Poll: ...getting old?

[Woppler]

I've been playing video-games since I was 12, I started round 1982 I think. Till now the most satifying games I've played where on the Nintendo SNES. Games like Shadowrun, Zelda or Mario Cart really kept me of the street for month.

Now I own a Xbox 360 and an old GameCube. Graphics keeps getting better and better, but somehow I don't get the same satifaction from games. Somehow most new games seems too easy or too predictical. Is it just me getting old, cocky and sentimental?

 

[soladrin]

nah, your getting senile but i do agree, games these days are way to predictable :S

 

[niko86]

Yeah 12 in 1982 that makes you very old now.

Depends what you mean too easy, getting killed 100 times in a row isn't my idea of a challenging game. I agree on too predictable, plus games lead you by the hand far too much. On the Bioware forum people complained about not having the game explain every control to you ... its a very streamlined game and the controls are on the back of the manual! Seems people want to be treated like morons with pointless tutorials.

 

[Divinegon]

It is maybe because as the years go by, so many game mechanics have been added that it is hard to truly innovate in the brand. Sure games like Portal, Phoenix Wright and God of War innovate at something, but the core of each of those games have essentially already been made before. Maybe not better or maybe too long ago to remember.

I still feel satisfaction from playing games, but I know I recognize that I will never get the same feeling I did when I played games from the Genesis and Spectrum. Because that feeling has been spread out to future generations and rather diluted.

 

[runtheplacered]

When I was a child playing regular nintendo games/SNES games and old PC games like King's Quest, Space Quest.. etc.. the graphics and such were done in such a way that they got the idea of what you were attempting to accomplish down, you just had to use your imagination to fill in the rest of the details. But now, no imagination is required. All of the details have been filled in for you.

 

[Woppler]

What I like most are video games where the concept/gameplay isn't based on real life or existing games or situations. Like Katamari or Portal. Part of the fun of playing video games is to experience situations and emotions that don't occur (often) in real life.

I also love games in which the art direction isn't a contest of being the most realistic but being creative. I loved the cell shaded cartoon style of Zelda the Wind Waker, although a lot of fans hated it. It's a case of thinking outside the box.

Imagine all posibilities that game designers and programmers have these days. And most of the time all they come up with is making a game that's as photo realistic as possible. What I'm trying to say is that games ought to be more abstract and gameplay should be the focus.

 

[Echolocating]

No, you're not old.

Games have evolved into the equivalent of Britney Spears. It's all about marketing and "playing it safe." The desire to innovate is no longer profitable. Video games are an incredibly huge business.

I played Oblivion a decade prior to its release... when Bethesda called it Arena.

However, the largest point of contention I have with video games are that they have not matured with their audience. Where are the tasteful dramas that would bore a kid senseless, but would ultimately engage an adult? We can't have that because if I'm going to find one aspect of any game minutely interesting, you can bet it will be watered down for a younger crowd.

I remember Nei's death in Phantasy Star II (1990) ...eat your heart out, Aeris!

What's holding back videogames from targeting all age groups and sophistications of taste? Console life cycles and game retailer shelf life, I believe. I can go and buy The Seven Samurai (1956) DVD from most stores, but try and find Police Quest II (1988).

I already played Starcraft on my 486 DX/66, to my heart's content... when it was called Dune 2.

When there are 2 Wii consoles sold for every human on this planet, you can bet Nintendo will make a new console, rendering their old one obsolete. Forcing the developers to learn a new architecture, playing it safe and not innovating initially until they feel comfortable... then when they get really skilled at creating games for a particular console, it starts over again.

Metal Gear Solid (1998) had the best 3D character design, I feel. Low-poly, yes... but stylish beyond what I've seen with today's next-gen graphics.

That said, I don't own a Wii. I want to wait another year or so until my son is old enough to play it with me. I'll probably enjoy the virtual console to no end.

I can't wait to play Bionic Commando... again. ;-)

 

[Condorbeta]

If you've played since 1982 then there's no doubt that you've gone past and beaten most of the "difficult" mainstream games (Battletoads I'm WATCHING YOU!). It isn't necessarily true that all games are getting "easier", it's just that the next gen of games nowadays are giving you a lot more options.

You would usually have many ways to beat the game (even though the main objectives are always the same), such as in Bioshock. You could try to challenge yourself and go for a "no plasmid, wrench kill" approach on an enemy or you could blast him with each and every plasmid you have.

Many games try to adopt a style like this, as in you choose the way you want to beat the enemies, but in the older games, you only had 1 or 2 choices, chucking variety out the window, and making the game feel a LOT harder when you compare to todays games.

That being said, I'll call you old and senile just for the fun of it ;D

 

[The Irrelevant Gamer]

I don't know about cocky, and sentimental, but I'm getting old, jaded, and cynical, and I was already jaded, and cynical. The number of crap games I've played this year seems to be very high, but I'm not sure if it is me, or them.

