It's Time to LEAVE Big Studio Gaming Behind! Escaping the Studio Gaming Cycle! [Uncut] 

This video is 3 years old and everything he is talking about with big game studios and indies is happening right now.

10:30 Mark predicts Palworld! So cool!

I gave up on mainstream gaming years ago. Just doesn't float my boat. I've always been about arcade style gaming and that just doesn't get attention from studios anymore. It's all about won and done Hollywood film wannabe experiences with almost as much time spent on creating cut scenes as the gameplay :( Nothing wrong with that - it gives pleasure to a lot of people - but it's a shame it's at the expense of releasing more arcade style games. I don't hate it . I just ignore it.

Incredible foresight. Discovered the channel last week and had to check the upload date after 10 minutes of watching.

I think the term you are looking for is “Cut scene em ups”’!. Lol.

Good talk and a legit view a lot of folks agree with. I'm one of those people that enjoy long story driven experiences and RPGs as well, but most likely as I don't see them as games per se. They don't provide the gameplay like a good shmup or platformer do, or a sense of accomplishment or challenge. If it's a good story, I enjoy it like I would relaxing to an interactive novel or film. Almost like the old point and click PC games. It's what I do in the evenings to chill with my wife. She enjoyed the story for games like Horizon, Witcher, Mass Effect etc. and we play it in bite size pieces every evening. She put hundreds of hours into Zelda BoTW just exploring, while I chilled and helped her out through tough sections. She didn't care for finishing the game, or any frustration that comes with a technical, challenging experience, but simply exploring and enjoying the world. There will always be a place for that, where gaming is like an interactive story, and it's a big part of games being more mainstream for all types of people to enjoy. Like you, I can't see myself making videos about it, as I have nothing new or interesting to add. Even for a game like Bloodborne, which is my favorite game of the entire PS4 gen, as it ticked all the boxes for me in terms of challenge, unique atmosphere, and exploration, what could I really say or add that hasn't been already? Indie games are the future of innovation though you're right on with that. Unconstrained from large budgets and meeting performance numbers. And that innovation comes in all forms, not just for us. We just played Gris on Switch a month or so ago, and just like Journey and other unique experiences, there was no technical challenge to be had. It was simply a level of emotion and creativity that you'll not see come from a big studio release. It will bore anyone looking for technical gameplay, but was near transcendent for my wife who will remember it like any other great anime, film or book. After a long day of getting my ass kicked by any number of actual brutal games I may be playing, it's a nice way to relax and I hope those experiences never disappear either. The Indie scene seems to be doing a great job fueling the arcade style games we love so much. It's hard to imagine many big studios doing them justice these days.

Agree in general that The big studios don’t make games for us. They make games for Kotaku and Polygon. However, I must disagree about the people attacking bad games. You’re right It would help more to cover good games, but negative attention does not help bad games that already dominate the media. There is such a thing as bad attention. That’s why Naughty Dog was falsely flagging vids.

Something we need is a return of the A or AA games. Not everything has to be the biggest game ever, or a huge production. There needs to be room for smaller games that aren’t “indie” in that sense, and have a professional look and feel to them, but don’t have to have hundreds of people on the team. The indie space is awesome, and I want to support it, but in reality, it can’t just be AAA and indie, and then mobile games. If we had something in between, that would help bridge that gap. I think we’re starting to see some of that now, but after the PS2/Xbox/GC era, that kind of went away. I’m hopeful that dev tools and kits will be inexpensive enough to where talented folks can start making quality experiences that rival older AAA games, with modern quality of life features, but not have to be so polished that they’re not profitable to make. I’d like to see a return of those middle-ground games.

And people thought shmups all looked the same? There are AAA titles that are literally the same game. After playing shmups for a while, I realised how much more fun games can be when difficulty is balanced properly. Neither victory nor defeat is certain until the end, so defeat doesn't feel like nothing more than an annoying waste of time, and victory doesn't feel hollow. Winning and losing is an integral part of gaming. Yet, AAA studios ignore this in favour of scummy monetisation or story, and difficulty becomes an afterthought. As a result, the games are either boringly easy or frustratingly difficult, with no sweet spot in between. And when it comes to story, I can't get invested in it if I hate the gameplay to begin with.

