I realize this is an overgeneralization I'm making.
every game made since the ps2 was officially retired. I don't hate them because they're hard and I'm just not getting the handle of gameplay. I hate them for specific reasons:
- the reliance on online modes. games used to be a singular affair between the player and the game. since 2008 online modes have become increasingly necessary to a requirement. with online modes comes a need for a server dedicated to that game. so what happens when the company shuts that server down? you're sol. and piggybacking on that
- games are released buggy out of the box. before a game wasn't published until it was done. now it's released on a target date and patches get released along the way. so if you happen to be in a position where you have the physical media but no internet you could have a broken game and not be able to do anything about it. I just think about that situation with the tony hawk game where the manus didn't ship the game on the disc and players had to download the entire game as an "update". and what's going to happen when that server shuts down?
- games are moving to downloads instead of on physical media. I'm a full believer in you buy a game you own it. some game publisher just said recently that players shouldn't own their games anymore. gaming is going to move to a streaming model where you own a service (console/platform) and games will move on and off it when a licensing deal expires. sorry I don't want any part of that.
- games made that don't require you to be online to have any kind of gameplay are becoming rare. I'm the game player that plays the game just to play the game and doesn't want to play against another human player online. my competitive juices don't flow that way. I'm perfectly fine playing against the game's ai.
tldr the internet killed gaming for me.