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[Ceadeus]

Hey folks!

Hope you had a good day! As the video game industry has been going forward for so long, most of you can easily make the difference between past and present gaming.

Both having their plus and minus. Some example could be, older games are difficult to be enjoyed on todays television. Framerates were too low. Too cryptic.

Versus newer games, having mtx, dlc, download size...

You get the point!

Go as deep as you want , as long as there's no toxicity alright

What is your prefered era? a positive and negative point on each and discuss!

EDIT: by older gaming I meant, in before the internet inclusion on our video game systems. When system and game update didn't exist. Before the internet was needed to play, update and be installed on our systems. Then before mtx , paid subs and stuff like that.

So older and modern is subjective when I think about it but my thought was that, modern is when gaming started to need the internet to function. By older I would say it stopped after the 6th gen. When games were complete , off the bat into the disc.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Good games are good forever.

 

[Dream-Knife]

A lot of modern western games are pretty bad and just generic iterative entries. There is still great games coming out though, but mostly from Japan.

I guess it just depends on what you define as modern vs old. Growing up in the 90s I can't view 5th as retro, but for the purpose of this thread I'm viewing it as 6th gen and back as old and 7th gen and newer as modern. I think the industry as a whole went lower in the 7th gen. Still, there's plenty of good games to play.

 

[Ceadeus]

A lot of modern western games are pretty bad and just generic iterative entries. There is still great games coming out though, but mostly from Japan.

I guess it just depends on what you define as modern vs old. Growing up in the 90s I can't view 5th as retro, but for the purpose of this thread I'm viewing it as 6th gen and back as old and 7th gen and newer as modern. I think the industry as a whole went lower in the 7th gen. Still, there's plenty of good games to play.

Modern western games? let's say Baldur's gate 3, Pillars of Eternity 2. Are they generic? They can be as generic as any japanese games no? I think 90s japanese games were really great when they came out. Then, Baldur's gate , dungeon and dragon, and eyes of the beholder are!

 

[Damigos]

I can remember every single car from the first GT, every dialogue from MGS, every move from Tekken 3, every map from Unreal Tournament, every viable strategy from Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3.
I remember nothing of the last 10 years of gaming

 

[Dream-Knife]

Modern western games? let's say Baldur's gate 3, Pillars of Eternity 2. Are they generic? They can be as generic as any japanese games no? I think 90s japanese games were really great when they came out. Then, Baldur's gate , dungeon and dragon, and eyes of the beholder are!

I'm going to be honest, I haven't played either of those games.

If we're talking JRPGs 90s Square was amazing. IMO Atlus and Monolithsoft have been carrying that flag the last 20 years.

 

[Vaelka]

I can remember every single car from the first GT, every dialogue from MGS, every move from Tekken 3, every map from Unreal Tournament, every viable strategy from Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3.
I remember nothing of the last 10 years of gaming

I'd say I don't rly remember much if anything of Western games but I do with a ton of Japanese games.
I remember a ton of the dialogue and direct quotes from FFXIV that are very meaningful and memorable to me ( the writing did improve a ton with every expansion, ARR in particular is a bit awkward ).
But I can't remember shit from big titles like TLOU, HZD and GoW same with WoW.
They all have the most generic writing imaginable that comes across more like blabbering or just brooding to me.
It's quite telling that for as much as people praise GoW the only thing people ever really quote and have to say about it is '' boy ''.

The dialogue between Ellie and Dina in TLOU2 is just a bunch of nonsense that really adds nothing to their characters it's only there to move the plot forward.
Same with WoW you could replace the Jailers or Sylvanas dialogue with a stock villain.

Jailer: '' I have won ''
'' Your efforts are futile ''.
'' You cannot stop me ''

Bolvar or whoever the fuck: '' No, we WILL stop you! ''

That's basically the dialogue.

I can remember so much from games like Kotor 2 and Warcraft 3 or Starcraft + Brood War and Diablo etc.
I can barely remember shit about more modern games I can only remember how generic and dull it is.
It's honestly a bit embarrassing how low the standards are for writing in games and I know it can be better.

