| Mainstream developers like money more then they like taking chances.
So they'll stick with what they know sells - dumped down gameplay with shiny graphics. That is why we see companies such as Bethesda doing no risk development of dumped down games and wrap it in graphics and sells it as quality thanks to PR.
Now - mature gameplay does not equal quality gameplay of course and I often steer clear of games which seems to feature nothing but "gore" for the sake of "gore" - but the symptoms are the same; it is safe and known vs. risk and chances.
A problem is also the American rating laws as I understand them - seeing as many game vendors aren't licensed to sell "M" rated games, so this further encourages developers to be "safe".
However, this is not an issue only with gamedevelopment, but all mainstream entertainment as I see it. Movies fall into clichés even more then before, having transparent and easy to spot plots and twists. |