With 2016 right on the horizon, gaming is on the cusp of yet another leap in greatness. Technology is further advancing, new peripherals will be released into the wild, highly anticipated games are getting primed for their releases, and Nintendo is working on something new. All roads seem to be pointing towards nothing but sheer awesomeness. Of course, all of that could easily be derailed if some of the uglier sides of 2015 reared their ugly heads in the new year.
While 2015 was certainly an amazing year for gaming, there were a few practices that were better left forgotten. If these handful of elements could be left out of 2016, everyone would be much better off as gaming takes experiences to new hights.
Public Bad Blood
Konami easily rose to the status of the most hated video game company in 2016 due to some seriously questionable decisions, and a very public falling out with Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid. Everything was looking great in 2014. Metal Gear Solid V was announced, the P.T. demo was released, that demo was eventually revealed to be the announcement for Silent HIlls, the psychological horror-game lovechild between Kojima and Guillermo del Toro of Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim fame. The gaming community couldn’t be happier, but then everything started falling apart.
For reasons still not completely known, Konami was on a mission to remove Kojima from everything he had worked so hard for, and it was very difficult to watch. They tried removing his name from MGS V, cancelled Silent Hills even though it quickly became the highest anticipated game after one absolutely stellar demo, and they put serious pressure on their most famous producer. It came to the point that he wasn’t allowed to travel to The Game Awards to accept an award. They had lawyers tell him he couldn’t travel. It was pretty crazy.
Things like this don’t need to be in 2016. With all of the great things lined up, the last thing anyone wants is some sourpuss company trying to throw a wrench in everyone’s happiness. We can at least be thankful that Kojima is finally free and onto bigger and better things.
Fully Priced Multiplayer Gaming With Little Content
Games aren’t cheap to make, we’re very aware of that. There’s always some new technology to incorporate, prettier graphics to make, and advertisement campaigns to be run. We get that. But, even with that being said, we’ve seen some truly impressive titles hit store shelves. Games like Call of Duty: Black Ops III launched for the standard price and included 4 modes, a wide selection of maps, single player and multiplayer activities including PvP and Co-op, and it looked damn good.
Unfortunately, the same year also gave us Evolve. A game that had very little to offer other than its asynchronous multiplayer gimmick and loads of DLC and microtransactions. The single player campaign was just the multiplayer with bad AI, and you were stuck using characters you didn’t care about until you could unlock one of the only three beasts available. Star Wars: Battlefront had a similar problem. Although it was very fun, it was very light on content. There’s only so far devs can fall back on the “it’s expensive to make games” excuse when titles like Call of Duty, The Witcher 3, Splatoon, Bloodborne, and Fallout 4 all exist at the same price point.
We don’t mind paying, but please make it worth it.
Let’s Kill the Confusion
Some companies love to interact directly with fans, and that’s definitely commendable. But sometimes that means things don’t always sound good. These devs have great ideas that aren’t easily explained so when they say certain things everyone gets scared. Take the whole Final Fantasy VII Remake situation for instance. Just the words “multi-part release” had everyone worried that it was being reduced to episodes.
The transparency is definitely appreciated, but when the message is confusing and doesn’t relay the true vision, it causes problems. It’s amazing how just one misunderstood statement could leave a company scrambling for an explanation even when said company is working on a game that has been on wish lists for ages. Let’s just prevent this from happening again by fully planning out what’s going to be said and having all the ducks in a row first.
Announcing Games Way Too Early
This is something that has probably been requested to be left behind for years. Yet we still have companies unveiling games much too early to generate hype, and that’s not always a good thing. Some projects just have the ability to keep an audience enraptured for years as it waits for some gaming goodness. But those are few and far in between. Most tend to overstay their welcome on the trailer/teaser circuit leaving many to move on to newer and perhaps better things.
Don’t get us wrong, it’s difficult to find that perfect window to announce something where it won’t be overshadowed by something else. On top of that, gaming development is difficult. Things happen that are beyond human control, so delays happen. But, announcing a game yet having nothing available for years is odd, and sometimes worrisome. Games like Quantum Break and No Man’s Sky have been floating on the horizon for over two years, while hundreds of games that were announced afterwards have been released to high praise. 2015 brought more to the table that won’t be seen for some time with Horizon: Zero Dawn (available Holiday 2016) and a few other games that have been light on information.
Maybe the Fallout 4 method should be adopted. Announce a game when it’s being wrapped up with an amazing trailer, release a few cool gameplay details, and have the game on shelves within six months. Sure, in the current age of leaks and the need to know every little thing by the masses, this can be incredibly difficult. But, if Bethesda can do it with such a huge game, others can figure out how to do the same thing.
Is there anything you’d be happy to see go away in 2016? Feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below.
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