Are video-game boss fights really dead? (Yes.)

Times change, games evolve and boss fights are officially dead.
Such was the outcome, at least, of the inaugural Games Debate Club debate, hosted by game Playwell and yours truly, Technical.ly Brooklyn, at the Williamsburg coworking space The Yard.

“They once existed in a much more glorious time,” Playwell cofounder and debater Collin Cummings said in his opening statement. “But they are now dead. The top 10 games on Steam … none have boss fights. I guess we could say based on empirical data the boss fight era is over.”

The form of a debate added a level of gamification to the normal talk format while still allowing for the same (or more) transmission of ideas and knowledge. It also added a higher level of audience participation that usual.
“Bars!” one member of the audience yelled out, after a particularly passionate explication of how game sales  isn’t the final word on what’s going on in gaming.

“I would like to posit the wild notion that artistry is not based on dollars moved, otherwise Call of Duty would be the best game in history!” debater Roy Graham, a writer for Kill Screen fumed.

To judge who won the debate, Playwell took a poll at the beginning of who believed that boss fights are, in fact, dead. Then Playwell cofounder and debate moderator Chris Wolf asked the audience to tweet to Playwell “yea” or “nay.” At the end of the debate, the audience was then asked to tweet again what they thought.

The other members of the panel were Rachel Bazelais, the host of the Games, Seriously podcast, and Milo Lee of Equity Arcade. Audience members also participated, tweeting to Technical.ly with their reactions to what the panelists were arguing.

https://twitter.com/Murder_Punch/status/699755616496132096

@TechnicallyBK @playwellco @collin_cummings Boss fights are definitely over. Horizontal organization is in.

— Eyebeam (@eyebeamnyc) February 17, 2016

https://twitter.com/mmelendezcal/status/699765202158514176
The winner, ultimately was that boss fights are, in fact, dead. Bowser, we barely knew ye.
The event was a lot of fun and Playwell plans on running more debates, so heads up for future events.