When we're kids, we have 0 responsibilities so gaming felt like the best thing in the world, and we tend to remember those moments a lot more simply because it's all we knew back then. Now when we game, we have adult responbilities always in the back of our heads so it makes it less fun. It's weird to explain, but I think ya know what i mean :)

When we were younger, we had pure view of the world, the games seemed mysterious and amazing. Now we have grown up, we know these are just games, nothing magical. I still love games but not for their stories anymore, just for their art or competitiveness, if online.

I have played games all my life. Currently, I am 25. I found myself becoming more and more disappointed with any game I would play. I've concluded that multiplayer games were a short but sweet part of my life. As an adult, I am very much a single-player gamer with rare exceptions. Avoid gaming journalism and monitized garbage in the modern era of gaming, and as a gamer, it has helped me find that magic that I experienced as a child again. The singleplayer games allow me to play for whatever amount of time I have available and put the controller down to put my children down to sleep and zero urge to jump back in the "get the battlepass done before it expires."

It’s really tough to say gaming was as a whole better when we were kids. Big considerations, especially for the PS3/360 era, were the novelty of games coming out during that era. Gaming took massive leaps in size, graphics, and capabilities from PS1 to PS2 and PS2 to PS3. Everything seemed revolutionary at the time because developers were making games we’d never experienced before. Early Assassins Creed, COD4, MW2, Black Ops 1 and 2, Skyrim, RDR1, Halo 3 and Reach, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and the list goes on and on. All these games established their niches and were the backbone for the games we’ve gotten over the past 10-15 yrs. But they were totally novel, new experiences at the time. Nowadays we’ve become so accustomed to these kinds of games that a game has to really WOW us or do something cool and unique to be as impressive as those earlier games were at the time. Also, as you said, being a kid and not nearly as critical as we are now plays a big role. Plus the lack of responsibilities made gaming feel simply fun whereas now it only feels fun if I know I got everything I needed to done and I have earned a few hours of gaming in the evening or on a Saturday. A huge plus to gaming today, as you mentioned, is the sheer amount of access we have to games. AAA companies are really where most of the problems exist, but thankfully we have access to tons of great indie games, any older game we want to play through emulation or remasters, replaying the great games from when we were kids, AA games like Helldivers 2, Lies of P, and Kingdom Come Deliverance, and still some AAA games that come out these days and are good games. Even if companies like Bethesda and Dice are letting me down these days compared to their older games, I still have so many games to play that I can’t possibly play them all so it’s not like the well of good games has by any means run dry. Overall, there’s pros and cons like anything. I’ll always cherish those early experiences playing games like RDR1, MW2, Battlefield 3, Assassins Creed 2, Fallout NV, and Skyrim for the first time, but man I’ve played some bangers over the past 5 years that keep me a gamer even as an adult

For a slightly different perspective... I was born in 1982. For me, games started to get worse towards the end of the 2000s. Personally, I tend to single out 2007 as the year where the slow decline started. STALKER released in 2007, and that was the last major game that I completely loved and could get lost in. By that point, I was already working and had all the adult responsibilities. That being said, I think you can see parallels to the decline in gaming with movies. I'd say they got worse in that same timeframe. Personally, I think this coincides with the rise of social media and the proliferation of the internet into every second and physical space of our lives. Shortened attention spans and an overabundance of entertainment conflate to create entertainment that is superficial and "noisy" so as to draw people in immediately - before they just disconnect and look for the next easily available thing that grabs their attention immediately. As a consequence, entertainment is no longer made, but rather constructed out of elements that publishers think will fulfil this goal. Whilst I always stayed away from social media, I am not entirely free of that, either. It's much easier for me, too, to get into a game that immediately sparks interest and presents manageable (in the sense of time invested) game objectives as opposed to having to invest into a complex game that will take time to fully understand and enjoy. So, I think that this extends beyond games; I think it's a symptom of a larger societal and cognitive shift that affects all areas of our life. It's just more noticeable in games, I suppose.