Edit: It depends a lot on the localizers too, if the localizers for Japanese games are trash then it doesn't matter if the original is good.
Even if we wanna talk about memes and just memorable moments regardless of whether they're serious or not, the Yakuza series has so much of it where in the fuck is our equivelant in the West?
The Saints Row reboot?
REALLY?

 

[Ceadeus]

I'd say I don't rly remember much if anything of Western games but I do with a ton of Japanese games.
I remember a ton of the dialogue and direct quotes from FFXIV that are very meaningful and memorable to me ( the writing did improve a ton with every expansion, ARR in particular is a bit awkward ).
But I can't remember shit from big titles like TLOU, HZD and GoW same with WoW.
They all have the most generic writing imaginable that comes across more like blabbering or just brooding to me.
It's quite telling that for as much as people praise GoW the only thing people ever really quote and have to say about it is '' boy ''.

The dialogue between Ellie and Dina in TLOU2 is just a bunch of nonsense that really adds nothing to their characters it's only there to move the plot forward.
Same with WoW you could replace the Jailers or Sylvanas dialogue with a stock villain.

Jailer: '' I have won ''
'' Your efforts are futile ''.
'' You cannot stop me ''

Bolvar or whoever the fuck: '' No, we WILL stop you! ''

That's basically the dialogue.

I can remember so much from games like Kotor 2 and Warcraft 3 or Starcraft + Brood War and Diablo etc.
I can barely remember shit about more modern games I can only remember how generic and dull it is.
It's honestly a bit embarrassing how low the standards are for writing in games and I know it can be better.

Edit: It depends a lot on the localizers too, if the localizers for Japanese games are trash then it doesn't matter if the original is good.
Even if we wanna talk about memes and just memorable moments regardless of whether they're serious or not, the Yakuza series has so much of it where in the fuck is our equivelant in the West?
The Saints Row reboot?
REALLY?

To be fair, in God of war 2018, what’s memorable is the art direction, voice acting, music, battle and cinematographic coreyography. The game also go to multiples biomes and extensive color palettes . The character progression is also well implemented.

i just mean to say it’s a damn well made modern game.

 

[The Pleasure]

A lot of modern western games are pretty bad and just generic iterative entries. There is still great games coming out though, but mostly from Japan.

I guess it just depends on what you define as modern vs old. Growing up in the 90s I can't view 5th as retro, but for the purpose of this thread I'm viewing it as 6th gen and back as old and 7th gen and newer as modern. I think the industry as a whole went lower in the 7th gen. Still, there's plenty of good games to play.

Am I kawaii sempai uguu? Yamate no Kiske de ponce o Leon.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Fredrik]

Super Metroid is #1 on my best game of all time list, it released in 1994.

Final Fantasy 7, released in 1997, is my favorite JRPG.

Metal Gear Solid, released in 1998, is my favorite MGS.

Great games are great forever just like first reply says.

But in general I still think games get better and better, a few old ones still hold up well but most don’t.

I play lots of retro games, big fan of the Commodore era, still have stuff plugged in. They have a simplicity that I enjoy, they’re extremely focused on gameplay compared to modern games, they’re exactly as long as they need to be, zero padding, but for the most part I enjoy them because of the nostalgia and music.

 

[The Pleasure]

fpbp

Remember that time when people said zelda 2 was a good game? They lied.

 

[rofif]

Old games? What is that? Oblivion is like 15 years old. Had micro transactions and everything. And think about games that were 15 yo in 2006!
New to old is no longer linear. Dark souls is still relevant and played and this shit is 10 years old

 

[Vaelka]

To be fair, in God of war 2018, what’s memorable is the art direction, voice acting, music, battle and cinematographic coreyography. The game also go to multiples biomes and extensive color palettes . The character progression is also well implemented.

i just mean to say it’s a damn well made modern game.

