Joe BlancatoAs the Great City of Gaming builds itself on top of its history, an undercurrent of homeless gamers wander between high-poly games, in search of their previous gaming peak.
Issue 45 - The Left Behind
- Thread starter The Escapist Staff
- Start date
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Original Comment by: Ray
I'm definitely one of the gaming homeless as well. I agree about Quake 2... in fact, I was playing it the other day, and after playing both Q3 and the Q4 demo, I realized how great that game was and still is. It wasn't really nostalgia either, side-by-side the gameplay was just more gripping and intense. I wanted to plow into the next level, story or no story. A lot of games these days are missing that hook that pulls you in. I'm not talking about addictiveness, either - I mean a devotion to beat the game. You don't hardly get that feeling anymore.
I'm definitely one of the gaming homeless as well. I agree about Quake 2... in fact, I was playing it the other day, and after playing both Q3 and the Q4 demo, I realized how great that game was and still is. It wasn't really nostalgia either, side-by-side the gameplay was just more gripping and intense. I wanted to plow into the next level, story or no story. A lot of games these days are missing that hook that pulls you in. I'm not talking about addictiveness, either - I mean a devotion to beat the game. You don't hardly get that feeling anymore.
Original Comment by: Anon
Nice article (first time I'm reading it) but I prefered the Hardcore Casual one. Nice to know I'm not alone though. I should be bonding with one of those communities but Escapist actually fufils that for me. Yeah, I 'play' games vicariously now.
Nice article (first time I'm reading it) but I prefered the Hardcore Casual one. Nice to know I'm not alone though. I should be bonding with one of those communities but Escapist actually fufils that for me. Yeah, I 'play' games vicariously now.
Original Comment by: Luke
I wonder how much of this feeling is just down to the nature of memory though. Extreme example, I know, but having cut my gaming teeth on the C64, and having recently gotten into the whole SID tunes thing (and the sweet memories they bring back), I have to say that seeing screenshots from the games was a bit of a shock. I think that playing them would probably be an equally sobering experience. It seems to me that what I remember is more my reaction to them at the time, when they were new and exciting and brilliant. But things move on, and I guess you never can really go home again. That said, I also have to admit that I didn't finish the last five or so games I bought, out of a general sense of being underwhelmed and can't be bothered. Getting old...ho-hum.
I wonder how much of this feeling is just down to the nature of memory though. Extreme example, I know, but having cut my gaming teeth on the C64, and having recently gotten into the whole SID tunes thing (and the sweet memories they bring back), I have to say that seeing screenshots from the games was a bit of a shock. I think that playing them would probably be an equally sobering experience. It seems to me that what I remember is more my reaction to them at the time, when they were new and exciting and brilliant. But things move on, and I guess you never can really go home again. That said, I also have to admit that I didn't finish the last five or so games I bought, out of a general sense of being underwhelmed and can't be bothered. Getting old...ho-hum.
Original Comment by: Kaio
This really gave me nostalgia of the worst kind, remember the community that I had in the SiN Heat.Net lobbies. We were a small community but the rivalry of my clan LS, the Life Silencers and HM, the Hitmen, really was what hooked me permanently into online gaming.
Right after that, I got started on my MMOG phase, where I went from one addiction to another. Counter-strike was the next big thing for me. Eventually after a romp through Ragnarok Online, I stopped playing when I tried the new breed of MMOGs like WoW and FFXI.
Now I find all my friends are into MMOGs but it doesn't do it for me. I've found small homes in the Gothic series and Morrowind and Oblivion, but I find myself still playing BGII when I can.
This really gave me nostalgia of the worst kind, remember the community that I had in the SiN Heat.Net lobbies. We were a small community but the rivalry of my clan LS, the Life Silencers and HM, the Hitmen, really was what hooked me permanently into online gaming.
Right after that, I got started on my MMOG phase, where I went from one addiction to another. Counter-strike was the next big thing for me. Eventually after a romp through Ragnarok Online, I stopped playing when I tried the new breed of MMOGs like WoW and FFXI.
Now I find all my friends are into MMOGs but it doesn't do it for me. I've found small homes in the Gothic series and Morrowind and Oblivion, but I find myself still playing BGII when I can.
Original Comment by: Jan Arthur
Morrowind (GOTY) and WTM:Bloodlines are the two latest released games i bought, while my latest purchease a month back was GTA:Vice City. And last year i bought and played more games released prior to 2000 than those released after (including games like Grim Fandango and Arcanum). And the last year i can't remember many games iw'e really gotten excited about, i have just completed gothic2 for the 5th or so time and am waiting for the follow up and the next zelda game, but what about "now". I used to think of myself as an lover of RPG's and adventure games, but to me one genre has traded away the things that made me love it and the other exists soly in indie games if you don't speak german. Is this a face or have i grown tired?
