what does everyone miss about the old days of gaming?

[rabidmedia]

en uh Nuther ting...
new games, such as left 4 dead (1 and 2) LET YOU CHOOSE LEVELS TO PLAY...FREELY!!!!!!!!!
Oh...HELL NO! I have Absolutely NOTHING to work for! I condone Cheat codes, let alone
having the whole game all at once!
AAARRRRGGGGG!!!!!!
....Sega should not've let this happen to them...

[Drageuth]

i've heard that some of these so called DLC's are actually just unlocking things that ARE on the actual disc itself. meaning they hid content in the game so that people would have to pay an additional price to GET the whole package lol.

Sometimes, but not quite. Sometimes the DLC that is found on the disc is stuff that they tried to fit in, but couldn't completely by release date.

[Alan Heer]

Challenge, creativity, originality, Limmited Atempts Before Restart (seriously, how am I supposed to get really good at a game if I don't have to?) SOLID PHYSICS!!!!!!! Sonic, Solid. Mario, Solid. Halo, Glitchy as hell! Left 4 dead, GLITCHY as HELL! The problem with new games is that about 100 people are working on this single game, there is no personality. DOOM was made by 12 people, I work solo on Freeware, Donkey Kong in the arcade was pretty much just Shigeru Miyamoto, maybe some technical support, 'cause it WAS his first game. theres also no Skill involved in newer titles, no "geting the feel of it". I've seen freeware games for sonic that are a thousand times better than anything SEGA has come up with in the past 15 years, and all they did is follow the formula of the originals, add new levels, and maybe a graphical touch up. Games these days are just TOO complicated, too. You only need two or three buttons and a Dpad to make a great game, even in 3D with quality graphics, but NOOooooo..... Everyone has to learn how to use the "Sholder Triggers" and Duel Joysticks, OR Flail your arms around like your having a stroke, or just Touch the screen. it's just, we're relying too much on updated technoledgy (that isn't even that much updated, 3D perspective visuals were first home owned with the SEGA master System, and it worked!) to make the games for them. Also, with 3D animation, there's no need for comming up with new graphics, just edit the Human form into another character...wow... AND 3D? It's been done, I could do it! you need a pair of glasses with a screen in each eye's view, then make the camera angels for each screen about an inch away from each other, BadaBoom! 3D. and It can be done, do you see how thin Cell phones are geeting? that's the screen, cpu, Processor, Memory, interface, and power source, that can play Xbox Live... in a Credit card! I bet if someone used a game system about the size of an NES, added processors and new stuff, you could do all those same things, but better!
What I miss... probably the ambition used to create something so massive, interactive, and physicaly realistic in a world which never really existed, except in computer space. 1s and 0s. usage of limited technolodgy to simulate another, completely different world, with patterns and objects that you must carefully navigate through to complete a goal. your not gonna get it on your first try, but that's how you learn...
that's how you learn...

There is a difference between being nastalgic and picky. For instance, there is nothing wrong with dual joysticks, playing on a 3 dimensional plane, shoulder buttons, and having more than 2 buttons. For that matter, there is nothing inherently wrong with touch screens or motion controls, just that most Nintendo games nowadays tend to take them to ridiculous extremes. If more buttons hurts games, then PC games are the worst since they use Keyboards most of the time. having less buttons would actually make things more complicated such as having to push button 1 and 2 to achieve button effect 3 instead of having a button 3. 100 people is actually a pretty small vg company as some can push as many as 300 workers. If you want smaller budget teams then look for homebrew and places like wiiware and you'll see why bigger teams are necessary for commercial games, else videogames would not be profitable and we wouldn't see games such as Zelda and SOTC. It takes time to create a game and the longer it takes, the more expensive it is. That is a flaw, but even with that, great games still exist today. Nier was a small budget game that had a lot of heart. Sadly Cavia, the company that developed it was disbanded and absorbed into another company. Team ICO (those responsible for cult hits ICO and Shadow of the Colossus) is set to release The Last Guardian sometime this year. Skyward Sword should also be coming out soon. Don't get me wrong. Many games just don't have the heart anymore, but the technology or possibilities aren't to blame. Many homebrew projects come out and gamers are the first to criticize. Small budget games rarely succeed because elitists that feel that "grafix sux" and therefore "game sux". I mentioned Nier, a game whose critics dismissed usually due to the protagonist looking quite ugly, even though it makes more sense. People wanted Bishounen brother Nier from the Japanese Ps3 version and turned down the older father Nier. Complaints didn't start there, "grafix" was even more of a gripe. It was a smaller budget title and despite that, I'd still play it anyday over FF13 (I bought it around the same time and liked Nier better). Disaster Report and Raw Danger are two Ps2 survival games that change things up a bit. They too had small budgets. Both have become poor scores critic wise, but general gamers like them better. Both were very open ended in that you could be as nice or as much of a jerk and people would react differently. Raw Danger had several smaller overlapping stories that changed in some spots depending on what choices you made. Irem made a DR3 for the PSP, but it hasn't been localized. They also made a DR4 for Ps3 set to be released this april, but it was canceled due to it's subject matter after the Earthquake and Tsunami.