I see the writing praised a lot but I really don't think that it's very good at all.
To some extent it's because of Kratos himself but I don't think that the dialogue for the other characters is well-written either and there's far too much blabbering and refusing to adress things in favor of more brooding that came across as pretentious imo and personalities flipping back and forth in a span of five minutes.
The dialogue is very minimalistic and simplistic to a fault.

I can agree that the game looks nice even if I don't like the art direction but it's more of a preference thing I just find it kinda boring and forgettable but I like more stylized art directions.
I mean I think that TLOU2 is a well made modern game too but I don't think that it's an incredible game.
And I think it gets carried very hard by production value too.

They kinda have that soulless Skyrim writing imo, it comes across as very unnatural to me and like they're saying things for the sake of saying things or that doesn't rly mean anything.
And they often lack personality they're just very bland compared to the characters in Dragon Age Origins for example. It's all so dry.

 

[Rykan]

I can remember every single car from the first GT, every dialogue from MGS, every move from Tekken 3, every map from Unreal Tournament, every viable strategy from Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3.
I remember nothing of the last 10 years of gaming

Sure, but how old were you back then?

A person is much more impressionable at a younger age than when they get older.

 

[Mess]

Remember that time when people said zelda 2 was a good game? They lied.

Nah, they just made it past death mountain and got to enjoy the tightest combat in any zelda game.

 

[Y0ssarian]

I choose both

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

It’s not the games, it’s you.

On a more objective scale, old (like, really old, not early 2000s) games were usually short, loaded instantly, didn’t require having a top-tier TV or fiddling with image settings to look like they should. They had catchy music, tight controls, simple action. They came with awesome manuals. They were bloody expensive. And a broken game was broken forever, there were no patches.
You could tell a bad game almost immediately. Games were unforgiving back then. If the controls, animations or collisions were bad, you’d notice very quickly. Still, most of us would put up with almost everything because you had a game to play.
You’d more likely than not get few new games a year. You’d play them again and again until you knew everything there was to know (like, hold A when pressing Start at the game over screen to restart from current world in Super Mario Bros). You’d discuss your games to death on the playground with your pals, exchanging tricks, strategies and experiences.

Newer games? Often unnecessarily long, stretched out with filler to make them “worth your money”. Resolution wars. Brightness settings. Loading times (hopefully a solved problem going forward). No manuals, but often mandatory tutorials you may have to sit through every time you restart the game. Music is more generic and forgettable or overly complex, the action sometimes calls for you to grow a third hand. And the size of games has ballooned out of control.
But. We get amazing visuals, graphics options, remappable controls. We get patches to iron out bugs and kinks. Games can be expanded with DLC without having to buy a new version of a game. There’s less exclusives (for how long still is anyone’s guess), meaning you don’t need a certain platform to play many famous games. We can have literal dozens of games a year, we have the luxury of dropping a game we don’t enjoy and having a backlog. We have demos (I wish we had demos in the NES era. You kids don’t know the horror of spending your birthday money on a truly bad game. You barely know what a bad game actually is, and if you know it’s because you went out of your way to find and try one). Digital means that even older games don’t go out of print and are available for a lot longer than before - forget finding a 3-year old game on the shelves in the pre- digital era, unless it was a great classic. And a lot of games are dirt cheap - even the big ones go on sale for peanuts after a while.
We can find detailed guides for a lot of games, YT has video guides and strategies for even the most obscure game. If it exists, chances are you aren’t the only one who’s played it. You can’t be the only kid playing Secret of Mana in middle school anymore. We can play with millions of different people from all parts of the world from our couch.

 

[IDKFA]

Old gaming, as in pre 2005, certainly has its charms and benefits.

For example, back in pre 2005 games just worked out of the box. No need for huge day on patches or always online connection for singe player games. The game went into the console and was just playable right away.

Another aspect was that gaming was about playing games and having fun. I know that seems silly to say, but in this day and age games are designed to be as addictive as possible and full of mechanics that try and get consumers to spend as much money as possible.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Am I kawaii sempai uguu? Yamate no Kiske de ponce o Leon.

