting you play used games still!"  Gamers sang praises that Sony had "saved them," but it was more like they kept the feeding tube plugged in to a brain dead patient.  Then Xbox had their 180 and everyone sang praises of how the consumers won.

Things are only going to get worse in Generation 8.  Sony's already making people pay to play online now.  AAA games are only going to get more bloated, and more expensive.  Companies will crank out more sequels, knockoffs meanwhile the masses are either tired of gaming or content with cheap mobile/tablet games.

The end is coming and I'll welcome it with open arms.  Mostly I want to see the hardcore nerds meltdown when Sony and MS realize gaming isn't profitable for them anymore and they stop making game consoles and go back to their respective electronics and PC software businesses.