I forgot that AAA slop devs actually made fun games that didn't have money pits

If you haven't played a AAA game in over 14 years, then you might be surprised to find out that it happens all the time. Marvel 3 did upset its fans with its business model though. They put out "Ultimate" Marvel vs. Capcom 3 a year later, for like $40, and it pissed a lot of people off. So the cash shop wasn't in the game, but it still had that sour taste for a lot of folks. The reality is that making a fighting game is not going to result in the best version of that game on the first try, meaning that they need to do more work on it after the point of sale, meaning they need to raise more money to justify that work. It used to be buying separate versions of the same game (Super, Turbo, Championship Edition, etc.), and now it's buying DLC characters in the same version of the game. That $0.25 arcade machine had a high chance of being far more expensive than what you paid for the home version, and that's why they did it; arcades were a plenty nefarious business model in their own right.

yes, but my ¢25 game me access to everything in the game. I didn't have to buy the game, pay to unlock characters, and pay more to make them not look gray scale. granted I also didn't always go to the arcade to play as I typically owned them on the SNES or Dreamcast so overall memory is from the systems.

was it expensive? probably comparable. but once the shops appeared I checked out entirely .

the game I bought was MvsC3 that you mentioned. I paid $6cdn so I'm pleased. I'd still rather Indy devs like half sword, or Hellish quart. Hellish Quart is funas frig btw.

Part of why arcades died was because it was so obviously a better deal to play the home version than the arcade version. Fighting games were money-making machines, because nothing was more lucrative than your friend getting pissed off that you beat him, driving him to put another quarter in the machine. But if you're really tired of feeling like there's always a cash shop or some DLC around the corner, just buy games on a lag of a few years, kind of like what you just did. And indie games are great too. If you're enjoying Marvel 3, for my money, I'd say Skullgirls is by far the better game, and you can frequently get the game + season pass (4 additional characters) for about $12USD during a big sale.

Aside from it being split into 3 games, this is how I feel about the FF7 remakes.

They are so very full of love and obvious developer passion. The gameplay systems are internally consistent, the charachters are adorable, the world is beatiful. Once you own the game, it doesn't ask again. You can just step into the world and _live there_ until the credits roll.

I was worried, and I'm still worried, that some squenix exec will ruin it. But it hasn't happened.

Remake and Rebirth are simply _good games_. Anything bad you could say about them is subjective. I know the gameplay and charachters don't jell with everyone but I love it.

Same goes for the modern Resident Evil games, Armored Core 6, Horizon and GoW.

There are still good AAA games. But they for sure aren't the rule anymore, but the exceptions.

They can't avoid employing artists, and every now and then they fail to stop them from making something good.

We still have some arcades here, they seem so expensive to me though.

Yeah, arcades as we knew them kind of died, but they still exist. They're more focused at kids than they used to be, and often times they involve adaptations of cell phone games like Angry Birds or almost-simulator-rides like Fast and Furious that cost $8 per play.

Arcades have always been about providing experiences you can't get at home, but they've had to repeatedly pivot what those experiences are. First that meant playing games at all, before home consoles existed. When home consoles became a thing, arcades still had cutting-edge hardware better than what you could get at home. During the Street Fighter boom, arcades were a social hangout to play multiplayer. But now we have much better home consumer hardware, and we have the internet for multiplayer, so every game that can be played at home has no real need for an arcade.

There are still four things left you can find in arcades but not (common) consumer hardware. Gambling for kids, racing games with an immersive setup, rhythm games with increasingly wacky control schemes, and pinball. Modern arcade rhythm games are actually going through a bit of a renaissance right now and I'm here for it.

There are still four things left you can find in arcades but not (common) consumer hardware. Gambling for kids...

I've got some bad news for you.

I know the hivemind around here has some pretty strong opinions about Nintendo, but I do appreciate that their games still feel normal when nearly every other AAA has pretty thoroughly enshittified.

If you're looking for other Capcom fighting games that won't bug you about buying addons, the Marvel vs. Capcom Collection has Marvel vs Capcom 2, as well as the older MvC games. And Capcom Fighting Collection 2 has Capcom vs. SNK 2.

The Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection has SF3, although I think people were disappointed with that one and I forget why.

But yeah, I get what you're saying. I dug up my Dreamcast recently, and it's so refreshing how every game is just... the entire game. Like, the whole thing is there, on the disc. If you have it, you have all of it.

Their games are notably expensive, and they are overly defensive about their IPs, but they haven't forgotten that the goal is to make fun games first and foremost.

Fellow FF7 Remake enjoyer! We seem to be a rare breed online. I'm so goddamn stoked for the last part, and started a replay of Remake to prepare.

Nintendo gets sooo much hate online but I genuinely think they make some of the most solid video games. They innovate, they iterate, they ship rock solid games. Now if only their online wasn't absolute garbage.

I just like the lightheartedness of a lot of Nintendo games, everything is so serious already. Feel good games.