One thing I have learned is that you can't complain about things you can't do better. We aren't entitled to video games or the quality. If a game sucks, then don't buy it. The industry will shift to survive if the market shifts. Therefore we can't blame the industry about crappy games, when we contribute to such crappy games. Some games would cease to exist if we knew what we wanted and supported those that gave us those things, instead we support those that give crap and expect the good devs to still churn out gold. As long as Sports title keeps selling new variations yearly, then we will continue to see Sports Title 20XX.

Overall, I agree with the person that said that relative quality is still about the same. Some qualities aren't as evident while other qualities are more common. Older games still exist and we shouldn't expect them to keep releasing titles in a retro style since we can still play them.

I understand that some like a harder difficulty, but there is a boundary. If a game is too difficult, it will become frustrating. If a game is frustrating me, it defeats the purpose. If difficulty options are available and they are accurate, then all parties should be satisfied. You complain of not having limited lives yet there was someone that gave the solution to that earlier and that is that you can start a new game everytime you die or pass your limit of lives. I think starting over doesn't actually make a game harder, but more tedious. If a game isn't hard enough for you, make it harder, but not everybody wants to be frustrated from fake difficulty. I won't brag about some accomplishment

[Shareware]

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Goddamn what a wall of text.

But I agree. Also, people were really complaining that Nier is ugly?

They just mad cause now they can't fap to the androgyny anymore.

[MarianoRyu]

If you're saying that more fighting games need to be 2D, well okay then. It's not like they play any different though, since the gameplay is still strictly on a 2D plane.

That's what I was referring to, yes. But it's not the same as going to the arcade to play Street Fighter II or the first Marvel vs. Capcom, I find. Some things should have been better left in 2D, such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

[bigbigbuddy]

That's what I was referring to, yes. But it's not the same as going to the arcade to play Street Fighter II or the first Marvel vs. Capcom, I find. Some things should have been better left in 2D, such as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.

Agreed

[Blue Electrona]

I miss good old arcade Tetris on the highest difficulty.

[Dr. Ivo Robotnik]

Frankly, I find it difficult to say what exactly it is I miss about the old days of gaming. There were differences, certainly, but at the same time...

Well, okay - Better bloody Final Fantasies. Sorry, but Square hasn't exactly treated it's main franchise well lately, and in the old days of gaming, it did.

(This statement can also read as: I have no idea. There's something there, but I've no idea how to put it into words )

[rabidmedia]

to Alen Heer,
Sorry to mislead you, These were my personal preferences and do not in any way reflect what is "wrong with new games" in any general sense. While I do agree that there are still some gems being pumped out from newer developers (Nintendo has never steered me wrong, ecept for the Mario Party games, but those kind of games are very popular in Japan, so I can't complain). one thing I like to see with new age games, is less japanese or other foreign games that are being held "hostage" by the original producers, never to be witnessed [legaly] by american consumers. The thing is, I like the good 'ol days of gaming simply because the best games Ever are there. Mario 1,2, and especialy 3. Sonic on the Sega genesis was NEVER a bad Decision ('cept maybe spinball, but I still enjoy playing it). mostly, I just miss Sega being in the console wars. I'd still buy SEGA genesis games if they were coming out with new ones today.
Also, I don't completely condone more buttons or a touch screen in games, because they really are good ideas... I don't really know what I'm saying other than "SEGA... What happened?"

[Alan Heer]

I agree. Sega and Nintendo were the biggest rivals, always striving to beat each other. That is why the snes/ Genesis era is considered the golden age of gaming. Today's console wars are different. Instead of the game companies striving to win consumers through quality, they're relying on fanboys to fight for them. I'm not too big of a fan of the way all of the big three are completely doing things, like exploiting their fanbases. Sega had it good, but something happened. SCD and 32x may not have been the best, but I believe had they had better pacing between consoles and addons, Sega may have still been in the hardware business today. then we would have even more competition and competition breeds quality and innovation. Ninty's main problem is that they really aren't competing with the other two. Wii has a different demographic and they aren't worried about rivals. This is leading to shovelware. The other two companies are in the habit of showing their greed, when they attempt to rape their userbases. Like I said though, they aren't fighting, the fanboys are. They don't have to lift a finger because they have rabid fans who will just about fight to the death. Sony isn't what it used to be when the ps2 reigned, they're letting it go to their heads. Microsoft is letting up on it's efforts and is getting lazy. If Sega hadn't abandoned the DC, we could have a DC 2 and even more quality titles. Their pricing would have to be worked with though as I remember that somebody once bought a Genesis with the two addon's and payed close to the price of a ps3. They kept thinking too far ahead. The world was not ready enough for a DC and it's $400 Price tag. It was close to the pricing if the other systems of the generation though.

