Poll: Is buying old games pointless?
- Thread starter Encentrik
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Why would buying old games be pointless? The only disadvantage old games have over newer games are the graphics, and, frankly, I think all the people that come and register to this kind of site have long agreed that graphics aren't all that important. Maybe some design philosophies were different back then (Not neccesarily worse. Cover based shooting wasn't around, though that may be considered a negative by most, it's a big positive for me), maybe some common things that we take for granted were done worse (Aiming with the keyboard on some games such as Bungie's "Marathon"), but those games are were todays games come from, and some of them are in the honored position of "GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME" for many.
Put it this way: People today who don't buy older games won't play Deus Ex 1, the System Shocks... Heck, even the Half-Lifes (In my opinion, the best series of all time) might be considered "Old games". Believe me, I'm no "Retro gamer" nor do I fondly look back at the "Good old times" when the best graphics were 8-bit, but I will say this over and over: Plenty of games as far back as the Atari 2600 were excellent, and you're loosing out if you don't play them.
Also, the fall in prices makes it even triple worth it. If I remember right you could buy 10 copies of Deus Ex for what Skyrim (An equally excellent game) is worth on Steam (That is, taking the Steam price of both games).
Put it this way: People today who don't buy older games won't play Deus Ex 1, the System Shocks... Heck, even the Half-Lifes (In my opinion, the best series of all time) might be considered "Old games". Believe me, I'm no "Retro gamer" nor do I fondly look back at the "Good old times" when the best graphics were 8-bit, but I will say this over and over: Plenty of games as far back as the Atari 2600 were excellent, and you're loosing out if you don't play them.
Also, the fall in prices makes it even triple worth it. If I remember right you could buy 10 copies of Deus Ex for what Skyrim (An equally excellent game) is worth on Steam (That is, taking the Steam price of both games).
Tell your friend that he/she is an idiot with the attention span of a housefly on caffeine.
As a PC gamer, I rarely buy games brand new since their price is often going to drop something like 60% within a year of their release.
Seriously, what the fuck? Is this what the consumerism of the modern age has led to. "It's pointless to buy anything old 'cause there's a ton of NEW KEWL AND UBER SUPER MEGA AWSUM STUFF TA SPEDN UR MUNNY ON ASASDASDASDASDASD".
Just the fact that something is brand new does NOT, ever, in any circumistances make it better.
As a PC gamer, I rarely buy games brand new since their price is often going to drop something like 60% within a year of their release.
Seriously, what the fuck? Is this what the consumerism of the modern age has led to. "It's pointless to buy anything old 'cause there's a ton of NEW KEWL AND UBER SUPER MEGA AWSUM STUFF TA SPEDN UR MUNNY ON ASASDASDASDASDASD".
Just the fact that something is brand new does NOT, ever, in any circumistances make it better.
Nice, nice.Hal10k said:
More on topic: Of course it's not pointless!
I LOVE getting old games! You get to see what you missed out on, or just re-live old experiences. I still love and play Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (And their expansions, of course) all the time! It's over 12 years old, but who cares? The game is fantastic! Plus every now and again you find a gem that totally snuck past you, and it's a slap in the face to realize that such a great game passed right by you!
Getting a new game can be a bit boring. You get it marketed at you from here to kingdom come, so you practically know everything about it when you start playing. But old games? That's like mining. Sometimes you find dirt, sometimes you find something you lost, and other times you find that hidden gem. It's an adventure! And it's awesome.
I go to sleep and come back to all this; sweet.
Anyway, yeah I think naming this thread "Do you still play old games" would've been a better choice; sorry about that. However, I think we can all agree that if you don't play old games because they're old, even if it's just a few years old, like 2007, is kind of idiotic. I usually buy games from Steam when they're on sale, like recently I bought Section 8: Prejudice. It's a fun game; would I have spent the 15-20 dollars that it was before? Maybe but it just didn't interest me as much but instead I got it for 2 dollars and it's fun as hell.
