Decline in gaming

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   As far as I can tell, the quality of video games has declined over the years, main reasons why:

1. Gentrification. 

The market has expanded to include not just us, the hardcore, but everyone. To make any real profit, studios need to appeal to the widest market possible, the lowest common denominator.

2.The Hollywood model.

Larger, more business oriented studios. The amount of people needed to produce a commercial game has exploded, thanks to the ever growing complexity of games. The kind of creative freedom of being a small, flexible company able to experiment, rather than produce mindless sequels *Cough EA* and guaranteed blockbusters is killing innovation. Studios simply cannot afford to experiment.

This is being circumnevented, on a small scale, by modders. We have seen some truly innovative gameplay come from third party mods, often created by teams as small as five people.

3. Complexity.

To produce a AAA game in house means not only building a massively complex game engine, including real world physics, AI, and complex shader based graphics, but a whole stable of artists and writers, not to mention obscene marketing costs. This contributes to the woes discussed in 3.

4. Emphasis put on flash rather than substance.

Gotta sell new systems somehow.

People still publish good dames, but it's getting harder.

Recent games I enjoyed-

Stubbs the Zombie

Psychonauts

KOTOR

Looking forward to-

Starcraft 2

More independent content being digitally distributed, tis the way of the future.

Rebuttals, agreement, addendums?