9:00 Fortnite battle royale mode was a hail mary "throwing stuff at the wall to see if something sticks" play to save their failed base-building versus FPS by ripping off PUBG, which was the standalone remake of the Battle Royale mod for Arma2/Arma3 (made by PlayerUnknown originally). It was basically brokeboy F2P PUBG for kids and Epic's marketing & content production team snowballed it into a colossal financial success.

Calling Last of Us a walking simulator is brutal. Hard agree, though.

10:36 Mark predicted Palworld. Holy s@#$

This man literally predicted palworld

I feel the same. Tried soo many AAA games last three years. Getting back into shmups now. Ordered ESPrade although i still need a PS4-Stick. Another stick. Never got into scoring but i love the feeling of accomplishment and the lovely PixelGraphics. And of course the Soundtrack of many older games. Grew up on the Mega Drive: Thunderforce 4, Revenge of Shinobi, Streets of Rage 4 mainly! Or later Parodius on the Saturn. R-Type 4 on PS1?! After that i lost the genre for 20 years! F...ing PC: FPS´s, then AAA gaming, and it never worked for me, except Soulsborne! Remember when games had real catchy Music? OK, i love SoR4, but anyway, wanted to mention that Graphics & Sound is a big part of the appeal of shmups for me, not yet got into scoring, or commited to one game to really train, but i love: X-Multiply, Shienryu, Garegga, Raiden DX, Blast Wind, Musha, Gunhed... A modded PS1 & the Saturn Atlas + AR Softmod as well as FreeMCBoot PS2 & a little bit of commitment in buying the sticks really helped me to get into shmups, because it delivered the important opportunity of trying different ones, when you are hitting yet another brick wall :) the same goes for the later added turbo duo, which i rgb-modded ;), another system where you could get a lot of different games. Have not played muchwith my 360- the last shmup-related and modded console i got, but now i will get back to this genre, great videos, thank you.

I think the thing with shmups or even SFV that mainstream media does not really ever mention is the incredible buzz you get from playing these sort of games that you just don't get in these modern day behemoths games. The buzz I'm meaning is say playing against another human online or in the same room and stylin on them with a great and hard combo, or clearing a boss in a shmup without dying, you get this instant buzz that modern day gaming just doesn't give me at all. All this hand holding for the first 3 hours of a suppose AAA title is just not needed to me, let the player figure it out themselves and maybe then you'd get the "buzz" from finding out that "oh shit, I can do this, that's so cool". So in conclusion I think arcade style games give you a instant buzz that these massive games just do not.

Nothing to really add to the conversation, I just appreciate your point of view *especially* because I now am no longer the only one calling them "movie games." Fuck, sometimes I hate being out of the zeitgeist because I don't play Red Dead or Last of Us or any of those games, but if I want to watch a movie I'll watch a movie 🤦‍♀️

Too many cut scenes, constant interruptions of gameplay, rpg mechanics being forced into most games (even the new Serious Sam has a skill tree in it). Systems upon systems.. these things are ruining the beautiful flow of gaming. I wouldn't expect major sites to start giving these games much coverage though, they don't generate enough views. Regarding shmups, I'm not sure I would like IGN to review a game like Ketsui, they wouldn't look deep enough into the nuances of the design to give it an accurate score, judging it only on a surface level as a quaint, basic little game that doesn't have a compelling narrative (or Troy Baker playing a guitar). We need enthusiasts like you to do these games justice.

Gave up on mainstream games early on in life for being born in a fairly "poor" family, to accept what i had. That being Flash Games, MAME and previous gen consoles. This came at a cost of suddenly condemning other forms of Mainstream Media and living a full blown niche life out of spite for "not being sheep like the rest." I'm now at an Impasse where my perception of Mainstream Games has been jaded, yet I long for friendship and community. I am now at a point where everything I do is niche and I fail to fit in to the interests of others as a result. I don't know wether it's a curse or a blessing to be sheep or not.

