Why I think retro gaming is better than modern gaming
equestriatola
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Even though I am from a generation where I'd like modern gaming, I don't. Why, you ask?
1) Games in those days were played for the fun of it, much moreso than now; gaming today seems to be rather serious business, I've noticed.
2) The games were simple to understand; no need to look at complex controls.
3) The graphics were vibrant and colorful; most of today's games seem to be rather dark (save for the Mario games).
What do you think, guys?
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equestriatola
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Joined: 13 Aug 2012
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Location: Half of me is in the Washington state, the other Los Angeles.
Hear, hear! Plus, they can be available for a bargain (many games, anyway) compared to brand-new ones.
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Feel free to talk to me, if you wish.
Every day is a gift- cherish it!
"A true, true friend helps a friend in need."
I grew up with the NES and original Gameboy(As well as a crappy old DOS PC) as what got me started on gaming. Part of why I like modern games though, is because I have grown up with the evolution of the gaming industry. I started when I was 5 with the NES, with a controller that had simply a D-pad, A, B, Start, and Select. The games were fun, but most importantly for my age, they were accessible. Controllers and games have just gotten more complex over the years. Thats fine for someone like me who has been playing games for over two decades. Give a 5 year old an Xbox 360/PS3 controller and the average game for it and they won't be able to accomplish much. Getting in to gaming is not as accessible for new players as it once was.
I had an idea the other day, for something I would love to see Nintendo make, but they probably won't do any time soon. Nintendo has gotten too focused on trying to be innovative(with mixed results at best), and less focused on making games that are just simply fun. It doesn't even have to replace the Wii and DS product lines but serve as a third pillar(Something they once claimed the DS would be, but then killed off the Gameboy products anyways). Essentially develop a new console and handheld focused on classic games, that run the same software. Hardware designed specifically to do high-definition 2D animation at 1080p on your TV, or a lower resolution(And thus lower hardware requirements) in the handheld. Controls for both platforms would be based off the SNES controller design. It was simple, but had enough buttons for more complex games than the NES allowed. No analog sticks, keep the control format the same for both platforms, games purchased would work on both, some form of cartridge/memory card, so even saved games would carry over. Minimal 3D hardware required as the focus on classic games would keep the costs down. Even online services would be optional, bring back significant split-screen options.
The market for such devices would be twofold. Adult gamers who grew up in the NES/SNES(or earlier) era and miss the style of games from that time. People that want to get in to gaming but find the control system or increasing focus on online play daunting. Also with the first group, many of them would have kids now, and it would give them a system to introduce their children to with games similar to what they grew up with. Release updated ports of classic games(I would kill for Super Metroid with higher resolution sprites and running at 1080p) and other games, sequels or new IP, in the style of the 8 bit and 16 bit games. They could even play the system names for nostalgia and bring back the Nintendo Entertainment System and Gameboy brands, with a shared postfix indicating the shared platform(For example, call them the NES Modern and Gameboy Modern, with a better name than those, but you get the idea).
They could continue using the Wii and DS brands to push for innovative new control schemes and game concepts, but give us fans of classic games somewhere to play the games that right now, just aren't being made for modern consoles. Nintendo is really the only current console manufacturer who can, and ever would consider, pulling this off. Microsoft and Sony seem too focused on selling the latest massive blockbuster titles that cost millions to make, and they don't have nearly the history in the gaming industry that Nintendo does. If Nintendo ever did something along these lines, they could count me among the first people in line for it.
Totally agree especially on the colour scheme. my crying out loud, we have some amazing technology: developers, use it to create some bright, cheerful worlds not another nuclear wasteland! I liked NES games in particular because I could get lost in my imagination. The last modern game I had that feeling was GTA: San Andreas.
How many of them actually reach that potential? The number of companies willing to push hardware to its limits for gameplay purposes over graphics is rapidly approaching zero. With the budgets games use now, no one wants to take risks.
What I've noticed about videogames today compared to when I was a kid... They've gotten much more complex and tedious. You can't play a game without watching some stupid cutscene anymore. They were cool at first, but now it's gotten old. But the games aren't really all that HARD anymore. I wanna see all these kids who play COD and Battlefield all day go back and beat Ghosts 'N Goblins. That game was simple as s**t, but HARDER THAN HELL. After 20 some years, I still can't get past the first level in it.
