Back on June 9 of 2013, I wrote a long rant entitled, well, “A Rant Concerning My Growing Indifference to New Games, Plus Why Game Stores and New Consoles Can Irritate Me”.  It was apparently listed as my ninth ever post on the blog, and I pretty much ranted about the exact things listed in the title.  To save you the trouble of reading through this relic of the past, I was having serious trouble finding new games to play, and I was also growing tired of spending hundreds of dollars on new consoles that are hardly any better than the one that came before it.  But has my opinion changed over the last ten years?  The short answer is…

No.

But the longer answer is…kinda of.  But also mostly no.  To understand where I’m coming from, please keep reading…

Okay, so let’s start with the quicker half of this conundrum.  Although I still have every single Nintendo console (minus the original NES), I stopped buying XBox consoles after the 360, and I still don’t have a PS5.  And I have no desire to get one, either.  And frankly, unless Nintendo gives me a really good reason, I don’t have much intention of buying the…Switch 2, or whatever they make next, either.  So yes, that growing weariness over keeping up with modern consoles has finally led to me no longer, well, keeping up with modern consoles.  And I am at peace with that.

As far as new games is concerned, I am still unimpressed with the vast majority of games coming out of large companies these days.  This issue has only been exacerbated with the increase in indie games, which tend to have far higher creativity and love put into them.  Maybe back in the day, I would have been excited to try Super Mario Bros Wonder or Princess Peach: Showtime.  Or…um, okay, you guys, I’m having a seriously hard time even coming up with games NOT from the Mario franchise that I might have bought back in the day.

Yes, I have very low interest in these games.  But I might still have bought them because…what else am I gonna get?  I really would have just acquired them out of lack of other options.  But now, there are so many good indie games that actually look like something I’ve never played before, AND they cost way less money than the whopping $60 of most AAA games.  Why spend that much on one uninspired game I’ve seen countless times before when I could wait for a sale and get an actually intriguing indie game for $3?

So yes, my “growing indifference to new games” has only gotten even stronger when it comes to those being released by larger developers.  I went from low interest to practically zero.  But as the decade has progressed, I have found a solution in the world of indie games, which do still excite me just the way games of old used to when I was but a mere duckling.  Not only do these games look fun and unique, they are also far cheaper, allowing me to amass a bunch of unplayed games that I could only dream of in my youth.  Oh, how child-me would have envied adult-me.

Long story short, the state of consoles and AAA games have not improved over the years.  It’s actually gotten worse.  I’m just grateful indie games have come into existence, making the gaming scene so much more interesting, and more affordable, than it’s been in a very long time.  At this point, I almost hope AAA games don’t start increasing in quality again.  Because I, frankly, cannot afford it!