Your description of the AAA industry rings a lot like the concept of Culture Industry by Adorno and Horkheimer. It was pretty much inevitable for this to happen with gaming since every other kind of entertainment media was already undergoing an immense process of standardization. I don't think it's the fault of anyone in particular, there are no evil executives @Bethesda planning to be assholes to whoever is creating spontaneous content in the form of mods (they might be evil actually, but probably don't think that negatively of modders anyway). This is rather much more likely a by-product of the way we lead our daily lives; we like to think that our life standards have improved more than any previous generation but the same things which empower us also have us hooked to our jobs/studies basically 24/7, if only by at least making us anxious about them. Because our collective life is so focused in the purpose of labor, even our entertainment/leisure and personal life has to look like labor to be digestible, hence standardized and just enough predictable. It heavily hints to this that, like you said, we as players don't really care about the people behind games, just as much as the studios also don't, and we are acutely favorable to something that looks like things we already know beforehand, not merely because of familiarity, which would be ok, but because we're already too tired to meet the new and potentially conflicting. At least, and ironically, the artistic prowess is still what shines through and stands the test of time (the soundtrack by Mick is definitely the only thing I remember vividly from Doom 2016, to echo your example).

Did you end up playing eternal? I think it is crafted with as much love and care as the original doom games.

The whole premise of this video is wrong. It's based on the idea that id Software is some soulless corporate product machine, which couldn't be further from the truth. 2016 & Eternal have so much love & artistry put into them by what is, by current industry standards, still a small team of risk takers.

Ok oddly enough this actually aged kinda poorly Doom Eternal ended up being an artistically driven game in game design and actually changed up the formula from Doom 2016, yay

I feel like you should've explored the labor part of this video in more depth.

You briefly mentioned Arkane, but I feel like the Dishonored and Prey games were some of the rare AAA games that earnestly had their creators' fingerprints on them (namely Harvey Smith)

The prediction about Eternal aged like milk.

People are and were excited for Doom 2016/Eternal because they are the return to form we've been looking for the in the AAA space for a long time. No one is really bent out of shape about the fact the Bethesda bought ID software. Especially not if the end result is a competent, fun, and at least somewhat faithful re-envisioning of the classic doom games. I don't have any doubt in my mind that those same 10 crazy, pizza-devouring mad men would've done it any other way. I know its easy to hate on big companies, especially ones who have the track record that Bethesda had and still for the most part have, But regardless of money or size or labor, they put ID on the path to these games and gave us a little piece of what we had way back when. Gotta commend them for that at least. Good video though.

In a nice turn of events Hugo, Marty and company bring us game that reinvents the fps genre with Doom Eternal, living up to the name of a series of 90s games that invented the genre. Eternal is now widely considered the best fps of all time and it's much deserved. I hope you had your expectations exceeded considering your suspensions with the game because of its name

Man, I could listen to you talk about doom all day, haha ... Look forward to future uploads! :D

As to the limitations of Snapmap, the engine they use uses a unique texture/rendering system. It creates 1 massive texture that is laid out over the geometry and is streamed in when you’re looking at an area, it means that there can be more bespoke detail in the world (you could have zero repeated textures if you wanted) but it massively hinders versatility. In order to change something you need to retexture everything as opposed to having an entity with its own textures, that you move over the ground with its own texture. Everything is connected, which greatly complicates things. The snap map is a lazy solution, they spent a lot of time and money on the system and I bet they don’t want to give the public enough information to be able to mod the thing. It would be unrealistic to expect an average modder to create original content for the game with the way its structured- but they aren’t even letting people try, there are some really talented modders who very well might have been able to work with it. Their engine has a cool concept- and it does make for cool environments but it comes at a pretty great cost. They have been working on it since Rage and they might be able to find a solution to make it accessible but the outlook isn’t great.

I'd argue that health and ammo were pretty generous in the original DOOM games

Kinda weird to diss Jim Sterling then go onto just repeat what he’s been saying for years.