Lower quality games, lower quantity, community hubs filled with bots, games filled with bots, people are generally less social, and sbmm. There’s a reason why everyones playing older games these days

I also think online guids/tactics/help is also a contributer. Back in yhe day, when you were stuck on a level or something, you really had to try. And if you couldn't you could talk with friends or something along those lines. But now, if you're stuck you find find the solution in less than two mins. As humans, overcoming resistance and percevevierance is often an ingredient for happiness amd enjoyment.

This was so well written. 👏 👏 👏 Good fn job. This is the kind of videos that get you a massive boost in subscribers and viewers.

As someone in their mid teens I will always look back on games like minecraft with fond memories but I realize if those games were released today people would not be nearly as accepting of them. When I was in like elementry and middle school the only thing for me was just get home from school and start gaming now I have many more responsibilities and games that I don't think are that good I am a lot less likely to play them because I feel I'm wasting my precious time

Great work, Exiled. Keep it up!

It ultimately comes down to your expectations from the games you play. You said yourself that story/narrative is what's most important to you which means graphics & gameplay need to immerse you in the game and move the story along. I'm on the other end of the spectrum where no story is even needed, and things like graphics are irrelevant. For me gaming is something to be done for 10-20min when you have some time to kill. Best length of a game for me is something with an endless loop and no real finish so just pickup, play, and drop it when done (Duck Hunt as an example,) or something very short 4-6 hours that can be finished over the course of a month or so. I've noticed MORE people are gravitating towards this side of gaming as the narrative heavy games have dominated for a long time (outside of competitive multiplayer of course, but that's a whole other segment,) and many people I know just want pickup and play couch co-op games that are just fun. Older people like me remember the days of Halo2/3 & Gears really scratched that itch, but there's also the smash melee and mario kart 64s. Now Nintendo still caters to this, but they haven't made a new genre in a long time time. Last one I can think of was Wii Sports, but since then they've eased up. They pioneered with Wii Sports, the original Smash Bros and made a whole new fighting genre, and Mario Party all within 8 or so years. No one else is really pushing things like that anymore. So yes there are new genres, and indies will eventually figure out a new formula, but we don't see any of that from larger publishers anymore. The good news is if you're under the age of 25 you tons of excellent pickup and play games that were simply before your time and will be brand new to you. This is also something I've been seeing. Many kids NOT getting a Switch, or Xbox, or PS5, but instead getting an NES, SNES, or N64 instead, and absolutely loving those. I honestly don't need more games to be created. There's plenty that already exist that I'll never have time to play, so none of this bothers me personally, but I can see why people are tired of the status quo. Dark, Bleak, Story Heavy, "Cinematic," Time Sucking, Fetch Quest Single Player Games or Microtransaction Filled Competitive Multiplayer games are the bulk of what's produced and marketed. Indie is kind of all that's left for just fun pickup and play and Nintendo. Things will be shifting the other way soon I feel though.

I don't think that it was better, it's really all about picking them up. There's a lot of trash nowadays mostly because there are just so many of them, but as a person who's been into video games from a really young age I would still say that gaming for me now is better than ever.

Exiled you make the best video I really enjoyed your video, you know their is a lot of good indie games and double AA games for example: risk of rain2, deep galactic rock and stone, vermintide 2, gunfire reborn, ultrakill, sentry, darktide, roboquest, boltgun, velum, lethal company and ragugaki. If your interested you might these games, but amazing video.

I just turned 41, so maybe I have a bit of a different perspective than the younger gaming crowd out there. And by that I'm mostly referring to the time when 2D gaming made the big jump to 3D with the era of the PlayStation, N64, etc. Gaming on the NES and the SNES then suddenly seeing a game like the first Tomb Raider was absolutely insane and even awe-inspiring to see as a kid. It's probably pretty widely considered as the biggest leap in overall power in the tech, but to actually witness it first-hand really made it feel like futuristic gaming. Now, graphics are pretty much expected to be of a certain quality, but the entire landscape of the industry has changed so much and grown to the point to where the level of expectations now make it more difficult to get that same 'wow' factor since the technology is on more of a plateau. Video games are still awesome in my opinion and I do hope that same type of experience I had back in the day isn't lost to the younger generation.

