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[Plague Doctor]

So my miserly ass is negative always. Let me turn this around.

What some positive trends in the ye olde year of 2024 that you actually like and want to see more of?

Now, this could be a specific game mechanic, a narrative direction, a business tactic, etc, etc.

Bonus round: Why do you like it?

 

[analog_future]

Game Pass has been great. It’s allowed me to discover a ton of games I otherwise wouldn’t have purchased, and many of them have become some of my favorites.

Great value as well.

 

[Hrk69]

Sony releasing their games on PC games is up there

 

[StereoVsn]

Accessibility settings are becoming a lot more common. That’s good for folks who need them.

 

[Banjo64]

Moving towards mobile.

Switch 2, Deck 2, mobile.

 

[feynoob]

Moving towards mobile.

Switch 2, Deck 2, mobile.

As a fellow mobile gamer, I have a hard time playing on mobile these days.
I am mostly on my pc and bed.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

More lame, gay chicks

Definitely need more

 

[Generic]

Subscription services. Lots of games for a low price, it's revolutionary.

 

[Perrott]

Pro consoles.

 

[BennyBlanco]

PC handhelds

 

[Guilty_AI]

>The forgoing of graphical fidelity for the sake of more stylized visuals. The latter runs better, plays better, ages better and doesn't needlessly increases budget which leads to mainstreamfication.

>Digital distribution. This gives people all over the world access to all sorts of games they would never have heard about otherwise, or that just wouldn't have seen the light of day due to logistical constraints. Most of the fear mongering around this is just people conflating digital with DRM anyway.

>AI. People fear this will turn devs lazier, but the truth is the lazy devs already do a crappy job either way. Any tool that gives more development power to smaller teams is a pro in my book.

 

[Banjo64]

As a fellow mobile gamer, I have a hard time playing on mobile these days.
I am mostly on my pc and bed.

I’d honestly rather never game again over playing via Windows but there’s alternate options out there.

 

[Danjin44]

I like we are getting more stylize visuals style over more realistic ones.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I’d honestly rather never game again over playing via Windows but there’s alternate options out there.

I'm so glad linux is becoming a viable alternative by the day. Actually, another great trend to look forward too.

 

[Plague Doctor]

People realizing that there is more than Western AAA more and more every day.

Man, this staying positive thing is fucking with some of my organs but I am trying.

 

[feynoob]

I’d honestly rather never game again over playing via Windows but there’s alternate options out there.

I like it because its two platform in 1.
Can do non gaming stuff and gaming stuff.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I like we are getting more stylize visuals style over more realistic ones.

Same

Even olders games with Celshaded graphics like Code Vein still look fantastic

 

[Banjo64]

I like it because its two platform in 1.
Can do non gaming stuff and gaming stuff.

That’s why I hate it, but everyone can choose.

 

[Danjin44]

Same

Even olders games with Celshaded graphics like Code Vein still look fantastic

They age much better and looks more interesting in my opinion.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

They age much better and looks more interesting in my opinion.

I've always been a huge fan of celshading ever since Jet Set Radio and Windwaker

Even without the HD Remaster, Windwaker still looks amazing

I'm happy more Japanese Developers are going this route since the style tend to look great on any Console/PC regardless of specs

Ni No Kuni and Ni No Kuni 2 are good examples

The Xenoblade games especially too

 

[SHA]

So my miserly ass is negative always. Let me turn this around.

What some positive trends in the ye olde year of 2024 that you actually like and want to see more of?

Now, this could be a specific game mechanic, a narrative direction, a business tactic, etc, etc.

Bonus round: Why do you like it?

We just saw metal gear sold copycat, it's actually a metal gear solid game, I want more of this, devs who could capture the good old games as if they're us from our own eyes, since even perfect modern games pull a lot of stuff for visual fidelity and drawing more triangles for the sake of doing it, I don't understand tech as they do but I could tell modern tech has failed our own interests, what's the point of drawing more triangles if the sacrifices you made is making a lesser game and more of a movie shooted with a 360 camera, tech shouldn't walk that route where you wouldn't dare to imagine the next Wipeout, crazy taxi, sonic the hedgehog...etc, you get the point.

 

[RoboFu]

99% accurate ps2 emulator.

 

[amigastar]

I've always been a huge fan of celshading ever since Jet Set Radio and Windwaker

Even without the HD Remaster, Windwaker still looks amazing

I'm happy more Japanese Developers are going this route since the style tend to look great on any Console/PC regardless of specs

Ni No Kuni and Ni No Kuni 2 are good examples

The Xenoblade games especially too

Yes, Windwaker still looks awesome. But the Gamecube had many game which still look good today (F-Zero GX, REmaster, Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil 4,)

 

[Dacvak]

I love all the new hardware coming out for retro gaming. We now have cheap $40 handhelds that can emulate up to N64, we’ve got FPGAs that can output RGB analog with perfect emulation, we’ve got upscalers that add zero latency and go up to 4K with a plethora of filters and options…

Us retro kings have been eating real good for the last few years.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

- The idea of console exclusive games sloooowly becoming a thing of the past, and I hope it dies as soon as possible.
If I like a game, I want literally everyone to play it. I don't give a single fuck about anything else.

- Crossplay.

- And Portables. The 3DS being my favorite console ever, seeing that style of play becoming more of a consideration after the Switch and the Steam Deck, to the point where Sony supposedly are considering making a Portable PS4, makes me REALLY happy.


