No Longer the Target Market

Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve come to realize that I’m no longer the target market for video game developers. For a long time now, I’ve complained about the influx of FPS titles that are only differentiated by the selection of guns and the setting. I don’t like FPS titles, as a general rule. I’m just not that good at them, which ultimately leads to frustration on my part. I try to avoid games that frustrate me since that tends to take away from the fun, so yeah, I avoid FPS titles (Bioshock, Metroid Prime, and Goldeneye being exceptions to the rule).

See, my hope has been that people will tire of this genre and we can get back to titles that I like, such as great platforming games like Super Mario Galaxy and Ratchet and Clank, or something in line with Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, but I’ve been seeing this all wrong. Those are all titles that had their day, and inspired a fair number of imitators, some of those even being good games, but developers have to make money, and right now money is in FPS titles.

It’s all about the target market. The buying public. Back in my teens, the Super Nintendo was the be all end all of gaming. It was peppered with amazing platformers and RPG’s. Those games are the ones that defined me as a gamer, so I always want more of those. What I’ve mistakenly assumed is that other gamers felt the same way. That’s not the case. Oh, some gamers do. Many that read this blog probably do because I’ve become friends with people that generally share my tastes in gaming.  Still, the buying public has moved into a new genre, and that genre is, by and large, FPS titles.

I’m not trying to “hate” on FPS games here. I’m sure they are fine game, but, like I wrote above, they just aren’t for me. It’s easy to feel like your opinions are the popular opinion, and I fell into that trap. I expected everyone to clamor for the revival of sidescrollers and platform games from both Nintendo and the Indie market, and while there was a resurgence, it was no where close to the level I would have expected.

Having been a gamer for a long time. And I mean a long, long time, it’s tough to admit, but I’m now in the minority. What I like isn’t the “cool” thing anymore, and what is “cool” is something that doesn’t appeal to me very much. Even Bioshock Infinite let me down. So, I just have to watch out for those games that do appeal to me. They aren’t as plentiful as they once where, but they are there, and they are still great. Soon enough, like with all things, the gaming public will move on to another genre and those FPS fanatics will be where I am now. I ust have to hope the next genre is something I can at least get into.

Brandon Nicholson is a blogger for TMRzoo.com and the founder of Just Another Video Game Blog and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3 and PS4, Microsoft XBOX One and XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Brandon provides his readers with reviews, previews, release dates and up to date gaming industry news, trailers and rumors.

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