Do you like the direction video games are going In?

[Menegrothx]

I miss those days. Those various console genres seem to be slowing dying now. Ironic, since for years now people have talked about how it would be PC gaming that would die. If anything, it's slowly taking over console gaming

The genres that were "consolized" are practically as dead as the genres that are dead. The genres that couldn't be effectively consolized are now dead/niche genres. MMORPGs, RTSs and Steam are becoming increasingly popular though.
As long as the state of the industry is like it is today, there will never be another Origin Systems/Looking Glass/LucasArts and we certainly wont see a major player promoting a game like Nights into Dreams... or Seaman as one of the "AAA"/flagship games of it's line up. As long as video game production is as costly as it is today, most if not all of interesting games will be kickstarter/steam/XBLA/tablet games.

[Gamerforlife]

I miss those days. Those various console genres seem to be slowing dying now. Ironic, since for years now people have talked about how it would be PC gaming that would die. If anything, it's slowly taking over console gaming

The genres that were "consolized" are practically as dead as the genres that are dead. The genres that couldn't be effectively consolized are now dead/niche genres. MMORPGs, RTSs and Steam are becoming increasingly popular though.
As long as the state of the industry is like it is today, there will never be another Origin Systems/Looking Glass/LucasArts and we certainly wont see a major player promoting a game like Nights into Dreams... or Seaman as one of the "AAA"/flagship games of it's line up. As long as video game production is as costly as it is today, most if not all of interesting games will be kickstarter/steam/XBLA/tablet games.

Funny you mention that, as most of the games I have thoroughly enjoyed this year have been XBLA/PSN games. The next two or three games I plan on playing are also digital download games(like Tokyo Jungle), including some Xbox Live Indie games(Tempura of the Dead) I've had on the backburner and one PC digital game in the form of Dear Esther. Just seems like all the games grabbing my attention this year are in the digital download space. They're cheap games and don't take hundreds of hours to play, but they've been offering a lot of creativity, originality, and inspiration that I see very little of in the bigger budget, 60 dollar titles. Plus, I enjoy the rather stripped down gameplay some of them have. A lot of modern, big budget games have become too complicated and convoluted with their gameplay. Look at Resident Evil 6 and the fifty billion different things it tries to do according to some reviews I've read

[marlowe221]

Funny you mention that, as most of the games I have thoroughly enjoyed this year have been XBLA/PSN games. The next two or three games I plan on playing are also digital download games(like Tokyo Jungle), including some Xbox Live Indie games(Tempura of the Dead) I've had on the backburner and one PC digital game in the form of Dear Esther. Just seems like all the games grabbing my attention this year are in the digital download space. They're cheap games and don't take hundreds of hours to play, but they've been offering a lot of creativity, originality, and inspiration that I see very little of in the bigger budget, 60 dollar titles. Plus, I enjoy the rather stripped down gameplay some of them have. A lot of modern, big budget games have become too complicated and convoluted with their gameplay. Look at Resident Evil 6 and the fifty billion different things it tries to do according to some reviews I've read

Same here.

Most of the games I have really enjoyed the past year or so are Live/PSN games (many of which have found their way to Steam and even GOG), or the types of games that tend to endup on on those services.

If what you are looking for are the "old console" genre-type experiences digital download services of some flavor are pretty much your only option. For a pure platforming, or beat'em up, or shm'up, or even old school 2D rpgs, digital services are the way to go these days.

Example: Castle Crashers is the best beat'em up released in years but it will never exist on a disc (though I would buy it (again) if it did).

[garrett123]

Only Ron Paul and the Dreamcast 2 can save us now

most people think app based gaming will catch on

[RyaNtheSlayA]

If by "app" you mean "digital download" then that's pretty much a given.

[Haoie]

Ask me in 5 years or so, when I've caught up to what's popular in 2012!

[marlowe221]

Concerning Ouya -

I am cautiously optimistic about the possibilities of Ouya. I love the concept of it. (Shoot, if it will run some decent emulators I would buy it for that alone...).

If most of the games are of the quality of many we have seen on Live/PSN that would definitely be something I would be interested in. (Castle Crashers please!)

[Gunstar Green]

I'm kind of cynical about the Ouya. It's doing what PC and console download services have done for years and pretending its revolutionary because it doesn't have an optical drive. It also just seems like a further dumbing-down of things for the smart phone generation (because you know, if we call it "app based gaming" suddenly it's different than PSN and XBLA somehow).

Maybe I'm just living in the past. This stubbornness isn't new, I almost never buy anything until its on the verge of being obsolete.

[marlowe221]

GG - I see where you are coming from to an extent but Ouya presents the possibility of continuing this trend (for good or ill) without the constraints and, from what I have read, significant costs of entry to the Live/PSN marketplaces.

Of course, that might open the doors to more shovelware, but that's what the internet is for - to find out which games are worth my time and money!

[isiolia]

I'm kind of cynical about the Ouya. It's doing what PC and console download services have done for years and pretending its revolutionary because it doesn't have an optical drive. It also just seems like a further dumbing-down of things for the smart phone generation (because you know, if we call it "app based gaming" suddenly it's different than PSN and XBLA somehow).

Maybe I'm just living in the past. This stubbornness isn't new, I almost never buy anything until its on the verge of being obsolete.

Maybe it's me, but that doesn't seem to be their angle on the system at all.

They're calling it revolutionary on the basis of being an "open" system. The hardware is not locked down. Every console includes the tools needed to build games for it (per their website), with as few barriers of entry or restrictions on business model as possible.

Most of that is only particularly special if you focus only on consoles, but I think they account for that. The concept of a TV-centric box with specific hardware being a "thing" is certainly ingrained in many gamer's mindsets. Even in this thread there's the concept of PC games and console games being some sort of dichotomy.

To be fair, MS (particularly) has provided avenues for indie developers for a very low cost via Live indie games, but I have to assume there are some things on the business end that restrict the appeal (like the publicly-complained-about $40,000 it'd cost to recertify Fez to patch it). Maybe it depends on who has publishing rights, I don't know for sure.

Either way, the concept of the Ouya, as per their site, is creating an open TV-based platform. Logically speaking, the distribution model isn't the vision, it enables it, as does the Tegra3/Android platform.