I don't think games were really all that much better in the past, nor do I think games have ceased to be an art form. The industry has expanded, no doubt, since the lauded mid-1990s referenced by Selka, and companies have realized the huge profit potential in the gaming industry. Games now may no longer be the labors of love they were in the '80s and even '90s when gaming was niche market and barriers to entry were small, but gaming as both a market and art form has thrived.
Certainly, there have been fantastic, groundbreaking games in the past that are very much worth playing today. These games have stood the test of time. But how many of those games' contemporaries have faded into obscurity? You remember greats like Final Fantasy 7, Goldeneye, Half-Life, and Starcraft not only because of how good they were, but because of how much better they were than other games released at the time. Even popular games from that era are terrible in comparison to mediocre games released today. Try to an early Tomb Raider game now. You'll find it terrible: difficult to control, uninspiring, and dull (not to mention the disturbingly angular figure of Ms. Croft). It's easy to see the leaps made in game technology and call new games tired facelifts of old ideas, but standards of gameplay, immersion, and storytelling have slowly trickled in behind the shiny facade of HDR lighting and normal mapping. Some games, certainly, have fallen into the trap of allowing graphics and technical sophistication to cloud storyline and writing, but many designers-the designers of the greats of today which will be played fondly in another ten years-have understood that new technology allows them to replace text with action. Not visceral, intense gameplay, but dramatic action that proves the continued vitality of gaming as art.
To take Selka's example of the Orange Box, look at the ending of Episode 2. There's no need for drawn out cutscenes to convey deeply personal information about the game's characters. The understanding that both cinematic and gameplay techniques can be applied to game design allows new games to set a far higher standard than old ones. This is evident playing new games back to back with old. Goldeneye was wonderfully fun when it came out, certainly, but I'd only play it today because I had so much fun with it as a kid. For someone approaching gaming today, virtually no one would choose it over even Halo, let alone Bioshock, Half-Life 2, or even an overlooked title like the Darkness. Even RPGs, which rely far less on sheer digital horsepower, have grown tremendously. New(er) games like Mass Effect, Vampire: Bloodlines, KoTOR, Eternal Darkness, Nocturne, Morrowind, Oblivion or Arcanum tell compelling stories while allowing the player more freedom than was even possible in the days of Final Fantasy 7.
I can't speak for all of the posters here, but I was rather young in the mid-nineties (I'm close to Selka's age, for reference), and I sometimes feel the same way. But, at the risk of revisiting an earlier point, when I get too deep in nostalgia and dig through my old games, I find something surprising. I don't want to play most of them. I dig out my Genesis or Super Nintendo (or load ZSNES), my PS1 or N64...and either throw in the tried-and-true few(a Mario, a Sonic, a Final Fantasy), or I decide to come to something newer. I'll take Twisted Metal: Black over Twisted Metal 2. I'll take Gears of War over Quake (hell, I might even take Doom 3). I even find myself playing Company of Heroes or World in Conflict over Starcraft.
I ask those of you who, like Selka, look wistfully back at the olden days of gaming to do the same.If you were truly dissatisfied with gaming, I doubt you'd still be discussing it here. It's certainly discouraging, and a valid complaint, to see a hobby that's been "ours" for years become part of the mainstream, eschewing our UT and counterstrike clans for frat guys on xbox-Live, seeing middle -aged moms playing Wii Sports or Brain Age, but that mainstream acceptance is what will allow video games to grow further as both art and business. Just as quirky, independent films are released today long after the era of penny-arcades and weird German expressionist flicks, so inspired, sublime, lovingly crafted games will continue to be produced alongside the Guitar Heroes, the Halos, and the yearly installment of EA Sports titles.
