>>719159358
>the whole point of the thread is that no one cared about those types of games UNTIL they became popular and got a newly-big brand attached to them
Do you only care about games if they have brand on them and becomes popular?
If so, then fair enough. But the thing is that Dark Souls wasn't a big thing and people cared about it. Hell, FromSoftware wasn't a name you could ask on street and people knew. However people still liked and STILL likes Dark Souls even if the genre and mechanics are more popular. Just a "too much of good thing".
We can do a small thought experiment as well.
>There is a game that has good gameplay
>Some people like it
>They recommend it, but it doesn't get off
>Still considered a "hidden gem"
>But no eyes on it, no coverage, no praises, no popularity
Vs
>There is a game that has good gameplay
>Some people like it
>It becomes a hit
>Now everyone likes it and praises it
>Some devs copy said gameplay
>Now it is considered good game design and normal
When something becomes a hit, it gets more eyes + more people copy it. Gaming circles doesn't have the same artistic appreciation or "this isn't for everyone" thing. Everything tries to be as big of a hit as GTA V.
Another big thing that I didn't touch when it comes to brands, is that while you have your Hideos and Kojimas as names you recognize, you still know majority of games by their studios/publishers.
Compare that to some specific writer or movie director.
At best you get some specific indiedevs you know by name(Toby Fox) but that's that.
Video games are trapped with the brand thing because consoles are so popular. The whole industry is basically built around brands. What took movies to reach Star Wars kind of brand recognition in 70 years, Pokemon did in like 20 with vidya. Mario even quicker.
So of course everything rotates around brands and franchises. How often do you talk about game made by a specific director compared it being made by publisher/studio?
