Gamer Rant: The Future of Games

G'day there guys and gals!

After a short rant on Twitter last night, I feel as if I have to talk about a very real problem in the gaming community today and that is how far the games, companies and our future itself is falling.
To put it plainly, our future looks bleak.

First off, you may be asking yourself "What fall? What do you mean?", well let me give a short explanation: as short of a time as 10 years ago, games that were released HAD to have perfect controls, up to date mechanics and be perfect itself in order to get attention. This is how games such as Call Of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and more were able to make comeback after comeback in our community. However, for the last two years, AAA titles and major companies have been releasing digital messes, remakes barely remade and games that simply didn't work whereas indie developers and even one-people crews have released timeless classics that are now revered in our community. Do you see now what I mean by fall?
Companies are beginning to rely too hard on old titles to make a profit: Call of Duty "sequels" are seen as a joke online as each year brings a new game. Assassin's Creed hardcore fans have been more and more disappointed with the titles released as years go on and way too many remakes have been coming out - games made two or three years ago getting ports into the new world or older games with a dying fanbase given life once again. It's January 2015 and we've already had THREE AAA titles given a HD remake (Duke Nukem 3D ME, Saints Row Re-Elected, Resident Evil Remastered) and three more coming in the next couple of months. 
And don't get me started on Mobile games. Personally, King is the devil of video games; rehashed old titles made "new". They spit in the face of our community.
But regardless, moving on.

I'm currently in the middle of reviewing Saints Row Re-Elected and already I've experience multiple bugs, issues, a few KTDs and even where changing a CONTROLLER lost me my autosave! Is this what our future holds for video games? Where games are SOOOOO buggy that I can't even change a controller without losing my data, my autosave or my character?
As a young lad, games released with bugs were dead in the water; there were no patches, there weren't any DLC or fixes or apologies. It was a $100 piece of junk that wouldn't work and its games like those that have long since been forgotten about. But these days, too many companies are being pushed by their corporates to dish out games faster and this is why they're failing to the little guys out there.
Take for example Scott Cawthon; you're probably wondering who he is?
He's the creator of this:   

And that is why he's been so damn successful; with the internet in a state that it is, the popularity of a game depends on five different things -  Simplicity, creativity, new mechanics, positivity in product and word of mouth. Have all five of these things in a game and players will be drawn to it like moths to light. This is where FNaF has succeeded where others (Like Slender) has failed; Scott is currently cranking out the third game in the series and while that is ambitious, he has created an interesting world, storyline and of course, a terrifying set of characters of something so universally creepy in its normal state that naturally is shocking in a horror setting. Slender, while successful overall, was stuck in development much too long, became way too complicated plotline wise and by the time it came out, most interest had moved on.
And that is why plenty of Indie Developers are starting to take wing while AAA titles and their companies are failing -  because they LISTEN to their demand. Because FNaF has simple mechanics, fine but not overbudgeted graphics and relatively shortness to game style, the only things that need alterations is characters, storyline, audio cues and setting! 
In other words, graphical look.
FNaF 2 had more characters, a developing storyline, tweaks on the gameplay and kept linear to the original work. Slender The Arrival complicated the plot, gameplay and became different to the original piece leaked online.

HOWEVER, you're thinking "Hang on, but that's every game ever. Things need to change and they have to advance!" and I agree with you: playing the same thing over and over is boring.
But not to the majority of gamers and the majority is Casuals.
As much as it pains me to say it, Casual Gamers have the majority control of what becomes popular, what goes viral and what people play; this is how games in the past became popular. People who stick to the franchises of old soon become hardcore gamers: achievement grinding the same game over and over, playing through each alteration repeatedly and then moving onto the next new franchise while Casuals will hear from a friend how "insert title here" is amazing and they'll play it, stop and move on.
Take me for example: I have been a Saints Row fan since the beginning, I played SR over and over, especially since it was my first 360 game title and now, nearly 9 years later, I'm playing the remake of its 4th "sequel" just for the achievements. 

So why am I writing this down like this? What is my point about all of this?
This is my point: too many companies are giving out glitched, buggy or rehashes while Indie Devs are thriving, which personally I find awesome and gives me hope for the future. But as a future game dev, I personally don't know whether to work for a big company or myself. Australia has very few game companies and many of which are either Indie companies that I've never heard of or the big guys that dominate our consoles. Do I chance working for them for Call of Duty 31 or do I follow my own creative passion? Do I travel overseas and work on several titles of games at once, passed around from project to project, or do I apply myself to become a story-writer and see my own passions become a living, breathing game for generations to come?
With the way company after company treats their projects, the choice is simple at this point; too many companies are facing the way of THQ while their bosses pushes a game underdeveloped out the door while Indie Devs are rising to the top through passion, hard work and sacrifice. 

That is where our future as gamers is coming to; old titles taking $100+ out of our pockets while smaller titles as for $5 or less for a game they spent years making. 
Don't get me wrong! Many companies are willing to fix their titles, whether their buggy, unfinished or failures, but it shouldn't be us who tell them this. It shouldn't be gamers and consumers telling them the issues of their games. 
And so I speak to all coporates: delaying games to make them better will not cost you money. Even a bad looking game can still be played by millions. Give your developing team more time.

Forgive me, but this needed to be said. Make your choices well.
And as always, have fun and game on!

(Dedicated to all gaming companies forced to be shut down before their time)