"Everything was better back then..."

[Micah Weil]

From a purely entertaining stand point, a good 90% of the games today are either screaming "but I want to be Halo now!", "but I want to be Call of Duty now!", or "I wanna be Final Fantasy now!". Yes, there are plethora of racing games that are vying to be each other, but I can't remember who's the gold standard anymore when it comes to those things.

My point is, the current generation of games is pretty cookie cutter. Sure, you've got the occasional shining gem that burst through that even a gaming curmudgeon such as myself will go "okay, that's good", but ultimately, you're playing the same game. At least the previous generations weren't afraid of trying something new.

...I think that's been said before. Hmm...

 

[ZetaBladeX13]

a good 90% of the games today are either screaming "but I want to be Halo now!", "but I want to be Call of Duty now!", or "I wanna be Final Fantasy now!".

Yes, there are plethora of racing games that are vying to be each other, but I can't remember who's the gold standard anymore when it comes to those things.

My point is, the current generation of games is pretty cookie cutter.

Sounds about right.

Meh, most racing games these days are getting pretty bland.
I love Initial-D and Wangan, and even those are starting to get Megaman syndrome.
(albeit, I'm a sucker for Megaman games)

Very cookie-cutter if you ask me.

 

[irishdelinquent]

The way we dealt with complaining people like this was way better back then...it involved a boot and your ass.

 

[mocruz1200]

i still play my SNES more than anything else

 

[Johnny Xtreme]

The nes was the golden age of gaming because back then almost anyone could sit down and put together a game (if they had the time), now its run by companies who control everything!!!

not to say those games weren't... awful... @~@

 

[Snotnarok]

I do agree with the quote "They don't make games like they used to.". See, now they make games and sell you the rest of it later.

That's why I liked the older generations of games, they sold you complete games, if something else came out it had to be enough content to be re-released (on console anyway). Valve makes good with this by selling you the game but giving amazing updates later for free, and they don't charge for playing online.

 

[Valiance]

Farcry was incredible.
Farcry 2 is more of the same.

Far Cry 2 is really nothing like Far Cry. They both have large jungle environments, but I'd sooner compare FC2 to GTA3 than the original Far Cry.

I meant to say Crysis is more of the same.
Far Cry 2 is a similar world. It just works off a mission system instead of a linear level system. Honestly, I think that's a big step, and in theory, could be very interesting. Didn't mean to say that it's the same. The world is the same. The idea is the same. The approach is different.

You're still doing levels, you just have a sandbox game available too. I'm pretty sure it's pretty much "do this until you have to go with this guy or go with this guy" which is basically the start of most games where it's "CHOOSE YOUR ALLEGIANCE" or like Tachyon: The Fringe where the choose-your-allegiance was about halfway through the game.

I just don't think it's revolutionary to put a sandbox game to that engine.
I think the engine itself was revolutionary.

 

[KoRn_Leader]

I want the platformers craze back. DK64, Banjo-Tooie, Super Mario 64.

With todays technology, platformers could rule once again.

 

[Spektre41]

While part of it may be nostalgia, some older games are just better than the new ones.

Take Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. I beat it when I was a kid, but even after playing some recent games, I'll still never find anything quite as captivating. The combat fresh, the story compelling, and the world beautiful.

Or how about Twisted Metal 2? I picked it up around a year ago, and it hooked me into it for one simple reason. It's incredibly fun. The gameplay is some of the most action packed you'll ever get in a game, the soundtrack sets the atmosphere perfectly, and the endings are some of the funniest black humour you'll ever find.

That's not to say new games are bad, Condemned: Criminal Origins, a game that really could only be done well on a modern console, has great atmosphere, excellent gameplay, and a twisting storyline.

In my opinion, older games feel "fresher" then the newer games, it's hard to find something that just wows me these days.

Oh, and we need more platformers, I can't sustain on Sly, Jak, and Psychonauts forever.

 

[Credge]

You're not making your lives any easier if all you do is grumble about the great things you have but don't appreciate.

What great things, exactly? We're talking about gaming. Currently the only great things in gaming I have were made before this gen, with some notable exceptions (rock band).

And the majority of us aren't grumbling, we're commenting. We are commenting that games are no longer acceptable to our standards. Mainly, I'm lacking Action RPG's and Coop games.

