Poll: Are games as "fun" as they used to be?

[Sergeant M. Fudgey]

Yes they are still just as fun.

The only reason an old game seems more fun is because of nostalgia. That's not to say old gamer aren't fun, it's just stupid to think that they are instantly better than all modern games.

Oh by no means are they instantly better than modern games. I suppose it is a lot of nostalgia in play here...

I mean, I think games like Banjo Kazooie back in the day were fantastic, but I almost like the new BK better. Its almost completely unrelated to the old ones, but still manages to deliver a well thought out and creative game. Halo 2 is probably the best shooter I have every played, better than doom obviously even with the insane amounts of time I spent with doom.
From a technical stance, modern games are in every war better than old games. I think the problem is, there aren't any new concepts being introduced (and the ones that are being introduced seem pretty good) I'm thinkin we need a whole new genre of gaming to revolutionize the market.

A new genre? That's not going to happen.

Somebody just needs to make it happen.

You can't just make a new genre.

Do you realize how much money that would cost for a mainstream game? They would waste a lot of money merely experimenting with he concepts, none of which are guaranteed to work. Then they have to develop the actual game, which is still a challenge because you're working with a completley new genre. In addition to this, you have to ensure the game has quality graphics, is free from bugs, and comes out on schedule.

That's a huge risk for a mainstream developer. It's better for them to just stick with what already works.

It would be difficult. But the graphics don't need to be good. I think Tetris is good, but it's graphics are terrible. I think that it would mostly take time to think of the basics of he game, then they could make it, but not make it with incredible graphics. Lots of games don't come out on schedule.

 

[LilSkitt]

A new genre? That's not going to happen.

I disagree. Survival horror was a whole new game invented just a decade ago. There is still at least 1 genre out there to be discovered.

 

[Iskenator67]

A new genre? That's not going to happen.

I disagree. Survival horror was a whole new game invented just a decade ago. There is still at least 1 genre out there to be discovered.

I think you need to check your source better because I never said this. This was mentioned by Internet Kraken. Not me.

 

[Zac_Dai]

More fun, less addictive.

Aye I dont think I ever found pre-playstation era games fun.

More like frustrating yet addictive challenges, in which the award for completion was bragging rights in the playground.

 

[Valentine82]

Games have gotten better graphics and physics, but they've lost their depth and replayability.

I remember you could play through Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic 10 times and play a fairly different game each time. Sure the game looked like a cartoony version of Diablo 1 and sure, it had glitches that had to be addressed by a fan made patch, but damn it the game had a very deep and dynamic story, interesting characters, and a fantastic replay value. Same with Fallout 2. Oh and Dungeon Keeper (And DK 2, if you can't handle the 1995 graphics) were just fun. Black and White, while short of what was promised, was also an awesome game...

Now we get dumbed down messes. Oh look, a female character with her boobs and butt popping out, oooohhhh look explosions, ohhhh look colorful. Well the masses get dumbed down with each generation now, only makes sense that games should as well.

 

[BBQ Platypus]

The Golden Age of Gaming is "twelve."

 

[Nazulu]

Well they have gotten alot worse from Nintendo but thats about it. I don't own any of the other consoles so I don't know but I loved the SNES, N64 and Gamecube but the Wii games is failing to entertain me atm. The only reason I still have it is because of the virtual console.

 

[quack35]

Are you kidding?

Video games are the only things that are fun anymore.

 

[Khazoth]

Anyone who wants to compare the great gaming of today to the great gaming of yesteryear is fucking mad.

Yes, Unreal, Sanitarium, and Planescape Torment were fucking awesome.


Does that mean Fallout 3, Knights of the Old Republic 2, and Saints Row 2 were any less enjoyable? Fuck no.


Except for turn based RPGS, the has only ever been one good turn based RPG and it happend back in the 90's.

 

[Paulrus_Keaton]

The longer you play games, the less "OMG" factor they can have. Back in the day I would play anything for my N64, now I can't look at a game initially without some kind of "hope for the best, expect the worst" critique.

 

[El Taco the Rogue]

Game characters seem less fun now, but thats because they open their mouths 24/7...
Welcome to the secapist, by the way

 

[Haro]

since someone mentioned Yahtzee, I will say that I agree with him in that games arent as good on average as they used to be. But this isn't because games are always getting worse, but that more games are made to lower standards.

Also, I think games are more fun in terms of gameplay, they are usually more innovative and interesting, though some games should look to the classics more for inspiration.

I also find however, that the overall fun factor for games has gone down a bit, considering other things such as story. I just finished playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which I consider to be one of the best games ever made, and I can't help but feel that more recent games, even the good ones like halo, CoD, etc. don't quite compare, at least in single player experience. multiplayer is all fun and good, however, when I ignore the people who command me to kill myself because I can't get 5 simultaneous headshots.

 

[Sewblon]

The emphasis on multi-player is causing developers to place less effort into single-player experiences and since I have no friends who play games, they are getting worse for me.

 

[Vek]

Gaming's just as fun as it used to be for me. My tastes have changed over the years, but I am continually finding games that I enjoy and am willing to sink hours upon hours into.

What I'd like to see more of is a true open-world like game. Not just Elder Scrolls-style or GTA, but something much more open, and much more world-like. I like exploring, and in games like GTA and Elder Scrolls, etc, that often leads me to completely ignore the plot and critical missions.