U w0t m8?

To be fair, in God of war 2018, what’s memorable is the art direction, voice acting, music, battle and cinematographic coreyography. The game also go to multiples biomes and extensive color palettes . The character progression is also well implemented.

i just mean to say it’s a damn well made modern game.

It was OK. I felt like I got my $14 worth out of it, but I don't see the critical acclaim it received.

 

[Damigos]

Sure, but how old were you back then?

A person is much more impressionable at a younger age than when they get older.

i am born in 85

 

[AllyITA]

a BIG difference in some of the modern games is the online component of modern games.

you can play all the old games you want, they will always be the same.
modern multiplayer or online supported games must be played near their launch, otherwise they might be partially (or completely) unplayable.

 

[UnNamed]

Old gaming market was arcade-centric and japan-centric.
Now Japan is a minor market, arcades are gone and arcade games are not fast paced anymore.

 

[NahaNago]

I'd probably go with older gaming but modern gaming is great too. Games are a lot more convenient these days and there are so many decent games even if the games don't seem to be as amazing as those in the past.

a BIG difference in some of the modern games is the online component of modern games.

you can play all the old games you want, they will always be the same.
modern multiplayer or online supported games must be played near their launch, otherwise they might be partially (or completely) unplayable.

Definitely this. Thankfully or unfortunately I don't play multiplayer games much. Plus games can get fixed if their broken but unfortunately publishers are now using it as way to release games early at simply a mostly playable state instead of a great one.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

All of the strategy games and RPGs are super hard if you do not read the 100 pages manual that came with the game, as nobody thought of doing interactive tutorials like nowadays. I think it was with Xbox and later X360 / PS3 where suddenly you had tutorials in each game.

I do not miss no-tutorial part, but at the same time most manuals had lots of lore info and insights into dev process.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Old gaming market was arcade-centric and japan-centric.

Not true at all - a lot of great Western games were developed in the 80s and especially 90s on a PC - Syndicate and other Bullfrog games, early Bioware games, fuckton of D&D games (Crimson Sun, Menzoberranzan, Ishar), etc. Actually I would say that period PC output is vastly superior to SNES / early Playstation.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Old gaming was the best. I loved growing up with gaming magazines, demo discs, rentals, sharing crazy rumors with other kids at school or just finding cool shit on games by my own.

Today everything's on the internet. There's no magic to it any more. Hell you can even get spoiled before release because of data miners or people that get their hands on the game before release.

I also think AAA gaming was at it's best back then, with lots of experimentation and risky but very original projects, and lots of innovation. Nowadays you can take a look at any game released in 2010 and it'll play just the same as any game from 2020. AAA gaming has gone too safe.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Being from 1979, nothing beats the 16 bit era. In goes the cartridge, and play! No updates, half assed games that are patched later, no savegames.
Best case the game made passwords for levels, you had to write them down.

I kinda miss the real world interaction that was needed back then to progress in games.

The fondest memories of couch co-op etc all come from the Megadrive/ SNES era and will never be topped...

Beating up my mate next to me after he kicked the shit outta me in Street fighter 2 CE on Megadrive, or Mortal Kombat.

 

[UnNamed]

Not true at all - a lot of great Western games were developed in the 80s and especially 90s on a PC - Syndicate and other Bullfrog games, early Bioware games, fuckton of D&D games (Crimson Sun, Menzoberranzan, Ishar), etc. Actually I would say that period PC output is vastly superior to SNES / early Playstation.

'80 games and part of the '90 were often around arcade games, concept were inspired by arcade games, and japanese developers were among the best. This was especially true on consoles, but no only that. Arcade racing games, platforms, shoot'em up, fighting games, brawlers, 2d scrolling action games were the best selling products in those years.

On commodore 64, spectrum and other 8bit system, arcade style games and ports from arcades were the norm. On the Amiga (and ST) the most acclaimed games were those who were inspired by arcade games, even on a platform with lot of innovative concepts like point&click games. strategics and simulations.
The problem was rather the fact arcade ports on amiga were shit, but lot of shit was sold in that era because the push of the arcade games.

