The landscape of video gaming is astoundingly different to what is was five years ago. Video game publishers don't want you to buy games, instead they demand loyal devotion to them. The video game market is booming. Gaming is a billion dollar industry. Where there is money there is marketing. Video game marketing is brilliantly deceptive; keeping gamers paying for the pain.
The recent phenomenon of free to play games is a worm; attacking smartphone bank accounts. Access to games has never been easier thanks to smartphones; spreading like cancer into ever wider markets. The key to the free to play money making machine is micro transactions. Consumers the world over are nickle and dimed when playing free games. Little by little free to play games bleed the bank dry.
Free to play games are addictive. Deliberate design keeps consumers playing and paying to reach aloof goals. The expertise of behavioral scientists make free to play games irresistible. Consumers satisfy the craving to play anytime and anywhere; the drug is in their pockets.
I agree that gaming today is largely different from what I related it to when as a kid. You can easily notice a lot more focus on making continuous profit through addictive incentives in the game, and somewhat less attention to making a game a genuinely fun experience.
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