Actually, if you remember, Doom 2016 had these bits of lore here and there about what is expected from an UAC employee. And as you went down to hell, so were these employees, who were, in the end, encouraged to commit suicide, in the same, clean and polite way they were reminded earlier about smoking areas. And while this was good in the context, in the long run, i grew uncorfortable with these thoughts gnawing at the back of my head. I finished the game once, and never got back. It left me ... depressed. Not wanting for more. Really strange, because i'm a big fan of the originals and all things violents in general. I clearly remember thinking while shooting the last boss, hurry and die, iwanna fuck outta here. Maybe it's the proof of a good horror game for you, but me, i dunno. I feel really weird about this one. Would Love to ear thoughts about this. Bye, thx 4 reading.

It was Daria that brought me in. I remember LAN parties in the 90s, setting up Netware servers and playing Doom. Well done.

Driving Off The Map's MGS2 analysis and Masters of Doom are my two favorite pieces of videogame writing. Really good sources of inspiration you picked there.

Cool vid. Glad to find you I was looking for a lefty game channel. What i dont get is using God Of War as a bad example. Its passion project of Corey Barlog co written w his dad (speaking of the workers behind the games), with no microtranactions, dlc shenanigans and a completely new direction for the series. This game shouldnt have been made in the current aaa climate...im glad it was it was my game of the year.

How about I play the game anyway because it looks great, sounds great and if it's ANYTHING like DOOM 2016 it is worth the time. The Devs put loads of work into it and if you want to talk about the people who work on it then why not show the people who work on it that you care by actually playing the game they made. I don't disagree with what you are saying, I am showing another point of view.

Excellent essay. You really got me thinking, and you've inspired me to think about games differently. Subbed.

Btw, here from the Resident Evil 2 video over on RagnaRox's channel, watched the Nier video and subbed :) Next stop, daria

I watched 3 of your videos back to back today. I know you haven't posted in a while, but I want you to know your videos are very well written. Hope you're well.

This was lovely! Though I knew quite little about Doom you really kept me with the topic! You always leave me walking away thinking, and I think that's really something great!

This was amazing, and i'm happy to see you back.

I wish I could adequately convey how much I ducking loved this video!!! I always wish I had more to add to a discussion but I’m terrible at getting my words to match my thoughts. So I’ll just say amazing job! Loved all your points and I am totally picking up what you are putting down.

At 1:36 when I was expecting him to blast the barrels, I was disappointed like those gifs showing something incomplete, DVD video just not hitting the screen corner, things not being properly aligned, etc, etc. Now I am gonna run Doom with that level, just to blast those damn barrels once and see everyone splattered.

