Crystal Hammer

Games

Like for every blog post, firstly please be sure to read blog info to understand my blog.

⏱️Overview

Since I played many, older games, and FOSS ones, I have a separate page with my favorites, for reference.
Here I start with few videos of games evolution (mainly PC and console).
Later chapter has videos comparing old games versus recent. Showing how technology has gone back. Gameplay is now more basic, not fun, boring. Algorithms are unoptimized, causing artificial problems, requiring ever more expensive GPUs. Features are missing, that were present in games 10-15 years ago.
Yet many monetizations are present: in game shop, gambling, lost of collectibles, pay to win, daily playing incentives, etc. All driven by company greed and for purpose of maximizing profits from players.
I also write about games as an addiction, with some advice. Including few good videos on this topic (in Avoiding chapter). I end with conclusions and my advice.

▶️History, evolution, ️videos

📜Video Games

I’ll start with a video collection, showing evolution, and history of games, with comments. Better showing what I mean later. These show major PC and console games including companies history.

A Brief History of Video Games – 19 minutes, from 2013. Short but showing most popular, old games.

The Entire History of Video Games – 6 hours long. But quite good.

Video Game Time Capsule: The Complete History of Gaming – 12 hours, extremely long. But good, all done by a human, no freaking AI. Detailed talk about games, consoles and companies behind.

🏞️Graphics

Below few short videos, with no comments. Combining short gameplay videos of many significant games.

Evolution of Video Game Graphics 1958-2020 [4K]

Evolution of Video Game Graphics 1958-2026

Evolution of Video Game Graphics 1962 – Now (4K) – Until 2017.

🎳Simulation, physics

Evolution of Video Game Physics | 1998 – 2021 – Focusing on physics in games.
Shows key steps of innovative implementations. Including once present buildings destruction. Half-Life 2 from 2004 being the game when physics started to be part of the game. Then rise of physics engines made for games. Showing also Crysis from 2007 (one of my favorite games) with its physics map (mod). Technology behind GTA 4 ragdolls making people motion unique and more real (only 2 big games used it). In 2009 whole buildings could be destroyed in this game. And no real revolution since that.
Well maybe except BeamNG.drive since 2015, actually a FOSS game Rigs of Rods started it earlier about 2007.
And a few new things in 2D like Noita (wiki.gg) or Powder Toy (FOSS).

Evolution of Racing Video Games (1974-2025) – About racing🚗 games only.
Interestingly basic, flat, 3D was present already very early: in 1979 with lines, and in 1982 color, filled. Honestly I remember Test drive from 1987, and it has way too low Fps to be playable.
And yet video doesn’t even mention the games that were the most important for me in racing:
Stunts (1990), BC Racers (1994), Re-Volt 1999, RBR 2004 (being the first realistic).

🎮Games 🕹️

Video games on consoles, PC, smartphones, cabinets, as well the old sport games, cards or board games, etc. There is simply no end here and beginning was likely in ancient times or earlier.

I will focus on video games here, as I do have most experience (both playing and creating). I will try to describe them from my point of view, by technology they need and use, and what that does in result.

Realism⚙️

Video games are not realistic, never will be, as they need to be real-time. It’s a popular and overused marketing term though. But honestly people might go out more often or watch more nature (or e.g. my playlists).
And science, to notice better the complexity of physics involved in: lighting effects (e.g. wiki, very costly effect to compute), atmosphere (air flow, e.g. CFD images), water (ocean waves, rivers, waterfalls, puddles, rain drops, SPH images, etc.), dirt surface, how big and detailed real world is, etc.
BTW numerical methods and physical simulations on PC, here is a website with publications. It has many videos and methods.

Games are just a bunch of recent algorithms for recent hardware emulating something that mimics real, world for better sales. Obviously other styles exist too, to cover more people’s preferences and to add variety.

Vehicle simulation🚗

Vehicle simulations tend to be more complex in computation. They also provide unique experience each time since your steering inputs will always be slightly different and a bit random, thus simulation result being different too.
Physics engines are now commonly used (since about 2006). But they have limits in accuracy of simulating and produce funny bugs and glitches (playlist). Usually hilarious stuff, but seriously erroneous and of course unrealistic.
Basically due to limits in time step, iterations count, and floating point precision. Done for reducing CPU use, as games need to be real-time.
As for more advanced car simulations, however advanced game models are, the task of simulating a tire is complex and not real time, yet still a modeled approximation.
Same goes for ray tracing in rendering of movies, videos or images, taking long time for millions of computations (even for each pixel). This method simulates light rays with complex effects, and is much more accurate, sophisticated and costly. Way more than the real time version of it.

Engine, technology, stretching

In its technological core, a game is a combination of: rendering engine (bunch of technologies), possibly physics engine, (interacting with) sound engine. That’s the hardest part and it will determine the limits of what can be in a game.
Making a game then is stretching this technology to make it playable for long. The more it stretches, the longer one can play, but more boring it will be. Few games did large worlds, free to roam, but had few goals, and very repeatable gameplay. Games also need a lot of data, textures, models, sounds, etc. This can be added freely but eventually will get repeatable or boring. Also contributing to game sizes getting over 100 GB, and huge download sizes on updates.

Logic, path🎲

Games provide either a simple logic puzzle, or a basic world with some rules.
Chess is a game with no randomness, pure logic, difficult because of combinations. Cards (like FreeCell, Spider, etc.) and Mahjongg have randomness at start, but otherwise are logic games.
Randomness plays a big part in all games, also providing more plays (i.e. higher replay value).

In other games (e.g. racing, puzzle platformers, guitar hero types, or even most boss fights) there is a path or logic in each level you need to follow (or find out by playing). There is some room for input inaccuracy (in racing), but the skill needed is somewhat similar to playing music from notes. It needs skill for fast, accurate hand movements. The rest is different by levels, like music sheets.

The list of game genres is very long.

ARPG

Looking at a typical ARPG game where you kill monsters and bosses, or even most other games (platformers, single player FPS). Such games rely on action, which requires player’s dexterity. Classical RPG or turn based don’t have that. In ARPG randomness plays a big part in maps, monster locations (giving replayability of same maps). Also one can view ARPG item drops (and their stats) as a random generator, a key element and a base of such games. Some rare items drop rates are extremely low. Which is why even so many people playing (e.g. PoE) have a unique experience, while many (including me) will find it way too boring and stretched. In ARPG logic is in character skills, stats (passives) and gameplay mechanics.

Repeat🔁

For any game, if you try enough times then you’ll learn the path or logic eventually. Sadly the main obstacle for games is spending more time (or recently possibly more money to win). It’s not like in life where a choice can effect rest of life. In games you usually just need to continue.
Recent games also tend to be more endless, and incentify playing (even daily), since this brings more profits, yet becomes simply boring. Not like in old days (or some indie titles) where games have an end and are more memorable.

💊Addiction

Playing games can easily become and addiction, even a lifetime one.

It’s no wonder: games are (and were since cabinets) made to be addicting, to make the most profits. The best playable games (for me made about 1989-2004) are just fun, enjoyable, well made, and had one (or no) cost.

All games still have a simple, capturing world, way easier and less complex than the real world. Additionally games are more rewarding instantly (quicker and more flashy). As compared to dealing with real life problems or continuing your creative projects which can take a lot of time, determination, effort, knowledge and learning.

Lastly I have to mention the Steam virus here, which I never used and would simply avoid like poison. Its only goals being: spreading addiction and huge profits. It seems to be a monopoly at that too. Here is a longer video about it (how sick its company got).

▶️Modern issues, videos

I gathered below videos, with much needed info for nowadays made games.
Especially for those who still play (commercial games) a lot, and see nothing wrong in them yet.
The videos list, and underline recent years with trends in big games, caused by corporate greed, adding many predatory monetization methods into games, in turn making them much worse.

💥The Day Video Games Were Ruined Forever – Nov 2025, very good. Explaining many issues.
Showing previous times, when people would buy a game and owned it. Times now gone, forced by big companies greed, wanting to instead have games to be: a hype for preorder buys, a service paid for monthly and a store front for further purchases in game. Big companies not just destroying games and removing fun, or content from them, but also wanting children to gamble (i.e. to buy loot boxes). People have gone to rehab/clinic (because of this game addiction).
Big companies (e.g. EA, Valve, Activision) are implementing in games and abusing addictive psychology, to keep people playing with: battle passes, fear of missing out (FOMO), sunk cost fallacy, etc. And even with those companies earning billions USD in return for these (anti-human, basically theft) practices, big games don’t improve. They have gotten even worse than ever, because they became just a mean to abuse these practices. Not real and fun games from old times, without any of them added. Now instead going opposite: studio’s reply on reddit being most disliked post ever, and a game trailer video being 2nd most disliked. Lastly working conditions for employees in these big companies are getting worst (like in labour camp), frequent company buyouts, and staff layoffs are happening. A new generation of players now play out of compulsion not for fun and enjoyment.
The solution for this is never playing biggest games (if they even add any such method), instead playing indie games, FOSS games, or none (if that’s even possible).

What Went Wrong with Gaming? – Dec 2022
Explaining history since when games were okay, until now when they put so much abusive, anti-human, shit into all the modern games. It just makes me sick (not want to play, but throw up), not even look and only continue my/our game or any other FOSS game (in addition to few best, older games).

Which Video Game Company Has Done The WORST Things: A Tournament – Feb 2022, long, funny, cursing.
Ranking 32 companies, competing for worst winner, being EA by far. Mentioning many (very) bad company practices.
A video also especially for those thinking of making games for a job or liking big game companies. It’s a toxic work environment. It brings huge quite random profits, but only for few people. And creative people’s ideas don’t matter (much). Only those sick, unhuman, retarded, marketing, business, profit first practices, coming even from investors who have no clue.

Gaming Is DEAD… And It Can’t Be Fixed – Jul 2026
Underlining gambling infested games. And that while most people don’t gamble in games, or just do it few times and learn it’s stupid, this gambling is still there and extremely profitable, making money on those “whale” types of gamblers who loose huge sums because of their addictions (or just big wealth).
I don’t think gaming is dead, but surely major games are poisoned by micro-transactions, and gambling. With only rare exceptions in this trend in AAA, but mostly indie/smaller games not using or needing such monetizations.

💥Why Are AAA Games Getting WORSE?! – Apr 2024, quite good (3 million views)
Excessive monetization, unfinished products, bland gameplay (safe, formulaic, predictable, unexciting), pre-orders. Innovation has shifted to indie games. While AAA just play safe investment and aim to get the most players to buy, for company’s profit. Teams getting ever bigger, worse (and costly) to manage or direct. Thus pushing budget, timeline and money needed to earn also higher. During Covid playing games was higher and thus followed too much investing, only to follow with job layoffs, studios shutdowns, etc. Selling to more players meas making the game dumber to be appealing to more people. In AAA games creativity and freedom in new ideas are suppressed, in favor of generic and safe approach.

Why Aren’t Games Fun Anymore? – Jul 2023, long, okay, (1 million views)
Firstly about Increasing hardware requirements for games. Then stretched open worlds, being standard, but procedurally generated, not interesting. Stretched gameplay hours, are also making games boring. Including tutorials with only rare exceptions like Japan’s FromSoftware games.
Now so many games are completely broken on launch day. Well 20 years ago games couldn’t get a patch or be updated later, so they were made well and thoroughly tested.
The ability to update games after release, has made it possible (and abusable) to release unfinished products, some broken, or barely working.
Battle royales, basically from 2 games only, while many tried and failed (loosing 1 billion $). Lots of crossover characters present, most not serious nor fitting and rather ridiculous. Got even banned in China.
Nowadays it’s about hype and selling of unfinished products, barely ever getting to same level as before (in end being mediocre). Now also got possible to change game(play) after release, while engaging with users and their comments. It’s also about bigger scales, budgets, etc. Microtransactions making games bad, yet here to stay, since they generate lots of profits after release. Video is defending paying for cosmetics, but criticising pay to win (I do criticize both).
Recent remakes of older games published, so many of them, being safe and easy money. It is an impossible task to recreate the fun of original once again, but using modern technology.
Ending with indie games section, new original and fun games, not using any bad ideas for monetization (the corporate greed).
It’s not about making a great, fun, well made and tested game and then selling it anymore.

💥Modern Games vs Old Games | Lost Technology Edition – Jun 2025, very good (1.5 million views)
Showing few video moments or interactive technology in games from then (around 2010) and contrasting to nowadays games missing (not having) them.
Older games had better path finding, smarter AI (opponents), newer have just dumb. Back then environment could be destructible (walls, glass, cloth, etc), now not, just static. There were more people even crowds in older games. Previously water waves, rain splatter, fire propagation, water ripples were implemented too. And even more features now are missing. Now less debris, no limb damage, hair looks like shit, no small interactable items.
Including few people nowadays live talking bullshit: promoting no optimizations or above features (now gone). Lastly big issue with forced upgrading of PCs for modern games due to lack of optimization.
All lost to: made up obsolescence, loss of expertise, company vision for return of investment, etc. I think also same reasons are valid here, from that Unreal Engine approach at end of below point.

Why “Good” Graphics Don’t Matter – Aug 2023
Games from 10 years still have good graphics. Their algorithms were optimized. Now games have washed out graphics, generic and look like shit (details below). They focus on cinematic and realism in look, not how it feels and how immersive it is. Visuals peaked at about 2014.
Rise of Unreal Engine made games worse (studios did implement own, original code and now just get rid of it) and all similar (due to just using its default algorithms and no innovation).

Modern Gaming is Destroying Itself + Unity Backlash Gets Worse – Sep 2023
Quantity over quality nowadays. Live service games garbage. Both consoles seeing as norm. Destroying games themself. Stretched, repetitive gameplay to waste players time. Pay too win. With only rare exceptions. A list of worst rated games.

Modern Gaming Just Made a Fatal Mistake – Sep 2026
Decline of modern games. Games were better 11 years ago. Now release unfinished. Many games even cancelled. Talk about importance of memorable, emotional, moments in games, that aren’t created anymore. With positive series of Dark Souls and their creator Hidetaka Miyazaki.

🔎ThreatInteractive – whole channel, e.g. video: Fake Optimization in Modern Graphics – Jun 2024
Another take on graphics, long, very technical and advanced. It shows in detail analyses how modern technology is just garbage for profits, instead of intelligent solutions based on older, better working, optimized algorithms. Optimisation nowadays is not done.
It also shows rise of upscalers (by huge GPU corporations), meaning the games in fact render at lower resolution, then upscale, stretch it to higher. Then blur and smear effects due to temporal antialiasing like TAA. All those new algorithms being anti-consumer, for profits and selling more powerful GPUs. Algorithms being proprietary and adding stupid AI. Not for players to have higher Fps and cheaper PCs, but to justify corporations investments.
This combined also with continued high GPU prices (more also in my PC Technology page), has made high end PCs and modern games a way too expensive and retarded experience.

Other

A few links to wikipedia with major issues that happened in history around games.

⏳Summary

This goes for the biggest corporations (general documentary), and is maybe less visible in smaller, but surely still present. That’s why I recommend staying away from their games. Definitely when any pay to win monetization is added.
Either way the recent branch of indie games seems more creative and healthy. But still commercial.
On my (short) list of (old) favorite games I start with FOSS games. Having freedom from profit driven approach.

👉Recommendations

😒Avoiding

I got one quote here: “stop playing a game before it starts playing you”, meaning: it consumes your life and you don’t control it anymore. So definitely it’s one clear sign. But until that, it’s also worth measuring and noting how many hours you spend playing games weekly and controlling it, not letting it get out of hand.
There are already a few websites on how to stop playing video games (e.g. here or here).

I highly recommend ignoring, not playing the biggest, most popular games. There is always more danger of loosing money or getting addicted in them. And the only way of that not happening is simply by never even starting such games.
They are now just shops🛍️ (with countless, useless items) and/or gambling machines🎰 in disguise (so never profiting you). Many times the games are even barely put together for release (or not working) after artificial hype. Have less interesting worlds, stretched and more boring gameplay.
These are meant to (like e.g. alcohol or drugs) addict quickly and make profits on these addictions (playing and gambling).

🎮Choice

I still believe that games do enrich one’s life, and I can hardly imagine not playing any.
So I think it’s more a matter of what we choose to play, not what commercial giants (masters) would like us getting addicted to (and be slaves of).

📊Preferences

For me also having preferences helped a lot. At first, as a kid I played more games, basically tried any I had.

🛠️Cheating

For me cheats were (since I was a kid and in oldest games) and are an essential part of games.

🖥️PC

I’d also not consider most smartphone📱 games. Which are basically just short time wasters. And are worse in all areas compared to PCs: graphics, controller/input methods, logic, etc.
People need time to think🤔 about their lives too. If you play a game instead, you get less time for that.
So I definitely recommend a PC, as it is IMO the best tool for: entertainment (games, movies, videos) learning (from internet, tutorials, etc), hobby and work too.
Of course for those who travel a lot, a smartphone may be okay, if not showing any commercials. Or a laptop if working.

🔍Research

Before playing a game, I’d recommend researching it first, watching gameplay (after its release) and only if you like every aspect then playing. This means of course no pre-orders or other hype driven cash grabs. I’d be okay with in development (alpha or beta) games (especially if free), as long as there is enough video coverage (not just short videos or from company).

▶️Watching

For me since years just watching somebody’s gameplay️️, longplay, play through or walk through of a game is enough (usually just partly, fast forwarding⏩, skipping ahead).

Watching is also great instead of buying a game, especially console exclusives. I’d never buy a console or use it, yet I can so watch a game from it. E.g. just to see its full content or graphics.

There is always someone who better knows a game, played it for much longer, achieved way more, etc. For me it’s all reasons to not play a game. I surely won’t do it as well and don’t even have time to waste for it.

But I never watch twitch or any streaming live plays. It’s the boring part. I’m okay with a video montage, still some are an hour long. But watching it’s source of 6 to 8 hours of a streamer’s job playing a game, is for me the most lazy and boring thing to do regarding games.

Some other movies about games mechanics are interesting too, even more than games themself. And glitches (e.g. here) are much funnier too.

⚙️FOSS

I stared programming⚙️ since a kid and creating games was the best fun and intelligent experience for me.
For anyone technical or wanting freedom, I would instead recommend FOSS games. Like with every Free Software alternative⚖️, it does bring crucial benefits: no cost, you can learn how it is made and even modify it (having skills, after time).

🔮Indie

Otherwise, I’d recommend indie games🔮, made by smallest companies or just a few people, even one person can make a great game.
Sure, maybe with Steam💨 it’s easy to find them, but Steam itself is a big addiction source. So I avoid it.

🏛️Old

Additionally if you don’t want to pay💵 (I never do), there are plenty of very old, free games available, e.g. on Archive.org🏛️ (or abandonware websites).

🐧Linux

One way of making sure (or more difficult) you don’t get commercial games (that easily) is moving to Linux. I could probably install some big free commercial game if I still had Windows, but since I’m on Debian, I likely can’t play most (not supported) or would need some (serious) trouble to do it. Lastly I don’t want to contaminate my OS with commercial crap.

But recently there were some advancements and projects to make it easier to play paid, Windows games on Linux too. Using software like Wine or Proton.
Also many emulation🕹️ software like: MAME (for Amiga), DosBox (for DOS), etc.

⌛Conclusions

For me it was (since I was about 11) more fun and better rewarding experience to create and develop my games rather than just playing. This way it was an incentive to learn and gain at first programming knowledge, and later in few more areas (like having contributors, artists, forum and website for our game Stunt Rally etc). Definitely an awesome experience, but I see for very few, talented people, who also value freedom most.

I did play many games for sure, but not too many, especially later in life, and none of those poisoned by marketing and payments. When I did play, I also always noticed: technology, visual artifacts, game logic, how they did implement things, bugs (sometimes very funny) and hardware limits. Recently also watching those videos (from above chapter) showing how greedy companies are and how crappy and poisoned did big games get.

Obviously, having played or watched quite many games, I have to add that games are quite entertaining adventures🏞️. Games can enrich our life, show different worlds (just like books and movies) and possibly can help learning e.g. logic, thinking, reflexes, even selling (items), communication (if with real people), language or how they implemented it all. Especially for younger people. Of course there are way better, more effective, focused, ways of learning (just more boring): books📚, tutorials📝, websites, online courses, etc.

But it is important to not stretch gaming into an addiction. Just like I only enjoy movies and don’t watch series at all, I also enjoyed games that just ended, had a definitive finish. And generally have highest rating and regard even now.
Seems so long ago. Now games have lots of paid DLCs (far more expensive than game itself), in game transactions where you can spend a lot too💰 (but shouldn’t at all). Lastly online chats and multiplayer games can get toxic😠 too.

Sadly current way for most of latest commercial games is making them playable for years, putting as much content as possible (e.g. huge worlds, collectible items for gambling), also to add hundreds of hours of playing by adding randomization, or making people play daily. Too many games now are just a graphically advanced framework over a very simple slot machine🎰 at its core. Making games too long, stretched, boring🥱, not memorable.

It is crucial to not fall for this. Putting a distance, having preferences and researching games well, before playing. Also setting yourself a limit before, and knowing when to stop. Valuing our time most.