2010’s in Gaming: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Now that the decade has two weeks left in it, it pays to reminisce about all that happened in gaming during this strange, and frankly distressing, decade. This is by no means a COMPLETE list, but it is a list of what I consider to be the highs and lows of the decade.
THE GOOD
1- Minecraft. I’d say “enough said,” but in case you’re one of like five people who haven’t heard of this game, you need to know that it’s one of the greatest ever made. No I did not grow up with the game; I was already in my mid twenties when it got released. But I’m here to tell you that this game is one of the greatest tools a teacher could ask for. With Minecraft I can teach kids all about managing resources, planning ahead, and cooperating to create something grand. Plus kids can hone their creativity, self-direction, and problem solving skills with the game!
2- The Nintendo Switch; a once-in-a-decade type of system that sees a Must-Own game released once every three months or so at a MINIMUM. At only two years in the market, the system has already garnered a library of games that every Nintendo fan owes themselves the chance to play: Super Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Super Smash Ultimate, list goes on. By 2025 we’ll be calling the Switch Nintendo’s best console since the N64, and you can quote me on that. Oh, and this is all coming from someone who spent most of his life as a PlayStation fanboy, so don’t take it lightly.
3- The 2010’s was the decade that saw the release of some of the greatest games ever made. Witcher 3, GTA 5, Skyrim, League of Legends, DOTA 2, Minecraft, Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, the entire Dark Souls series, Fallout New Vegas, Sekiro, Horizon Zero Dawn… the list goes on and on and on!
4- Not too far behind the Switch lays the Playstation 4, a device whose library of games is absolutely nothing to scoff at!
5- The 2010’s were also a great year for independent games and small time publishers. You had award winners like Gone Home, and games that have gone on to become darlings of the gaming community like Stardew Valley and Cuphead, to name but a few.
The Bad
1- We had some great games this decade, but we also had some real stinkers, too. The original Final Fantasy 14, No Man’s Sky, Sunset, Fallout 76, Sonic Boom…
2- While the Switch may well be Nintendo’s crowning achievement of the decade, their biggest stinker cannot be ignored: the Wii U. Proof that you gotta hit rock bottom before you can get back up, the Wii U was a system that had good ideas, but didn’t quite implement them well enough. Weaker graphically than its competition, lacking even the First Party games that made Nintendo the household name it is today, and discontinued within five years of its release, the Wii U never had a fair shot at being the success it could have been.
3- Speaking of consoles that never lived up to their potential, we’ve got the Ouya. The idea was solid: a small, cheap, independently made gaming system for those of us on a budget. The execution? Lackluster at BEST: games that ran flawlessly on smartphones hiccuped on the Ouya. Did I mention that this was a Kickstarter project? Yup, this mini-console was funded primarily via private donations from everyday people!
4- Speaking of Kickstarter: Mighty Number 9. A game met with enthusiasm during its announcement, only to sputter out and die in with a whimper once it was finally released TWO YEARS LATER than originally announced. The lesson to learn from this failure? Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.
5- While the PS4 was Sony’s fine achievement of the decade, the PS Vita was their failure. Not to say that the console was bad per se, but it just couldn’t make a dent in a market monopolized by Nintendo. The handheld console market BELONGS to Nintendo, for all intents and purposes; and though the PSP did well enough, the PS Vita simply fell short.
The Ugly
1- Toxic Online communities such as the League of Legends player base have necessitated the calls for gamers to either stop being so awful to each other, or for individuals to grow “thicker skin.” Whereas toxic players tend to make game sessions harder to enjoy, a toxic community is one that makes it hard for people to enjoy or even get into the game. It is not unheard of for players to quit a game due to the toxic community surrounding it.
2- The GamerGate controversy of 2014–2015. Regardless of whether you supported, opposed, or were neutral, there should be no doubt that this event brought out some of the worst in many people on BOTH sides of the controversy. To think that this all started because one man one day decided to write out the many ways his ex girlfriend abused him…
3- Loot boxes that you buy with real money. Enough said.
4- The August 2018 Jacksonville Shooting. A video game tournament turned tragedy, turned into yet ANOTHER call for gun control, gun advocacy, demonizing the gaming community as a “hot bed for white supremacy,” all while the bodies were still warm. I was beyond upset and disgusted when I saw how people reacted to this event, especially from people who’d claim they were on my side politically.
5- The threats against Anita Sarkeesian. I don’t like her, I’ve never liked her, and in fact I consider her efforts detrimental to the cause of equality in gaming. BUT DON’T FOR A MOMENT EVEN THINK THAT I APPROVE OF THE THREATS SHE HAS RECEIVED! I CONDEMN these acts with every fiber of my being! And yes I’m aware some may have been faked, but if I know people, I’d wager at least half of them weren’t. And no, it doesn’t matter if it was “only half” that were real, because one death threat is one too many.