Ow boy. I disagree with just about every point you made concerning Doom 2016, The original Dooms and Eternal. I agree with your points on how productivity soars but wages stagger and how Indie games are where it's at right now, but your points on the games themselves sound like you really want 2016 and Eternal to be "bad" in your very normie sounding opinion. Where to start: For the originals, yes they are important historical games and very much water shed moments, but they were never perfect. They are very primitive. That's part of their charm, but it's also why a team of 12 could make them. As games have gotten more complex, bigger teams are needed. Carmack learned that the hard way when making Doom 3 and Rage. It really does feel like you're romanticizing these games a bit too much. Romero had great levels, but only in Doom 1, and it was only in Episode 1. A lot of the Sandy maps are trash, like the Chasm, or Slough of despair. It's just as flawed as any modern game is. Part of loving those originals is also admitting when they fucked up. Now, about 2016. Earlier you said "The original Doom is about strategy..." Implying there is no strategy to be found in 2016. I have no clue how you played that game but that is a bitch tier argument. Anyone who has sat down to play it on anything higher then Hurt me plenty can confirm this. You have to constantly mind your surroundings, as mobility is actually a factor in a proper 3D doom game, you have to pick priority targets and consider the best weapon for the job. Weapon switching is so important in 2016, while in the originals it's not even a factor(mostly due to the slow weapon switching itself). In comparison to the old Doom games, 2016 is light years ahead in terms of gameplay . It almost feels like you never even sat down to play 2016, and just looked at gameplay footage. Now, about Eternal, ow boy. I'm using the magical powers of hindsight since I'm writing this way after Eternal came out. This video you made is from before the game came out. This video has aged like milk. Eternal was divisive in the community yes, but it was divisive for all the right reasons. It took risks and did things most people didn't expect. You frame it as if it's just "another cookie cutter Doom game". Eternal was anything but. The strategy is now pumped to 11. The game feels like a sequel to Plutonia in how it fucks you(a positive in my mind). It truly was the chess of FPS games. This is where I disagree with the hole "AAA games have no soul at all due to being worked on by a lot of people bought by a big company" Eternal felt like Doom fans were given a shit ton of money and were told "do what you want". I feel the love when I play that game, cause they wanted to engage you. Hugo really wanted that to be a point in the game, and he and the team succeeded. People still complained about the platforming and the Marauder, much like I complain about shitty maps in the originals and shitty monster closets, but that's not proof of there being "no soul" or whatever. This brings me to the thing that grinds me the most. The whole argument that we "don't remember" or "give credit" to important games. Listen here son, the only people that remember games like the original Doom, are people who were around at that time, or weirdos like me who love Boomer shooters. That's it. Most kids today don't know what those original games are. The only people who care, are the people who love games like that, and not some general large audience. Plenty of people will remember Doom, but it won't be as many as the people playing League of Legends. And there were never even THAT many people into such games back in 1993. Yes some Collage servers were crashed, cause those could only take about 50 people before they shut down. That's nothing compared to the numbers we're dealing with today for something being "important" or "popular". And the whole "people only remember the Doom 2016/Eternal soundtrack"? Bullshit, total bullshit. Those of us who love Shooters(Boomer shooters in particular) know of the Doom reboots in detail, from front to back. The only people who remember just the soundrack, are the passersbys who played 2016 for like 3 hours and then went back to Dota or League. It almost sounds like you wanted 2016 and Eternal to live up to your nostalgia for the original. Well, that didn't happen, and it doesn't happen. For my money, 2016 and Eternal stand as some of the best shooters and games we ever got. Eternal is up there with Half-Life and Serious sam as some of my fav experiences. Clearly you didn't feel the same. That's fine, but to claim these games are shallow and souless is a different matter. The only other thing I agree with, is the modding issue. Yes it would be cool if Eternal or 2016 had mod support, but I also don't EXPECT it. I'm not owed mod support. I paid for an excellent single player experience and that's what I got. The good mods are few and far between as well, let's not romanticize the past.

Hey, another video, thx Michael! Ill watch it when i find myself some time

I'm really sorry but you lost me at your hollow assumptions regarding Eternal. It actually ended up quite different, but I'm not gonna explain it all here. The most important thing is that yes, you are right about how AAA games align with Adorno's vision of disposable art, but, quite ironically, you're completely ignoring the actual people who made the game. Look up some Hugo Martin commentary for example, and you'll see how passionate he is about the franchise and his job. Again, I agree with the general point, but Eternal is actually the rare exception and thus a bad example.

Another great video man, I can’t say I grew up with Doom as I was born after it’s release, however I seem to echo a lot of the same sentiments that you said in this video. Part with your commentary regarding blockbuster releases and indie game releases echoed my sentiments completely, even as a younger person I seem to enjoy and find more personality a passion in indie games. Good to see another great video by you, can’t wait for the next vid, and keep up the great work.

I just love the pic at 10:27 with John & the boys.

Your videos are great! I really hope you're still making them

Great to see you coming back, and great video yet again, i'd love if you were to dig a bit more on the labor issues that gaming has, cause there have been a lot of those lately.

*Realizing that I make the same compliments every time I watch a good video while I desperately try to think of some new, creative, introspective way to approach complimenting your video*... great analysis.

I'd argue the same is true in a lot of industries, just because we care about the thing we see, which is the end product. I really like what the corridor crew does, where they've turned their studio team into essentially characters in a weekly bts of whats going on. Its really easy to care about a single crew member leaving the team because we've seen them love working on the stuff we loved watching.

It's cool to find this channel before you hit 100k subs and beyond. I'm quite sure it will.

Time to start seeking out and highlighting great development teams with your amazing journalistic framing. I'd start with motion twin and there philosophy on team management and game development. Just a thought. Love yuh, keep up the good work.

I feel like the vast majority of gamers, even supporters of AAA companies, would say that the future of gaming lies in the indie sector. A lot of truly great games have gotten started there, and are on the top 10 list for many people

this is one notification i did not expect but am very happy to see

I was just desperately googling to see if Michael would do some cool new videos soon.

