What are the biggest historical mistakes committed by the video game industry?

[Andrew NDB]

I've always said Halo was an FPS game for people who never played any real FPS games. Most of the big Halo players just vanished into whatever the latest Call of Duty is.

And it kind of sounds like Microsoft may be getting out of the console wars entirely. So it may be moot anyway.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I've always said Halo was an FPS game for people who never played any real FPS games. Most of the big Halo players just vanished into whatever the latest Call of Duty is.

And it kind of sounds like Microsoft may be getting out of the console wars entirely. So it may be moot anyway.

What is the RPG equivalent of that? Pokémon? And this is coming from a big Pokémon fan, mind you, but your typical Pokémon player isn't going to transition into Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc.

Back to FPS games... eh I'm not a huge fan of them. I did have fun playing Borderlands 2 co-op with some online acquaintances on Steam a decade ago but solo? I can't get really invested. I tried Team Fortress 2 which is a beloved game and didn't like it.

I liked Goldeneye back in the day and Doom is pretty alright for a game that came out in 1994 already, but I don't worship it like many do. Wolfenstein 3D aged terribly.

CoDs and such never interested me. I own a Medal of Honor game for the GameCube since my brother got it back in the day. I tried playing it and meh. It also is rather frustrating how every single popular online co-op and multiplayer free to play game is a FPS of some kind: Fortnite, Warframe, Overwatch, etc.

I also hated the shooting missions and parts in Sleeping Dogs since that game has the best combat mechanics of any GTA-like game I've played.

Deus EX Human Revolution is a great game but you're kinda supposed to play stealthy instead of killing and shooting people dead. I just used the tranquilizer rifle for the most part. Sucks that you're forced to shoot bosses dead and can't just beat them with stealth, though.

[Coola Yagami]

Damn. Imagine if they made a fighting game with a Free to Play model. Just make the money off skins, stages, custom parts for costumes and newer characters. Kinda like what most fighting games do anyway except the base game and base roster would be free.

[Prowler]

Playstation 3's initial high price(699 euros or so here in Europe!) was also a big misfire by Sony. The system had a slow start because of it. And remember the "PS3 has no games" memes back in the day?

Not anywhere there being one of the biggest historical mistakes since the PS3 ended up rebounding quite well after that abut perhaps it would have outsold the Wii if it wasn't for that...

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

What is the RPG equivalent of that? Pokémon?

Jeeze, things are a little wonky nowadays, but back a decade or two I'd say games like the Ultima series and Elder Scrolls are "REAL" RPGs, vs. the people talking about RPGs who are playing stuff like very simplified JRPGs (the earliest Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy games, and so on).

But things have worked out differently as the years have passed. Some JRPGs are REALLY advanced now (I'd point specifically to something like Dragon Quest XI, which really seems to be the perfection of a tried and true model), but others have just morphed to become semi-interactive movies or music videos, largely becoming even LESS RPG-like than those earliest games on NES or SNES. Conversely, there's barely any PC RPG games anymore.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Playstation 3's initial high price(699 euros or so here in Europe!) was also a big misfire by Sony. The system had a slow start because of it. And remember the "PS3 has no games" memes back in the day?

I remember I got my PS3 right away, original model, and it had the full backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games. I even swapped out the hard drive for a much bigger one, successfully. Years into the PS4 I finally sold it on eBay and the winner received it just went, "Doesn't work!" and got fully refunded and eBay wanted me to pay to ship it back to me just so that I then wouldn't be able to resell it because either it got broken in shipping to the guy or the guy is up to something (swapping mine out for another one, or who knows).

I was ready to go to war when that happened.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Jeeze, things are a little wonky nowadays, but back a decade or two I'd say games like the Ultima series and Elder Scrolls are "REAL" RPGs, vs. the people talking about RPGs who are playing stuff like very simplified JRPGs (the earliest Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy games, and so on).

But things have worked out differently as the years have passed. Some JRPGs are REALLY advanced now (I'd point specifically to something like Dragon Quest XI, which really seems to be the perfection of a tried and true model), but others have just morphed to become semi-interactive movies or music videos, largely becoming even LESS RPG-like than those earliest games on NES or SNES. Conversely, there's barely any PC RPG games anymore.



I remember I got my PS3 right away, original model, and it had the full backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games. I even swapped out the hard drive for a much bigger one, successfully. Years into the PS4 I finally sold it on eBay and the winner received it just went, "Doesn't work!" and got fully refunded and eBay wanted me to pay to ship it back to me just so that I then wouldn't be able to resell it because either it got broken in shipping to the guy or the guy is up to something (swapping mine out for another one, or who knows).

I was ready to go to war when that happened.

I don't have DQXI yet and it's become quite harder to find it in shops lately than it was 3 years ago or so. So I dunno when I'll finally get it. Anyway, the Dragon Quest series is known for never innovating or changing the formula, but nonetheless the games work well as far as the gameplay and story are concerned. Basically, no need to reinvent the wheel when it still works fine.

Damn that sounds crazy. I'm glad I never sold anything online.

[Prowler]

Sony going fully digital by 2028 might be a big historical mistake that's about to happen.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

When I read biggest video game mistakes, one thing instantly popped into my mind and that is Twisted Metal 3. There is no game that disappointed me more than that game. Twisted Metal 1 and 2 were so awesome and I was patiently waiting for the next installment. I bought it instantly when it came out only to be let down drastically. The music was great, and the option to have 4 players was great, but everything else besides that was terrible. I know that the Twisted Metal license went to different developers, but my God they did everything wrong. I have never been more disappointed at a video game than that one.