The older guys in this site probably don't know it, but the gaming industry is gigantic, and makes way more money than Hollywood by now.
It's also an industry where China holds great sway in the mainstream, via companies like Blizzard, Riot Games, Activision. Check if you will. You'll see that the chinese company Tencent holds a sway in all of them.
If you're into video games as a pass time, or have children/nephews who do, I reccomend decoupling from the main scene and head into indie games territory, as the SJWs control most of the big titles out there.
As such, I personally suggest you guys should decouple and buy some indie games. They're always cheap, have plenty of creativity and passion built into them, and never have those gambling tactics designed to addict you and strip you from your money.
1st step : Stop buying annual sports titles (FIFA, Madden, NBA), and franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield. They gloat constantly about addicting children and teenagers into gambling and ruined many lives with loot box mechanics
Step 2 : Buy indie games: I personally reccomend GoG, Humble bundle and Steam for buying if you play on PC. Dirt cheap prices, constant sales and most importantly, they don't serve Wall Street. Avoid Epic Games and Activision/Blizzard like the plague, they're all controlled by China via Tencent.
Step 3 : Research: You gotta be careful about the things your children play, so be watchful and look for age-appropriate titles. I personally reccomend the Best indie Games and the Tensor Gaming Youtube channels (links on comment), as they have almost daily trailers of brand new and awesome titles with all kinds of themes, from the little kid- friendly to the more mature. Buying independant games also helps small studios to thrive and flourish, sending more quality titles into the market.
That was my suggestion. You guys tell me what you think about it
The pay per play model is also why older video games were damn near impossible because people were expected to keep pumping quarters until they got good.
A bigger issue with the consoles was when they were internet connected and could be patched. At that point they started selling games in a beta state and would patch to completion and then sell patches and expansions.
I disagree with you about the need to update online games as the industry does. Would you believe that people still play quake online and that thing hasn't seen an update in roughly 20 years. Instead of having a host server, a P2P approach (and analyzing which participant makes the best host) can effectively offset that need and ensuring that everything is bug free. Then instead can just focus on add-ons that can be sold, or working on new games.
I have never encountered anyone that enjoyed microtransactions, ESPECIALLY when the microtransactions become a pay to win model, though they must exist because I've played some that wound up being pay to win and clearly people were paying a salary to guarantee they would not lost their game status.
Smaller projects. Low budget, high love. Real good products of entertainment. Mainstream picked up the china model bc it was the one that racks up millions in weeks. Hence my push for small studios. Games without DRM, simpler, but funnier. We don't need 8K graphics to tell a good story with sound mechanics. Games you just have to download, pick up and play (either single with local coop with friends and family). I believe that, just like MSM and Pedowood, triple A gaming is long due a gigantic crash for their consumer abuses. And like what happened 64 million years ago, the giant dinosaurs (mainstream), will tumble and fall dead under the weight of their greed, while the small rats (indies), will survive due to needing less food (funding) and being more efficient.
But yes, returning to the arcades would be another front to tackle on, but not by mainstream. They'd abuse the shit out us with such an idea.
Where's Steve Jackson when you need him? Anyone like that in gaming today?
Also, you didn't mention Nintendo. They're big, quality, and seem to avoid woke-itis.
It's a constant with eastern media. Either Japanese, Korean, or even chinese. They aint buyin' none of this BS. Also, Nintendo is always ideal for children. Has been for 40+ years