Games going downward?

[Bobs_Hardware]

gameplay variety?  What you could actually do as a part of the gameplay?

example..

Metal Gear -> Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Reminiscing about Contra games was giving me some warm fuzzies, so I looked up some pics on GIS. These games hold some great memories.

http://www.classicgaming.com/contra/superc/superc12.gif

http://www.classicgaming.com/contra/superc/superc13.gif

http://www.classicgaming.com/contra/superc/superc11.gif

:alien:

I think most of you are getting fond memories confused with substance and quality.

Who here would try to make the claim FPSs of today aren\'t better in every way than they were 10 years ago? Certainly not me. Yet I have no real desire to play the latest and greatest FPS simply because I had my fill of them.  Doesn\'t mean I\'ll never enjoy one again but I\'m fairly sure I won\'t find myself playing an FPS every spare minute day after day for a month or two.

Listen; in the days of yore, possibly before anyone ever imagined video games, I remember as a kid playing Yatzee! for hours on end, even by myself if you can believe it. You could say I was easily entertained. Pathetic? THat\'s for sure. The spell was finally broken when I managed to get five Yatzees in a row.

What\'s my point? Substitute a simple game like Yatzee with something maybe a hundred or a thousand times more entertaining like FFVII and you might see where a magical bond could be formed in a young mind that would be tough to ever break. By extension the same could be said for a particular gaming era or (dare I say it?) game maker. Think of clinging to the goodness of yesterdays gaming as the breeding ground for fanboys and jaded gamers. The sooner it\'s left behind, the more you\'ll appreciate the games of today.

Okay, there is a large volume of crap games being put out. Just don\'t be so insistent yesterdays crap was better than nowadays

[Titan]

I try not to think about how games are getting worse. I just try to enjoy them for what they are and just rate them on the quality and not compare them to the classics.

What\'s my point? Substitute a simple game like Yatzee with something maybe a hundred or a thousand times more entertaining like FFVII and you might see where a magical bond could be formed in a young mind that would be tough to ever break. By extension the same could be said for a particular gaming era or (dare I say it?) game maker. Think of clinging to the goodness of yesterdays gaming as the breeding ground for fanboys and jaded gamers. The sooner it\'s left behind, the more you\'ll appreciate the games of today.

Very well said, I was thinking along the same lines

The industry is going downhill, the games aren\'t.

Well, not exponentially anyway. I think the general consensus is that games can ride their graphics alone today.. while this wasn\'t as true 10 years ago. You bought Sonic to play Sonic, not to gawk at the visuals.

Meh, Blade, There were graphics whores back then too.. and lots of them too. Some of the most bitter arguments between the Genesis and SNES had to do with graphics. Anyhow...

I think Heretic touched on the root of the problem without realizing it. It\'s the simplicity of games. Games tend to be much more fun and replayable the simpler they are. Strange.. but it\'s true from what I\'ve seen. Even up to the point of the DC, who\'s games were more "arcadish" and simple than most other console\'s high profile titles which were very complex by compairison. Today, the industry is pushing games closer and closer to being like interactive movies.. and like movies it seems people are getting into them for the story and visuals.. and then put them back up on the shelf to collect dust after the story and experience isn\'t new to them anymore.

Do you all know what the most popular game in the world right now is? It\'s not made by Nintnedo.. on a Sony platform.. It\'s not online.. and it doesn\'t have flashy graphics. No.. it\'s the simple card game of Solitaire, bundled with all MS OS\'s. Of course, this could simply be because it\'s a good time waster at work.. but by compairison, Minesweeper/Hearts/Pinball doesn\'t even come close to Solitaire\'s popularity.

Cloud, if I remember correctly, you only play PS2. Perhaps you should spread your wings a little and see what the other systems have to offer...this fall is as good a time as any.

 Yeah, that might help Cloud.  



