Nice graph.  Hurts to admit, but this really does present the trend of the Gaming Industry these days.  I had really hoped it would not come to this point, but everyday the edge of the cliff gets closer and closer.  EA, Ubisoft, Konami, Activison-Blizzard ... now Bethesda.  I have bookshelves of videogames, a steam library with over 300 titles.  It took years from adolescence to the present to amass, but in the last three years alone my purchases have declined to roughly 4, maybe 5 titles  year.   I feel the best purchases of last few years were Hellbalde: Senua's Sacrifice, Shovel Knight, Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt,  Stardew Valley, X-COM, and Doom.  But for every single arguably positive experience, there has been three or more Arkham Knights, Aliens: Colonial Marines, PAYDAY 2's, Mafia III's, Watch Dogs, and Metal Gear Solid V's ...<br><br>Let me preface by saying first and foremost, I am a fool if not something of a high-powered idiot.  I'm not some slick or unusually perceptive consumer.   I've played the dummy in some awful purchases in the past, and I'm sure more are due in the future.  That being said, the last EA game I bought was Mass Effect 3, and before that it was Dragon Age II ... let that sink in.   I completely skipped on Dead Space 3.   I feel vindicated in my almost absent 'savvy' for completely ignoring both Battlefront games.  My bones just warned me to not trust it.  I feel awful about it though.  I wanted them to be good.  With Ubisoft I broke down and finally bought Far Cry 5, but since I've felt burnt and dissatisfied as a result.  I haven't bothered with Assassins Creed since the third release and Black Flag, and man I feel like a bullet was dodged.  If Konami would simply release games in the first place, I'd happily ignore them as well, but alas.  A real dread has been watching the bizarre mutant that is Blizzard and Activision bungle themselves into disgrace as of late.  Words escape that horror.  And there is nothing I can say regarding Bethesda that hasn't been echoed billion times over since 76 forward.  Takes the wind right out me.  <br><br>These trends are painful.  The skyrocketing costs, with the additions of loot-boxes, in-game and premium currencies, predatory DLC, cut development cycles, annualized and episodic releases, poor QA (if any), ballooning price-tags, Day 1 critical patches and DLC, year-long (or more) hype trains that press for pre-purchases with special pre-order bonuses, inflated collector's editions that don't even include the GD game!  It's been there for years.  We've seen it all.  I was even suckered into it.  I'm not immune.  The travesty of ACM sits in my library as result of my naivety in the hype. to name only a single sore instance  It just sucks to admit it.  What used to be a fun hobby of escapism and frivolity has devolved into a lurid mess of cash-grabs and indignant sales strategies.  Gaming rarely fills me with excitement and energy anymore.  More often than not, I feel pretty hollowed out lately.  More often than not, I watch release teasers and announcements with a sour skepticism that simply wasn't present a few scant years ago.  What happened?  I miss the optimism that used to go hand-in-hand with gaming.  Am I looking through rosey lenses?<br><br>At least Indie gaming and smaller studios look strong ... well, strong-ish ...