Remember when games were affordable on release and you could trust that out of the box they worked? Well I’m really starting to miss those days.

I think it was sometime between Angel of Darkness on PS2 being a total shit show of a let-down and then more recently the buggy lag fest that was Aliens FTE, that I was able to think of how the last 20 years of gaming standards have slipped.

As gaming becomes increasingly more mainstream, it seems developers are rushing more to meet deadlines when they should be focusing on quality. Even worse, the price tags continue to rise – but for what, exactly?

I was a gamer before gaming was cool, long before online play was a thing with your friends and you had to pick a side – because no cross play. I was a gamer back when you got reliable monthly demos on disc, there was no such thing as paid for alpha & beta access and before season passes meant games could cost even more the longer you stuck with them.

I don’t see how any of these monetary additions have actually improved gaming? DLCs could be free, cross play is free, in-game currencies for cosmetics don’t improve your game play but then I look at how much I have spent on GTAV online compared to Destiny 2.
I have never bought a shark card for GTA but I do have every business and grief-mobile in the game, how? well… I have put in over 1000 hours and Rockstar reward hard work. Destiny 2, over 2 consoles and 500+ hours… well lets just say Bungie don’t reward hard work in the same way when all the DLCs so far and the season passes total over £100 more since the original game purchase.

I grew up with game cartridges that worked immediately because they had to as updates didn’t exist. They didn’t start (from me) until PS3 games (I was late to PC gaming) and I think it just really fucking frustrates me that now you cannot trust a release day game. Nor can you trust an early access game ever actually being finished.

It does make what I want to do (more reviews) harder. Do I get something on release day and review it so you can see what its like? (therefore possibly saving you money like I know my honesty about Back 4 Blood did) or do I wait, save the money but can’t stay current. Obviously I have chosen to stay current, so this rant is as much my own fault as anything else. BUT IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK SOMETHING WORKS OUT OF THE BOX???

Literally the ONLY two games that have worked on release day, as intended & exactly as advertised were Jackbox Party Pack 8 & Mario Party Superstars. That’s it.

I am told that Nintendo do tend to be reliable out of the box because of higher standards, reputation etc – so what is Sony, Microsoft & Valves excuse?

The next AAA release day title I will be getting is Dying Light 2 (providing the release date doesn’t change again) or it’ll be a AAA DLC in the form of Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (yes I know I have JUST moaned about Bungie but staying current, innit).

I have some hope for Dying Light 2, it wasn’t rushed and I adored the first one (even if some shit bag sold my copy I leant them and never replaced it) so I am VERY excited. But you know what I am doing? Getting on PC over PS4 as it seems now newer games just aren’t supported by the older consoles and right now I refuse to buy a PS5 until there is more variety and cheaper options (a rant deserving of is own blog).

Who knows in a few years time we might start getting games to review, and I will never have to have this rant again…. Keymailer I am looking at you. I have many pending requests and I already meet your accredited!