While Michael’s prediction about Doom Eternal was wrong, I do think that his main point, that AAA games are becoming more and more like disposable corporate products, is right. Just wanted to give my two cents.

My WWII vet grandfather sent me Doom in the mail when I was 13. Just showed up randomly. Grandpa Lee got it. Also- real shit: Zio in the game Phantasy Star IV was based on Trent Reznor.

"Maybe the fanbased as stopped caring about the people that create the game" This is a very interesting idea I had never considered and yet seem so obvious...

1: I agree. 2: Subbed. 3: This! I found it interesting that this video discusses MGS 2 as I feel the split between Hideo Kojima and Konami is the last glimmer of hope for the games industry. This isn't to say that indie developers don't provide quality entertainment (I am a huge fan of itch.io), but I feel that if Hideo Kojima can craft Death Stranding into a commercial and critical success, it would be a massive victory for the people. Here's to hoping that Kojima can turn the industry on its head!

Thank you so much for your great content.

Oh nice, you've read Masters of Doom as well. Very fun book based on Games Industry. An interesting thing about John Romero in that is just how much eager he was to grow big, it was a major bugging point for the rest of the team. He carried that attitude to Ion Storm when he started developing Daikatana. I believe when that game flopped, there must have been some change in him, given just how super nice he is now. And Daikatana was the big budget game hyped around the time, because of Romero's name and people were clambering for. And despite that, the game flopped. Games are a collective effort, scrappy indie and blockbusters and all, and while associating the whole game to one or two people makes them easier to talk about, it can be very inaccurate to make all of that the entire point of the conversation. In that sense, pinning all good stuff of DOOM 2016 to one creative director feels disingenuous. DOOM 2016 was made great because of attention to things like punchy animations and sound effects, decals, smooth performing engine to carry it all, and a lot of artists, technicians, engineers and sound designers made them possible. Also, on the note of MGS2, all the detailed political commentary was the result of the excellent translator on the project Agnus Kaku adding to the script, and that all the stuff about was absent from the Japanese version, which felt more like a generic military shlock.

Like the video but a little harsh on god of war, think you can see there is love in that game and while not a small personal team of developers you can still see from interviews and videos Corey Balrog put out after launch that game really meant something and has its own achievements like the camera perspective

Old Id Software is the best what could possibly happened to the gaming industry. They were real progressors of the video games in general. I think that the relentless enthusiasm, absolute care about what you do, and what most importantly the talent are the thing that modern industry misses alot. Money became not the engine of progress, but a stone that is tied to the feet of the drowning sphere of video games. The biggest experience so far that i gained in last recent years was DUSK. New Blood Interactive really showed what can do old but very carefully executed concept if you put enough love and care in it. And that's why they became instantly one of my the most favorite game devs last year. If AAA companies will not change their attitude to the what they do is not ONLY about money but the for the people who want to be entertained, the industry will crash spectacularly.

The *Dreaming in Neon* 【ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ】 becomes sexier with each video! Also, I'm really glad you brought up the huge half-assed disappointment that the Snapmap editor was. Before Doom came out, I was really excited for it because it seemed like it wanted to embrace the spirit of user-generated content that the original games helped to popularize to such an extend. But the game's multiplayer turned out to be such an unfulfilling afterthought, outsourced to an external developer and the editor was so restrictive and tightly shut that it felt like air farting out of a balloon when I finally tried it. As you said, it's almost a joke that this is the best that Bethesda, a company whose games only unleashed their full potential through crowd content, could deliver - or rather wanted to deliver.

Next month it will be 20 year anniversary for a gem called Jagged Alliance 2, a game i never stop playing, and always play badly, and on easy, while using cheats, it's so fun, it's a game of thousands replays.

Will have to watch this later but I'm excited

I absolutely loved the level design in the original Doom. I was a bit disappointed with that Doom 2016 was basically a corridor shooter, granted with much better gameplay than most.

liked and subscribed dude. Solid gaming video.

Oh my god, made me so nostalgic for the '90s. I used to crank Further Down the Spiral on my gigantic CD boombox and play doom ALL NIGHT LONG with my buddies via Serial cables, Co-Op all the way through the game then some deathmatch to wrap things up, chugging 2 liters of Mountain Dew until the sun came up lol. Those were the days!

