One reason why I don't really play video games anymore

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After months of constant gaming, I had not touched one in weeks.

Then last week I felt like doing something relaxing, so I loaded Skyrim and spent an hour or so just wandering around Whiterun, enjoying the scenery, and seeing how many blue butterflies I could catch.

Probably not the action-packed adventure the developers had in mind - just catching butterflies

Not compared to PC games, there isnt, believe me. I'd always looked for the absolute most obscure of console titles to begin with, knowing for years that many of the most creative and unique things.... as well as certain entire genres that I like.... often get pushed into obscurity, and I've never been one to stick with mainstream stuff, so I've always known where to look. And yeah, you can find a few neat things there, but I say "a few" because even going through ALL of them and looking absolutely everywhere, the number really does pale in comparison. It's not even close.

The big problem with console games, and the core reason why there's not enough variety/selection compared to PC, is the monstrous production costs and publishing stuffs. You wanna put out a game on disc on any of them, well, it's gonna cost you, and you bloody well better know exactly what you're doing, and you probably need a good publisher behind you as well. And the publisher has to think the game isnt risky.

On PC? None of these rules exist. You wanna make a game? Do it. You can put it out, and it can do well, no need for any giant publisher. You're just making it entirely on your own, but you wanna get it onto Steam or Desura or whatever to draw attention and sales? Do it. Nothing hinders you here.... doesnt matter if you're just one guy, or if you're part of a small studio, you can put your game on these places and be plenty successful. But even moreso than those things is the fact that nobody breathes down your neck when you're making a game; you can make the game YOU want to make, not the game that the publisher thinks wont be a major risk, and that's one of the biggest reasons why creativity can run rampant here.



That all being said though, it is definitely still worth looking into the more obscure stuffs for whatever console you have, of course. Or perhaps even imports.... God knows I have enough of THOSE myself. I'm up to, what, 20 of the things now on the 360? Which makes up my entire collection on that thing, 20 or so imported Japanese shmups, all bloody expensive. And all awesome, so that works out well enough.

There's one thing to keep in mind though when looking for obscure games on console: many retailers wont stock them. And most wont KNOW about them, so asking around aint gonna help. So the best advice to any console gamers looking for something more unique is to do it via the Net rather than in-person shopping. Saves ya alot of trouble and frustration. Particularly if bloody Gamestop is the store you have nearby, feh. I swear, if it's not Teh Haloz, they dont know what it is.




Hah, not a bad thing. Not all gaming experiences have to be about killing things.... kinda be nice if more developers knew that. Sometimes though it seems to be hard to find games that (intentionally) stray from that idea, though.

I recently branched out to the PSP. Got the console for £30 and the games can be bought for as little as £1.

It really is a great little device. Tons of great games in whatever genre(s) you please, first rate emulation capabilities and an inexpensive digital archive to supplement the UMD library. What more could you ask?

Yeah... I see a lot of mutiplayer leveling up can be a serious drag, tiresome and to an extent unbalanced and unenjoyable. It's not a big enough incentive to grind levels for the sake to keep playing online, even when the reward for doing so is tiny compared to the hours to put in. It's bad with FPS's at the moment, but I find nearly all multiplayer games has leveling these days. I usually stay in the confines of single player normally.

In the notorious stealth-murder PS2 game "Manhunt", there are a few levels that are possible to complete without actually killing any of the enemies. The third level is fun and very challenging to play this way. (the author of this post is not responsible if you tear your hair out trying to do this)

I'm just glad it hasnt happened in fighting games yet.

I dont mind levelling in-game, like Dota or LoL where it's part of the actual gameplay of each individual match, but that whole idea of levelling BETWEEN matches is bloody stupid. Particularly as it seems most often used in games where it really shouldnt be there.

You level up as you play through the game, sometimes you will have to stay in an area (just before a boss, for example) to get stronger. That's called grinding and some games require more of it than others. But what you're doing when grinding, is making your character stronger, earning more money and finding items enemies dropped. You're still making progress, just not in the story. But if there was no need to grind, ever, the game would just be way too easy. But grinding can also be a choice. Some times if you're a few levels lower, it wont make it impossible, just a bit more challenging.
If you don't enjoy that kind of game, don't play them. There are tons of genres, so not playing video games any more just because of a single type of game doesn't make any sense at all.
The Legend of Zelda games have some RPG elements but you don't level up and any important equipment (like a new sword), you will get at a certain part of the game, so there is no danger of not having strong enough weapons or anything like that.

I have to agree with misery, just build yourself a low/mid range pc and you have all of the variety in the world to play.

This...i feel like i wasted time

I've been gaming since Atari, and pretty hardcore at that. But in the last decade I've been limiting myself to an hour at most a night; video games are repetitive stimuli, which makes them very calming particularly to an aspie brain. Then they become time sinks. Since cutting back I've broadened my range of interests and skills to include playing guitar and writing fiction.

if you have the time and patience, you can pick up free software and teach yourself to make the sort of games you would like.

People who are critical of games often make great designers.