AAA game studios aren't interested in you playing $15 games that have deep, addictive gameplay. They want to sell you flashy semi-interactive movies, so you bore quickly, and then quickly buy the DLC, skins, and sequels. Also most kids these days have been brainwashed into thinking a challenge is a bad thing. So REALLY it's a win-win for the AAA billionaire Aholes.

I just started following you recently, because I got into shmups and am glad to see that you are trying to expand. Definitely stay within the niche of indy games and the types of games you like the most with as much depth as you you want to go into (which is compelling). I think there is definitely an audience out there for this kind of content. I am loving it so far. One thing that would be interesting to see is your take on competitive gaming scene and the inside look into it all, specifically in shmup and fighting categories.

God of War is a sad example for me. I know they aren't amazing but they were fun and were one of the games my dad would play with me when I was young. Now its become that same old bland open world movie stew that reviewers lose their damn minds over. At least I found out before I bought it.

cool channel. i hate walking sims with a passion! the best modern 2D platformers are all indies; celeste, hollow knight, sonic mania. and mania is the best 2d sonic by a mile. and guess what? it was made by an indie dev.

I think it also has to do with time investment and priorities in life, I can jump into an indie game and enjoy myself for 15-20 mins, I cannot say the same about most AAA games sometimes just setting up each session can take that much

I definitely agree with smaller games not getting enough, like, real, "deep" attention. Beyond just a generally positive review or a speedrun community picking it up. But I think studio games still have plenty to offer, it's just the triple A stuff that feels pretty consistently iffy. But I feel like double A so-to-speak still delivers easily. Sekiro, Nioh, Nier, Monster Hunter(maybe this one is triple A), I feel like larger Japanese studios came back hard this generation. But that said, with Sakuna coming out next month, in November of all months with Cyberpunk coming out, I just know it's easily going to get drowned out, and it definitely deserves more attention, being made by the guys who made Astebreed. So I get where you're coming from in my own way at least. And I think even people that play big games are starting to fight more, look at Battlefront 2 for example. And then you have examples like Genshin Impact that are entirely steeped in gacha culture, and man, you should see how some people that normally play mobile games try to defend things like in-game systems that limit how much you can play or defending gambling for characters... I really have no idea if people as a whole actually care that much.

25:52 Nintendo is still the 2d platformer king. A lot of indie platformers are the same strict linear level design like Celeste or Super Meat Boy. Mario's level design is far more complex and layered which is why there are so few games that are even comparable.

Issue is the decline of Konami and Capcom. Japanese developers are simply better full stop. Western devs idea of being brave is by wedging politics into their vanilla af game. Japanese devs have generally innovated on game play like Shinji Mikami with Vanquish and God Hand. Nintendo stuff is great really...Odyssey / Zelda easily the best "big" games this gen.

Larian Studios is a perfect example of what you're talking about. They've stuck to their guns making old school style CRPGs and now it's paying dividends. Their newest game, Baldur's Gate 3 is pretty successful despite being only early access. Even if isometric rpgs aren't your cup of tea, you gotta hand it to Larian. They've succeeded by NOT following the trends.

I remember when my last PC died, I made sure to replace it with a pretty cheap one (it's alright but if I tried to play any modern AAA game on it it might just legit explode) and honestly, I've been getting by with it just fine. Pretty much every game I've played on it has been an indie and I don't feel like I'm missing out on much by ignoring AAA stuff completely. There's some Nintendo exclusives I'd love to play but I'm not gonna invest in a Switch just for those. There's tons of amazing indie games out there for cheap or even completely free and it's always heartbreaking when I stumble upon something I end up really loving only to find out that barely anyone knows about it. Like, I found this Megaman-sytle game called Shippu Senki Force Gear 2 recently and I'm in love with it, it's Japanese only but it's a lot of fun to play and I'm genuinely shocked by how little attention it's gotten. Not only is it inspired by a well-known series, it's also pretty recent (came out this year) and completely *free*, but somehow there's still barely any coverage of it online, not even in Japanese. I honestly don't understand how AAA games have been overshadowing indies for so long. Yes, there are some great AAA games out there but so much of it is just generic, money-grubbing fluff that I struggle to understand how they continue to sell as well as they do.

