Games with big budgets are bad games guys

I don't know if that's what he's implying but if it is, that's just god damn silly.

Certain developers actually improve their game when they get a pretty significant funding behind it or get approved a pretty significant budget. I will say that it can have a negative effect on a games development as well. Plus, more budget means more stuff you can put into a game. Again, it can have a negative effect but I'm more so inclined to check out a game that states they had a big budget behind it. I may not always like it, but its there. That's not always the case of course. As I do love a lot of early access games in general so...

Maybe this is more specifically aimed toward Early Access games, but I'm more than happy to support a developer that is just up front and says that they simply need more funding to get their game going. Dead Cells is a really good example and I know I've hit this nail several times. But they started in Early Access, got people's attention and eventually allowed them to fully complete the game and reach 1.0 status and get out of Early Access. They did in several months btw. I don't think it's even been in development for more than 2 years? I could be wrong. Yeah, wiki confirms that they spent only about a year in Early Access. Pretty amazing tbh.

AAA game = high budget game

Fair enough though I still don't know if that's what he's implying. At least I didn't catch it if he was. He did say he played AAA games so idk.

Big budgets mean investors who really, really, really want to feel guaranteed that they will get their money back, which means compromises imposed on the developers in order to pander to a wider audience so that the money can be made back. Focus group testing, etc. Leads to bland games. AAA games are McDonalds hamburgers.

Sometimes they end up good, but it's almost gonna have to be in spite of the business models they have to conform to.

It's exactly the same reason why the most expensive moves (usually franchise movies with big stars and expensive CGI) are so bland most of the time. The director would mostly not be allowed to make something particularly interesting, because that's entirely too risky when there's a couple hundred million dollars on the line.

Woohoo! Another debate!

My guess is there's not gonna be a debate. I doubt anyone likely to post in this thread would agree, except Elph, cuz he's punk as ****. Down with corporations! Wooo!

Anyway, whether anyone agrees with me that AAA games tend to be boring or not, you gotta agree that they generally can't really afford to take risks or be all that complex or obscure in their style, etc. That's how it works and it would be naïve to believe otherwise. There's a reason why, for example, so many shooter protagonists are just some bland, template white guy that looks like some variant of Nathan Drake, etc. I guarantee you that the creatives making the game would do something more interesting if they weren't handcuffed by the guys in suits who get final say in everything since they put 200 million dollars on the table.

^usually I play AAA games if it's in a series that I trust. I don't judge games solely on whether they're AAA or not. You're diminishing your gamin experience when you do that.

It's also not about being punk etc. A lot of AAA games are great.

Don't think that I'm just ranting blindly. A great deal of my dislike of that category of games comes from having actually played loads of them. Around the time I got my 360, you could find big titles like that in Gamestop for super low prices. I would buy so many over the years, sometimes for as little as the equivalent of a dollar, or less. I also played quite a few back on the PS2 and original Xbox. Generally, I complete very few games, but I've played a disgustingly high amount of different titles over the years. I'm a curious cat.

Exactly. Just like I enjoy them because I've also experienced a lot and enjoyed my experience. Doesn't mean AAA games are either good or bad. We're basically saying the same thing with opposite opinions.