>>2752220To me a major difference between then and now is respect. Devs and pubs used to respect the player as an able, thinking and curious being, and provided games that were genuinely entertaining. Players in turn respected devs for their craftsmanship. Not all devs, obviously. There are always bad apples.
Anyway, nowadays that mutual respect is gone. Devs and pubs alike use and abuse psychological aspects to milk what they perceive a dumb, unthinking, consuming walking wallet. At the same time they'll mistrust the player, adding DRM and related mechanisms, which damage the product for the honest user, while leaving the actual pirate unaffected, and they think it's a good idea. Players in turn openly hate pubs and devs, change support on a whim, and treat games as throwaway consumption items. Of course, it doesn't apply to all devs/pubs in the present either.
Thing is, making games is not a profitable business. You can make a living off it, but that's it. What's sold as games by the various big houses is computer drugs, more or less. They're not made with the best interest of the player in mind.
I don't see a big crash coming. EA, King and the likes got too many junkies supporting them, no matter the quality of their products. Instead I think of it as a clean split. The big houses provide their computer drugs, and independents create games they want to create, to share with curious players. The only problem I can see is these genuinely interested game devs being negatively affected by the stuff sold by the big houses, thinking their trash is a desirable end product.
Even then though, game dev, be it on modern or old platforms, is easier than ever. Anybody even remotely curious can pick up the requirements very cheaply, and get cracking. It leads to a lot of trash, but also some very nice gems here and there.
