Have the last few years been good for new games?

Dr Zaius

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I'm curious how people rate the last few years in terms of how many good new games came out. Gaming has good years and bad years, just like anything else, and we've seen both good games and bad during this period. So how do rate the last few years?

Personally, 2008-2010 has most definitely been one of the worst periods I've experienced in all the years I've been gaming. I play games of nearly every genre -- almost anyway -- and there are always 5-10 new games on the horizon that I'm eagerly awaiting. In addition, each year I end up playing some games I wasn't waiting for, but which turned out to be really excellent titles. Sometimes these unexpected gems turn out to be the best games of all.

Until now.

The least two years have been dreadful. Not only have I had a hard time finding those hidden gems -- most have turned out not to be worth the time I spent playing them -- but even many of the most anticipated games of the last few years have turned out to be suckage. Cities XL, Supreme Commander 2, Aliens vs Predator, Battleforge, Dawn of War 2, EVE Online: Dominion, Silent Hunter V, Worldshift, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising have all disappointed to some extent.

What the hell is going on here? Obviously, at least part of the problem is the deplorable trend toward gutting decent PC games and giving us crappy console ports instead. That's something that needs to stop immediately. However, as frustrating as that is, it doesn't explain everything we're seeing. A number of big name games that didn't have a console version at all have turned out to be losers. Are developers just losing touch with what gamers want? Are publishers pushing developers to churn out mediocre crap just to make a quick buck? Or are we all just jaded bastards incapable of appreciating the utter brilliance of today's designs?

There are some good titles on the horizon, so I can but hope the rest of 2010 bucks the trend and brings some games worthy of our time.
 
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