I'm holding myself, because there's a laundry list of things happening in gaming that I despise, and they aren't going away anytime soon (Remakes/Remasters, xenophobia of Japanese artists and developers through localization, so on, so on).

But I did my best to point out three things I'm happy with.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Yes, Windwaker still looks awesome. But the Gamecube had many game which still look good today (F-Zero GX, REmaster, Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil 4,)

Well that's more the artstyle

Look at the HD Remaster of Resident Evil Remake. Makes the game look even more beautiful

The PS2 is still my GOAT but I feel like GameCube is the last time I was impressed with the way Consoles worked. Like that much power in a small box. It was more powerful than the PS2 but less powerful than the XBOX

I'm hoping that the trend of using prerendered backgrounds become a thing. Some of the prerendered stuff that came out later on in the PS1 Era became pretty advanced

 

[Sleepwalker]

The resurgency of portability with steam deck and other handheld pcs.

 

[SmokedMeat]

“Console exclusive”.

 

[HL3.exe]

That my 10 year old PC with a 2022 GPU can still play pretty much every new game flawlessly at 1440p 60, on high settings.

 

[ReBurn]

I like how indies are keeping the spirit of gaming alive in a time when the corpos have drained almost all of the soul out of it.

 

[HL3.exe]

>AI. People fear this will turn devs lazier, but the truth is the lazy devs already do a crappy job either way. Any tool that gives more development power to smaller teams is a pro in my book.

There is no such thing as 'lazy devs', it's stupid retoric and makes ya sound like a r*tarded sheep that blindly repeats talking point from some dumbass YouTuber.

Projects that have problems are because of all sorts of factors, but it usually comes down to scope creep, time managment or budget issues.

 

[killatopak]

Definitely variety.

Specifically indies. Not just on steam but also on other platforms like itch and such.

There's so many hidden gems. The only downside is I have to wade through tons of shit to get to the good ones.

 

[Holammer]

There's a small trend among indie devs to create early 80's style single screen arcade games.
Aping games like Mr Do, Dig Dug and Pacman. I think they are neato and I want to throw my hat in the ring.




Steam Bundle with many of the better ones.

Indie Arcade Heroes on Steam

store.steampowered.com

 

[ReyBrujo]

Being able to rewind at anytime. It makes gaming much more inclusive, you no longer need to even git gud.

 

[hemo memo]

Changing difficulty mid-game. I’ve seen this a lot lately and I appreciate it.

Better design games in term of respecting the player’s time and clear direction to the player.

 

[Metnut]

Good voice acting and realistic looking cut scenes are cool. I’ve always pivoted towards games with good stories and today’s games are better than ever in that regard. Cyberpunk, Baldur’s Gate 3, Yakuza, Plague’s Tale, God of War, Last of Us, FF7 Rebirth (yes it’s a remake of an old game).

The games have taken a huge step forward with how stories are presented.

 

[M.W.]

Suspend / quick resume is a must. *When it works

 

[Thabass]

Companies finally taking the PC platform seriously. Has it been perfect? Certainly not, but its a far cry of what it was back in the 2000's or the 90's.

 

[Puscifer]

Sony their games on PC games is up there

Their optimization should be mentioned as well

 

[Fess]

PC ports.

Why?
Means I don’t need to waste money on consoles for 10 games per generation and means I always get 60fps or more on everything without scaling down visuals. And mods is fun fun fun!

 

[Guilty_AI]

There is no such thing as 'lazy devs', it's stupid retoric and makes ya sound like a r*tarded sheep that blindly repeats talking point from some dumbass YouTuber.

Projects that have problems are because of all sorts of factors, but it usually comes down to scope creep, time managment or budget issues.

Yeah yeah whatever, point is AI won't turn a good developer bad and will be really misused by already bad devs.

it's stupid retoric and makes ya sound like a r*tarded sheep that blindly repeats talking point from some dumbass YouTuber.

And who hurt you?

 

[Humdinger]

I like the trend of Microsoft putting their games on Playstation.

 

[The_hunter]

Crossplay and performance modes.

 

[nkarafo]

I honestly can't think of anything official wise.

Homebrew wise though we have better and more accurate emulators, decompilations/recompilations being a thing and a lot more effort in preservation in general.

 

[Robb]

The concept of a hybrid console like Switch has been fantastic.

I also really like the push for remakes that are practically new games, like RE/Final Fantasy 7 etc.

 

[YukiOnna]

More 3rd parties moving to multiplatform approach and transitioning away from console exclusive nonsense and thus rise in PC ports. Square Enix's shift was nice to see

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Retro games being so popular and the industry bringing us ports, remasters and remakes as a result.

I missed out on many games from the dreamcast, gamecube, 3ds, wii/wii u, arcades, neo geo, Saturn etc that have not been brought to modern consoles.

My only gripe is how greedy publishers have become with the pricing of said games. Nintendo is the worst, charging 60 bucks for a game like Luigis Mansion 2. It's not just them though ..look at how retro collections that used to be $30 for 25 games are now split into 3-5 game collections for $40! It's insane.

There are so many more negative trends in this industry unfortunately.

 

[existensmaximum]

Can't think of one single thing unfortunately. Many of the things I've enjoyed about gaming are changing, one after the other.. For the worse.

 

[lachesis]

Well, I am in love/hate relationship with current ubiquity of the market.
I am old fashioned, so I want my purchases to be unique and exclusive on the hardware level, as well as software level - but it seems like in coming years, all will just be on a damn phone.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

Night Trap on Nintendo!

And emulation in 4K getting better!