Why Modern Gaming SUCKS today.

I know we hear it pretty often now - "these new games suck today!" - and its not just coming from older gamers. You know the ones - stuck in their ways, shaking their fists at the Cloud disgruntled saying "back in my day...", its also those "normies" who are noticing the issues as well. I've been peeping a lot of what's going on and I believe it's come down to 3 Layers of issues: LAYER ONE - SURFACE ISSUES. The things a lot of people may consider not much of a big deal. I'm talking mainly the aesthetics - characters that are not as appealing and/or race swapped. Think of when games like Stellar Blade dropped, folks were having a conniption fit over how the character looked! But when Concord, and even Dragon Age Veilguard dropped, we had people trying to praise it! Now we can go back and forth about designs and such, but one thing folks have to understand is that a part of gaming is VISUALS and Character design. Not to mention the age old adage "sex sells". Does that mean that EVERY game has to have a smokin' hot, attractive woman? No, but I'm pretty sure more people would generally lean towards playing a mediocre game with a character with great..."assets" over a "great" game with ugly characters. Also, taking games with established cannon and race swapping is pretty lazy as well - but I'll dive more into that a bit later... LAYER TWO - UNDER THE HOOD The problems here can bit a bit more difficult to spot, especially if you're not familiar or interested in what's going on or just into AAA gaming. These issues have to deal with more of people. I've noticed lately the number of people who quite honestly aren't interested in games like they say they do. Because if they were - a lot of the "issues" they try to point out wouldn't be brought up. Gaming has always been naturally diverse and (for the most part) accessible. These "Journalists" and "gaming groups" - side eyes Black Girl Gamers and Sweet Baby Inc - who keep trying to push for this "diversity", seem to be doing the exact opposite. Now I've said this before, but I'ma make this REAL clear here: I WANT to see more of us (black people) in the gaming space. However, crying about little to nonexistent prejudice/racism while SIMULTAINEOUSLY EXHIBITING SAID PREJUDICE/RACISM ISN'T THE WAY TO GO! Trying to tear down white people isn't gonna make your situation better, nor will it help folks to your cause. You can't throw rocks and hide hands - and if that makes me a "coon"/"Uncle Tom" to you for using common sense, that's a YOU problem! Go get help! Moving from that tangent - Game Journos, what the FUCK are we doin'? You guys are SUPPOSED to be a reliable source of gaming news/reviews/opinions, but you have been failing at every turn lately. From the slightly bad takes to being called out for not even playing the games you review (I didn't forget about Cuphead). You guys are doing a shit tier job! And blaming the Youtubers and gamers ain't gonna cut it! These YouTubers and gamers (mostly) have to pay for their product and they give their HONEST opinion! Because they say something or expose you, doesn't make them a "grifter". And speaking of which...

The words "Grifter", "Sexist", "Racist", "whatever-Phobic", etc. have lost meaning at this point. Especially when these so called "gaming" journalists use them to combat a point. To grift (according to Merriam - Webster) is: to obtain (money or property) illicitly (as in a confidence game)

The biggest telling trait in grifters is they don't care and/or believe in the things they're pushing - They only care about the money/attention! For the most part, the people I've seen who have spoke up and said something about the things they don't like about gaming have at least SOME interest in gaming. FINAL LAYER - THE DEEP ROOTED ISSUES

These are the more "technical" and or social and business rooted problems. Things like shitty development cycles and poor working conditions, rushed/unoptimized games. Oh and don't get me started on the "copycat" nonsense! How is it that EVERY game needs a "battle pass" - especially a SINGLE PLAYER GAME?!? Why do we need day one patches? Why the over reliance on DLC? Can you not take your time to properly plan out your game? What is the point of every game being "realistic" and watered down for "modern audiences"? Speaking of which, WHO IS this "modern audience"? And most importantly, why is there a lack of solid IPs when we have MORE ACCESS to tools at our disposal?!? I'm honestly glad that indie games have came up over the years and I'm a bit more aware to them, because honestly, I'd say AAA gaming is mostly cooked. Now whether you believe me or not, all of this is connected in some way, shape or form. I believe until these affected companies go back to listening to their PAYING customers, things will continue to get worse. What do we need to do? Simple... - Start with voting with your wallet (and time)

• Find and support the other companies/games you like

• Continue to speak up about it (if you desire)

• Make your own (if you can)

I honestly think we're generally in a good spot if we can keep doing these things. We have to realize the pie isn't fixed and we can be successful if we put our minds and work to it.

Peace and God Bless!

L.G.