People I know look at me weird for liking these smaller unique indie/arcade/JP games over those big studio AAA movie games. Those cinematic AAA games just doesn't do it for me. I like playing my shmups, beat em ups, rhythm games, etc. Plus I'm a working adult who doesn't have time for story driven games these days and prefer something quick to play but still have substance.

I've been here for a few years as well. I cant get interest in next gen. Maybe if M2 does some ports. I havent played most of the AAA games released in the last few years as I find them boring.

Very agreed. Last year was especially bad with how out of control the mainstream gaming community and industry was, I got insanely burned out around October and even just had to stop reading any news or following any of the communities I was a part of that even mentioned the more mainstream titles, and I still haven't really come back. I've been struggling with the mess of being a games writer with a pretty respected but ultimately niche website and trying to keep my focus always on the stuff that's more indie and less mainstream and bringing attention to those smaller projects that most other writers give no importance or respect to. Glad to see another person trying to do this in the RU-vid space (I won't touch RU-vid content creation with a 10-foot pole, besides some collaborations with other people here and there)

Indie games are the main reason why I’ve fallen in love with my PS Vita all over again 😍

Interesting because I pretty much play nothing but indie games...big expensive Triple AAA games with expensive DLC Is not for me...I also mostly enjoy retro style games so that’s another reason I love indie games..the Switch is a good system for Shmups and Indie games..a good amount of selections..

I agree with you on most of what you said. I have a gaming buddy that calls me and asks what game am I looking forward to. I tell him not much. I too am very disinterested in triple A gaming. Only triple A for me (,besides Nintendo ) that I want to play is TLOU 2 and Star Wars Fallen Order. The last several games I bought were Blazing Chrome, River City Girls, Esprade and Streets Of rage 4. I'll take all those over 95% of triple A stuff. Where I disagree though , is with the big N. Yes they are a huge company, but I feel with Nintendo, I still get my money's worth. Their games are always polished and complete. Their philosophy has always been gameplay over graphics. Mario Oddessy was the only game that made me want to 100% complete it. I am 40 something and the older I get, the more I go back to my roots. Nintendo and arcade style games. Anyway, interesting topic and thought I'd chime in.

All good points, but doesn't indie gaming suffer from some of the same issues? How many Super Metroid clones can they make?

I should also mention I actually don't mind cinematic/story focused games, though I prefer when that's 100% their focus instead of masquerading as an action game However I don't like this penchant for multiplayer grindy forever games with microtransactions. Marvel's Avengers could've just been a good action game. Instead, it's the nonsense that it is.

Man I agree with you 100% in this video. There just isn't much originality in AAA releases and that's why I'm always going back to either Indie games or old school games. I see a lot of reviews now on mainstream sites or RU-vid channels where you can tell the individual couldn't be bothered to actually learn a game or even finish a 20 hour game, yet they'll spend 100 hours on animal crossing and pump out endless praise for popular titles. They rarely ever give fighting games, shmups, or beat em ups more than a glance! Most AAA games lack actual gameplay and just try to mimic Hollywood.

