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[lughnasadh123]

As someone who is past 50 at this point having gamed since I was in the single digits, it's never been better. Quality, quantity, variety of genres along with the sheer amount of ways to even play the game still blows my mind. My internet is some of the worst - I'd happily take some of the shit speeds people complain about. So even download anything takes much, much longer for me, but the benefits are so worth it. My past self would have shit himself thinking about having access to so many games, storing them on one system with no need to get out of bed to swap 'em, and being able to easily stream them from various spots away from the tv. That's not even getting into VR...


And then you have a year like this popping off almost every month with amazing games that's going to be entertaining just to listen to goty lists. What a fucking time to be alive. I cherish all my old gaming memories but have little interest going backwards.

 

[Drizzlehell]

True, but if you recognize that but there some who are so blinded by their nostalgia that they think back then was all flowers and rainbows with no issues and faults.

Several decade later people once again blinded by their nostalgia, look at this era and only remember flowers and rainbows and pretend It didn’t have any faults.…..and this keeps going.

Yeah, I don't disagree. I don't subscribe to the narrative where we should worship the older technology just because it did a few things that were arguably more consumer-friendly but also ignoring all of the things that were improved since then.

Now, if someone wants to argue how 6th gen games had more soul and were more creative and fun, then we're talking. But wired controllers? I hope that shit never makes a comeback, lol.

 

[_Ex_]

Games are longer than ever

Some day you will realize this isn't a good thing.

 

[SlimySnake]

Some day you will realize this isn't a good thing.

I dont like longer games at all. Just saying i dont feel im getting ripped off by publishers.

 

[Krathoon]

Yes. That is a problem. They make games too damn big. They take forever to finish.

Playing through Mass Effect took forever. Skyrim is too damn big.

Now, they are making the Zelda games too big.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Oh please. Mario Wonder blows Super Mario World out of the water. It is like a night and day difference.

 

[Krathoon]

Also, Flash Gordon is the best movie ever.

Flash Gordon (film) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SmokedMeat]

Yes. That is a problem. They make games too damn big. They take forever to finish.

Playing through Mass Effect took forever. Skyrim is too damn big.

Now, they are making the Zelda games too big.

That’s because we don’t have the free time we did when we were kids.

Come retirement, long games are probably going to be a lot more tolerable.

 

[JohnnyPhats]

You only say that because they made Wonder so piss-easy it's the only game you can handle these days, with your foggy eyes, arthritic hands, and old man reaction speed.


(Confession in a font you won't be able to read: I find SMW pretty difficult now too, but it's a far better game than Wonder).

But thanks for the insult. FYI I beat SMW a number of times back in the day. But carry on, Mr Badass. See. I’m so old I just assumed your gender.

 

[Thanati]

corniest thread on the site hands down

It's true though

 

[Humdinger]

That’s because we don’t have the free time we did when we were kids.

Come retirement, long games are probably going to be a lot more tolerable.

Fwiw, I'm retired, and I have less patience for long games now than I did when I was working full time. I have all the free time in the world, and yet, I have less patience for long games. Go figure.

I'll clarify a bit, though. If a game is long and is also fascinating and engaging throughout, great. I'll play that without a problem. But most long games are not like that. Most long games are long by design, and they disrespect my time. They give me a bunch of busywork to do -- a map full of icons, an endless "things to do" checklist. They pad the game length with hours and hours of bad cinema.

I understand where it's coming from. Developers are (perhaps justifiably) concerned that if they release a tightly paced, well-edited 15-hour game, people will say, "15 hours? I'm not paying $70 for a 15 hour game." Gamers often use simple formulas like this to determine value, which is wrongheaded (I would happily pay more for a well-edited game than one which wastes my time), but that's a different subject... Because developers are afraid of losing sales to this type of thinking, they shovel "content" at the player like twinkies into a fat lady, stuffing the game with mountains of busywork and hours of passive cinema. That tends to happen more often in large, long games. They don't respect my time, and I don't have much patience for them anymore.

p.s. I think there's another element, too. Just because I'm retired doesn't mean I have a shortage of things I'd like to do. If I invest hundreds of hours into a single game, it means I have to give up doing a lot of other things I would like to do. I'm reluctant to make that a big time investment in a single piece of entertainment.

 

[Krathoon]

I always like how Mario games have extra stuff now after you beat the game. Odyssey had a bunch of extra stuff.

 

[64bitmodels]

Developers are (perhaps justifiably) concerned that if they release a tightly paced, well-edited 15-hour game, people will say, "15 hours? I'm not paying $70 for a 15 hour game."

No one would be complaining if games were 50-60 dollars... yk like before this next gen shit.

 

[Humdinger]

No one would be complaining if games were 50-60 dollars... yk like before this next gen shit.

I do remember people complaining at the $60 level, but as the prices rise, so does the "bloat incentive."

