Put your notion of "classics" and "nostalgia" aside, and ask yourself if the experience of games is getting better with each generation. Mass Effect 2 proved to me that there has been an evolution in interactive media that little by little in starting to involve more emotional experiences and less simple visual stimulation. Uncharted 2 did the same thing, but more in the Adventurous Pulp sense hold your breath, laugh, hold your breath again, "holy shit" sort of way. Shadow of Colossus breached the line between gaming and art, even if Ebert doesn't think so. Not intending to discredit the great classics like Zelda: Ocarina (which still stands as one of my favorite games of all time). But in terms of overall experience, do you guys feel that gaming is growing, or are we just getting better graphics and sound, and more choices?
I think they are slowly changing. FPS's now have RPG and story elements that make sense(fallout,borderlands) RPG's are no longer turn based and actually make you think about the next move and adjust storywise(ME,Dragon age) Even if Madden,GTA,Tony Hawk.ETC: still push the same game every year.
Games are 100% better now since they require so much more out of the gamer. Check out a title like Heavy Rain for instance. In this game, you pretty much control how the game is going to progress. Your the detective, hero and your actions will significantly alter what happens in the future. You chose how it progresses and the game doesn't hold you back. Games in the 80's and 90's felt like Video Games, not to say that is a bad thing but this era has brought in something more. Games today feel like Epics, with great audio soundtracks, fantastic voice acting, and gripping story lines. I would say this is kinda like comparing G1 Transformers to the newer era figures. Sure G1 is great and will always have a place in your heart but everything now is WAY better.
First off, I walked away from Mass Effect 2 in awe. It had a story telling flair I've yet seen in a game. However, the great thing about games in this day and age is I can turn on the same system and start playing Super Street Fighter 2 or Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Since I can still enjoy classic games, but also enjoy the qualities of new titles, I would say the state of gaming is at least better. It's also unfair to say that certain games wouldn't exist if so and so game was never created and therefore classic games were better. Everything has to have an origin and the first isn't necessarily the best. The amazing thing to me is that after almost 30 years of playing games myself, I can still be wowed and totally consumed by a game. Finally, I want to add that while we all remember Pac-Man and Space Invaders, Mario and zelda and other hits from yesteryear, we tend to forget how much garbage was on the old systems. The atari had a huge library of barely playable games, and the NES had tons of games I can't believe got the "Nintendo Seal of Approval". We have a lot of bad games these days, but truth be told the bad games of today seem light years better then the bad games of before. On my final final note, (I've been up for a while and by all means should be sleeping) there is Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I bring that up because the game is 13 years old, and I can still play it and enjoy every second. I can also put on Suikoden, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7/8/9 and lots of other Saturn and Playstation 1 titles and enjoy them. They withstood the test of time. Now, back then people would ask the same question, and at that point one could only guess if those could withstand the test of time. Well, they do, and I'm willing to bet that in 10 or 12 more years I will be loving my 12th playthrough of Mass Effect 2 and Uncharted 2. I'm rambling at this point, but my answer is simply that yes, I think games are getting better. I enjoy them more and I can easily play my old favorites when I want.
It depends on how you define 'better'. To be honest, the last title that I found so compelling I played it for more than maybe 2 hours straight was Battlefield 2. If I had to list the most fun games I could think of it would be Smash Bros Melee (2001), Battlefield 2 (2005), F Zero GX (2003), Left 4 Dead (2008). Only one from the last 2 years.
and its a shame as its making all the games the exact same. Its like for myself Final Fantasy was all about turn based, that's something I adore more than anything else but now its being dumbed down to to appeal to the masses. Which I understand, as the simpler the game the more it will appeal to and bring in more money but its totally taking away a game type that shouldn't just be reserved for just the retro games. FF13 is now classed as an action RPG and its not what I want from a FF game, so I won't be getting it. I find the qulaity of games to be more diverse but the AAA titles are delivering more and more.
Better looking? Yes Longer ? Yes Better? Not necessarily My biggest complaint about recent video games is that a lot of them do not have a lot of re playability. I don't know if it is the length of some, or the repetitiveness but there are very few I can sit down and play again.
hard to know, im not a particularly big gamer but currently im enjoying capcom vs tatsunoko more than just about anything before BUT I can play ancient galaga and find myself utterly addicted to wiping out wave upon wave of aliens, if you wipe out a wave quickly and in a nice pattern you get this rush, if you get all clumsy and keep missing the things it gets incredibly frustrating, its a very strange thing to feel about so simple a game but funnily enough the same thing can be said about playing TvsC. theres so many games out there now that there will be gems some could be simple tetris like affairs or yet another epic RPG, its just difficult to sift through them all. theres certainly a sense that games are improving, SFII/SSFII are still satisfying games but after playing SF4 in HD on a big screen, the older games seem surprisingly quaint, you can get a lot for $40 these days, i remember SFII on the megadrive/genesis being 60 uk pounds on release,that was quite a lot of money in 1993. when SSF4 is released it will represent quite a lot of bang for the buck.
I don't think they're getting better. On the other hand, they're not getting worse either - a couple of years back I felt that games were degrading - shifting to Hollywood antics of hiring famous faces, gritty looks, etc., but it seems to me now the market is just shifting: for every game that goes into the wrong direction, a different one pops up that is quality or breaks the mold in a good way.
Agree 100%. Though I think its a sign of the times...In the old days, the really good video games were in arcades. They were meant to take your quarters, handfulls at a time, and keep you coming back for more when you had another handful of quarters...Now, with so many games coming out, games are intended to take your $59.99 and get you through it quickly enough to buy their next $59.99 game. They don't WANT you replaying nearly as much.
wheres another quarter? could be a good measure of a game, well an arcade type title anyway, fast learning curve/reward systems need to be carefully (or accidentally!) implemented. many more modern games just wouldnt get past a couple of quarters.
Yes, games are better. Without question. To say otherwise is crazy. The experiences people want to bring you has changed. If you're reminiscing over games that are like the old days, oh hey, they still exist, you simply aren't looking in the right places.
not only getting better but evolving in my opinion. To be better, all a game has to do is add extra power ups, weapons, add an extra character, etc. But games now do so much more. Some tell better stories than a movie, some will captivate your imagination with the creatures they put out, others have changed the way people play together.
well, how much does age play a factor in this complaint? Sure, we played the hell out of games during our youth because we had nothing else better to do. Now, we are all older and don't have as much time for gaming. I guarantee you, if it wasn't for girlfriend, dog, job and LSAT prep, I'd be all over Batman Arkham Asylum again and again. Personally, the only games from the past that still hold water today are the Zelda, Mario's of yesterday. Give me Mario Bros 3 over Modern Warfare 2 but as a whole, most games from the past sucked! Thats why I can say games of today are better. For every Mario Bros 3 or Zelda, we had 30 Judge Dredd's or Uncle Festers quests lol.
I was just thinking about this...HOME games are certainly better. I grew up in the days when Pitfall Harry having actual LEGS was amazing stuff Home games were pretty much garbage by any standards other than "They were the best we could get at the time". On the other hand I absolutely judge how good a game is by my desire to play it over and over...using THAT scale I'd absolutely take Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, Joust, Tempest, and Tecmo Bowl Arcade over COD, Madden, Darksiders, Arkham Asylum, and Uncharted any day 20+ years later and I'm still playing Ms Pac Man...how many people will say the same about Modern Warfare 2 in 2030?
