Bulgarian_Taffer on 14/4/2015 at 16:43
I've been thinking a lot about that lately. And I really can't decide...
It looks to me that there are two major groups of people. The first one claims that old games are not necessarily better. It's just that the first generation of gamers that grew in 80s and 90s just got old. And when we (I say we, because at least a major part of TTLGers here are already fully grown up, with a wife or kids, some people here are already retired) ... when we got older, we started to disapprove what young people like. Those people claim that the good old thing has already happened - we disapprove what our kids like, just like our parents disapproved what we liked in our time. Thus, new games are not necessarily worse - it's just that modern games follow current trends we no longer approve.
However, we have another group of people. They claim that there are objective reasons why old games were better.
The theory goes like that: years ago computers were not widespread. They were hard to configure, hard to work with and usually those who worked with computers were highly intelligent. Thus, older games were oriented towards this kind of people. Games were challenging, they required us to use our skills- to improve and get better.
However computers became widespread. There are currently many people using them and they are not that hard to work with, as it was before. Most people just use them for their own enterntainment in their free time. Modern gaming developers no longer seek to improve people's skills, in fact the opposite has happened - they started to tickle people's laziness. That's how games turned into nothing more than a compilation of scripted events and it's just like watching a movie - a simulation of a movie, at best.
What do you think?
Pyrian on 14/4/2015 at 17:10
I think that even the most nostalgia heavy properties coming out these days, go to some lengths to modernize the UI at the very least. Old games certainly had their gems, but they had an awful lot of duds too, and even the gems tend to have a lot of issues we would consider basic now.
Judith on 14/4/2015 at 17:15
It's as same as with music. There are old farts claiming that music ended in 1990s, listening to Pink Floyd like it's still relevant, but too tired or lazy to find something fresh, like Darkside for example. It's not like good music suddenly vanished. At some point it was just gone from mainstream TV and radio stations and went somewhere else. Still, it's easier to complain and do nothing rather that make an effort and search.
Games are similar case IMO. Target audiences are changing, so are budgets, scopes and themes, but good games are nowhere near dead. As they always were.
henke on 14/4/2015 at 17:33
Quote Posted by Bulgarian_Taffer
usually those who worked with computers were highly intelligent. Thus, older games were oriented towards this kind of people.
Errr, well I grew up playing games on the Commodore 64. Golden Axe, Giana Sisters, Outrun, Toobin'! Some of them were pretty fun for their time, but I wouldn't say any of them required a particularly high intelligence. And all of them have better modern day equivalents. Games have only gotten better.
faetal on 14/4/2015 at 17:37
No.
Sure Deus Ex, System Shock 2, Elite are classics and did an insane amount with what was available at the time, but then there are things like Dark Souls, Stalker (though I suppose that's getting on a bit), Mass Effect, Skyrim, Binding of Isaac, Elite Dangerous and soon, Stilt Fella....
Opinions will vary, but I can't look at the games timeline and see a downwards trend at all. The quality of games over time seems pretty heterogeneous with some peaks and some troughs. The only thing which reliably changes with time is nostalgia, which makes it a weighting factor.
Starker on 14/4/2015 at 18:39
Generally speaking, games are improving with each iteration -- we get smoother controls and animations, better lighting and textures, etc, but still, I think that there are old games out there that remain unsurpassed even with the clunkier controls and crappier graphics. Games like Silent Hill 2, Thief, Planescape: Torment, Alpha Centauri.
I do agree, though, that AAA games today tend to shy away from complexity and are afraid to challenge the player. People genuinely seem to be missing these types of games, as is evident from the success of old school games on Kickstarter and from the demand for Dark Souls and games like it.
It also depends on what you are comparing, exactly. For example, I just played Ico for the first time recently and just a few years ago I would've been inclined to believe something like this wouldn't be possible today, but then Journey came out and, more recently, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.
Renault on 14/4/2015 at 18:49
While I wouldn't just throw out a blanket statement like "old games are better," part of the allure and nostalgia for them is that they were often the first game to do (fill in the blank here). That alone gives them sort of a legendary status - think stealth with Thief or first person shooters with Doom. Most games released these days will end up owing some of their heritage to these older games, and they will likely flaunt that as well in advertising ("A modern day Myst!" or "Inspired by old school dungeon crawlers like Eye of the Beholder!")
So what am I saying... Maybe that truly new and original ideas just aren't very common these days? I guess, to some degree. But that's only because gaming has a genuine history now.
Thirith on 14/4/2015 at 19:04
Quote Posted by Brethren
Maybe that truly new and original ideas just aren't very common these days?
When were they ever common? I've been playing games since the early '80s, and the majority of games at all times were unoriginal. That doesn't even make them bad games, but originality is something rare at the best of times.
faetal on 14/4/2015 at 19:15
Execution is often more important than originality.
Bulgarian_Taffer on 14/4/2015 at 19:26
There are quite a lot of people (like me) who would prefer to stick to old and well known series, rather than jumping on something entirely new.
And... this is what I notice:
1. Some projects like Half-life have been totally abandoned and a sequel is unlikely to occur in near time.
2. Project like Thief have been rebooted and many people were disappointed.
3. Games like World of Warcraft barely resemble their former selves.
