Gaming Then and Now - The Biggest Change/Impact

[4RM3D]

If you look at the state of gaming now and then look back at your early days of gaming, what has been the biggest change/impact in games for you? And for clarification also write which time period is your early days (as it varies from person to person).

I have fiddled around with games for a long time, even before the "NES (Nintendo) era", but I really started to get into gaming shortly after the NES release (around 1988). And now more than 20 years later, what has changed the most for me?

I have always been a fan of RPG games. And I don't think the (J)RPG's have changed much, in essence, over the years. The kind of satisfaction I had from playing RPG's then, is still the same kind I get when playing RPG's now. However, there was one major change in RPG games: the introduction of MMORPG's. Yes, MMORPG's is the biggest impact for me on my gaming life. My life (or there lack of) has never been the same again.

 

[RipRoaringWaterfowl]

From 2000 to 2012?

On the surface, there are less strategy and city building titles out there. I used to be able to walk into a BestBuy and there were several strategy titles and city builders. These days, there are barely any. It's tougher to get my strategy fix when everything is underground.

 

[Daymo]

The rise of the shooters (on consoles), my first console was a Super Nintendo, then the PS1 which was probably the golden age of the JRPG, then goldeneye and perfect dark came out and were both amazingly popular. When I finially really got into gaming was the PS2, that was slowly transitioning to shooters, but still had a large variety of games, then came the Xbox and Halo, which changed everything and made FPS's the big thing instead of RPGs and platformers. So with all that, I would say Halo and/or the xbox for making FPS's the dominant game genre.

 

[krazykidd]

The rise of the shooters (on consoles), my first console was a Super Nintendo, then the PS1 which was probably the golden age of the JRPG, then goldeneye and perfect dark came out and were both amazingly popular. When I finially really got into gaming was the PS2, that was slowly transitioning to shooters, but still had a large variety of games, then came the Xbox and Halo, which changed everything and made FPS's the big thing instead of RPGs and platformers. So with all that, I would say Halo and/or the xbox for making FPS's the dominant game genre.

How are you going to mention goldeye eye and perfect dark , and the go and say halo made FPS the dominant game genre ? A little piece of me died inside when i read that .

OT: iv'e been playing videogames since the nes era . My favorite genre was and still is the Jrpg . The biggest impact/change for me was when squaresoft merged with Enix , to create Square-Enix , and fell from grace . Oh how the mighty have fallen.

 

[TrevHead]

When MS brought out the Xbox and Halo and all the frag heads moved from PC to console

Also digital download on XBLA and PSN which is a double edged sword. Lot's of great retro games, but the $15 price cap limits the scope and quality of games that we would normally see from the mid tier retail.

With the WiiU introducing a digital store more akin to XBLA and PSN it will be interesting to see how many gamers are willing to pay retail for a retro styled game when they can get something similar on digital.

I expect there will be more "fuck that! i'm not paying full retail for Rayman Origins" to come.

 

[drednoahl]

I've been a gamer for since 1979. The biggest impacts on my gaming are when a dev studios are closed down after being mismanaged; usually by a publisher. This is closely followed by the advent of the CD-ROM which made console gaming a lot cheaper for me, and PC gaming less hassle.

 

[GiantRaven]

How are you going to mention goldeye eye and perfect dark , and the go and say halo made FPS the dominant game genre ? A little piece of me died inside when i read that .

Goldeneye and Perfect Dark didn't make the FPS the dominant genre on consoles. I don't remember any noteworthy FPS on any consoles, bar Timesplitters, until after the release of Halo.

Goldeneye and Perfect Dark may have been better games than Halo, but Halo is way more popularising.

 

[John Pepperell]

Lack of story and bland games, even RPG's which need story to succeed have fallen on their own sword and haven't delivered as well as they use to. I used to buy games for the story of it, now I have to settle for what LOOKS like the best story.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

For me, it would be the jump from 2D to 3D. I enjoy most genres of games and that jump changed them all.

 

[odBilal]

The first thing that comes to my mind is that in the SNES era I would finish a game over and over even if I knew all the secrets and such. Nowadays I dont even have the time to complete some of the games I buy because there is always a new awesome game comming after another. The games I complete, I just breeze through them without completing most of the sidequests. My backlog expands from year to year and the steam sales arent making it better.

 

[Mirroga]

It's the evolution of arcades to home gaming. From gamer points and limited lives to experiencing the adventure.

That's pretty much how I see it in the simplest way possible.

 

[AD-Stu]

Sega Master System era (around 1990) was when I started and I think the biggest thing (aside from obvious stuff like sound and graphics) is the focus on story - back then, it was pretty much assumed that games didn't really have stories any more complicated than "save the princess" or "kill the bad guy".

Nowadays, even if the story is crap, it's expected that the developers at least make an effort.