Oh and by the way, Quake (1) is still the best Quake game =P
Morrowind (GOTY) and WTM:Bloodlines are the two latest released games i bought, while my latest purchease a month back was GTA:Vice City. And last year i bought and played more games released prior to 2000 than those released after (including games like Grim Fandango and Arcanum). And the last year i can't remember many games iw'e really gotten excited about, i have just completed gothic2 for the 5th or so time and am waiting for the follow up and the next zelda game, but what about "now". I used to think of myself as an lover of RPG's and adventure games, but to me one genre has traded away the things that made me love it and the other exists soly in indie games if you don't speak german. Is this a face or have i grown tired?
Oh and by the way, Quake (1) is still the best Quake game =P
Original Comment by: Stephen
There was a different game-dev culture a while ago...
More risks were made that are today's overdone 'cash cow' genre's.
Some of my old favourites:
*Ultima VII bauw chiiikka... "Is that really you, Avatar?" ...baauw wowww
*Thunderscape
*Dark Sun: shattered lands
*Cannon fodder
*Progress quest ;-)
*Eternal Lands
* Sid Mier's: Alpha Centauri
*Ultima online, (The free shards, which are still running to this day....shhhh)
*Baldurs gate 1 + 2
*Age of Empires 2
*Scarab of Ra (for Apple Mac Classic)
*ICO (playstation 2)
*FFX
*Crimson lands
*Dink Smallwood
*Castle of the Winds
Does anyone remember these?
There was a different game-dev culture a while ago...
More risks were made that are today's overdone 'cash cow' genre's.
Some of my old favourites:
*Ultima VII bauw chiiikka... "Is that really you, Avatar?" ...baauw wowww
*Thunderscape
*Dark Sun: shattered lands
*Cannon fodder
*Progress quest ;-)
*Eternal Lands
* Sid Mier's: Alpha Centauri
*Ultima online, (The free shards, which are still running to this day....shhhh)
*Baldurs gate 1 + 2
*Age of Empires 2
*Scarab of Ra (for Apple Mac Classic)
*ICO (playstation 2)
*FFX
*Crimson lands
*Dink Smallwood
*Castle of the Winds
Does anyone remember these?
Original Comment by: Virtz
"The Bard's Tale remake sent a wave of jubilation through many circles"- until they got to play it, that is. While it did have humour on-par, it was nothing like the original, and thus, you can't really call it a remake since the gameplay is completely different, just a game trying to advertise itself with the name.
"Bethesda Softworks owns the rights to the Fallout license, which should elicit a collective deafening cry of joy from every fan community in the world"- Fallout fan(atic)s would rather see the series die than in the hands of a hack n' slash maker. The news sent just about as much joy to Fallout fans as the console game Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (a horrendous hack n' slasher with graphics worse than the game the engine came from, people who made it never played the original considering what cretinous storyline paradoxes they created in relation to the previous Fallouts).
If you really cherish some series/game from the past, you'd better pray your turn to see it's newest addition (from a different developer) never comes.
"The Bard's Tale remake sent a wave of jubilation through many circles"- until they got to play it, that is. While it did have humour on-par, it was nothing like the original, and thus, you can't really call it a remake since the gameplay is completely different, just a game trying to advertise itself with the name.
"Bethesda Softworks owns the rights to the Fallout license, which should elicit a collective deafening cry of joy from every fan community in the world"- Fallout fan(atic)s would rather see the series die than in the hands of a hack n' slash maker. The news sent just about as much joy to Fallout fans as the console game Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (a horrendous hack n' slasher with graphics worse than the game the engine came from, people who made it never played the original considering what cretinous storyline paradoxes they created in relation to the previous Fallouts).
If you really cherish some series/game from the past, you'd better pray your turn to see it's newest addition (from a different developer) never comes.
Original Comment by: Mr Butterscotch
http://www.thelairofthemonkey.co.uk
I'm having trouble finding a game to truly love - so instead I'm buying two cheap ones at a time rather than a full price one. I thought I'd love HL2, but I didn't
.
I am hoping that I'll love Neverwinter Nights 2, the new monkey ball game and the next Tekken. As you can see from my blog they are firm favourites.
http://www.thelairofthemonkey.co.uk
I'm having trouble finding a game to truly love - so instead I'm buying two cheap ones at a time rather than a full price one. I thought I'd love HL2, but I didn't
.I am hoping that I'll love Neverwinter Nights 2, the new monkey ball game and the next Tekken. As you can see from my blog they are firm favourites.