A guy called deathroff done a similar video about nostalgia and gaming, good vid btw ❤

I'm 19 now I definitely enjoyed games when I was younger alot more destiny re4 (2005) bo3 bo2 gta assassins creed I can count on my hand games I've really enjoyed in recent years elden ring lies of p helldivers stellar blade and a few others the reason games fail a lot now a days is because back then the company's were trying to really make the next biggest thing and cared bout enjoyment nowadays it's all about how can we put the least effort but make the most money for our games cough (ubisoft)

I truly feel like gaming was better I was younger because the creators were pushing the medium and were willing to experiment with new ideas and mechanics to try and make the best games possible. I was born in 1990 and my first console was the snes, and over 15 years I saw the gaming medium go from pixel platformers to games like metal gear solid, Kotor, GTA 3 and fable. Since the PS3 and XBOX 360 I've not seen anything so brand new that it changed the way I looked at games. There have been some awesome games since gen 7 but none of them have pushed the medium like the generations before them in my opinion.

I feel like a lot of people have become a little too suspicious of games that come out, like almost every game that has a trailer people immediately suspect the developers are lying about something or it's false advertising or the game won't look even close to as good upon release as it did in trailers/gameplay demos. This is because there have been numerous times over the years that all of things and worse have happened. Gamers suspicion is largely justified, but at the same time this doesn't mean every single developer/publisher is out to scam you. I still get excited for a lot of games, and even pre-order some. Largely because aside from the fact almost every game comes out in a buggy state now on average many games that come out now are incredible. You just have to wait a year for them to be stable, and have all their DLC released for them to become the games people want them to be at launch. Is that acceptable? Absolutely not, but it is the current state of the industry. As someone who remembers what gaming looked like in the 1990s it's insane how far gaming has come as a medium, the visual fidelity and far more mature storytelling (for the most part) is a massive improvement over gaming's arcady roots, not that there's anything wrong with arcade style games but to have games' whose storytelling rivals the depth of Hollywood movies (God of War Ragnarök, Red Dead Redemption 2) is outstanding. If people have grown too distrustful of game companies because they have been burned too many times, it's completely understandable if they don't get hyped anymore but personally I always get excited to see new releases. So for me the answer is no gaming wasn't better when I was a kid but it was more respectable in a sense did feel like gaming companies didn't have quite so many scummy practices a slight distinction but that's how I see it.

Stop asking this completely superfluous question. Yes, gaming used to be better. You cant even take this question seriously anymore. Just look at the state of the industry today - it's in absolute shambles.

*the 90's was a magical time for handheld gaming but 2004 through 2011 was the Very Best for consoles in terms of concept, creativity and execution 👌 GTA:SA, Fable, NFL2K5, Bully, Saints Row 1 2 and 3, Fallout NV, True Crime NYC, Skyrim, Godfather 1&2, Splinter Cell Double Agent, NCAA Football, NBA Live 09&10, Madden 09&10, Backbreaker, CODMW1&2, GTA4, RDR, Far Cry 2, Burnout Revenge/Paradise, Sims Urbz In The City, Spiderman Web Of Shadows 😍 i mean everything was just conceptually flawless and at its peak....not to mention FUN offline and online. since 2011, what AAA games have really pushed the envelope and baught something new and unique to life??? 🤔 Life Is Strange, Fallout 4, Far Cry 5, MGS5 and what else????*

As kid, I was easily excited. New games are good, often great. Yet they do things I've played before and are not that surprising anymore.