Grinding is still utterly pointless, though. The thing about it is you're not EARNING anything; you're having it given to you, just in very, very, VERY small increments. Grinding itself offers zero challenge or depth, it *only* eats time. This is why I consider it to be one of the worst concepts in gaming, if not THE worst. It does not make an easy game hard. And yes, I've played through plenty of RPGs where it's necessary....I wouldnt hate it so much if I hadnt already done plenty of it. They're often still very easy games, and those few that arent? Oh, they're difficult.... ONLY when not grinding. The grinding part is so easy as to be mindless. It doesnt ADD to the difficulty, it DETRACTS from it. Look up something on TVTropes called "fake difficulty".... that's ALMOST what grinding is, except with the "difficulty" part removed. The basic concept is the same though. You could perhaps instead call it "fake time extension", as the usual design purpose for it is to make a game appear to be longer than it is (since short games seem to bother people). For example, Disgaea. Friends of mine consider it pretty hard, because of all the stuff you need to grind to get to the high level parts, but I played it myself and.... yeah. It's so easy as to be sleep-inducing. There's zero challenge there, only time lost. Nothing more.


THAT is why I hate grinding. A damn stupid concept that could be replaced by ACTUAL gameplay. If the developers of a game want to put in sections where you should be "powering up" your character? Grinding is the direct opposite of the right way to do it. They could instead give you piles of optional quests/missions that you could do, each different from the last and each offering different stat/power/whatever increasing rewards, or put in a bunch of dungeons that you dont HAVE to go through, but that if done provide the same effect. I've seen games that do indeed use this idea, and they're dramatically more engaging than the others that use the grinding concept. Particularly as this concept is all about OPTIONAL quests/dungeons/whatever. You dont HAVE to do them, but when you wanna power up, they are there for you to use as such. Not to mention that such things can provide ACTUAL challenge, too. Not merely time extension via repetition.

Me being the way I am, if grinding really did up the challenge of something, I'd be all for it. But it doesnt. Just eats time.... nothing more.

Well I don't see all that many games now actually force you to mindlessly grind. Many games do actually try to get you to do side quests, which in concept are similar, but are actually pretty interesting where you choose to do the optional parts beyond just the extra points or items. I might even say that in the latest Pokémon game there was no need to actually do much in terms of grinding, they made catching (which is a type of side quest) a way to gain experience, and most of the trainers who would have different dialogue, Pokémon to see and different strategies, provided most of the experience points needed.

A better example of this would be magicka, instead of withholding content from you, you can do anything you want as soon as you have finished the tutorial, but as you plsy the game naturally you will slowly begin to learn the good and bad combinations.

on the cost issue...I have always played consoles probably two years after they are out...because it's always cheaper then....sometimes more time then that...unfortunately less people want to play then because it is now "old" news...though it's new to me...

the next gen game library is not big enough for me to really consider getting into...(though wii u is beginning to grow...using the same old tired formulas Nintendo has been using since the early nineties....with minor tweeks...)

sometimes gaming is just not very interesting...other times it's the greatest thing since sliced bread...for me mood has a lot to do with it...

I love rpgs....but I agree sometimes grinding can become boring...in that case it's usually time to switch to a faster paced type of game....like a shoot em up (not to be confused with a fps -.- how I loath them...well least the call of duty types..all the freakin same!...but I guess rpgs probably look all the same to someone who plays call of duty)

PC has always had decent deals on games...lots of things go on clearance....though I do miss having disks and not this download stuff..it is a love hate thing...

I miss going into my local circuit city and picking games out of the bargain bin...

ps3/xbox 360 never really excited me for whatever reason....(have owned both)

I do plan to get into PS4 once price goes down....which will probably be awhile..in the mean time sega genesis/mastersystem, gamecube, and Gameboy

The only current gen I am using ATM is PC and Vita...I had a 2ds and sold it because Nintendo is pissing me off...with their kiddy BS...crappy marketing techniques....and reproducing the wii? (Though the WII U is definitely 100 times better..)

Vita library is slim....but I can still find their games cheap at pawn shops sometimes...hoping it grows because I really like the system...(though I do wish the speakers were louder....wonder if they improved on the V2) the few games they do have are pretty solid IMO.

Depends on the game, and sometimes depends on what's going on. Pokemon is actually one that I consider to be one of the really bad ones, as this goes. If you wanna just get through the main game? You dont really need to bother with grinding, particularly since the main quest in these is always so very easy. But if you really wanna have a go at playing against others in an at all serious way? Yeah. Welcome to the Festival of Grinding! And the series has ALWAYS been like this. I remember the original games doing it too..... back then everyone I knew was into it, and everyone wanted to face everyone else, and I was going to join in.... but there were level requirements, Pokemon had to be at specific levels to compete fairly. And there was no way in the darkest, deepest pits of Hell that I was going to sit there and grind the bloody things to level 50 or 100 after deciding on a team. Absolutely was not going to happen. I just stuffed the stupid things fulla Rare Candies and went from there. Lost interest soon after. Pokemon is still an interesting series, but this is literally THE reason why I do not play it. There is no other reason, aside from it being on a blasted Nintendo device, which I do not want, as always.


As it is, there are still plenty of games these days that require you to grind, though it somewhat depends on where you look. It doesnt seem all that prevalent on consoles, as RPGs and such on consoles tend to be easy to the point of being a little absurd, so grinding is often not necessary in those. It can be VERY prevalent on PC though. I can think of a great many examples of it there. Too many. Not even counting MMOs with that one.