Is game design taken more seriously now?

CM30

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Cause as weird as it sounds, it seems like everyone is a bit more knowlegeable about what makes for good level design and what not in the last few years or so. We've had super popular YouTube channels catch on about it (Extra Credits, Game Maker's Toolkit, SnoMan Gaming, etc). Reviews and critiques online seem to focus on this aspect more, especially where reviews of titles like Mighty No 9 and Yooka-Laylee are concerned. And well in general, it seems like game developers are getting increasingly savvy about how to design a logically sound game in general.

Like with the teams behind Super Meat Boy, A Hat in Time or Cuphead. Those and many others feel like their devs actually read game design analysises before they made their games, rather than just throwing everything at the wall like a fair few developers before them did.

Heck, it's even gotten as far as the fan game and mod scene. Like how SMW Central now heavily recommends ROM hackers read tutorials about level design before starting their game, like this popular one by AxemJinx:

https://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=51377

It's like game design has gone from something you may sometimes see discussed on industry sites to a mainstream topic gamers and the gaming press are talking about too.

So what do you think about it? Do you agree it's taken more seriously now?
 
I wouldn't say it's "taken more seriously" now than it has been before but maybe you could argue that people understand better what exactly it means to have a good game design than in the past. I mean there are definitely games that have relied on pushing a new technology or gimmick but certainly it's not like game design has always been second fiddle, as games that you could argue have good game design have certainly held up vs the aforementioned games now being considered dated or poorly aged.
 
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