To me, gaming is getting better and better!  Hi tec Hardware,  New types of controllers, systems with DVD playback, Online ready, better graphics and not forget, better games.  

give it a few more years pstwo

yer dissapointment will grow

give it a few more years pstwo

yer dissapointment will grow
 

LOL! I gave the PS2 half a year before i decided to use it to hold my books on quantum physics up.

Yet  i have this strange feeling PS3 is going to be hell of a console, if they pull it through. Maybe it\'s just the hype in the back of my mind, but it seems to me sony is working 5x harder on PS3 then they did with PS2

Sonyfan got it...the only reason those games of yesteryear had more replayability is because they were short and simple.  

FYI:  NiGHTS (I\'ve played through over 50 times), Halo (at least 10 times), Devil May Cry (3 times), Banjo- Kazooie (7 times), Jak & Daxter (2 times), Zelda: OoT: (3 times)...

Games have evolved since then, I\'m still having fun.  I\'m sorry that you\'re not, mm.

Games are mostly flash and little substance.

Dare I ask to give some examples?

I think Sonyfan was right with his whole spiel on simplicity.  Yes, games are more fun when they are terribly simple.  I mean, look at the facts, how many buttons does the Xbox controller have?  PS2?  GCN?  How many did the NES have?  See the difference?  That’s why people are bringing up Contra and other simple games that they exclaim are just so much more enjoyable then “today’s drivel.”  I’m sorry, but I can’t say that games today are all fluff or all flash.  There are some truly original ideas out there that people just refuse to accept.  I still think that Metroid Fusion will be one of the top tier games after accepting the fact that an FPS Metroid can and will work, besides that, we are getting a 2D version regardless on the GBA.  That brings me to another point…

If gaming is so contrived and horrible, then why not just buy a GBA and not touch all the other consoles that are out there?  Honestly, if you can complain about games being oh so terrible, then why have a PC that’s top of the line?  Why own every console?  I fail to see the point if most everything out there is crap to begin with, but that’s going to be something I’m sure mm will have a quick answer for.  

compare replayability with games today with games 10 years ago

I have.  The replayability is the same, it\'s just now we\'ve come to expect a whole lot more based on what we have already seen.  For the first time ever in console gaming, people are actually complaining about length.  In fact, I\'m told to mention length in reviews, something I never EVER had to do in the 32/16/8-bit days.  Since when did length ever affect a games fun factor?  Take a look at the Bouncer and check out it\'s main critique from reviewers and you\'ll see what I mean.

If you tried doing the same exact contra format with flashier graphics and absolutely no change to the format (shattered soldier is a change in the format so we\'ll leave that out for now) reviewers and gamers would just complain that it was "just another shooter" just like how you complained that UT2K3 was just another Quake clone today.  Still though, the point stands.

And by God, there is one thing that rings true today as it did well over a year ago when we first saw it: gamers can\'t take change.  Gamers want more realism, and gamers want flashier better graphics.  Don\'t believe me?  Go check out 90% of the message boards out there and search in their archives for their utter outrage when Zelda took that enormous graphical turn from ultra realisim with so many lighting effects and such a high polygon count, to the toon shaded format.  Myself and a handful of other on this board accepted it, the rest thought Miyamoto was a tool of the devil.  Would you believe that most of the people complaining about the change were those who grew up with Zelda in the first place?  Just think about it...

SonyFan: I remember some such arguments.. but it wasn\'t as complex as it is today..

No, mainly because it was kids who were arguing the point and if you didn\'t agree with each other chances are one of you ended up with your head dunked in a toilet. Still tho, if you read the reviews from magazines back then.. or hell even ads.. graphics prowess was a HUGE selling point. I mean, this was the first time in gaming history that the PC market even sat up and took serious notice of the graphics on consoles, and commented on how good they were and what it meant for PC games.

I fully agree, SonyFan!

But.. these days graphics can be a selling point. A reason to buy one game over another.

This was around in the past, but didn\'t prevail quite as much as it does today. I\'ve actually heard people say that they didn\'t get into the video game scene until the 32-bit generation because the visuals weren\'t realistic enough!