I've been saying this like decade ago. I am glad someone else saying this. At this point, I am pretty much disinterested in modern games all together. Not because its bad mainly because it is straying away from what I was looking for. Nintendo is definitely prime example of this. Nintendo used to make great classics and now everything what they create is watered down pandering towards casual gamers that has really no gameplay depth whatsoever (I played majority of the Switch games and only thing that stood out at least was Botw because at least its got some possibilities in terms of wide variety of interaction) Sony in other hand, they do seems have good gameplay design (believe it or not new God of War do offer some good gameplay design), the issue is its just so much unskippable cutscene that just kills the mood (yeah like literally no skippable cutscene). And rest of third party studio? Just basic FPS games or 3rd person Action stuff that doesnt hold for that long. And my mind has made up.. I will be committing to Gradius III arcade and Beatmania IIDX I would rather just dedicate myself for specific games rather than playing many different games for couple days and done.

I needed a video topic like this. Thanks Mark! This is why I'm a "hipster" gamer usually sticking to indie and retro games. Unfortunately I'm always alone with these games because my friends have no idea what games im playing lol

With big indie studios increasing in quantity, triple A really doesn't do anything a quality indie studio can't besides Hollywood casting, expensive trailers and ad campaigns etc. And even then certain studios grow over time and pull certain things off that blow our minds, I like to think Arcsys is kind of an example of this, maybe the warframe devs too.

It's funny how popular story based games are when you consider the largely dead Adventure game genre. I guess it comes down to ease of progress, as I figure beating Last of Us 2 is an easier feat than figuring out Riven. I also think a lack of horrific violence may be a factor. One thing that's nearly universal about current AAA games is that they're packed to the brim with over the top gore, and you just can't get that from Monkey Island.

Fight'n Rage - purchased on Nintendo Switch.

Agree wholeheartedly. With the upcoming console generation looming on the horizon I've been thinking about this more and more. The priorities that the mainstream gaming scene has set for itself in both game development and in its overall relationship with and treatment of its customer base (digital/physical ownership becoming a topic of debate, pricing going completely out of whack, DLC mutating into an expected part of any and all games etc.) have come to the point where I just don't feel like I am in any way part of the target audience at all anymore. Ever. I am genuinely considering quitting this hobby that I've loved for about twenty years now. I will certainly still find and support smaller game projects in the future, but there is a massive schism there between what I enjoy and where the money apparently goes in this industry these days. It's alienating and disheartening, tbh.

Nintendo, indies, and lesser known AA titles for me. AAA gaming is dead to me. AAA only care about star power, stripping away single player content to please the multiplayer community, and RU-vidrs played like suckers blowing their money on an broken product and advertising it telling their followers to buy their garbage.

I think what emphasizes to me why i'm so turned off by big studio shenanigans these days are the current games for the PS5 in which only 2 interest me. Demon's Souls (which is a remake of a 10 year old game) and Astros Playroom (which is, despite its evident quality, essentially a bundled tech demo meets loveletter to playstation). That's it.

As usual, very thoughtful and insightful content from TEU.

You do like Metal Gear Solid then despite the cutscenes and codec calls? The gameplay is solid enough to meet your standards? Id be interested to hear your take on the MGS series and how the games evolved over their span.

Marketing and social media are a thing on its own, I do not have to add anything to this hysterical culture. You were talking about Platinum and Team Ninja, I would add From Software to the mix. Sekiro, Bloodborne and Dark Souls are fantastic current generation games, which are heavily based on skill. I would consider them AAA titles and I'm very happy From Software is not a Indie Game Developer, but following their own philosophy. I think the industry grew to what it is now, because games were addressing more and more people and selling an experience, but not something you have to learn. In my opinion the spirit of learning mechanics of the game is still here, for example finishing the valkyries in God of War or playing Biohazard 2 Remake on higher settings, but to have to actively try. I hope From Software made it more sexy again, to make AAA titles with a challenge. Retro (style) games do add to this fantastic diverse culture.

Yo what remixes of the DOJ music are being used? Or are the speed and pitch just changed to fit the video?

Absolutely agree! As for not only did I give up on mainstream games but almost on all western games

What's the background music in this vid?

1000% agree with everything you are saying. This is why i subscribe to you. Also thanks a lot for showing off Fight N Rage, i’ve been looking for good beat em ups lately.

