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Nostalgia aside, are old games still fun to you?

Well-made games from the 8/16-bit era: definitely! I play them often and find new gems all the time. Two amazing generations in so many ways.

Most 32/64-bit games: nope.. Didn't like them when they were new and they've aged like milk. I always hated the primitive 3D even back then, it's gross.

After that it's a mixed bag.. But no, it's not like I buy semi-old games either. I did pick up Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition though for the PS4 and I'm having a blast, don't know if that counts.

Generally I'm having a very hard time with older 3D graphics, but 2D games are almost always enjoyable to me regardless of age, if they're any good or course.
 
No, at least for the most part. Remember installing GTA San Andreas a few years back exactly because of those very fond childhood memories only to cringe and uninstall it mere minutes later. Games keep on improving at a rapid pace.

A huge problem with this gen is cross gen games that seems to be going well into 3rd [2023] year. We'll have to wait way too long for a true next gen titles like GTA6.
 

intbal

Member
What is "old"?
Is Cyberpunk old? It was released more than a year ago.
Prey? (2017)
Dishonored? (2012)
What about Kingdoms of Amalur Re-Reckoning or Mafia Definitive Edition?
Both were released in 2020, but one is a remaster of a 10 year old game and one is a remake of a 20 year old game.

A fun game is a fun game.
Dr. Mario is still fun. Deus Ex is still fun. Dying Light is still fun.
 

Havoc2049

Member
I have no problem playing older games. I was just playing H.E.R.O. and Rescue on Fractalus on my Atari 65XE computer today and was having a blast.
 

Robb

Gold Member
Sure!

The main thing that makes me quit old games are sluggish-feeling controlls. But as long as the game still feels good to play I’ll still enjoy it.
 

Fredrik

Member
I know it's not very sentimental of me, but I just can't see the point of playing something like Ridge Racer today. It's hideously ugly by modern standards, runs pretty badly, and is pretty limited as a game.

I just have no desire to go back to that stuff. It's the ugliness more than anything that puts me off. Shallow, I know. But then a large part of the appeal of Ridge Racer back then was its graphics, so...

I'd probably enjoy playing through Mario 64, though, tbf.
Remove nostalgia and I have trouble playing anything from that early 3D era. All I’m seeing without the nostalgia glasses is 25 (PAL) or lower fps (Zelda OoT ran at 17fps) and blocky polygons everywhere with crap textures.

The 16-bit era with 2D graphics and smooth framerates is still great though.
 

Trimesh

Banned
Very much so. Honestly, I find I prefer older (even much older) games than most of the stuff that came out in the PS4/Xbone era - which was (to me) marred by a significant number of sequels I liked far less than their predecessors. This was really bought into focus when the PS5/XSX were announced - initially I was kind of hyped about them, but as the launch got closer I just became less and less interested - and in the end I didn't even bother ordering them, and sill don't have either.

And this is coming from someone that bought 4 generation of PlayStation and 3 generations of Xbox at launch, as well as the mid-gen refreshes. It made me start to wonder if maybe I was just losing interest in video games - but I guess not, because I can still go back and play things like Super Famicom games and really enjoy them.
 

GeekyDad

Member
When you say "old," how old?

'Cause I'm on my third playthrough of FFT A2 (DS) in the last year and half, with another 90+ hours in so far. It's the only game I've had the urge to play.

Now, if you mean Atari 2600 games and the like, then yeah, I left that behind a long time ago. My nostalgia ends where the conversation about those kinda games end.
 

Cryio

Member
Most games from 6th gen (PS2/Xbox/GameCube) and up hold up fine. Same with 7th gen.

There are or course games that were jank or barely adequate that do not hold up. For a random example, I don't think anyone will play Dark Sector (single player made by Warframe devs) in the future, due to being a mediocre-perfunctory 3rd person shooter. It looks like early Unreal 3 too and only has 1 gameplay gimmick, which isn't all that.

I'm not convinced most 5th gen holds up. Those that do ... not sure if they really do or it's just nostalgia. Soul Reaver, Rayman 2, Spider-Man 2000.

PC titles are something else though: Half-Life, System Shock 2, Thief, Gothic. They might have some jank one way or another, but they still hold up mechanically just fine.
 
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Knightime_X

Member
Yep.
Because many games still contain that feel newer games lack.
Some games get it but that's only 1% and that's not enough.