Very well said! I'm glad I subbed :D We all vote with out dollar and we must ask ourselves, what are we voting for the most and are we happy with what it's gotten us?

A fellow resident of what world springs forth from the seeds of Nine Inch Nails' influence. I too rode The Downward Spiral through the introduction of my story.

I was 13 when I played Doom 2 back in 1995. It blew my mind.

21:05 I about died.

This was a great video and really hits an interesting point on seeing humanity in the media we consume. Turns out that is hugely important (who could have known eh?). BTW did you know a bunch of dudes made their own version of Quake Champions in the fan updated doom engine and it's really damn great, probably more relatable than Bethesda's big fancy version. Seriously checkout QCDE it's splendid. Also Ion Maiden is super good and made by a cool team that deserves support too.

Hey man, very interesting video I never grew up with the original Doom or its level editor based on what I've seen in videos is that you kind of impressive some of the stuff people can do. I don't personally agree with your opinion on AAA games because there are some games that I played that are pretty mainstream such as God of War that's actually a pretty good game. By the way, I got a question if a indie company gets big do you just stop liking them look for another one? A company's got to go big eventually.

It's been a long wait but it was worth it! Your thoughtful analysis is always interesting and gets me thinking. Can I make a video game reccomendation? I'm going to anyway haha. Try BELOW by Capybara games. It's not everyone's cup of tea but of the games I played in 2018 it's easily the best. At least it got me thinking the most once I'd finished it and it certainly isn't forgettable. Anyways, I'm looking forward to your next 5 scripts. 😁

19:22 Salty, much?

I still play Doom II, master levels and Final Doom like once per year or two years. In UV, full campaign through. It is very easy to hop in (no long loading times), and it gives some satisfaction or dopamine hits to my brain while shooting enemies with super shotgun. First time I played when I was like 6-7 years old (ultimate doom), but about 14-18 when I played doom II and final doom, and 18-21 Doom 3. I don't know if there is something else behind it...

I think NIN worked on the quake ost after that edit wow shit you also loved Brigador and the VA11-Halla bartending ? Dude i love your tastes in stuff. Stay classy, lol.

3:40 run the darkness comes, fire doesn't clens it blackens.

I realize these are over ten years old, but it seems much ado has been made about Cliffy B.'s and Ken Levine's contributions to Gears of War and Bioshock respectively. Granted that doesn't entirely undercut the fact that there were no doubt a ton of nameless faces behind the scenes.

I miss the days of playing hours of Doom or experimenting with a new mod or spending all night trying to perfect a level in Duke Nukem 3D editor.

you just can't wait, you love it. i understand me too :)

I was thinking you would talk about Doom Eternal and the controversy it stirred with its trailer, but this works too...

Great video.

Fantastic video! I think it's a common shift, at least among the PC gaming scene, to increasingly turn towards independent works or those created by small teams, and the sort of cold, impersonal feeling of many AAA titles isn't going unnoticed either. As someone that got into games rather late and almost entirely missed the 'AA' segment of the market it's hard not to think of the divide between major and indie releases as being a real problem - like it's games as art until it can become art as commodity, without much room in-between. Perhaps I'm romanticizing a segment of the industry that never embodied what I feel is missing in it today, but there's still a distinct feeling that something *is* missing. Games are absolutely capable of being art, but after a team gets to a certain size it's almost impossible to avoid the 'designed by committee' feeling a lot of AAA releases invoke. On another topic I'm super keen for the coming Kill La Kill video after recently finishing up my own (even if it'll put mine to shame haha), all your work thus far has been excellent, and gosh it feels like you're speaking directly to my esoteric tastes when you go from talking about Daria to Video Games and how soulless the Major titles have felt recently to Kill La Kill. Anyway, Keep on keeping on, I love your work.

I play more and more indie / small games these days. Oldschool shooters are still alive with Dusk, Iron maiden etc. And soon we will see the release of John Romero's 5th official Doom Episode.

