Email: “Today, gaming is amazing”. Yeah right.

Hey there Master Malstrom,

just read your entry on Kuchera’s editorial about how gaming today, somehow, is “amazing” and everyone just complains too damn much. Reading that piece, I can only wonder… in what universe is this guy living? I mean, really, how can nowadays be the “golden era” of gaming?
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He says Deus Ex is a great game, and will be remembered years from now. Ok, like how other next-gen “Epic” title? GTA4? Some Metal Gear Solid? Some COD, Halo, Battlefield? I dare that guy to try and name one of the so-called “Epic” games that were released three, four years ago. Are we talking about them now? No. Yet, we’re talking about 20+ year games like Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Sonic and others. What were the most successful revivals from the past two, three years? That’s right, games from one of the _true_ golden eras of gaming, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, back to basics editions.
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I used to buy gaming magazines and salivate anticipating the upcoming games back when I had my Atari and Mega Drive (aka Genesis). Today, I have much easier access to information with the internet, and upcoming releases are just some URL typing away. And yet, I don’t have the motivation to do even that. What for? The games are all alike and want to be a soap opera anyway! The only time I had a minor spark of interest in the gaming “industry” (oh, that word!) was when I bought my Wii for NSMB — all thanks to you, by the way. That interest died pretty soon, though. Probably around the release of Metroid Other Mom.
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You know something’s wrong when the bad guys are customers. Of all people, the CUSTOMERS. They complain too damn much, the games are great! Yeah… that’s probably it.
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Cheers and keep up the amazing posts coming,
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Forgotten old school gamer

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The ‘Game Industry’ can no longer define the narrative of the video game market. Bloggers and message forums have taken away the monolithic ‘voice’.
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When have we ever heard anything ‘negative’ written about gaming from the Game Industry? Every game is written about as ‘revolutionary’ and ‘amazing’. The gamer’s shelf is full of ‘Industry’s Greatest Games’ which are games that are never played and are about to be dumped at the nearest used game store.
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The only ‘negative’ thing I’ve heard from the Game Industry was about the Wii. The Wii, you see, was really, really bad. Wii Sports was “awful”. One third party game company president said Wii Sports was like a ‘virus’. What else received a ton of negativity? Super Mario Brothers 5. Apparently, another Mario Galaxy game is ‘good’ but another 2d Mario game, which we haven’t seen in 18 years, is ‘bad’. Even when that 2d Mario game was responsible for selling more of a game console in a single month than had ever been done before in history, doesn’t even get a mention. The impact of the game did far more than Grand Theft Auto 3 ever did. Yet, it never received any game media curiosity. Mario Kart Wii outselling Grand Theft Auto 4, which no on expected, has no curiousity. Mario Kart Wii is just ‘bad’. Why is it bad? Because they said so.
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The Game Industry has to deal with an uncontrollable media today. And they don’t like it.