Ngl i couldn’t agree any less with the comments if i tried. I do think that nostalgia can put a rose coloured tint on things, but the idea that our youth is the only reason why we could become immersed in games is complete BS. In 2001 we got Max Payne, DMC, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Final Fantasy X, all in ONE year. These are all objectively better games than anything that’s been released in recent years. Better quality storylines and concepts and actual fleshed out content and gameplay (although some aspects of the gameplay can feel slightly archaic) triple A games have had further increases in their budget purely to make more profits for shareholders and venture capitalists with little effort going into the actual gameplay and stories. Everything is live service, everything has a loot box and game pass system and NOTHING has worked well at launch, it legit took cyberpunk 4 years to basically rebuild their game from scratch in order for it to be functional and playable. On top of that we are also charged anything upwards of £80 and have pre-orders and special editions shoved down our throats. Honestly i feel like a lot of people in the comments are part of the issue. A lot of you think that gaming should only be linear, simple and be there to kill time rather than an art form made to create incredible stories with great gameplay mechanics which is incredibly rare nowadays and a complete lack of creativity is evident. Hi-Fi wave literally won an award and then the studio was shutdown while the CEO left with a 400 million dollar windfall payment. better graphics and more advance hardware hasn’t had any real effect on creativity because companies want to play it safe. Why push the console hardware when you can make yet another arena, drop zone shooter because Fortnite makes a shit ton of money and we have shareholders to pay and this is applicable to most forms of entertainment media. I feel like as an audience, we need to stop with the bootlicking and actually demand quality rather than saying “oh well we got older and times have changed” like our age is any reason as to why gaming has a whole has become so shit.

Yeah I used to play games alot when I was a kid now I have responsibilities and im tired and burnt out and lazy

I still believe the 4th generation of console gaming was the best. Still playing and discovering new great games from that era. A lot of developers put their all into those games and they had more coherent visions. The jump to 3D was too sudden and killed a lot of smaller teams and put sprite artists out of work that couldn't adapt, but still had a lot of skill to offer and optical disk media did much the same with artists more focused on making music using the synthesis based systems of the past.

People will blame the industry and fair there's some crap happening and some franchises have gotten worse but lets be honest we're just getting older, tastes change, responsibilities change, series' change People gotta stop blaming everyone and everything, no its not the fans, no its not the series, its you 🗿

It certainly wasn’t better for me because my parents heavily restricted what I could play and for how long. Now, I can play anything anytime I want when I’m not at work. Sure, there’s some shortcomings but that’s offset by the volume of games that are released today.

I think a lot of feeling it used to be better is nostalgia. Parts of the industry have gotten way worse (microtransactions, etc) but pretty much all my favorite games are from when I was younger despite games largely getting better. Like Mario 64 isn't a better game than odyssey, dark souls 1 probably sn't better than elden ring, etc but those are the games I prefer

Will you be checking out Final Shape my friend? I know you used to be one of us destiny addicts lol

33:32 graphics don't have to matter the art style really matters and gameplay is what really matters because you can have amazing looking graphics but if the gameplay and story sucks then the game is bad, graphics can make a good game great but doesn't make a bad game good.

Blizzard was the horse armor publisher/dev, not Bethesda. Great perspective overall!

Here we go again 'movement->business->racket' But it's great that you put emphasis on the personal aspects too. Everyone has a baseline when they get in to the hobby and there are not much stuff in life to worry about, neither experiences to color our expectations. But growing up as a gamer is not only about getting more jaded, it's also getting more nuanced, aporeciating the subtle touches of the craft. That's how a flawed game which you would've just tossed away as a kid for the next one can become a rich tapestry of triumphs and faliures making it an even richer experience. Mass Effect Andromeda or Need for Speed Payback comes to mind as my personal fav ugly ducklings. Also the industry itself is not one monolith. Stuff is trash now, stuff is great now, the present is always EXCITING :D

27:15 you’re the first person I heard actually say this and I’m happy someone said it. I feel like so many people don’t want to admit to it or gloss over it way too much.

Yes

Gaming just in general was more creative back in day and that’s just a fact these days games are repetitive or a chore

I am 41 years old I played as a kid 16 / 32 bit games on PC CD ROM PS1 SNES Sega MD etc. But I think the best era of gaming was 2000 up to 2010 with of course some gems coming out here and there. So it's not just the age. modern AAA gaming is just terrible

Monetization, Politics, Investors and Marketing having more power than the DEVS/Techs/Artists/Designers, Rounded off to many edges dropped accessibility down to the floor to sell more copies. Accessibility was already solved in Beating the main story Vs. 100% Bonus Content being a tried and true formula that goes back to SuperMario World (Snes) and SM64 as well as FF and Persona. Also Matchmaking and party finders have been optimized to the point where actual socializing in multiplayer games is gone.

