My Review Schedule, and the Future of Gaming

Hi again all ye readers, followers, and gamers! September was a super busy month for me as a journalist, and October looks like it is going to be about the same. Juggling two different blog can really become a burden sometimes, especially when you are managing everything on your own. Thankfully though I usually tend to catch up at some point. As of now I've got two reviews pending here on the gaming side of things. One is a game, and the other is actually a hardcover book which was sent to me by a lovely lady from the 'Wizards of the Coast'. If you like RPGs you'll definitely want to keep a watch for the posting of these two reviews. As far as the game goes it is none other than the oldschool RPG indie known as, "Pier Solar HD". I actually got the PS4 version, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it will be about. As far as the book goes it is the second part of a series started by world renown D&D author, 'R.A.Salvatore', and is titled 'Rise of the King'. Without spoiling too much before the review I will say that I think that D&D fans committing to a hardcover book purchase will be happy with the slipcover that comes along with it. Top notch stuff if I do say so myself.

Aside from that pre-review banter another thing I wanted to touch base on was a recent game purchase of mine, and why it's additional DLC content concerns me. Yesterday, while picking up my pre-order of 'Persona 4 Arena Ultimax' I decided to pre-order 'Smash Bros.' for the 3DS, and treat myself to a new PS4 release as well. Not knowing about the season pass tied with the 'Shadow of Mordor' game I chose to purchase it thinking for sure that the developer would not go that route. I had quizzed the employee about the game, and she said she had heard good things about it, but never once mentioned the fact that there was a season pass. Of course she was not lying though based on the positive reviews so many mainstream journalists put out there, but after browsing the updated PSN store, and seeing the newly listed season pass for the game I began to doubt my purchase of the game like many of you likely have. I extended my concerned questions about the game to twitter friends, and upon doing so found out that in fact Warner Bros. had cut the game up into pieces, offering future story based DLC via the optional yet mandatory season pass.

Why this bothers me is that even if the game happens to be good it is a half-assed product aimed at making the gamer pay more for less. What's even more concerning is that more, and more game developers are following suit with their own season passes that basically give you extra story related content that should have been a part of the core game in the first place. It's this graduation from "nickel & diming" DLC to the dividing of a full product that threatens the future of the gaming industry, and worries me so. Game developers in general have become so infatuated with the idea of making more money for less work that games are more often than not being released in an unfinished form that needs patching, or that is total sh*t from the start. Greed, my gamer friends is totally ruining gaming as we know it. The days of game developers who wanted to impress their audience with a product of perfection no longer exists.

The developers these days also aim to catch the attention of the "CoD Crowd", and in doing so will outright trash the integrity of their game to appease the worst sorts of gamers in hopes that it will rake in the big bucks. This in itself is contributing to the dumbing down of a lot of the gaming industry offerings. Everything from fighting games to FPS, and even RPGs are suffering at the hands of developers who want to use alluring features (sex, nudity, profanity, blood, gore, thug life BS ...) to attract underage kids who will beg to their willing, and ignorant mommies, and daddies for the latest content pushing releases. Even Sony, and their PSN store has fallen victim to such a 'CoD Mentality". You'll find that the PSN now has YOLO, Thug Life, Anti-American, and propaganda pushing extras aimed at the lowlife scum who are ruining the online gaming experience for all of us legit gamers. It makes me wonder if someone out there has a secret agenda that is meant to destroy the gaming industry from the inside out. Like some underhanded shady sort of deal in which people get paid off to run off the consumer.

Whatever the case may be the gaming industry is headed straight for some dark times if game developers continue to believe that they can get away with their greed mongering. The only way to save this beloved genre of entertainment not only lies in their hands though, but also the gamer's. It is imperative that we as gamers start speaking with our wallets, and make educated purchases based on facts. Always, and I mean always try out a demo of a game before committing to a purchase. If you find that a game offers DLC that should have been included in the first place DO NOT buy the game. Do your own research, and educate yourself properly. Aside from developers, and gamers we gaming journalists also have a huge role to play in the redemption of the gaming industry. If the game is half-assed it is our duty as gaming journalists to let gamers know, period. Speaking of that certain corrupt gaming journalism outlets are also a huge problem in the whole greed, and gaming industry fail. I won't rehash that topic of discussion though. As a gamer the best thing you can do regarding reviews is to seek out those who you can trust without a shadow of a doubt. In doing so also continue to do your own research via the internet though. Often times developers, and publishers will release their own videos detailing the game's content, and future DLC. Pay attention to these types of videos as they come straight from the source.

As far as the future of gaming is concerned it is up to the gamers, the journalists, and the developers to right the wrongs that have been taking center stage. It has to be a collective effort otherwise the gaming industry will eventually become a shadow of it's former self. It will be gutted from the inside out, and no one in their right mind will return to gaming once that has happened. There is definitely a lot at stake here.