[rabidmedia]

yup... I think nintendo will never die... although Miyamoto's getting pretty old. being a independant game developer myself, I always dreamed of either being entrusted with the Mario lisence in the horrible future without Miyamoto, or to single handedly raise SEGA from the grave (heh...beasts...). Know what? technoledgy would impress me more if it was actually something new. noone's comming up with anything NEW, touchscreens, 3d, motion sensors, it's all been done before...
I know where SEGA lost it, the same place everyone else did, GREED, as well as stupidity (seriously, if I was gonna start selling out, I'd start bringing all of my best work all at once and with all the Collections sega came out with, not many of them were any good. Kid Chameleon, Outrun, Ristar, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi.)

Personaly, my plan is to (after some schoolin',) make a prototype Rabid Home Arcade System. it will have a similar processing unit as the NeoGeo, 'cept one 8bit, one 16bit, and a 32bit processor. The console will feature quality 2D (and a few 3D) games made by Myself and some other Indi/Trusted developers. The console will be a Straight-to-the-point Game System, complete with 2 controlers of a classic styling (SNES, 4 buttons, a Dpad, start/select, L/R, and maybe an anolog stick / slider). It will be fairly small in size, but present visualy, and Il will strive to bring consumers an affordable, quality gaming experience with fairly high quality graphics and smooth, precice gameplay. I will have every kind of game such as Shmup, platformer, fps/lightgun games, RPGs, and Sports (not favorably, but I won't hold back over pety nerd-based prefferences).
Yes, my ambition is that great. if you don't believe me, check out my sight @ www.rabidmedia.weebly.com .

[Blue Electrona]

It sounds like you already have blueprints made for this omega retro system. To have the cabinet of a neogeo, control of a nes hybrid controller, (not in a prius kind of way.)
and have a collab of awesome 8~32 bit games made by well trusted indie game developers and be able to access these games all in the same unit. Well good luck, if such a thing actually does come out then you will find one soon in my man cave!

[bigbigbuddy]

yup... I think nintendo will never die... although Miyamoto's getting pretty old. being a independant game developer myself, I always dreamed of either being entrusted with the Mario lisence in the horrible future without Miyamoto, or to single handedly raise SEGA from the grave (heh...beasts...). Know what? technoledgy would impress me more if it was actually something new. noone's comming up with anything NEW, touchscreens, 3d, motion sensors, it's all been done before...
I know where SEGA lost it, the same place everyone else did, GREED, as well as stupidity (seriously, if I was gonna start selling out, I'd start bringing all of my best work all at once and with all the Collections sega came out with, not many of them were any good. Kid Chameleon, Outrun, Ristar, Crazy Taxi, Shinobi.)

Personaly, my plan is to (after some schoolin',) make a prototype Rabid Home Arcade System. it will have a similar processing unit as the NeoGeo, 'cept one 8bit, one 16bit, and a 32bit processor. The console will feature quality 2D (and a few 3D) games made by Myself and some other Indi/Trusted developers. The console will be a Straight-to-the-point Game System, complete with 2 controlers of a classic styling (SNES, 4 buttons, a Dpad, start/select, L/R, and maybe an anolog stick / slider). It will be fairly small in size, but present visualy, and Il will strive to bring consumers an affordable, quality gaming experience with fairly high quality graphics and smooth, precice gameplay. I will have every kind of game such as Shmup, platformer, fps/lightgun games, RPGs, and Sports (not favorably, but I won't hold back over pety nerd-based prefferences).
Yes, my ambition is that great. if you don't believe me, check out my sight @ www.rabidmedia.weebly.com .

You my friend, are gonna go somewhere in life =]

[Russ]

There wasn't as much focus on graphics, it was all about gameplay. Didn't have emulators for people to cheat games with, you actually had to be good to beat them much less get anywhere in the game. The soundtracks are often the biggest reason, something about the hypnotic sounds that attracts people like moths to the flame. If you were born pre 90's but grew up playing 90's games, chances are you're going to have a stronger connection with games from that era than games coming out today. You may not realize it, but you possess a bias towards what you think a game should be. If you don't see that coming out in modern day, you probably won't like it. Even if the game is good for other reasons.

[bigbigbuddy]

There wasn't as much focus on graphics, it was all about gameplay. Didn't have emulators for people to cheat games with, you actually had to be good to beat them much less get anywhere in the game. The soundtracks are often the biggest reason, something about the hypnotic sounds that attracts people like moths to the flame. If you were born pre 90's but grew up playing 90's games, chances are you're going to have a stronger connection with games from that era than games coming out today. You may not realize it, but you possess a bias towards what you think a game should be. If you don't see that coming out in modern day, you probably won't like it. Even if the game is good for other reasons.

Actually i was just thinking of that, but i still stand on my point that most of the originality in newer games have been lost.