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Why no games like they used to make them.

Atomsk

Starman Super
Is it just me.. Or when games first game out.. Compared to now.. Were they better? Like.. I'm not just talking Graphics wise, because obviously graphics have come along way from back in the day of the Super Nintendo and Genesis and all.. But.. Did they make more quality games compared to now.. I can't help thinking about Final Fantasy 7, which came out in 1997, Along with Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, Zelda: Link to the Past, Final Fantasy 3, Metal Gear Solid (not counting Metal Gear Solid 2), and of course Super Metroid. Because.. I think over them.. And those are usually on peoples top 10 Lists that they have of Best games they've played, Over somewhat newer games like Super Mario Sunshine, and Most of the PS2's lineup of games.

I as just wondering.. out of all your guys' gaming experiences, Do you find the on average when it comes to games, Most games that come out are of lower grade then what used to come out, in sense of gameplay, Funness and all, Of course not in Graphics and Sound, Because those are things that are always evolving and getting better, Obviously.
"We're not retreating, we're advancing towards future victory!" - Sarge, Red vs. Blue web series.



Moik

Starman Super
FF1, Scorched Earth, Master of Magic, Master of Orion 2, Duke 3D, Tyrian, Rock & Roll Racing... they're are all on a different ranking system in that I have gone back to those games in preference to many of the supposedly better versions of new games.

Old games have their own rough artsy skilled amateur quality. New games have a focus-grouped professional quality.

It's like homemade burgers and fries vs BK.
Hyper-advanced aliens might not have to send their interstellar battle fleet to conquer Earth, it might only take three bored undergraduate aliens with borrowed lab equipment.



Atomsk

Starman Super
So.. What your saying is that the new games, Are more of a..

"Well.. I want an Action/Adventure game."
"Then you want Metroid Prime."

Opposed to..

"I want a cool game!"

Or am I missing the point?

EDIT - And the Homemade Burgers & Fries, vs BK comment, You mean.

'I want a big thick juicy burger(game).'

Vs.

'I'd like one reheated Paperwich, please.'
"We're not retreating, we're advancing towards future victory!" - Sarge, Red vs. Blue web series.



Prax

Starman Jr.
Funny which titles you guys are going with as "old" games. It's all about age and what you played when you first got into gaming. As I'm 31, my list of great "old" games is a lot different than yours and I've heard many folks around my age say the same about your "old" games which were seen as focus-group canned "new" games by them.

I was in a used game store the other day with a friend who's 34 and hasn't played many video games since the days of Atari 2600. He swore up and down nothing in that store was any good compared to the 2600 titles he owned. I'm telling ya, it's all nostalgia. Those old games are crap. But 25 years ago, that's the best we had and for the time, they were great fun. But technology has allowed programmers to expand on their imagination and we've benefitted greatly. Nothing wrong with kicking it old school nostalgia, but that's all it is.
Casual Hex - casualhex.com | "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." -Alan Kay



sevex

Starman DX
Well, me and Mike are around the same age, give or take a few... but I still consider the games he listed as old. Granted, they're not prehistoric like the stuff I started with... Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Jr. on some Atari/Computer thing that I can't even remember the name of. Or one of those consoles from radio shack that had the games built in, and came with paddles for pong, and a gun for some... gun game.

Atari games are so special because many of them were the work of a single individual, doing all the lousy graphics, programming, sound, and everything else. The concept of gameplay balance didn't even exist back then. Make a level, and then have it repeat. If you felt adventurous, have the difficulty increase every now and then.

Nowadays gaming has moved, for the most part, away from being an art form, and has become an industry through and through. Gamers are now divided into market groups, and have their entertainment tailored to suit what they want and will buy. Very few companies share the ideals of the legendary Blizzard Entertainment in breaking out of the traditional genre molds, and creating games that they themselves would want to play. (I'll admit though, World of Warcraft and Starcraft: Ghost don't quite fit this philosophy as much as something like Diablo would.)

Making a creative, innovating game like Master of Magic, Rock n Roll Racing, or Rez (had to list something more recent) in the current gaming industry is a big risk because the current gamer's obsession with graphics and "production value" is raising development costs. Even a medium production value game has to sell quite well to make up for this.

Maybe developers should look at Pokémon next time they're trying to come up with new ideas. I don't mean they should clone it, but they should try to understand why something so unique, so new, so risky, so low-budget even, became the best selling franchise in history.
"Hey, you! If you meet a beautiful, seductive woman who's looking for me, tell her 'hi.' Anyway, I don't think a woman like that would be looking for me." -Guy in Fourside Hotel