Anyway, yeah I think naming this thread "Do you still play old games" would've been a better choice; sorry about that. However, I think we can all agree that if you don't play old games because they're old, even if it's just a few years old, like 2007, is kind of idiotic. I usually buy games from Steam when they're on sale, like recently I bought Section 8: Prejudice. It's a fun game; would I have spent the 15-20 dollars that it was before? Maybe but it just didn't interest me as much but instead I got it for 2 dollars and it's fun as hell.
Modern ultra-pretty graphics and the increase of budgets for games (and therefore increase of the financial risk involved in making one) mean that games these days don't take as many risks and aren't usually as deep as games from the 1996-2005 era, so I'm interested in seeking out all the really incredible games from around that time---Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Morrowind, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1 and 2, Pathologic, Silent Hill 2, etc. Arkham City, Uncharted 3, etc., all most assuredly play a lot smoother and better than any of the games I listed, but my tastes in games are like my tastes in movies: I just feel like I'm wasting my time with the action-packed thriller types. I'm only interested if it's actually got a message or some element to the experience that'll have some sort of meaningful impact. Obnoxiously, in games, getting that often means sacrificing playability. New Vegas is probably the smoothest profound experience I'll have with a game, and even that was glitched up the rectum.
Why aren't incredible writers and designers EVER paired with good programmers?
Why aren't incredible writers and designers EVER paired with good programmers?
This is one thing that actually grinds my gears, I have many friends like the OP who think its pointless to buy old games, or they won't buy older games because the graphics aren't amazing regardless of how good the game play or story might be.
I personally enjoy purchasing older titles, most of the time they are games that I've planned on picking up but at the time of their release I haven't had the money and then I've forgotten about and then I'll spot them at a lower price in the future and pick it up.
The annoying thing in the UK is that if a game is older than about a year and a half you'll be hard done by to find it in somewhere like GAME or Game Station, unless its in the pre-owned, and then if you're looking for a title that isn't so popular it can be a struggle and sometimes when you do find them they're in terrible condition.
I personally enjoy purchasing older titles, most of the time they are games that I've planned on picking up but at the time of their release I haven't had the money and then I've forgotten about and then I'll spot them at a lower price in the future and pick it up.
The annoying thing in the UK is that if a game is older than about a year and a half you'll be hard done by to find it in somewhere like GAME or Game Station, unless its in the pre-owned, and then if you're looking for a title that isn't so popular it can be a struggle and sometimes when you do find them they're in terrible condition.
I live near a music store that specializes in used CD's, they have a small corner dedicated to used games 90% of which are typically 2-3 year old Madden titles the rest are usually really old SNES, and Genesis cartridges that I usually snatch up pretty quickly...Hell the other day I bought a copy of Combat for my Atari 2600.
These games are still good and still enjoyable. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't buy them.
Now yes, I admit that when Saint's Row 3 and Arkham City came out...I didn't spend a lot of time playing those older games or systems. But once I beat them a couple times over I went back to playing the older games that I still log a few hours per year playing.
These games are still good and still enjoyable. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't buy them.
Now yes, I admit that when Saint's Row 3 and Arkham City came out...I didn't spend a lot of time playing those older games or systems. But once I beat them a couple times over I went back to playing the older games that I still log a few hours per year playing.
No more then buying new games. Games have no simple clear goal, to be fun. If you have fun playing old games then its just as valid as playing new games. QED.
Now I ahve all this extra white space to fill in... hum... Batman riding a unicycle while juggling flaming chainsaws and being shot out of a cannon.
Now I ahve all this extra white space to fill in... hum... Batman riding a unicycle while juggling flaming chainsaws and being shot out of a cannon.
I don't buy games based on how many I can play for the least amount of money. Some old games are fun, some aren't.
Buying old games is one of my favorite parts of being a gamer, it's a great way to kill time in between big mainstream releases.