I completely agree! I've felt this way about indies for a while... It's the future of gaming!

i think u are missing the most important thing about this conversation: what does the majority of people like to play? and sadly, the majority of people just do not like to play skill based games. thats why they will always be niche, and thats sad for us all, but it is the truth. and u cannot change that by coverage. if u do not like to play shmups, u wont ever play a shmup, no matter how many people talk about it

Cool that you're doing a review for Fight'N Rage. Fight'N Rage and Phantom Breaker Battlegrounds are really good Beat 'em ups

I like arcade rooted genres HOWEVER I can't say triple A sucks in so consciousness. Indie developers do innovate or refine genres such as rougelites/shmups but you'll never get anything as ambitious as Resident Evil 2 Remake, Cyberpunk 2077 or Monster Hunter World from an indie dev on that level of quality. That said Risk of Rain 2 is the most ballin shit I ever played in years. That game has everything I love but as a rougelite. Its a 3D run and gun that actually works with dynamic rank of shmups like Garegga.

What I want to know is why there no “ console club” like an arcade with consoles where you can meet and play arcade games in person You could charge a venue fee or donations surely!?.

I'm tired of the cycle but see at some point in recording the truth behind it if people just want to know which version of a game has certain content (Censored Gaming have a bias against cuts and benefit from them in the sense that it gives them stuff to talk about but have a flat and honest approach). Jim Sterling is well intentioned but sometimes ends up making more noise or misinformation (it is hard to not be a controversial personality but he has years of baggage even if small and basically never uses his platform to highlight smaller games which is his right but does no favours to up and comers) which should be avoided. I'm gearing up to make some steps so traditional indie games and more can catch up in how they get noticed, so I do agree with your general views on the topic. I also think DMC4 is better than 5, but wonder how much of your viewer viewerbase would follow along for a video on that subject even if I'm someone who actually doesn't do much shumps that follows along. My criticisms for 5 relative to 4 would be based on Nero's physics for Snatch being gutted for platforming and space manipulation relative to enemies. Inertia is a big deal, but I'm more bugged by how enemies felt better in 4 (minus Blitz I guess, I don't like Chimeras but I don't hate them enough to trade mobile mini-Credos). Some people focus on the campaign to make a point on 5 being a better game but the poorly told narrative and reuse of content don't hurt as much as one may expect. At least for me.

Great to hear!

Tried out Fight N Rage today....wow its a lot of fun - great recommendation...plays a bit like ninja baseball batman!

I play vr and indies triple a isnt for me anymore.

id like to see the mentioned dmc4>dmc5 video but i can imagine there would be a lot of hate

12:25 and a cygni prediction :)

Damn, your children don't give a damn about pokemon? My 4 yo is so into pokemon. I guess I can see a time when pokemon is no longer a giant franchise, but I'm not sure that could ever happen, unless they really take a wrong turn, like star wars did. My kid doesn't really like star wars at all. Anyway, as technology gets better, making games will get easier, thus allowing talented devs to make super awesome games for not much money.

Nice video.

Bayonetta 3 still stuck in step 1

I've stopped playing all western AAA games besides maybe Doom. They've become genuinely boring, uninspired experiences to me.

“where’s ninja gaiden” when sekiro actually won goty lol. there’s just as much trash in indie games as the big studios. even if you believe that the more interesting stuff comes from indies, it’s mostly the same trends and wanting to please the same demographic. fight ‘n rage is an anomaly that just happened to turn out on par with its arcade inspirations

I couldn’t agree with your statement more!!! I haven’t bought a major studios current work in at least 6 or 7 years. I have hundreds on physical switch games and just as many physical PS4 games and they are all Indy/low print games and shmups. Screw those AAS devs. They insist on putting their crappy politics and SJW garbage in the games and are constantly fighting with each other. Don’t get me started on the bulls**t macro-transactions and cut content that they sell you back in bits a bobs. In the words of Eric Cartman - “Screw those guys”. ;)

Okay boomer