User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: The Grand Theft Auto Generation

  1. #1
    Points: 100,746, Level: 77
    Level completed: 31%, Points required for next Level: 1,804
    Overall activity: 9.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialYour first Group50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    IMPress Polly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    156220
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Vermont, USA
    Posts
    8,575
    Points
    100,746
    Level
    77
    Thanks Given
    10,232
    Thanked 7,643x in 4,358 Posts
    Mentioned
    634 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    The Grand Theft Auto Generation

    With the launch of Nintendo's new home console / handheld system the Switch due next month and a new system from Microsoft to replace the Xbox One due out by the end of the year, it's clear that the end of the 8th console generation is upon us. It's been a short one, especially compared with the far more popular 7th! I figure, therefore, that this might be a good time to reflect on and sum up the legacy of the current generation of game systems. It shouldn't be a difficult task since the current generation in "AAA" gaming has been dominated by one title: Grand Theft Auto V. Therefore, our opinions of this one game will pretty well sum up our opinions of the current state of retail gaming itself, I suspect.

    The big picture of retail gaming is of a business on the wane. As this 8th console generation comes to an end, for example, it has still sold less than 100 million home systems worldwide, as compared with the 7th generation's 273 million. A similarly stark generational decline can be found in the sales of the handheld gaming systems as well, it might be added. What that means in plain English is that, overall, this 8th console generation so far is the least popular since the 1990s and may not even catch up to total system sales of the 5th (original PlayStation / Nintendo 64 / Sega Saturn, etc.). Bottom line: as I told you a long time ago, digital distribution is taking over. That the annual revenues generated through mobile device games (smart phone and tablet games, in other words), for example, have multiplied from $12.9 billion in 2012 (the start of the current console generation) to over $40 billion last year by itself shows you where much of the gaming market has gone. Furthermore, Steam (my favorite source ) is now the primary distributor of home computer games. You see what I mean? Retail gaming is on the wane; digital distribution (especially mobile gaming) is taking over. If that trend continues (and I see no reason why it wouldn't), we can realistically expect there to be only two more console generations, of which we are now approaching the first. I think kind of the bottom line here is that, while the overall market for video games continues to expand rapidly, people value convenience and affordability a lot more than I think the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have understood up to this point.

    But what of the remaining loyalists to high-priced blockbuster gaming? With distributor Take-Two's recent announcement that, as of the end of 2016, they have shipped over 75 million copies of Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V for short) to date since its original release in 2013, it is clear not only that this fifth proper installment in the series is the most popular to date, but also that it is on pace to become the top-selling retail video game of all time within the year. Currently, its overall sales, in that respect, are exceeded only by those of Wii Sports, which has sold 82.5 million copies to date since its release in 2006. The difference is that Wii Sports came bundled with the last generation's most popular game system, the Wii, while GTA V hasn't been a pack-in title with any system, i.e. has had to earn its tremendous sales success on its own merits rather than, at least in part, on those of the hardware on which it plays. While many games have achieved a much larger player base (e.g. The Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga, Fruit Ninja, Cut the Rope, Pokemon GO, Super Mario Run, etc.), the distribution competition is basically only free-to-play games that are mainly distributed on mobile devices, which represent the low end of investment...and therefore also of money-making. (The mobile gaming market isn't succeeding because of its free-trial-to-purchase retention rate (which is quite low), but because its total player base is expanding fast enough to make up the difference overall and then a lot.) People have to spend $60 for Grand Theft Auto V and there's no smaller, free version of it available. In other words, comparatively speaking, people want to play GTA V more than they do those other games, as few people who download those free-to-play games are willing to pay a dime for them. There is hence no question that GTA V is most iconic and defining game of this era among hardcore gamers.

    What is it that has drawn so many people so enthusiastically to this specific game? I think the answer to that may lie in the factors that have always made the franchise a success ever since GTA III came out in 2001. GTA III was the single best-selling game for the PlayStation 2 (which heavily dominated the 6th console generation in sales), the first big hit in the series, and the first truly commercially successful sandbox-style (i.e. "truly open-world") video game. Since that time, almost everyone who makes adventure games and RPGs for home consoles and computers has sought to copy its success by introducing more and more free-roaming options for the player, to the point that today basically all retail adventure games and RPGs for home consoles and computers are sandbox games. And yet, to this day, the GTA franchise is still regarded as the epitome of sandbox games. No substitutes have been adequate. Why?

