Drag wrote:
Flat design has the advantage in that it can be represented anywhere. It's just text with one color, and that color can be anything and be swapped out to fit any background, and have any effect thrown on it to easily make it stand out. Sit down and think about when you actually see the game's title: It's on the box, the jewel case (note the size and shape of the side label), the disc, the manual, and in the main menu of the game. You're only looking at these things for a few seconds, then you're done.
In the arcade era, these were large banners that were lit up and prominently displayed above the game itself. The game also must sit on its title screen (and game demo and high score table) much longer and more frequently than modern games today, so it makes sense to have a bright design to attract your players. Contrast this to obtaining a game nowadays; you probably already know if you want it or not even before you shop, just from looking at reviews or gameplay demos, not the graphic design of the title.
So when compared to the 80s, game logos are bland today. It's not just game logos though, EVERYTHING is bland, and that's because we've all shown, in some way or another, that we want them bland. Easier to read, easier to discern on a launcher screen full of competing icons, easier to pick out from a stack of disc boxes, easier to see from 20 feet away, you can all come up with your own unexpected way that you've shown that you prefer flat logos.
Now you are doing the same mistake as the author of the article, ignoring the fact that this flat style is just a small part of modern games. Your point doesn't explain why non-western games are still using very varied and colourful styles (not just talking about logos). I think the logo style is more of a trend, but yeah western games are generally very bland, having not enough focus on interesting characters (often one of the most important thing in a fictional piece of work), too much realism, too much black humor and just too much bad boy style in general IMHO. I for one sure don't want that.
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implore you all to try one of these modern games you hate so much
I wouldn't comment on this if I hadn't played the games.