Let’s go back just a few years to 2010 when the first Darksiders title was released. It got 82% on metacrtic and it received decent scores on popular gaming websites. Although it seemed like no one played it or even heard about it. Eventually through the next few months, it did pick up an audience and it spawned two sequels. Games like Darksiders in today's current gaming climate are almost nonexistent. In my opinion there are two main reasons for this. Number one is so much money is put into a title that publishers would rather put money into a sequel or an HD remaster. Examples would be the Call Of Duty series, the Battlefield series and up until lately the Assassins Creed series, Please note I give Ubisoft credit for taking the time off and trying something different. The second reason is smaller companies have been pushed out of the market; companies like THQ, Acclaim and Midway are long gone. Companies like EA, Activision, and Square Enix are all looking for the next blockbuster, without wanting to take any chances.

           

In today's gaming environment where can we find the hidden gem, or the middle class? This is where the downloadable indie game steps in. At first indie games were just titles that no one even paid attention to and the community did not really take notice. In my view people started to take notice when Fez and Castle crasher's were released. Those two titles, although very different, gave the gaming community a window of what is to come. Especially Castle Crasher's which gives gamers an early glimpse into online multiplayer.  A few years later games like Spelunky, Bastion and Hotline Miami were showing us bigger experiences with deeper story lines. At this point as well services such as Playstation Plus, X-box Live Arcade and Steam really starting to take off. As of today we have games like Hellblade, Playersunkown's Battlegrounds and The Witness that are truly what the middle class of gaming is. These gems give you the best bang for your buck and give you the ability to try something new that you might not have tried before. If you have not tried any of the games that I just listed then I highly suggest trying any of those games, you will see what I mean when I state that we have hit the middle class of gaming.

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