Things changed in the second half of '90.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

 

[Spaceman292]

I can remember every single car from the first GT, every dialogue from MGS, every move from Tekken 3, every map from Unreal Tournament, every viable strategy from Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3.
I remember nothing of the last 10 years of gaming

That's got nothing to do with the games, that's just you being old.

 

[Daymos]

The great thing about the present is that you don't have to choose. I like old-style games- hello Sonic mania! I like new games, here comes elden ring.. no wait let's play ys1 on steam, na maybe go with outer worlds, oh hey new super Mario u hits the spot!

You really can't complain. It's all right there, right now, in massive proportions like never before. Hell with switch and steam deck it's even fully portable.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

The great thing about the present is that you don't have to choose. I like old-style games- hello Sonic mania! I like new games, here comes elden ring.. no wait let's play ys1 on steam, na maybe go with outer worlds, oh hey new super Mario u hits the spot!

You really can't complain. It's all right there, right now, in massive proportions like never before. Hell with switch and steam deck it's even fully portable.

Thats why I love Retroarch on the Series X.... Everything in 1 box

 

[DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy]

I’ll just play whatever game I deem good according to my own tastes regardless of how old it is. I think newer games have gotten a lot more iterative/derivative, and all the MTX is a major downside, but there’s still plenty of good stuff being made. It just makes more sense to wait for sales/complete/GOTY editions of games nowadays, and you really have to pay attention to previews/reviews to see what’s worth your time.

That’s why I’ve loved the backwards compatibility the Xbone and Series X have had; I can play most of my older games while I wait for sales on newer games, and if I wanted even more options there’s also Gamepass.

 

[RoboFu]

Old frame rates were too low? You must mean old as in 10 years ago not 8 and 16 bit eras.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Good games are timeless.
I do think however that there's a fair bit of fat that could be trimmed from a lot of modern AAA titles, they're just too damned big.

High score tables need to make a comeback too

 

[Ceadeus]

Old games? What is that? Oblivion is like 15 years old. Had micro transactions and everything. And think about games that were 15 yo in 2006!
New to old is no longer linear. Dark souls is still relevant and played and this shit is 10 years old

Yeah my bad. By older I meant in before the internet inclusion to the video game systems. Before games needed updates , internet connection and require space on the console hdd/ssd. So also before mtx and stuff like that.

 

[Punished Miku]

A lot of people hang on to nostalgia for too long and look at the past with rose colored glasses. But at the same time, a lot of people only play new games and they often forget that the past had some great gameplay, original ideas, and less homogenization.

Playing old games on Xbox really opens up your eyes to the fun that can be had with older games. Most people don't take the time to hook up older systems, so they lose sight of previous libraries very, very quickly. But when you get back to NES stuff, it's not that fun anymore. It's a fine line. I can still enjoy some SNES stuff.

 

[StabbyStabStabStabStab]

Old frame rates were too low? You must mean old as in 10 years ago not 8 and 16 bit eras.

For the most part that's true, unless of course that wee little C64 or other 8-bit machines were pushed in into performing 3D acrobatics. I mean I liked Driller, even if the framerate was sub 1FPS

 

[nkarafo]

I don't get why you associate old gaming with low frame rates. Unless you only count 3D games. Or 8bit home computers.

Older, 2D console gaming had 60fps as the standard. Gaming was far smoother on systems like the Atari 2600, NES, Master System, Genesis, SNES, etc.

The standards were low in home computers and even PCs because the CGA/EGA/VGA cards weren't good for scrolling graphics. But consoles were golden. Smooth 60fps scrolling in the majority of games. Anything 30fps was very jerky in comparison and most of the times people would notice.

It was only after stuff like 3DO, PS1, Saturn, and the N64 where frame rate took a nose dive. These systems were ready for 3D texture mapped polygons but mostly at 20-30fps. Because earlier 3D games were even jerkier (15fps or lower) this was deemed acceptable and became the standard. Which, unfortunately is still the case.