FINALLY A NEW UPLOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just started watching bout two weeks ago and was worried the channel,or you, died. Can’t wait for the content coming. I work anywhere from 48-65 hours a week so I understand the struggle and couldn’t imagine the pressure of routine uploads with that work load. Just keep doing you man.

that's some quality content

I think the amount of mods for the original Doom and all of the indie games inspired by it's style is a testament to how the spirit of the original Doom games manages to live on in our modern capitilist dystopia.

I don't really know all the new, big games that came out in 2018. I'm not sure I got any of them. 2 of my favorite games I played in 2018 were Doki Doki Literature Club and VA-11 HALL-A. I need to look back on all my favorite games and see if the passion of the team shows through them. It seems like it might be a strong correlation, though.

Redneck Rampage was featured in this news report. Ahh memories

I've had the nier automata video in my watch later for months, then I saw this in my recommendeds this morning and thought "why not watch it," and it turned out to be super interesting and I liked it! Now I have to watch that nier video...

Whhhaaaattt??? someone who doesn't say that doom 2016 isn't a "return to old school shooter design" O.o !!! I happy I am not the only one.

When the KZfaq algorithm doesn't just throw at you the daily shitpost, but also some *quality* content. Subscribed.

WELCOME BACK!

What's the name of the other site you mentioned besides itch.io? I hope it isn't a zombie comment section by now. If I'm late to the party it's just because I discovered the channel recently but I love what you do with your videos. Keep up the good work my man.

All this talk of summoning demons from floppy disks is making me want to watch 'Evilspeak' again

omg the instrumental at 15:45 is so familiar, anyone recognize the song? Amazing video btw

Is that Plastic Love I hear in the beginning?

Interesting video.

I started doom with doom 3 but I love all of the games. The original game is still amazing.

I agree but Bioshock is my counter to your video. I also grew with DOOM,Duke3d, Blood etc but there are AAA games that are made with care and you as a gamer can feel that.Now I have to be honest I don't play AAAs nowadays because I found my fortress in indie games so I can't add more examples of AAAs that have that human touch. Ken Levine added this human touch to System Shock 2 and the nusproduct Bioshock. Bioshock Infinite is debatable. I am glad I found your channel, Ragnar shared your video. I am looking forward to your future videos .

When I really think about it, indie games really are the future for great stuff

Okay, theres a lot here. But just about the modding thing. Anyone Can learn piano and make original music but that wont make the music that inspired them to do so any worse nor better. Both approaches are beneficial. Love your vidéo.

4:11 you might also want to mention meshuggah

At 11:00 it sounds like id was living poorly when they came up with Doom, but they already had sportscars and the office space in the Suite 666. Wolfenstein had sold very well. :P

I'm among the minority I try to take something away from everything I consume.l whether that be games, movies, tv, or books. I have played tons and tons of games and own just as many but I remember every single game that I buy, play, or beat because I don't devote time or effort towards games or media I don't enjoy. Great video btw.

"I have five scripts locked and loaded for the next couples of videos I am going to do". Ok... [Smashed subscribed button as fast as I could].

Honestly this is one of the big things that i gravitate more towards smaller dev team/indie darling titles like WRATH: Aeon of ruin/prodeus or HROT for, once the game is properly released and the mapmaker tools are out there in the wild these games will still exist for decades of FPS heads to create new things with but both Nudoom games will be lucky to even still be playable in 10 years time with how ultimately throwaway they are as products to the big brand name giant that is bethesda

It's not even entirely a western thing either. As a filthy weeb I know a bit about how the anime industry treats its animators, and 100 hour work weeks would look like a dream to that industry. You can make more annually working 20 hours a week at your local fast food joint than an animator working insane hours of overtime. If anything I'm slightly right-leaning and I still think the entertainment industry and society as a whole needs to take a long, hard look at how we value labor.

Third video from your channel I'm watching, and damn, the sheer quality :O Excellent, I'm here to stay.

I agree with your general sentiment, but DOOM ETERNAL bangs, the system is much more resource management-y than doom 16

The TLDR is people don't pay attention to the individuals behind things now because its hard to standout in a large crowd whereas a small group its easier to stand out. Just look at the guy who made DUSK. He's a hot ticket item.

now think of all the employees who had to stare at hell flesh for daayyss at a time . probably get nightmares every time one of their spouses slices a tomato.