Are There Too Many Games Available?

[neogunhero]

Do we have an over abundance of games to choose from on sale? Does that have a negative impact on how we consume video games? Does it have implications for the wider gaming audience?

There are nearly infinite possibilities when it comes to choosing a game you want to play. Do you want to go on an epic single player adventure? Shoot aliens and defend your spaceship? Roleplay as a thief and hide in shadows as you lurk on your unsuspecting prey? Build a metropolis starting with nothing but a single road? Save the princess and destroy the world’s evils? Solve a puzzle that requires you to think outside of the box? Race against players across the whole world in the latest sports cars?

Or what if you just played Fortnite because all your friends are playing it?

I feel this is the thought process for a lot of gamers when they are presented with almost unlimited choice. Storefronts putting the top sellers and big banner ads on their homepage also helps influence someone to potentially buy something that is more popular and overlook the less popular games.

A game can be good but not popular by any means, and that is due to so many factors that may be completely out of the control of the developer/publisher. Of course they can spend money on marketing and more, but I think these days without marketing or lots of word of mouth, a games success comes down to blind luck.

So, do you think it’s a problem that we have too many games? A problem for those who play or those who make? Is this something that we should just be grateful to have? Or do you see this issue growing larger as the years go by and more and more games become available?

 

[ZedClampet]

Big hit games are selling more than ever. But there is a game level of hell that thousands of games exist in, and it is harder and harder to get out of that and get seen.

However, it isn't nearly as bad as it could be. Those 100 hobbyist games released every day? No one sees them but me and other gamers like me. Now if we Steam explorers find a gem, we buy it and play it and review it, and then suddenly it starts showing up for other people. But in the meantime, as you said, it's the big indies and AAAs that show up on the front page of Steam, and that's the way it should be. Those games have the most to lose.

But this isn't good enough to support the real indie devs. The next level up from the far reaches of niche is the "most popular" lists which initially are related to wishlists. Unfortunately for the devs, this list is too big, and it's a relentless onslaught every day.

As for gamers, it takes a wildly creative act of contortion to determine that more games is bad for gamers. If you don't take the time to learn how to use Steam and find the games that would be fun to you, then it's your fault. I have no problem finding games in my genres of choice. Most of the time I play different games than anyone else on this site. For instance, in your list of types of games, you only hit one of my list of types of games that I like, and I don't want gaming to go back to the way it was and only have a few genres and be at the mercy of large AAA companies.

 

[January's Ghost]

Yes, there are too many games. I think it's a good thing, but I also hate it because there might be some game out there I will enjoy more than any other game I've played and I might never come across it.

 

[Frindis]

Not really. My nephews mainly play newer games, and they wouldn't even know about some of the older ones if I didn’t tell them. It’s just us who get older who feel there is too much to choose from and for good reasons.

Hmmm, come to think of it, one of my nephews did say he would not play Kingdom Come Deliverance (even if I said it was awesome!) because he just did not have the time to juggle between games and real life.