So yeah, you got it the other way around. Old 2D console gaming is associated with smooth frame rate and CRT motion clarity. Modern gaming is about "cinematic" frame rates and crappy LCD panes with motion blur issues.

 

[AJUMP23]

Go play SMB3 Still fun, still good.

NES Ice Hockey is still amazing.

 

[BigBooper]

My favorite era is right now because not only do you have some great games like God of War and Total War, but emulator development has really gotten a lot better recently. Plus backwards compatibility with the consoles and GOG stuff makes stuff work even better than it did originally sometimes.

I miss discovering the unknown from the Commodore 64 though. That's what I mostly played as a kid. The games were mostly pretty simple, but they are still memorable to me. I'll never forget kicking the green sumo wrestler into spikes in the Bruce Lee game or the freaky music in Fist 2.

 

[rofif]

Yeah my bad. By older I meant in before the internet inclusion to the video game systems. Before games needed updates , internet connection and require space on the console hdd/ssd. So also before mtx and stuff like that.

So we can easily include everything up to ps2. But no more. Seems fair enough!

 

[BusierDonkey]

My issue with a lot of modern games is they are a constant re-skinning of games I've already played over a decade ago and a lot of them have to have "cinematic" scenes all over where I'm barely doing anything. Walking around slowly while poorly written dialogue plays with the occasional button press to execute a pre-scripted action. Following people around slowly so that you can watch a cutscene full of QTEs. I'm finding myself more an more drawn to indie games, a lot of those are re-skins too but at least I'm actually playing a game and not just watching one happen.

There were a LOT of shitty games on every system all the way back to the dawn of the hobby but I find my favorite games in most genres came from the 1990s.

 

[MrTentakel]

Modern AAA games:
Wanna play a game? You won`t play until we say so!

Enjoy your 1st cutscene
Enjoy your tutorial
Enjoy your 2nd cutscene

Doom 2016 was an amazing exception.

 

[Damigos]

That's got nothing to do with the games, that's just you being old.

Didn't know 36 is old

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

The 360 was my "formertive" years, gaming now is better tho.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Old gaming ⊂ Modern gaming

Thus modern gaming wins

 

[wvnative]

I've come to accept that I love both for different reasons.

Older games weren't monetized and in the AAA space were so much more polished than the slew of American published AAA games today, and each game felt more unique than they do today. More charm, risk taking, and what feels like little creative interference. Not to mention politics hadn't taken over.


...But newer games? Stuff is way more consistent in terms of controls and design, and the more cinematic feel of newer games only enhances the storytelling. I hate that games launch broken, but am damn thankful games CAN be updated now. Stuff absolutely fell through the cracks back then and they couldn't fix it (Soul calibur 3 COTS save glitch anyone?) And quality DLC is NOT A BAD THING. Games are becoming more accessible, and it's effing awesome to open the xbox and playstation store to view sales and download cheap games with the press of a button. It's insane we got stuff like gamepass and soon playstation spartacus.


Both have pros and cons, and what I do is consistently bounce between my PS4 and my PS2 and my PS3. Keeps things fresh and allows me to appreciate the perks of each generation. I feel like it's so easy to get trapped in "old man" syndrome yelling about MTX, broken games, NFTs, and hell yeah, that stuff is a major issue in modern gaming but I feel like we never appreciate the good of modern gaming, and there's a lot to appreciate.

 

[ZywyPL]

Old times for sure. Games from 10, 15, 20, even 30 years ago are still legendary, whereas modern games are forgettable "one nad done" type of experience, whether SP, MP or co-op. I think most modern games are simply trying too hard, too over the top, only for their own disadvantage, plus chasing realism kills the gameplay and the whole concept of being able to create literally anything in the virtual world and being limited only by your imagination, only to mimic what people experience on a daily basis... Games used to be both entertainment and art, but now it's mostly just a soulless business.