Within the last few years, I played Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. And both of those games pissed me off. They were decent, but the combat was a joke. Figuring out the puzzles was a big joke too, but the EXECUTION of the puzzles was a pain in the ass. When I played the first Zelda, there were almost ZERO clues as to where any secrets were located. If you wanted to find something, you ran around the map, randomly bombing walls and burning bushes. Occasionally you'll find an old man in a cave or secret room who will tell you something like "dodongo dislikes smoke," or "eastmost peninsula is the secret." That was it. If you got stuck in a room, you'd bomb the walls or try pushing in every direction until you found what to do. Not anymore. Now I walk into a room and instantly know what to do, and NO enemy is really hard at all because all you have to do most of the time is just keep your shield up and wait for your sword to flash green. Then you press A once, and it does some complex deathblow move that should take more than the pressing of ONE STUPID BUTTON to execute.
Gaming has become WAY too easy, as well as too complex and tedious. AND it's gotten way too predictable and unoriginal. A lot of games, you can win just by mashing buttons.
I miss the days of the NES, SNES, and Genesis. And I miss the days of the original Playstation. Who here remembers playing Crash Bandicoot 2? That game is such a simple game, but SO hard at times. I wish they still made games like that..
That all being said, I have to also mention that I LOVE Fallout 3/New Vegas. I don't hate the modern era of gaming, but I hate the fact that it's much harder to find newer games I like.
Within the last few years, I played Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. And both of those games pissed me off. They were decent, but the combat was a joke. Figuring out the puzzles was a big joke too, but the EXECUTION of the puzzles was a pain in the ass. When I played the first Zelda, there were almost ZERO clues as to where any secrets were located. If you wanted to find something, you ran around the map, randomly bombing walls and burning bushes. Occasionally you'll find an old man in a cave or secret room who will tell you something like "dodongo dislikes smoke," or "eastmost peninsula is the secret." That was it. If you got stuck in a room, you'd bomb the walls or try pushing in every direction until you found what to do. Not anymore. Now I walk into a room and instantly know what to do, and NO enemy is really hard at all because all you have to do most of the time is just keep your shield up and wait for your sword to flash green. Then you press A once, and it does some complex deathblow move that should take more than the pressing of ONE STUPID BUTTON to execute.
Gaming has become WAY too easy, as well as too complex and tedious. AND it's gotten way too predictable and unoriginal. A lot of games, you can win just by mashing buttons.
I miss the days of the NES, SNES, and Genesis. And I miss the days of the original Playstation. Who here remembers playing Crash Bandicoot 2? That game is such a simple game, but SO hard at times. I wish they still made games like that..
That all being said, I have to also mention that I LOVE Fallout 3/New Vegas. I don't hate the modern era of gaming, but I hate the fact that it's much harder to find newer games I like.
Emulators, my friend, get them.
I often wonder why it is that when "retro" gaming is mentioned, no one ever seems to consider games that were around before the Magnavox Odyssey was released (ca. 1972).
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equestriatola
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Location: Half of me is in the Washington state, the other Los Angeles.
Maybe it's because so few have heard of such games.
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The Canadian Football League - What We're Made Of
Feel free to talk to me, if you wish.
Every day is a gift- cherish it!
"A true, true friend helps a friend in need."
This will forever be a controversial topic, pitting generation gap opinions against each other! I will always have a love for old games (16-bit and lower) but I love newer games as well. FPS styles have held my attention since I played Wolf3d, Terror of the Catacombs and Doom on the PC and presently I love (and addicted to) Call of Duty titles.
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I've seen two changes in the gaming industry so I will consider the time before these changes as the 'retro' era.
1- The first major change was when the industry ceased to innovate and begun to carbon copy and hype-advertise for profit. World of Warcraft heralded this change.
2- Companies are now making games for the short-term. Free to play (pay to win) minitransaction MMO's as opposed to long term monthly fee MMOs. These game types begun in asia and were limited to really crappy games but then Chinese and Korean firms expanded into the US and adapted carbon-copying (#1 above) to the minitransaction scheme. The result was a flourishing of very crappy free to play games that quickly turned pay to win. There is very little technological or intellectual innovation in such games and when the game runs out of steam the company simply carbon copies the technological part of the game, slaps it into the skin of a different world/story/monsters and starts the cycle.
.
World of Warcraft was hardly the first massively hyped clone of another game, it was just arguably the most successful one. It had been attempted numerous times before. Hell, look at the numerous clones of Super Mario 64 that failed to replicate any of what made SM64 good.
But speaking of MMOs specifically, sadly it has become the measuring bar for MMO success and people are trying to copy it in order to beat it? It makes no sense, but they try anyways. You aren't going to make a dent in WoW's 8 digit subscriber base by releasing essentially the same game they are already playing. Plus so many MMOs either fail and either shut down or switch to a free to play model because they didn't get millions of subscribers. I would love to see someone make a new MMO that is actually new, and doesn't require a million+ subscribers to be considered successful. Do something innovative even if its aimed at a niche market. Attracting 10,000+ loyal subscribers should be the goal, instead they go for 1,000,000+ subscribers who end up only playing for one month and quitting.
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