Really don't understand why major companies won't make bite size versions of their mega hits.
I'm not talking like to go fucking stupid making it look like an Atari 2600 game with sega cd grainy fmv to "lOoK rETRo"
No, fuck that.

It's ok if your game is only 4 hours long, looks like a beefed up gamecube game that has the fun factor of 16\32bit games.
These little games would cost only a fraction and would make a killing if sold at an attractive price.

- Small downloads
- Low price
- AAA production with retro limitations
- fun
- Throw in cheats for fun. (we ate that shit up as kids) and kids today would as well.

There's a gold mine just waiting to be rediscovered.
 
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Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
I simply dont understand this thinking that all new games are the only games worth playing.
Videogames are probably the only media genre that I see this.
Books, movies, music, comics - its not an issue - in fact its probably the opposite for those.

In my opinion, the vast majority of modern games are trash and keep getting worse.
Most of the best game designers retired from the industry years ago.
There are still modern games worth playing but give me the classics any day of the week.
myman-washington.gif
 

Chastten

Banned
As others have mentioned, depends on the games. Some games have aged gracefully. A few years ago I played Kirby Adventure on the NES Mini for the first time in close to 20 years and it still holds up incredibly well. Most Mario games as well, as does stuff like Contra, Mega Man, lot's of Disney licensed games and quite a few others.

Plenty of other games simply don't. Lots of early 3D games are borderline unplayable these days. The same goes for something like Pokémon Red/Blue. Loved those games in the late 90's but there are so many QoL features missing that they almost feel like a chore to play nowadays.
 

Orta

Banned
Old games for me are mid-late 80's stuff so a resounding no in most cases.

I must have had the patience of a saint and reflexes of a god to have been able to play and complete them back then.

Now I barely last twenty minutes before a game over screen is laughing in my face.
 
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SSfox

Member
I recently replayed in the last 3 months: Bayonetta, RE2, RE3, TR Legend, TR Underworld, TR3.

All still bless to play, also Bayonetta that i didn't play since 2012 is still hella fun and imo the best BTA in the classic genre (better than other DMC and Bayo games that released after). It was such a bad decision imo to have made DMC5 with 3 playable characters and replaying Bayo 1 made realise even more that. I replayed first Bayo, and most DMC and GOW games many times but DMC5 i just can't. GOW3 is the one GOW that i replayed the least since it didn't had a NG+.

Without going into details on each game, just for example it shoking how TR3 was kind hard whatever you see it as today or backthen standards, there absolutely nothing to carry, normally Souls games and TR aren't really same genre but for some reason it really has some Fromsoftware game vibe, no help, nothing that carry you, minimum hub, no map ect, it really has that kind of unique test you find rarely in games.

There are some other older games that i would like to play and i plan to when i got the time, but yeah old games are still fun, of course the great ones, some old games stinks just like some modern games, and personally without the doubt i rather play an old great game than a random modern trashcan game.
 
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gradient

Resident Cheap Arse
Yes.

Still play ALttP and Super Mario World at least once a year and many 16-bit games are just a lot easier to just pick up and play through. Many older games offer a design style and gameplay that is lost to current games. Some indies try to reproduce it and I'm thankful that market exists but games from the eras being imitated still tend to have something that you just can't get in modern games.
 
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NahaNago

Member
Mostly yes and at the same time depends on the game. I think a lot of the time it depends on when you started playing video games since you are accustomed to the limitations of the games you started with.
 

Ammogeddon

Member
Generally no, I’m all about moving forward. I’m barely even playing games from last gen now.

Obviously some games are timeless like Tetris, but I don’t count them.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
You can bet your ass I do.

Just went through a playthrough of Blood on PC, a game from 1997 I never played, and had a LOT of fun, something that wouldn't happen to me with most modern shooters. Same thing happened a few months ago with Alien Soldier.

if you ask me, those saying "no" are missing out big time. It would be like limiting yourself to only watching movies released after 2015.
 
There are some exceptions, but in general no, they are part of the past, in this environment we should appreciate technological development.
The exceptions are those games that have made history and from which the technical development started.
 

BigBooper

Member
It's hard for me to enjoy games that I didn't play, but I still load up something that I'm familiar with like Super Mario Bros 1 and enjoy it.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Just a few. Mario 64, OOT, Banjo-Kazooie I replay plenty of times.

I played the original Doom for the first time recently on Xbox and it was fun.

GBA and some SNES games have aged really well like A Link to the Past, Minish Cap and Pokémon Emerald and Fire Red/Leaf Green.

