Here is where the problems are and pay attention to the very last problem because you may see it becoming a trend. (List is not in order of importance.)
PROBLEM 1: Used game prices. $55-60 for a USED game? I understand you can take them back within a certain time but that's still too close to the original asking price.
PROBLEM 2: Multiplayer. Many people saw MP as the greatest thing ever but I knew MP was going to cause the industry to go down the wrong path. However, many people are now starting to see the flaws behind MP and more fans are standing up for single player campaigns. Yes, some companies have jumped over the technological hurdles MP presented (latency, dedicated servers, etc) but they have also sacrificed the single player aspect in order to give the gamer something that often feels tacked on, cheap and a mere afterthought. Instead, companies should spend those resources on making a compelling game and giving the gamer an EXPERIENCE.
PROBLEM 3: Patches/bugs/Q&A. We're dealing with electronics, data, code, etc. Things get garbled up, I'm aware of that, but there should be no reason that your game has to be patched on the day it was released to fix bugs that should have been squashed before release date. I can understand if bugs were limited to pc's, where each gamers configuration is different, and so you may have hardware and software conflicts, but in consoles? Where the differences between 360 compared to 360 elite or PS3 Slim compared to PS3 Fat are minimal? Games and hardware in the past had glitches. Anyone here who has played a NES knows this. Blowing in the cartridge, sticking cardboard in the slot to hold the game down, etc. The only method none of us tried back then was going down to the beach and getting some sand. The point is, we've come to a time where many of the problems are due to being greedy and using the consumers and crash dummies. (Bit of advice, NEVER buy ANY electronic HARDWARE device on the first day.)
PROBLEM 4: I don't exactly get what I pay for. I have NO PROBLEM with DLC and the exclusives these companies come up with. The reason being is that they eventually sell it all anyway, so it really doesn't matter. What DOES matter is the fact that a lot of the DLC/exclusive content is already on the disk. With that being said, why are you using my fuckin game for a goddamn storage device? It may be convenient for those who don't want to download mb or gigs worth of material but guess what? You could have used those mb's and gigs for better audio, better video, better this and better that. Why put the shit on my disk?
Another problem is the DLC that was obviously cut. A prime example of this was the Gears 2 DLC where you had to sneak around in locust armor. This DLC was shitty and EPIC stepped up and stated it was deleted content. However, Bioware did it right with the MASS EFFECT 2 dlc. It was DLC that could be completed any time, didn't feel tacked on or deleted and shed even more light on the story. If you're going to do DLC, make it compelling and use it as a tool to ENHANCE the experience, not detract from it.
PROBLEM 5: Fanboys. I'll fuck all of you up and make you rape and sodomize your consoles while it's plugged up (and hopefully plugged up next to some water.) Sony, MS, Nintendo, whatever. NONE of those companies give a FUCK about you. They give a fuck about your money so STOP cheerleading.
PROBLEM 6: Fee's, hidden costs and online passes. Everyone has to make a buck, cool but there is no reason to charge gamers for features they don't want or will never use. I don't give two shits about Netflix, espn, etc, so why should I be charged for $60 to use xbox live and access MP features that I've already paid for? In addition to that, why charge people more money to access the MP when they buy used? Why charge me $65 for a game that has MP when I really have no intention of utilizing this feature? You charged me $65 for something I won't use, yet you are going to charge this guy the same amount? What these companies should do is charge a set price for the single player aspect and a set price for the MP aspect, this way; you get what YOU want and not what the company wants you to have.
PROBLEM 7: The same goddamn games. Let's look at Gears of War and Uncharted for this example. The technological and game play leap from Gears to Gears 2 was HUGE. The leap from Uncharted to Uncharted 2 was HUGE. Now compare Gears 3 to Gears 2. While there is a jump, it's not as great/significant or noticeable when comparing Gears 2 to Gears. The same can be said for Uncharted 3 it's a GREAT game,(which will most likely win GOTY), but it isn't leaps and light years ahead of Uncharted 2.
Let's look at FPS or shooters in general. All of these are the same. There are plot differences and other minor things but the game play is the same. Shoot, move, open something by pressing X or B, do a set piece (like driving and shooting), rinse, repeat. Another thing I've noticed is the SAME goddamn effect used to let you know where an enemy is when you're taking damage. It's that fuckin red arrow bullshit that is in EVERY FUCKIN SHOOTING GAME THIS GENERATION. I absolutely HATE seeing that shit. It's as if these idiots can't come up with ANYTHING innovative or NEW to relay the information.
Sports games? LOL@Madden. Do I really need to explain how these are the same each year? They might have changed up Madden within the last two years, but look at how much the previous versions of Madden costs when new versions are released.
8: You may have to pay for the HIGH QUALITY version of the game. Wasn't it Tuesday when a new FPS was released? Battlefield or something? Anyway, these fucks had to have a high res texture pack for the 360 version and they blamed it on the 360 and some HD shit. I'm calling BS. Those fucks were testing the waters and seeing how people would react to different versions. Just like DX11 and high quality textures come out for pc games, these companies are gonna find a way to pass the cost of making the game off to you even more. You want the game to look pristine? You want the super 1,800,000p quality textures? Well, you're gonna have to fork over $19.99 and that’s on top of the $65 you shelled out for the game and on top of any fees, etc that may be incurred if you plan to play online.
In closing, we are being robbed blind.
Solution? At this point, the only solution I can suggest is to purchase used via sites like craigslist, ebay, etc.
