VentralVex

I’ve always been an avid gamer, but I rarely enjoy a game enough to complete it. I find myself losing interest even faster with most multiplayer games. Part of it is a preference for single-player games. Single-player games offer a developer-curated experience that chiefly depends on the actions of the player. In contrast, multiplayer games are unpredictable and often based on teamwork, creating an inconsistently enjoyable player experience. My most-played single-player games are probably Hollow Knight and BOTW, which I have over 100 hours in. To most gamers, these hours will seem pitifully underwhelming. Notwithstanding, these are two of my favorite games of all time and the games I have invested the most time into. However, the time I’ve invested in Hollow Knight and BOTW pales in comparison to my 1000+ hours on Fortnite. That’s right. I, in my 13 years of gaming, as a harsh critic of AAA online multiplayer titles, enjoyed the quintessential AAA game for most of 1000+ hours. I first ...

  Elden Ring is my first Souls game. I don’t like Elden Ring. If you like Elden Ring, that’s okay. I want to preface this by saying that I think Elden Ring is a good game that I can recommend to most people, but it isn’t for me. The point of this article isn’t to hate on Elden Ring, but to analyze what my criticisms of Elden Ring, from both a storytelling and game design perspective, reveal about my preferences for video games as a creative medium. I’ve only played through the first few hours of Elden Ring, where I progressed through Limgrave, eventually beating Margit the Fell Omen and almost reaching Godrick the Grafted through Stormveil Castle. Admittedly, the first few hours of a game as massive as Elden Ring isn’t always a comprehensive overview of what the game has to offer. Even so, everyone I’ve talked to who has completed Elden Ring has agreed that my criticism holds throughout the game’s entire run time. Keep in mind that you can agree with my criticisms and still enjoy t...

Image Source:  Kryptoszene According to mordorintelligence.com, the videogame market was worth $198.4 billion in 2021. That number is forecasted to reach approximately $340 billion by 2027, at a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 8.94%. To put that into perspective, according to marketdataforecast.com, the global smartphone market was valued at around $378 billion in 2020 (not even double the value of the videogame market) with a CAGR of 6.85%. The cultural influence of videogames is undeniable, pervading Hollywood, memes, popular television, and YouTube. As an avid gamer, I’m elated to see a hobby so precious to me accumulate such prominence. However, I’m certainly not elated by all of the trends in the gaming industry.  My biggest grievance with the gaming industry is the egregious impact corporate structures have on videogames (cough, cough, Cyberpunk ). Executives are pressured to appease the interests of the board of directors, who represent the shareholders. Notic...