Do you think the future of gaming looks bleak?

Uh yes and no. but predominately no. Despite being an Xbox fan, the PS4 has given me hope for the future of gaming. My biggest issue right now that I see is DLC. No longer are we getting the full game, the producers just give us 85% of the game and then sell the rest in DLC's to make more money. And it is getting worse. CoD DLC is one of the worst, why not give us all the multiplayer maps right away like we deserve? Give us all the content. and with Halo 4 releasing DLC's just a couple weeks after its launch date.

Also pre-orders are starting to get on my nerves. Pre-order a game and unlock a special weapon or an extra mission. Why not give us that extra weapon or mission for doing something in the game? You know how in CoD 4 after you beat the campaign you unlock the mile high club mission. That's how it should be, beat the game and unlock a mission, or get 1000 kills and unlock this new special weapon.

However I will say, Skyrim had good DLC, they were full 12 hour games. DLC like that I'm ok with.

I just feel all these company's are money hungry (I don't blame them) and so they give us all this content in bits and pieces. and we the consumers will just keep buying the games.

its not slowing down either, now there are micro transactions, and no backwards compatablity and rumors of no used games?? ugh. Im scared its going downhill but I hope not

Oh and EA pisses me off with these online passes. MOST RIDICULOUS THING EVER!

EA being voted the worst company in America...that shouldn't even be considered since it is completely stupid, there are worse companies than EA in North America. If that whole poll had any actual consequence, then maybe it can be taken into consideration.

Give the Wii U some time. They are finally getting some more games and sooner or later they'll get back on their feet.

They are all rumours. Wait until the ACTUAL Xbox 720 announcement, then decide if you really need to worry.

Square Enix set a hugely HIGH expectation on all those games. 3-4 million copies seems fine to me. Not every game is going to sell like COD, publishers need to realize that and set their expectations rightfully.

I haven't heard any games costing $70. I've heard Sony express that games will cost $0.99-$60 though, so that doesn't worry me at all.

Also, Dark Souls 2 gameplay just released, so the future of gaming looks fabulous.

It all depends on what actions the industry as a whole take. In my personal opinion i see Sony and the PS4 coming out on top. Stopping people from playing used games and having a console that requires an internet connection is not a smart move. Also a fully digital model is also a bad idea in my personal opinion as you do not on the game you have a license to use. Steam is good but they have taken down numerous games over the years. All the games i own are retail copies. I have never been a fan o dlc as a lot of the time it is abused by having stuff locked out on the disc. Which is illegal as i own the disc so i should have access to all the content on it. I have no problem with numerous sequels it's just the failure to innovate and the lack of new intellectual property's that is starting to hurt the industry a lot.

Your Info does sound too be true, but you are only stating the negative effects. I think with all the billions of people that play video games, the gaming industry will go up, down, up, down, but never truly get worse. Yes, NINTENDO's new gaming consoles such as the Wi-U are not doing so well, but that's because they are very repetitive of their previous consoles and do not provide sustaining games that last a while. Anyway, games might start costing 70$, but you know that that's only the first few months. after half a year the price drops by 1/2 the starting price. Even though it's not a fun thing to do, stay about half a year back when buying games too get the best prices. I almost never buy new games, I wait a few months until the price drops.

I think the 3DS did great; and it will become bigger once the next Pokemon games come out. Square Enix set wayyyy over the top expectations on those games. Sony has stated that games will cost anywhere from $0.99 to $60.00. I doubt games will go to $70, but EA seems to be against this and is accepting pre-orders for $70 for Battlefield 4. The EA being voted thing is pretty stupid, considering there are companies that do wayyyyy worse things.

I've played console games my whole life and I play a lot of Xbox and some PS3. From all the rumors I'm hearing I'm really concerned as well. I've been concerned since the kinect came out along with the idea of DLC. Kinect is not the type of gaming I want associated with the console gaming I've grown up playing. Most people love the concept of DLC, but all video game companies do now is sell you 75% of the game and make you pay even more for the rest through DLC. Games are more than $70 right now if you think about it. You pay $60 for a game, and if you like it, your probably dropping $20 on DLC at least. Free to play games are the worst. Free to play games are essentially "Hey, we got this game that free to play, it includes maybe 25% of the content, so if you like it and want the full experience of the game, you'll need to drop a **** ton of money". As far as the new consoles go, I'm seriously thinking about switching to PC gaming. It would be a change, but a great experience I think. I fear that with the new releases of consoles and video game developers using all this expensive technology they don't fully understand how to work yet is going to make gaming to expensive. If that happens, I'll just continue to game on older consoles and support Indie game much more.

I do think games are becoming boring/unoriginal. Like CoD for instance. But I just recently played Bioshock Infinite which came out a few weeks ago. And wow. That game was amazing. I wish game industries would take their times creating games. Come up with a brilliant story and just make everything perfect for the players. But here we have companies like EA who just release things that don't even work. And CoD simply makes games every year for money.

I think there will be another crash because:

1. Companies are not putting out original games. When one game becomes a hit, every company copies it. The cod games are huge hits, so almost every company is making their version of cod. Gamers are tired of playing the same games over and over again.

2. Most companies are going out of business because they're not making enough money. Who's to blame? People that buy used games, and companies that buy and sell used games or rent games. How much do game companies make from the reselling of used games? Nothing. This leads to #1 and #3. Companies aren't willing to take a risk because one wrong move, and they're out of business, so they copy each other.

3. Drm, probably the most hated acronym in gaming. Everybody hates it because it can be disruptive (see simcity 2013). If next gen consoles use drm, blame it on those that buy used games. Game companies want to get paid for their work. By using drm, those companies will be getting their money. If they like a game, they'll have to buy it new which means game companies will get a slice of the pie.

4. If games do go up to 70 (very unlikely), blame in on people who buy used games or piracy. Companies want to get paid, and if they're not getting paid from used games, what's a good way to recuperate that lost profit: charge more for games. With games costing 70, most people will buy used games, which leads to #2: companies going out of business.

5. Software piracy. Just look at all the questions asking about how to mod consoles to play downloaded games. Piracy leads to #2: companies going out if business. It also leads to # 4: higher prices. Also leads to #3: drm.

I don't think not being able to play used games is that bad at all. I think it's a great thing if it means more companies are willing to take a risk and make new types of games. As much as I like the god of war games, I think it's beginning to get stale because there's nothing new. If it means games costing less because companies are selling more new games, I'm all for it.