    I think the answer lies in GTA's dedication to authenticity. Well...when it comes to the layout of its cityscapes, that is. Most sandbox games feature worlds that are obviously designed with the player's convenience of traversal and discovery in mind, are neatly divided into themed zones, and don't feature very much of the detail that would surely characterize real cityscapes/worlds. They feel like game worlds. They feel fake. Grand Theft Auto's cities are the exception and nowhere is that more fully the case than in GTA V. Grand Theft Auto always goes for realism when it comes to world layout and that's the difference! That's what players are looking for in sandbox games, not to be mindlessly catered to! This is what I hear all the time from those who love the franchise. When I ask GTA V fans what they enjoy most about the game, they almost invariably say it's things like just wondering around aimlessly or driving around with no particular direction listening to the in-game radio or standing at the edge of a building and just taking in the view. In other words, getting lost in another world that you can almost believe in. It's not just about realistic graphics. It's about the way a game is made.

    These things said, however, Grand Theft Auto V is not one of my favorite games, personally. I've played over 1,400 video games before and at this point what I value most in games -- what I look for the most in them -- is sincerity. To what extent did the developer make a game they wanted to play and to what extent instead did they employ focus groups to try and aggregate what it will take to separate me from my money? At this point, it's generally pretty easy for me to tell the difference between those two things on sight. By this gauge, Grand Theft Auto V falls somewhere in the middle: better than most "AAA" games, but inferior to many, many smaller, indie games. When it comes to heist-themed games, my favorites are games like Quadrilateral Cowboy. It's not a large game and it doesn't even try for graphical realism, but it's all heart and that's what counts the most for me!

    GTA V's shortcomings in this area are evident by its presentation. Immense care and attention to detail clearly went into the layout of its world and into its characters for that matter. Clearly Rockstar cares about these things and wants us to as well! But this realism isn't matched with a corresponding systems realism. Rockstar makes sure that the emotional punch of every scene is eliminated by a very lame sophomoric poop, pee, drug, or sex joke. GTA is too cool for feelings, bra. And it's certainly too cool for womenz. And you can't get any cooler than grossout slapstick. The game seems to go out of its way NOT be about something. Considering all the care that went into the construction of its engrossing world, that just seems like a tremendous waste to me!

    I'm not the only person with that opinion either:



    I hope that one-sided dominance of GTA V in this 8th console generation means that more people are gaining interest in heartfelt game design and not just that hardcore gamers will all buy games that are substantively very commercial and safe if they feel authentic in secondary, peripheral ways. I hope, in other words, that we are headed toward a greater appreciation of this type of game:



    (You'll notice how the only complaints people seem to have about many indie games like this are that they're well, small. That might just have something to do with the fact that independent developers rarely have the kind of budgets required to make games on the scale of GTA V. I think it's telling when the only complaint someone can come up with about your game is that there isn't more of it.)
    Last edited by IMPress Polly; 02-12-2017 at 10:34 AM.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to IMPress Polly For This Useful Post:

    Ethereal (02-12-2017)

  3. #2
    Points: 222,626, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 32.0%
    Achievements:
    Social50000 Experience PointsVeteranYour first Group
    Ethereal's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    468804
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Posts
    67,628
    Points
    222,626
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    14,219
    Thanked 41,536x in 26,005 Posts
    Mentioned
    1169 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Another trend that I've noticed which ties into the digital distribution model is the explosion of content, not just in the gaming world, but in media generally. When I'm looking through STEAM's store, there are so many games to choose from that it's sometimes difficult to sort through them all. This is good because it offers a wide array of choices to suite any taste, but the problem is that is allows the market to become over-saturated with a bunch of subpar games. That's why I see a market for curating this explosion of digital content more actively. It's simply too unwieldy for casual or even serious gamers to navigate efficiently.
    Power always thinks it has a great soul, and vast views, beyond the comprehension of the weak. And that it is doing God service when it is violating all His laws.
    --John Adams

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to Ethereal For This Useful Post:

    IMPress Polly (02-12-2017)

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts