I have been thinking this this for a while but Rampant Coyote sums it up beautifully in a recent blog post:
"Seriously. It’s the new frickin’ golden age as far as I am concerned. I am overwhelmed with games to play – both indie and mainstream – and time is a far more limiting factor than money. We’re still getting plenty of high-end AAA games with incredible graphics and streamlined gameplay; retro-gaming has made a pretty nice resurgence; and the indies are on fire. Life is good."
Comments
I don't feel that the second coming of the golden age is at present, but I do feel it is just around the corner. Certain genres (RPG, MOBA) are getting lots of AAA love that's for sure, and like you've said, indie and retro are surging. I feel like the pendulum is swinging back to meaningful, challenging games and away from the cash-grabs of yesterday/today. All the money's done been grabbed up!
With regard to your cash grab comment I agree that the major game companies led by Activision Blizzard have foolishly focused on a strategy of squeezing as much money a possible out of an ever shrinking number of AAA franchises.
This hasn't necessarily been bad for gamers however because a number of independents have snuck into the spaces left behind to come forward with really great games. I do think that developers like Riot, Wargaming and even Mojang are more important to the future of gaming than Activision or EA.