So true! Remember the good old days with games like Expedition 33, Baldur's Gate 3, Resident Evil 9? Those were the best. It's a pity games like that don't get made anymore.

WTF are you talking about.

They are not "most games". They might be most games you're aware of, because those games spend the most money on marketing. The type of game you want is downright abundant, and even some of the games you're ranting about have more substance than you give them credit for, though they may not be your cup of tea.

From last year, check out Split Fiction, The Alters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (it has a season pass, but you can take it or leave it), Dispatch, or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. From this year, I can recommend Escape from Ever After first-hand, and I've got plenty on my radar that I hear good things about.

1970s: Space Invaders comes out with deep, story-driven world building

1980s: Super Mario Bros comes out with deep, story-driven world building

1990s: Mortal Kombat comes out with deep, story-driven world building

2000s: Counterstrike comes out with deep, story-driven world building

2010s: Minecraft comes out with deep, story-driven world building (this one is funny because you dig deep and build worlds)

2020s: There are no good games that really build a world with a good story! Definitely not Elden Ring, BG3, Ghosts of Tsushima, DOS2, Clair Obscura, etc....

Kingdom come deliverance 2, clair obscur, silksong, split fiction, citizen sleeper 2, ball x pit, blue prince, dispatch, hades 2, silent hill f, escape from duckov, outer worlds 2...

And that's only last year and only the games I've played. I don't have the time or the energy to try all the games that I want to... But sure, focus only on the bad stuff..

I mean all entertainment is really there to kill time. Thats really the main point of having fun. I would say things are worse then that. They (at least tripple-A games) are designed to extract as much cash as they can and get you addicted.

Hot take: This post belongs in unpopular opinion. While I don't agree. You're entitled to your opinion. If you're enjoying spent time I don't think it's wasted. If you enjoy sitting for hours waiting for fish, even though I think it's a waste of time, it's time well spent for the one spending it.

I keep thinking that everyone who complains about video games today either has awful taste or only learns about the industry from media outlets. I personally think we're in something of a golden age. Death Stranding 2, Elden Ring, Balders Gate 3, Zelda Totk, Alan Wake 2, UFO 50, Donkey Kong Bananza, Balatro, Silksong, Kirby Air Riders, Clair Obscur, the Alters.

And that's only in the last 3-4 years. If you pay attention to all kinds of budgets, there's a ton of great new games coming out all the time. Get out of your little corner of the Internet and you'll find PLENTY of great new games.

Is every leisure activity not just wasting time if viewed through this lens?

Games use to made with world building in mind. Characters , stories arcs maybe in some cases a message to share.

My first videogame console was an Atari 2600, there wasn't even a single thing of your list in any game there

A great many of the games I grew up with were descended from coin-op design principles and so were designed to delay progress as much as possible.

Hotter take. ALL games are designed to waste time.

Indies still seem to tackle such.

Major games, at least by production value or how much they could spend on ads, are usually bland, and/or if carrying a message, it's dubious at best.

Meanwhile, indies are more free to do what they want, instead of having to follow orders of someone pushing an agenda or that just cares for profit based on brand.

If you'd be willing to sift through, you can find way too many good titles on places like Steam, GOG, and in a surprising quantity even on Itchio, plus other places, sure.

How do you feel about the narrative and worldbuilding in Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, etc?

Metaprogression is the same, in many cases. You don’t advance because your skill is increasing or because you’ve accomplished anything, it’s essentially “you’ve played for x amount of time, we’re going to create the illusion of progression by allowing you to upgrade your stats”

There was a big boom in games based on movies during the 80's, 90s, and 00's. The majority of them were likely a waste of time. For every Goldeneye 007, there were several E.T.'s. (OK, maybe not that bad)

At PAX 2017, I was disappointed by the overwhelming number of battle royale games. There were a handful of games that stood out for story or in-person party play, but the biggest booths were all for MMOs and battle royale games.

I've long said that MMO games are so common because storytelling and world-building are hard. Also, Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is shit.

I'm guessing the downvotes are because people fail to see or deliberately ignore the generalization. Of course there are stellar story-driven, single player games still coming out, but 90% shit is to be expected.

My only shred of disagreement here (more of a qualification) is time-wasting. Of course games are for sucking down time. It's one of the circuses in "Bread and Circuses." But the same applies to novels, hobbies, and lush green lawns. :D

Another qualification I'll add: I think we're just getting more of everything with better coverage and more ubiquitous advertising, so it's easier to see the shit games. It's easier than ever to build a game, so of course the tide of garbage rises. But so do the standouts, unfortunately in roughly equal proportions. :D There have some great story-driven games recently as one other commenter noted. For me, "The Expanse," "Cyberpunk," and "Become Human" leap to mind (yes, I'm a very late adopter). Two of those are basically visual novels with choices, but the stories hit hard and get into complex moral and social issues.

When you're ready, I'll be out on the retirement home patio with a cold one waitin' for ya. We'll gripe about it some more.

You could also take it a step further and say "all games are just tech demos"

Like all they exist to do is proof-of-concept type stuff showing off what people can do, instead of making a piece of entertainment for the people.

I think you’re right. The pure percentage of shovelware that is just designed to show ads, collect revenue, and suck time is higher than ever before. There’s less money in blockbuster games from major studios, too - I think - and they’re trying to sell subscriptions and loot boxes.

Yes. Games like "Oregon Trail" or "Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego" are probably a thing of the past.

What you're talking about is the movement toward live service games, loot box sales, and 'friendslop' in just the last several years, but you forgot about the cynically made sequals created purely to milk nostalgia for established IP. This is the result of the investor class trying to colonize the games space. Start taxing the fuck out of the unproductive rent seekers and I expect things would improve.

Care to give few examples of what games irk you?