Am I Getting Old? - Page 5

Cosmonaut_Roger · 24-01-2007, 11:53 PM

One thing that I've found is that even bad older games still amuse me more than bad new games. Even poor old games have a certain edge, most of the time its creativity. For instance, Baldies was panned as a terrible game, but I enjoyed just because i could tell a lot of creativity went into making it. The same goes for Creature Shock, Outpost, and other poor dos games. Sure there were some real stinkers out there just like today, but a lot of the average ones were still enjoyable and still are today.

But poor new games are really quite poor, mostly because they attempt to copy eachother and they all shoehorn into 2 or 3 genres. This makes them quite boring, they lack the creativity.

I would much rather play a merely average older dos game than any merely average new game.

On a plus side, I recently installed Privateer 2, Wing Commander 2, and Wing Commander 1. Flight sim heaven!

Morrin · 25-01-2007, 05:18 AM

I have to agree on that.

I think the worst way a game can go wrong is to make it generally good, and then ruin it with something very stupid, like frustrating gameplay and artificial methods of making the game longer (such as sudden deaths, save points etc).

What I have noticed about new games is that they are very often frustrating. Or if they aren't frustrating, they are so long and boring. I don't really mind if game is short as long as it's intense, well put to gether and fun to play. I don't see any reason to buff my lvl 39 warrior to next level by spending countless hours and to gain only little (and to reach the level cap and therefore make the character useless).

Icewolf · 25-01-2007, 07:50 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Morrin @ Jan 25 2007, 07:18 AM) [snapback]276353[/snapback]</div>

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What I have noticed about new games is that they are very often frustrating. Or if they aren't frustrating, they are so long and boring.[/b]

Yep. I the older games you somehow develop militancy for making it. It's not (at least me) making me agressive or annoyed and thinking "what a phu-king game. Too bad I spent money on it."
The old games you can play over and over again.
Hell, I think I'd even enjoy playing through Maniac Mansion the 26th time. :w00t:

*Lulu_Jane* · 25-01-2007, 08:16 AM

I agree with you Icewolf (that you can play the older games over and over) and I don't think it's purely the nostalgia that drives me to do it either. A good story is a good story no-matter what medium it pops up in, be it a game, a movie or written on the back of a shopping list - If it's compelling, people will keep returning to it again and again.

Don Andy is ded right, a good adventure game is like playing a book.

Icewolf · 25-01-2007, 08:42 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lulu_Jane @ Jan 25 2007, 10:16 AM) [snapback]276382[/snapback]</div>

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Don Andy is ded right, a good adventure game is like playing a book.[/b]

Reminds me of Broken Sword 1. I was somehow sad when it ended.
Exactly like that story in four volumes i read.

mglsharkson · 25-01-2007, 05:32 PM

I compared computer games to an interactive book or movie - sucks you in and makes you come back to it time and again (the "engrossing" factor) to play it. Some games you play over & over, others you play once & that's it, some you quit from lack of interest! New vs old seems no to matter.

Old games short on fancy graphics yet made up for it for clever interaction / detail like an old book or movie.
No CGI blue screen to depend on.

New games do take advantage of it, if gameplay / storyline is boring you don't return to it and quit. I also felt the test of a Sci-Fi movie is strip away the flash and see if it stands on it's own two feet. The early Star Wars special effects was weak, but the movies were "charming" even today. Same with Alien series, Termanator, etc. First Jaws movie also. Last bunch of Star Wars for me were boring, too much CGI! The later Jaws where soo bad they are fun to watch today! Same with most horro movies. Just like some fancy new games...

I see the adult gaming public more and more going back to "old" games like classic books or movies that stood the test of time. Kids will always go for new game flash, the lastest fad game, etc. Just like teen low budget movies that depend on formula, a crowd will always see it.

Being older I don't want a steep learning curve on a game wasting my time to see if I like it. That's why I always check reviews and dive back into "old" classics but still try out some new games after being out for a year. Plus the "real" reviews show up and bugs / patches been work out by then.

Anyway, IMHO

M

humorguy · 25-01-2007, 06:26 PM

Hey, all these comments show why PC game sales are falling every year.

Publishers today just don't understand they have new competition, its called Home of the Underdogs, Abandonia, Replacementdocs and DOSBox. (H.A.R.D.!)

How many of us didn't play some DOS games at all, or for very long, even though we liked them, because of the grief to get it running in DOS with all those memory problems and crashes. Now that same game can be downloaded for free, ran in DOSBox with no grief at all and for the first time a game you bought 12-15 years ago is playing on your modern PC perfectly, running at just the right speed and with great sound, which it didn't do all that time ago!

The EA's/Valve's of this world need to understand what's really chasing at their heels. It's retro gaming. Whether it's DS, Wii or virtual machine 360/PS3 gaming, it's retro that is growing by leaps and bounds due to shallow conservative modern gaming!

Morrin · 26-01-2007, 05:13 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(humorguy @ Jan 25 2007, 07:26 PM) [snapback]276448[/snapback]</div>

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The EA's/Valve's of this world need to understand what's really chasing at their heels. It's retro gaming. Whether it's DS, Wii or virtual machine 360/PS3 gaming, it's retro that is growing by leaps and bounds due to shallow conservative modern gaming!
[/b]

I see that quite unrealistic. Gaming companies have made some retro releases on portable devices every now and then but it is the new games that really sell out. New kids on the gaming scene, they see the graphics most appealing. Certainly we, the seniors are still the most potent customers (we have more money) but more and more of us "oldies" start to get bored of it and either start doing something else/start playing oldies (and in that right, you are right).

*Lulu_Jane* · 26-01-2007, 06:27 AM

Exactly!

Although that's also why the latest Broken Sword release just isn't doing it for me. The B.S storyline has been consistently great through each installment, but in Angel Of Death it is so hard to actually "get into" the flow of the story (and hence, the game itself) because the "updated" and "advanced" user interface is so clunky and somewhat illogical.

Also, the camera p.o.v movement and character movement is pretty hopeless. Even though they might be the most "up to date" thing they could spew out, it really ruins the experience of the story when something is buggy and illogical all for the sake of Big-Shiny-and-New Syndrome.

gregor · 26-01-2007, 08:22 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(humorguy @ Jan 25 2007, 08:26 PM) [snapback]276448[/snapback]</div>

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Hey, all these comments show why PC game sales are falling every year.

[/b]

The sales are falling? Are you sure? At the end of last year i read how Gaming industry surpassed the movie industry in revenue and how it continues to grow. I doubt this that the sales are falling. Afterall someone that tasted only new graphics is not likely to be interested in old games. I mean how many kids today have spectrum emulator (or C64) installed on their computer and playing those games? adventure or simple arcades. In all these years i still havent' managed to finish School daze. i doubt any of today's kids even knows what that game was all about (great concept btw would like to see it in 3D).

they have Postal now or something like that