Going Gold

Ten Things I Hate About You, Gaming

7. The Shooter-With-A-Gimmick Craze

Timeshift - it's the shooter where you pause time (in order to shoot things better).
Haze - it's the shooter where you get high (in order to shoot things better).
Fracture - it's the shooter where you move the earth (in order to shoot things better).
Singularity - it's the shooter where you move objects through time (in order to shoot them/be shot by them/use them to shoot things... or at least that's what it looks like).

That's just off the top of my head. The "shooter with a gimmick" is our generation's animal mascot-based, side-scrolling platformer. And if you don't think there are developers out there who sit down to make games based off the idea of "Current Popular Game"+"Gimmick," you are very much mistaken.

8. The Multi-Platform Fantasy

16 buttons, 2 analog sticks, a "home" button, similar graphical levels, identical online stores, two online services that could easily be categorized as "free" and "premium," an almost-identical number of good, but never quite brilliant, exclusives... if we swapped around the logos on the PS3 and 360 tomorrow, would anyone even be able to tell the difference?

9. Gamers' Feelings of Entitlement

Yes, you're getting ripped off in multiple ways and you should be upset about it. But whining about not having a demo right this very moment, or having to pay money for extra modes on DLC, or signing petitions against things like Valve's decision to, gasp, release a sequel to a best-selling game just makes it easier for people in the industry to tar gamers with the one stupid brush, and ignore the valid points being made.

10. The Games

A look at the best-selling games of 1998 - an equivalent length of time into the generation of the day as we find ourselves at now - is terrifying. Look at the titles that came out that year: Grim Fandango, Resident Evil 2, Half-Life, Gran Turismo, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid. Has there been a game released this generation that is better, or more epoch-defining, than a single one of those games released in that one year?

Even if we go through the games I didn't play or particularly care about, the number of major releases is staggering: Banjo Kazooie, Baldur's Gate, Tekken 3, Unreal, Pokemon Red/Blue, Starcraft, Xenogears, Thief... games that still define gaming today, franchises that are still running over 10 years later. Is it just because 1998 was the perfect storm of free time and cash for me that these games still seem so brilliant? The fact that so many of these are still best selling franchises suggests otherwise - a good half of those listed above are original IPs still running strong today. This generation has been miserable for new IPs, and the tedium of the remaining calendar year suggests this is not going to get any better.

In fact, scratch numbers 1 - 9 off this list - the games should, as always, take priority. Think about 1998 the next time we have a "best year of gaming ever!" craze, usually around October. What I wouldn't give to game like it was 1998.

Christian Ward works for a major publisher. These are the ten things he hates right now about gaming: Tell him yours.