Gaming peaked in 2015. Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, MGS 5 It's not that gaming has gotten worse. It's that gaming is barely improving. It's getting better but not much better. The progress is slow and the monetization and policy is getting worse at a far quicker rate than games are getting better. Really what kicks as hard is that the average game is of lower quality than the average before because each game is copying others so much that a bad game today isn't even worth playing. Where as a bad game back in the early 2000s still had merit due to having gameplay ideas realized that other games didn't. So the copying is a problem because it means a bad modern game becomes fundamentally worthless today.

I read a news article about someone who managed to get a nintendo switch into prison, and downloaded games using 5g from a phone. no responsibilities & nothing to do but play video games all day. i bet that could make you feel like a kid again. (this is a terrible idea, don’t do it lol)

I think the biggest reason for AAA games being worse nowadays is just more money people/capitalism got involved. It's definitely not a myth that a lot of big budget games failing more then they used to. Obviously, there were always flops, but it was more obscure/mid-level sized games and game studios with occasional big budget flop. With games, and movies, there is just too much money involved for something cool and forward-pushing to be made(obviously those games still pop up but less regularly then they used to). But you shouldn't get cynical cause these things are cyclical. People will get sick of cookie cutter and focus-tested games and financiers will be forced to invest in something edgier.

The answer is yes. Mainly because games used to be made by people who were also gamers and made for gamers. Nowadays they just make games to suck the money out of young people

A lot of old games had politics in them, but it's how they are included that's different. Most (AAA) games don't feel like complex political commentary, just the usual online/twitter culture war virtue signaling. And a lot of the conflict in said story boils down to "us" vs "them". Us(player) = right, them= wrong. In order for there to be drama in the story, you need to understand/empathize with both sides of the conflict.

The movie thing I couldn’t agree more with! I liked Spider-Man 2 and I loathed God of War Ragnarok for this approach. It worked for Spider-Man because I felt like the main story was a movie you got to interact with. With god of war it felt like it kept constantly taking control away from you for these cinematic moments so often I tuned out altogether. With older games you could use your imagination to fill in the blanks, part of why Souls games ambiguous lore works so well. When they start beating you over the head to care about the story, especially when the gameplay is repetitive and boring, it’s a huge turn off. Indie games like Signalis and Crow Country are great because you can play through the story and still find things you have to interpret for yourself. Leave a little imagination or else you’ll have a movie that thinks you’re too dumb to understand what’s going on.

AAA Gaming fell off after 2015. Became harder and harder to find quality games after that year.

The problems with modern gaming. that games are way too long and expensive and that they only make big games. Nintendo made many smaller games. A lot of microtransactions and Live service games. Nintendo never has microtransactions. Games are unfinished. If you don't count the Pokemon games, all games are 100% finished. And games have more cutscenes than gameplay. Nintendo's games are known for their gameplay

to be very fair fallout new vegas is better than both fallout 4 nd fallout 3 storyline

I always laugh when i see these vids. I only preorder gta, red dead and Skyrim. There's more good companies and franchises out here. Naughty dog, fromsoftware, insomniac, capcom, remedy etc. You guys need to stop playing two games and expand your genres. Maybe you wouldn't be bored. I beat and enjoyed probably more than 50 plus titles combined playstation and xbox the last two years. Triple a and indies.

politics ruining gaming, just play what you want dont give a damn on media or youtuber bait and woke/anti-woke culture war, you can love and enjoy both Stellar Blade and The last of us part 2 equally

The “younger” games are hilarious. Skyrim. 🤣 yall will never understand how A+ gaming was BEFORE the 360. Breaking out the SNES, Genesis, or PS1 will never be topped. Those were the days we’re getting TRUE leaps in gaming with each console generation.

You milked these kind of videos

Games were better back then because developers were better. Now everything is sanitized, commitee designed, safe, soulless products.

I never played games aside from Roblox for the most part🥲

Yes