 

[Alanicor]

I cant honestly say if its us or them either.

My lasting memories of 80s gaming was that they were low hype and low price. You bought your spectrum game from the newsagent along with a quarter oz of cola cubes. Even once you'd got it home there was a good chance it wouldnt load and a greater chance that it was crap. But i still spent many a blissful afternoon playing "dont buy this" £1.99 firebird game and loving it!

Now i get a quarter oz of something else and bliss my sunday afternoon away with my pc. There's still the chance the game wont work (patches required), and/or that its crap.

I feel we're in the same place but have merely upped the stakes.

 

[Spleenbag]

What I like most are video games where the concept/gameplay isn't based on real life or existing games or situations. Like Katamari or Portal. Part of the fun of playing video games is to experience situations and emotions that don't occur (often) in real life.

That's also the reason I like to play videogames---how many times in real life do you get to be a badass supersoldier who can toss aliens aside like orgami cranes? Or be the sole tyrant of an ancient civilization, screwing around with history as you see fit?

 

[squirrelman42]

Many games try to adopt a style like this, as in you choose the way you want to beat the enemies, but in the older games, you only had 1 or 2 choices, chucking variety out the window, and making the game feel a LOT harder when you compare to todays games.

On top of that, a lot of games back then had no save feature and were supposed to be beaten in 1 sitting, so they had to be challenging enough that you couldn't get through it in one sitting. See also: Bionic Commando.

 

[blackfly01]

I remember those days: You get a high score after getting your butt handed back to you, turn off the game and return to it some time later to see that your high score's been replaced with the default scores. Still, I find older games to be more satisfying in every aspect. Older games had a geniuine challenge and for the most part had no room for game play issues or control-layout problems. On a personal note, I've always had a sentimental attachment to shumps and platformers because they take me back to the days when I was in kindergarten and I'd always get up early to work-in a few minutes of Sonic or R-Type.

 

[Quistnix]

As far as I can remember, back in the 80's and early 90's we had a couple of good games, and a huge pile of crap. Just like today. We just tend too remember the good ones longer.

 

[soladrin]

As far as I can remember, back in the 80's and early 90's we had a couple of good games, and a huge pile of crap. Just like today. We just tend too remember the good ones longer.

this really counts for everything for every good thing how many bad things happen?
It's still fun to ramble on about it though ;P

 

[GloatingSwine]

On top of that, a lot of games back then had no save feature and were supposed to be beaten in 1 sitting, so they had to be challenging enough that you couldn't get through it in one sitting. See also: Bionic Commando.

I think that was largely a holdover from arcade design, there was still a mindset in place that you had to stop people completing the game too easily because then they wouldn't put any more money in.

It's something we really are better off without.

 

[Saskwach]

Yeah 12 in 1982 that makes you very old now.

Depends what you mean too easy, getting killed 100 times in a row isn't my idea of a challenging game. I agree on too predictable, plus games lead you by the hand far too much. On the Bioware forum people complained about not having the game explain every control to you ... its a very streamlined game and the controls are on the back of the manual! Seems people want to be treated like morons with pointless tutorials.

All of this is very true. Deadly =/= difficult. And if people can't even TEST OUT what each button does then how do they even have the energy to play a video game? Having said that it took me 2/3 of Mass Effect to realise the sprint button was an actual sprint in combat...

 

[laikenf]

What I think is happening is that we are playing video games basically the same way we did 20 years ago. we're still sitting on a couch in front of the TV with a gamepad in our hands (basicaly the same game pad as the one for the SNES without the dual analog). Now all this isn't really an issue for people who have only been playing for the past 10 years or so but for us older gamers it's growing kind of old (I think Nintendo has it right in that case). The xbox 360 is like the high mark for this type of gaming, just like the SNES was the summit for 16 bit and 2D gaming, the 360 is to me the final evolution stage for traditional gaming. So I think we should expect to see some very interesting things next generation (I wouldn't be surprised if everyone went motion sensing or something similar next time) but the point is that I think we are living the final years of the gamepad or dual analog because people ARE EXPECTING something new and different next time. If that happens I think I will never tire of gaming.

 

[P8riot]

M'eh.. I'm old, but we're about the same age.

I can still enjoy the FPS games though. I pretty much game with a group exclusively that focuses on mature game-play called Tactical Gamer. I've found that hooking up with a group that focuses more on Tactics in group/MMO settings has extended the playability of a number of the games produced today.

 

[soladrin]

M'eh.. I'm old, but we're about the same age.

I can still enjoy the FPS games though. I pretty much game with a group exclusively that focuses on mature game-play called Tactical Gamer. I've found that hooking up with a group that focuses more on Tactics in group/MMO settings has extended the playability of a number of the games produced today.

enlighten me please? sounds interesting