 

[Russian_Assassin]

Yeah that's a stupid thing to say. What's in the past belongs in the past. You can't go back (unless you are avgn)! So I say live for the present and work for the future. Although I am not really sure how the fuck can they improve the graphics even more. Maybe we should improve some other aspect of the games and call the current generation "the dark ages of gaming", because you know, no good stories, game design etc. Oh crikey! I think this is exactly the reason someone would call the past generation better, because even though games looked like vomit, they had some depth and were, what's the word, FUN! They also featured many scenarios and not the tired stereotypical "Buffed up handsome space marine rescues the retarded girl with giant boobs or the world from evil alien Nazis" bullshit.

Oh, and we need more platformers, I can't sustain on Sly, Jak, and Psychonauts forever.

Amen to that!

 

[Simalacrum]

This generation is slightly different from others, mainly due to that abomination called the Wii.

because the Wii has opened the gaming market to old ladies and little children (well, more so than before for the little kids), developers are now concentrating on making horrrible shovelware for them, cause they can generate a lot more profit than from hardcore gamers.

also, the Wii is very cheap to develop for, and thus developers are more attracted to the idea of shovelware.

this all results in a generation in which games actually ARE terrible, and worse than the last generation, even in graphics (for the Wii, at least, the PS3 and 360 are going down a more traditional route of "this generations games are way better than last gen!")

i certainly thought that the PS2 was better than the N64/PS1 when i first got it... i don't think the Wii is any better than the PS2 though, if i'm honest... it has a lot of potential, but shovelware has ruined it

 

[Nazulu]

Why can people never be happy with that they have? When the ps2 and gamecube launched I remember everyone saying they were shitty and only good games were the ol' NES cartridges. Now people are saying that last generation was the "golden age" of gaming.

Everywhere I go, I find people complaining that now is the worst time to be an entertainment consumer, because it's all derivative junk that was ripped off a time when everyone was happy and everything made was polished with pure gold. As I said before, I'm willing to bet there were a bunch of the same types of people complaining about THEIR age, saying it was the end of all things creative and good.

Get over yourselves. You're not making your lives any easier if all you do is grumble about the great things you have but don't appreciate.

So your complaining about complainers, people you don't agree with. Other gamers view the world differently than you and enjoyed consoles in the before time maybe because there were more fun games back then.

Everyone has different opinions than you so get over yourself.

 

[Micah Weil]

So your complaining about complainers, people you don't agree with. Other gamers view the world differently than you and enjoyed consoles in the before time maybe because there were more fun games back then.

Everyone has different opinions than you so get over yourself.

That about covers it, yes?

 

[onelifecrisis]

Perhaps there are some people whose rear view mirrors are bathed in the neon pink glow of nostalgia, but I consider my own rear view mirror to be fairly objective. I think some of the games that were released a decade ago really were better than what we get today, not because they remind me of some sort of golden era of my life (far from it) but because they were designed with a "you get out what you put in" mentality. Consider games like System Shock 2, Battlezone, Sacrifice, and Mech Warrior 2, to name just a few. Those games took some learning. They required a modicum of dedication and interest from the player, and they rewarded that investment with deep gameplay. But you really don't see that sort of game anymore. Modern gamers just don't want to have to "work" at their games, no matter how great the rewards may be. Most want to just plug in, switch on, and shoot the crap out of some bad guys for a while. And I can relate to that. I don't see anything wrong with it. I just wish there was still a market for the more "serious" gamer.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

Dude, the early versions of the PS2 and GameCube WERE shitty.

The Gamecube is still shitty.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

I find it hard to take someone who complains about people complaining seriously.

Uhh, why?

But I agree with your point.
It's just nostalgic memories, not actual quality.

This.

Nostalgia is a very powerful force. It's the reason I still cling to my love of the original Pokemon and Sonic. There's nothing wrong with being fond of things from your long departed childhood but to discount anything new simply because it's...new is just stupid.

So, so true. Diamond and Pearl, if they were NEW, would be considered great. But, those of us who remember the old stuff can't accept it. I hate that about life. Before you know it, we'll be crotchety and complain about not having hover cars in our day, or that there "instant teleportation."

 

[EzraPound]

Uh... the last generation wasn't "classic", it's just that the game industry hit its peak between 1989-1998, and has been middling since.