a big reason millennials like me are always so vocal about video games is because we grew up and experienced the gaming boom in real time. there will never be another year like 1998. I think most can also roughly pinpoint the era games became way too overly focused on business models and services
We grew up as the medium grew up. Our maturation is linked. Unfortunately real life also feels like it's plagued by microtransactions.
Where game companies were trying to cram in as much stuff to entice you to buy instead of taking it all out for monetization or stop making other games to make live service stuff.
Think this even kinda extends to Elder Gen Z. We sort of grew up in the wake of it and the swell of old YouTube and lets plays that led us to going back and playing a lot of those games plus what was developing during childhood.
We also grew up with the background radiation of "those games will rot your brain and make you violent!" meanwhile, Fox News did those two exact things to boomers and gen x
I JUST FUCKING REALIZED THIS!!! Like back then with Nintendo, Playstation and Xbox it felt like there was a variety, a feel for each. Not all IPs were money makers, but other games helped us wait for others we were into & such. Now, it feels like only Nintendo is doing this, which is heartbreaking.
There is a palpable difference in video games from the era of "games make more money than movies now!" and beyond. It's quite a bummer.
videogames became something so weird with the years. Online multiplayers, kept me away from gaming during 2010 because i didnt have any kind of internet account. I only used youtube. Now with battlepases and micro transactions is that thing all over again.
the magic of getting the SEGA Genesis as a kid sticks with me forever haha.
Imagine growing up with fortnite lmao
I remember watching everyone be unbelievably excited for video game releases. Like you never hear about anybody camping outside a store for new games anymore. Sure it's all digital now but can you say there's ever been a game to create as much nationwide hype as the release of Halo 3?