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This is an older video, but has some good points.
To the first point about developers making safe games for profits, I have to say I'm impressed with how far Unreal Engine has progressed in the last few years. It's much easier to make a professional looking indie game using UE5 than ever before, and I really hope we see a resurgence in good games based on fun concepts in the near future. As much as I hated Fortnite, the massive influx of cash really helped drive UE development forward.
And as far as the overstimulation stuff goes... I've been busier than I used to be recently, so the game time I do have now does seem a lot more fun. I'm not "chasing the dragon" with games anymore, because I barely have time to play the games that I want to play. And I find it easier to walk away from grindy games because I enjoy doing other shit with my life.
My #1 piece of advice for gamers is to just start working out for 30 minutes every other day. Not only does it improve your physical state, but getting up and forcing yourself to do something else that isn't based on your brains reward center, even for a short while, makes coming back to your game that much better.
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Man, I wish Unreal Engine progress could excite me anymore; but knowing there's not gonna be another Unreal Tournament because Epic's too enthralled with trying to hoover the lunch money off children just... Gets me to scoff, roll my eyes, and sweep a hand to the side.
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Good points. Though sadly because of how badly bankrupt society's mental state is I doubt any gamers would have enough courage at this point.
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Eventually switch to every day but that's a great starting place.
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Maybe shooters aren't? I'm not into it and i still find the "just one more hour" games pretty much as regularily as ever (except the 2017-2019 which were really fucking dark age if you weren't into button mashing or platform jumping)
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Shooters definitely aren't. I'm a dyed in the plaid Unreal and Quake head; and... There ain't shit for us anymore. I don't have words for how much contempt I have for the pvp FPS space between the Pentagon propagandizing on one side, the lackluster live services on the other, and battle royales at the very center. Like... XIV and Minecraft used to be my 'there's no good matches right now' backup games. Now they're my mains.
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Have you heard about Battlebit Remastered? I kinda like it right now. I've never played Battlefield but people are saying this is what they wanted Battlefield to be like and its got indie graphics and no cringe campaign filled with propaganda for now. Also 15 bucks and no microtransactions I just had to try
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Have you tried free and open source alternatives to Quake and Unreal Tournament such as Xonotic, Red Eclipse, and Warsow? (The list goes on, including Cube 2: Sauerbraten, Unvanquished, etc.)
I would also suggest giving Minetest a try for a Minecraft alternative. It has MineClone2 as one of its games developed by the community, which is close to Minecraft, though I admit it is still very alpha and has a long road ahead. Nevertheless, there are other interesting games made with the Minetest engine that are simply not possible to make with Minecraft alone. I find NodeCore and Exile to be interesting, though they are more hardcore survival-esque than Minecraft. Where the potential of the game engine is demonstrated is in games like Little Lady and Builda City.
I also recommend Veloren as an RPG-style Minecraft alternative. It reminds me of Trove.
I also find enjoyment in some people's obscure hobby projects such as King's Crook. Not sure if that is your cup of tea, though.
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I think games are coming out that are still just as fun. The only reason I may have less fun with gaming is because outside stress in the world makes it harder to engage as fully with the games today
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Interesting point. Care to elaborate with "outside stress in the world" part?
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There's lots of human-imposed economic stressors at the moment such as excessive rent, but for me the bigger one is our steady and cognitive-dissonance-filled march towards ecosystem collapse and climate catastrophe
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