Microtransactions kill the vibe sometimes. I also miss those old-school games where you could just sit down and play without worrying about cash or updates.

Brad P said:

Microtransactions kill the vibe sometimes. I also miss those old-school games where you could just sit down and play without worrying about cash or updates.

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The greed by most of these studios was what led to what we are experiencing nowadays. I can count just a few games that I can enjoy now without spending on in-game resources, which wasn't the case in the past. Is there any recent game that reminds you of the good old days.

Split-screen co-op is the big one for me. Used to play split-screen on everything with my brother growing up. Nowadays most games don't even bother.

Also game demos. You could actually try a game before buying it. Now everything is trailers and hype cycles and you don't know what you're getting until you've already paid.

And games shipping as a finished product. Not saying every modern game is broken at launch, but it was a lot more common to just buy something and have it work.

Campaign co-op. That is what I miss most. Halo 3, Gears, Army of Two -- you could just sit down and run the whole thing with someone. Jordan and I have been trying to find games we can actually play through together start to finish and the list is embarrassingly short. It is a dead feature for no good reason.

Jake's point about demos is a good one. There was a real accountability to them -- the developer had to show you something worth playing before asking for your money. That model has been entirely replaced by refund windows and early access, neither of which is quite the same thing.

What I miss most, though, is games that simply ended. A complete experience with a final chapter, credits, done. The pressure to keep players "engaged" indefinitely has produced some very bloated design decisions that I don't think have been good for the medium.