I think the argument is more that consolification is simply a new way for developers to be lazy with their games - in either direction. If the positions were reversed and PC gaming were the apple of the publisher's eye, many of the console ports of PC games would no doubt be equally shoddy. They already have the game, and thus it is cheaper to port it over than create something new. In actuality, that would be fine, brilliant even, except that for many games they don't do the port well. In many instances this is simply a case of Sturgeon's law where 90% of everything done is crap. In this instance, however, sometimes the raw material, the original game, is good, but simply badly transferred. There is also an issue of translatability where one platform is capable of things another platform is not. If more money is spent in a given genre on console ports incapable of taking advantage of the benefits of the PC platform, then there will indeed be fewer PC games as a percentage in that genre to take advantage of them.

As a caveat, I'm more repeating arguments from other people here since the genres I play: strategy, flight sims, space sims, etc ... have never really seemed to translate well to consoles though there have been attempts. So I can't say that I've been personally affected by this and I suppose that for my genres, those who play on consoles can claim to be equally disappointed. Though in those cases I think it is indeed a question of translatability as several attempts in those genres have been primary to consoles and even few of those have been viewed as successes. Perhaps some brave, creative soul will get it right, leverage some advantage of console for that genre, and create a new market for those games on consoles or some other popular vector. In some ways I hope for that as some of my favorite genres are on the endangered games list and better for them to be revitalized by the popularity of a new vector than disappear. Even if the result is a rise of bad console ports in those genres at least there'd be more games in an absolute sense. :)

I don't care because the easiest thing for me to do is to just stop reading and close the window. :-)

Exactly the same here. Most modern games will not run on my desktop or on my notebook. I also don't feel the need to upgrade my system. There are so many good games (old but also indie games) out there which still run on my systems, I really don't need the newest stuff.

Unfortunately so true. It's even worse for RPGs. Compare a level map of Drakensang with one from Lands of Lore, f.i. ...

I don't discriminate. I enjoy good games regardless of whether they were released yesterday or 15 years ago. And there ARE great games still being made.

Some old games are better than most new games. Some new games are better than most old games. It's that simple, I guess.

The last two games I completed were Flashback and Prince of Persia (1989 version). Before that, I completed Crysis 2. Now I'm playing StarCraft 2 and Two Worlds II. I'm planning to dive into Star Control 2 again soon. My gaming life is good.

To add my 2 cents, I don't think that modern games are terrible per se. But the evolution of the industry has, as far as I am concerned, taken routes that are not what I lok for in a game. The fact I am on gog does not mean I do not buy modern games at all.

I rarely rush to buy modern games though. I prefer to wait till the price drops a bit, till some patches are released or till a GOTY edition is available. That's how I chose to react to what has become a trend : releasing unfinished games at full price then making gamers pay for additional content.

And I mostly buy in niche markets : indies, or genres that are not mainstream ( flight sims, strategy games ), just because I'm not interested to buy the nth declination of a 10 years old concept anymore

i am a fan of the original far cry, and i played the demo of crysis at medium settings. i loved every minute of the demo, but the whole time i kept thinking that the game wouldnt be well known if it wasnt for the graphics. I also bought crysis 2 on the ps3, and am currently loving the game.

I don't really see the point-and-click adventure as being extinct, even if its Golden Days are definitely over. Granted, the big companies like LucasArts and Sierra eventually abandoned it and it looked pretty grim for the genre but then adventure fans and indie developers helped revive it on the internet and now the new generation of adventures is even sold in stores again. My only regret is that in many cases the genre seems more undead than truly resurrected, dwelling too much in the past instead of coming up with innovations and original stories. But there are exceptions, and then again, you probably can't re-invent the wheel all the time. In the late 80s / early 90s the adventure genre was new and exciting but 20 years later people looking for innovation will probably look elsewhere, for the next big thing.

I think it is also true that the cultural changes of the last 20 years are not really in favor of adventure games which explains why they aren't mainstream. You need a lot of time and patience for solving the sometimes really obscure puzzles. I don't know about you but I often find I don't have this patience anymore and I'm doubtful if today's kids would have it at all. Just try to watch the cartoons and TV series of your childhood and then compare them to the kid's stuff of today. You will find that the pace has become so fast today that the old shows will seem incredibly slow in comparison. It's kind of sad but I imagine it's very hard to make a living as a game developer if you try to swim against the stream.

Back in the days I'd go to a friend's house and we'd play adventure games together because two people have more ideas than one and one game would keep us busy for days or weeks and it was great fun. Nowadays, with the overwhelming supply of games (even adventure games) and all the real life chores, I notice I'm not willing to spend a lot of time on irrational puzzles anymore, especially not when playing on my own. It's become incredibly easy to find walkthroughs on the internet, so there's no necessity to dwell on a puzzle for long anymore. But that takes away a big deal of the experience, the sense of achievement, the pride of being able to figure out a puzzle on your own etc.

Add to that that others here have complained that new games are often too short and you can imagine why point-and-click adventures might not be very lucrative for big game companies today. You need to put a lot of energy and thought into them, so I bet they cost a lot of money to produce. But you can play through them in a couple of hours and then complain it was too short and has no replay value (regardless of whether it was so easy that you could rush through it or so hard that you decided to speed things up with a walkthrough).

Given these circumstances I'm actually glad new point-and-click adventures are still being produced. I just wish I could appreciate them today as I used to back then. :(

Absolutely nothing against new games. Happy? :)
Agreeeeeeed. One of the best shooters in a long time (best shooter after UT2004 or Fear, I'd say).

Not surprising considering that 95% of everything, new and old, is crap :)

Well, i may have to try the game again now that i have a new graphic card, maybe i misjudged it the first time.

First, I don't imagine there's nearly as much "hate" towards new games as suggested by your title. But I don't think you really meant it as "there's so much hate here against new games" as much as you meant "what do people here hate about new games?"

Anyway, for me its certainly not the graphics or sound. They're spectacular compared the to the monochrome & blip-bleep-bloop I played with back in the early 80's. No, what I hate about new games is the real-time combat. Feels like an aim-and-blast fest to me. I'm a big rpg fan and & I like time to consider my options (turn-based)...Arcanum, Might & Magic, the first two Fallouts, those are all more my speed. I'm also no good with 360-degree WASD movement, but that's more a physical fault of my own.

There is only one thing I hate about new games and to be honest it's not just games it's all media. This almost fanatical desire to appeal to absolutely everyone to get the most sales possible.

We call it dumbing down in a derogatory way but in reality it's just corporate thinking. Remove absolutely everything that might potentially confuse a customer and at the same time include nothing that might alienate a new customer. This is why we have movies that end up making no sense, pop music that all sounds the same, games that can be played with one button that does awesome things and TV shows that have zero continuity.