Not really ‘old’ but I was regularly playing Halo 2 and 3 online in the Master Chief Collection until the release of Infinite.

For the most part though I like newer stuff.
 

Mr Branding

Member
Depends on the game and how old it is but it's a no from me more often than not. It's mainly nostalgia that keeps me going back to old games.
If it's ZX Spectrum, NES old, nah, not gonna take the time to play it but if it's 5-10-15-ish years old, I'll most likely play it if I have strong nostalgia/attachment to it.
 
Yes.
Consoles: Everything on NES + SNES + Gameboy + SMS + SMD is fine. 3D games on PS + PS2 + 64 are mostly horrible.
Pc: Most games >early 90s are fine.
 
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anthraticus

Banned
Anything 5+ years ago is old to me.
Are you like 15 or under ? The only way I could see that possibly making any kind of sense.

I guess the definition of old can vary drastically, depending on who/how old you are. Was gonna say maybe anything before the 2000s, as that seems like a good cut off point for a lot of things entertainment, pop culture, etc... wise.

And yea, if that was the case and I could have my pick of anything from either the 80s and 90s vs anything from the 2000 to now, I'd go with the older stuff.
 
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Haggard

Banned
Depends on the type of game for me.

Pretty much anything 3D has always aged terribly while 2D stuff like Super Mario World, or comic adventures like DOTT still play great.
 
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Like others have said, it depends on how old.
I don't usually touch anything from the 16bit/32bit era, on the other hand , i've replayed many of the OG xbox and PS360 one due to Xbox's backwards compatibility.
99% of the PS360 era are perfectly playable and enjoyable (especially some that feature FPS boost).
Most of the OG Xbox...well, it depends, games like DOA 3/Ultimate, Ninja Gaiden black, Panzer Dragoon Orta and others are still beautiful and play really well while other like Otogi and gunvalkyrie not so much, talking about Otogi specifically, the fact that this game (and its sequel) go for 20 bucks/euros (that FROM tax) is a travesty, i had fond memories of it and it was one of my most requested games for the xbox BC program but i think i made a big mistake, game has not aged well at all, terrible camera, even worse lock-on function, meh graphics generally speaking and the gameplay is very limited.

What i'm trying to say is that no matter the gen. , it depends on a per game basis
 
Based on my own preferences I find a lot of games from the NES and N64/PS1 eras age worse than other eras. I think that’s because those respective gens were the return of games to the mainstream and the first era of 3D games respectively. That means there was much less refinement in game mechanics and a lot more experimental stuff that may not have worked.

I can still go back and play basically anything from the SNES, Genesis, GBA, PS2, GC, OG Xbox, Wii, 360, PS3, and have a good time. In fact I prefer a lot of games from the PS2 and 360 eras to current games.
 
It depends how general or specific the question is. Generally speaking? No. Very few games are truly great and will stand the test of time. But every era has games that will always be fun regardless of the hardware because game design, game feel and mechanics are not so reliant on that aspect. In fact, some games end up aging badly due to chasing the bleeding edge of whatever technology was new at the time. But this goes both ways. Very few games coming out right now are truly great. Most of them are not really worth investing a lot of time into and certainly won't hold up, even in a few years time, let alone decades from now. It doesn't matter how impressive they look in the moment, that visual spectacle is fleeting. So if you ask me how many games hold up and are still fun from the 8 bit or 16 bit era: It would be an extremely small percentage of them. And on the other hand, the current era won't be all that different when we flash forward to a comparable time frame.
 
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If there is no nostalgia involved then chances are I wont enjoy them as much. U have to keep in mind, nostalgia is a hell of a drug, it can make the shittiest of things good in your head.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
I found Super Mario 3D Allstars to be very interesting in this respect. SM64 is a fucking slog now. The camera is no longer forgivable because recent games solved those issues. Sunshine, though better, feels like it is on the edge of playable due to it's blurry graphics and relatively clunky gameplay. Galaxy is perfect. No issues at all except for some of the translation of motion control crap.

The N64/PSX games are just rough all around. While there is a lot of good ideas and many of these games brought amazing and fun innovations to the table, the overall package is lacking compared to games we have been playing for the last ~ 15 years or so. It is similar for 2D. Atari 2600 games are too rough to really enjoy, but many NES games still hold up. There is a basic level of graphical and gameplay competence that games seem to achieve after some iteration on the technology they run on and how they are developed. I am curious to find out if VR will go through a similar transition.
 
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