It's things like this that make me question whether $59.99 should really be the standard price for games. They don't all take the same amount of time and capital to produce, for starters. Some of the shadier business practices employed by some companies may not be necessary if they can just charge a bit more for their products without drawing ire.
Of course it's not at all that simple, but it's worth some thought.
I agree to an extent, but I don't agree with the idea that excitement and faithfulness to real experiences have to be mutually exclusive. Excitement can come from engagement with the topics being explored, which is the goal of a game. I think a big issue is the addition of excitement via bombastic, over-the-top visuals or intense action, instead of via more subtle means.
It's my least favorite faction in terms of role-playing, though.
I agree. Railroad seems to have the most content involved in it, almost like Bethesda assumed people would do it for their first playthroughs. Brotherhood of Steel is second place, then the Institute. I did the Institute first, and was VERY surprised when it was over. Still my favorite faction, though.
Very true.
Definitely sharing this.
It's very important to remember that we're talking about games. They don't have to all be power fantasies, but they have to be, at their core, fun. What this article suggests is T-shirt ideas that only include the image, or a food that amounts to seasoning on a plate. These themes are important to discuss, and can be portrayed in a game, but on their own, they don't equal a game any more than a documentary you watched in school equals a movie.
These ideas need to be put in contexts of stories that people want to experience, experiences people want to have. Nobody I know wishes to pay money to be a pregnant woman aboard a space ship, if that's the focus of the experience. Make a fun, compelling experience aboard a spaceship, with all sorts of interesting gameplay and characters, and then throw in the fact that you're a pregnant woman, and that will add a layer of difficulty.
A game in which you talk to archetypical high school girls about their problems sounds lackluster on paper, but when it's added to a story about time manipulation, mystery, and a protagonist who embodies our own inner thoughts when we were teens, you get Life Is Strange, which was almost universally beloved.
Yeah, I'll give that a watch. Sounds cool.



GamingWhy video games are so expensive to develop | The EconomistApr 01 at 7:26 PM