BUt a game where the object was exploration, solely for it's sake. That would be pretty cool.

The kind of scenario I'm envisioning for this "open-world" vs "open-environment" comparison is something akin to... making a video game based upon the Lewis and Clark expedition, for instance. A game that could make good on the pre-release hype of STALKER, requiring players to eat, sleep, and hunt and search for food, yet also still be fun and inviting.

Oregon Trail on steroids, would be an apt descriptor. I'd really like to see stuff like that in the future, as technology and storage are allowing for larger, more detailed worlds.

 

[santaandy]

I don't know who said it, but I am reminded of the quote about vinyl records being better than CDs. The guy basically said that it's not the technology that's better, it's the content. I have to agree that the same thing applies to video games (in general). There are some bright points, don't get me wrong, but I'm just not the gamer I used to be. And I seem to be happy about that. Make of that what you will.

 

[Flying-Emu]

It really depends. Games like Metal Slug 6 I find more entertaining than MGS4, simply because they were better made.

What, you say?

Yes, they were better made. Metal Slug was more fun than MGS4. Sure, MGS4 had a better story, and looked prettier.

But Metal Slug? Metal Slug had CLASS.

 

[Therumancer]

Gaming is and always has been a mixed bag, this has not changed from it's inception. there have always been good, bad, and mediocre games.

However as you game more and more you become jaded, and it takes increasingly more to give you the old highs you got from good games when it was all new.

Sort of like shock horror, see something enough times and it ceases to shock you, leading you to need to see/read increasingly depraved things to get that "Omg, that is so messed up" reaction your craving.

I guess when you get down to it, most things are like that.

One of the reasons I am so vehement about issues like video game censorship is that for long-time gamers like me, increasingly intense media is needed to do what it used to do. I mean when you get to the point where something like Manhunt becomes just "meh" on the shock horror spectrum, you see where they could do so much more for people who enjoy those kinds of things, but the industry is unwilling to fight the battles needed to produce the media for true adult gamers who grew up gaming, and when it comes to horror and such, have been watching stuff like "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street" since their early teens.

I'm going pretty far afield, but honestly I think gaming is similar to what it's always been albiet it's ceased to evolve in tandem with a good part of it's (older) fanbase. Older gamers who for whom it's "losing it's spark" are as I put it simply becoming more jaded to it all.

>>>----Therumancer--->



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>>>----Therumancer--->

 

[Therumancer]

It really depends. Games like Metal Slug 6 I find more entertaining than MGS4, simply because they were better made.

What, you say?

Yes, they were better made. Metal Slug was more fun than MGS4. Sure, MGS4 had a better story, and looked prettier.

But Metal Slug? Metal Slug had CLASS.

Differant generes, I think both games were seriously well crafted. Metal Gear Solid is the evolution of games like say "Ripper" and other interactive movie/adventure game hybrids from yesteryear. Metal Slug is pretty much just a sidescrolling shoot 'em up.

Neither are my genere of choice (even though I can enjoy both kind of games) so I personally don't rate them highly.

I'd also point out that when comparing how well something is crafted, one also has to look at how complicated it is. Metal Slug is a lot simpler when you get down to it than what Metal Gear was trying to pull off (and amazingly did in the minds of the fans, and that was where it was important).

To really compare you'd have to put Metal Slug up against similar types of games like some of the Contra Remakes, Alien Hominid, or Weapon Of Choice. The genere Metal Gear Solid ultimatly wound up in puts it up against things like the aforementioned Ripper, Manhunter, Daedalus Encounter, Rise Of The Dragon, etc... Anything where you transfer from watching pretty graphics and perhaps solving a puzzle or three into an action scene and then back.


>>>----Therumancer--->

 

[Flying-Emu]

It really depends. Games like Metal Slug 6 I find more entertaining than MGS4, simply because they were better made.

What, you say?

Yes, they were better made. Metal Slug was more fun than MGS4. Sure, MGS4 had a better story, and looked prettier.

But Metal Slug? Metal Slug had CLASS.

Differant generes, I think both games were seriously well crafted. Metal Gear Solid is the evolution of games like say "Ripper" and other interactive movie/adventure game hybrids from yesteryear. Metal Slug is pretty much just a sidescrolling shoot 'em up.

Neither are my genere of choice (even though I can enjoy both kind of games) so I personally don't rate them highly.

I'd also point out that when comparing how well something is crafted, one also has to look at how complicated it is. Metal Slug is a lot simpler when you get down to it than what Metal Gear was trying to pull off (and amazingly did in the minds of the fans, and that was where it was important).

To really compare you'd have to put Metal Slug up against similar types of games like some of the Contra Remakes, Alien Hominid, or Weapon Of Choice. The genere Metal Gear Solid ultimatly wound up in puts it up against things like the aforementioned Ripper, Manhunter, Daedalus Encounter, Rise Of The Dragon, etc... Anything where you transfer from watching pretty graphics and perhaps solving a puzzle or three into an action scene and then back.


>>>----Therumancer--->

But you see, that's my point. Games don't have to be incredibly complex and new-fangled to be fun. A game can be simple, and as long as it's got a nice premise and is overall FUN, it's going to be better than the big-budget bull that's I'm getting force-fed every day from the industry.

Do you see my point? I wasn't trying to knock on MGS4; I simply used the first game that came to mind. Perhaps CoD would be better?