Video games reached their peak in the Xbox 360 era and it’s all been downhill since then

One reader is convinced that the Xbox 360 and PS3 era was the pinnacle of gaming and that publishers should have realized that at the time.

Nostalgia is, as they say, a great drug. It ultimately affects everyone and seems to destroy any sense of perspective and reason. I am fully aware of this and that there is probably nothing you can do about it. Knowing all this I have become completely convinced that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were the pinnacle of gaming and even though the previous generation was good I think it is now clear that this laid the foundation for the mess we are in now located.

Of course I’m referring to all the layoffs and the fact that games are so expensive and time-consuming to make these days. These are issues that were evident in the Xbox 360 era and before, as it gets worse every generation, but publishers have done absolutely nothing to stop or slow it down.

We all know that now, but when I look back at my Xbox 360 game collection, I’m struck by how many current franchises started during that time and how many different genres, not seen today, were still going strong. Even things like arcade racers are rare these days, but back in the day you got big budget stealth games, puzzle games, space combat simulators, 3D platformers, strategy games and much more.

It’s not that those games aren’t made anymore, but they’re indie games or low-budget games that most regular people don’t even know exist. At the time, these games were all mainstream, or at least things you saw in stores that casual gamers could be exposed to and enticed into buying – especially if they were on sale or sold secondhand.

That’s all gone these days and the only games that exist are free-to-play games that want to take over your life or bloated single-player epics that want to do the same. Back in the Xbox 360 days, the average story campaign lasted a maximum of 12 hours and that was absolutely fine. Nothing overstayed its welcome and everything was finite, so you complete it and then move on to something else.

A lot of people will say that the previous generation was great, and in many ways it was, but then the bloat and the live service games started. It also saw the number of new IPs released drastically decrease, until you get to today where there are virtually no new franchises being created. Just endless sequels, reboots and remakes.

In my opinion, the Xbox 360 was the sweet spot where games looked good, we had good online features, and games were cheap enough to make and buy that both gamers and publishers could afford to take a risk every now and then .

Everyone wants great graphics, but it’s like eating too much and not exercising. It tastes great at the time, but you know it is not sustainable and will cause damage in the long run.

Saying that things used to be better sounds like an old fashioned thing, but in this case I don’t see how I could be wrong. Ideally, publishers would have realized the truth of it at the time and then cooled the race for better graphics, so they only improved gradually each generation (or perhaps generations lasted much longer, so people spent money on new games, not boring games). hardware).

I’m sure there are a hundred different ways they could have approached the problem, but instead they did nothing and pretended there wasn’t a problem. For once, the good old days really were better.

By reader Gatorater

Reader characteristics do not necessarily represent the opinions of GameCentral or Metro.

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