 

[64bitmodels]

I do remember people complaining at the $60 level, but as the prices rise, so does the "bloat incentive."

its mainly caused by high prices imo

50 dollars games were shorter and densely packed with quality, 60 dollars games started to become long for the sake of it, now 70 dollars, everyone is making their game an open world fetchquest because it's the easiest genre to stuff a bunch of busywork in that justifies the 70 dollar price tag

when they'd probably do much better to just charge 40-50 and give us a solid and well paced 15-25 hour game

Miles Morales as a game understood this so well

 

[Krathoon]

The 7th Guest VR is a pretty advanced decent sized game and it is $30.

I think the original game had a $70 price tag when it came out. The remake has way more puzzles.

You can make a really good game and sell it in the $30 range.

Don't let these companies fool you. They drastically inflate the prices.

 

[Krathoon]

Video game companies have always inflated their prices. It got pretty absurd on the PC in the 90s.

I remember Phantasmagoria being $70.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I don't remember anything. I thought this was a music forum for two years.

 

[Krathoon]

Notice how drastically the price of a game drops. That is when you get down to the real value of a game.

 

[Krathoon]

Steam was trying to charge $60 for Skyrim VR.
I found a third party key for $15.
Jackasses.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I don't remember anything. I thought this was a music forum for two years.

lets turn it into one

 

[Gamer79]

Steam was trying to charge $60 for Skyrim VR.
I found a third party key for $15.
Jackasses.

Half Life Alex is still $60

 

[Chronicle]

Yup. I agree but it's 2023. Things have progressed and changed. Games today are awesome, too. My updates take minutes. My internet connection is solid.

 

[Faust]

When I could put my game in and play it right away (no need for long day 1 patches and downloads)

This was always a thing on PC Gaming. Had to install the game, often times you went to websites if you bought it a few months/a year after release to get a patch or two.

It mostly works the same now. The vast majority of games are available on disc without the need of downloading anything to enjoy/play the game - but do require the installation of data to ensure faster load times.

When games felt unique and not formulated like most big name publishers push the safe route

Games certainly took more risks back in the day, but there were also tons of titles that took the same formula with minor tweaks. The MMO Boom was a perfect example of this where everyone tried to copy WoW. Same thing happened with Halo, Mario, etc. Its just a natural thing.

When I dd not worry about my game being connected to the internet to work

Thankfully the vast majority of games don't require this. Support the platforms that don't force DRM, such as GoG, when possible.

When I didn't have to worry about a game developer shutting down servers making the game useless

This is the worst. I really enjoy GT7, but I don't expect Sony to ever turn off the online requirements and instead close the game entirely when GT8 releases. Its happened to far too many games over the last few years.

There is no need but also who doesn't have internet? Get over it.

Not everyone has incredibly fast internet. Many have forced data caps that don't increase at the same rate download/game sizes do. Some folks travel and take their platforms with them and may not have online access during those times. Simply telling people to "get over" having, as you stated, unneeded forced online is silly.

 

[Gamer79]

People who were saying games were less simplistic back in the day are talking out of their ass. Yes games had technical limitations but those companies made miracles from potato machines. As for game length Games like Contra or Ninja Gaiden I guarantee would take most of you more than 40 hours to complete without cheating. Those games pretty much using FROM SOFTWARE's formula so many on the board love. Die and Die and Die again until you learned enough to complete the game. There were any number of RPG's from the 8-16 bit era that were over 40 hours long.

I do appreciate many modern luxuries we have today. It is true that games per inflation are cheaper now than in the past. It is true that super fast internet along with storage is nice to download games right to my machine. With that said, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Game Publishers have become cold corporate greed monsters who clearly show they have no passion for their work. Yes the goal of any company is to make money but when the product gets worse, I have the right to bitch as the consumer. Gaming is turning into a cesspool outside of a handful of companies. These Mega Corporations like Electronic Arts, Activision,, Ubisoft, etc clearly show they don't give a fuck about the quality of their games. Games releasing buggy, broken, rushed, etc should not be the norm. On top of that, the sicking level of shoving paid DLC up my ass is also ridiculous. I have legit started games that were selling me DLC before I even had a chance to play the game.

 

[MarkMe2525]

A kid on the playground convinced me to trade him my mechanical baseball game for the Princess Jasmin nude code for Aladdin on the Genesis.

 

[Katajx]

The problem for me is that I’m getting older and everyone and everything wants a bigger slice of my income.

You could try to say well this only went up a few dollars, but with everything else going up too that leaves less extra money for entertainment.

 

[Krathoon]

I always like playing some weird ass PS1 game.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Steam was trying to charge $60 for Skyrim VR.
I found a third party key for $15.
Jackasses.

I’ve noticed that developers keep their msrp unchanged, even if it’s a relatively old game.
That way it looks good during sales when they flash that 80% or 90% off.

Like Doom 2016 is $40 on Switch. Nobody in their right mind should pay that. I consider the real price to be the same old sale price we always see - which is around $7. If a price manages to beat the usual sale price, then you’ve got an actual deal.

 

[cireza]

As for game length Games like Contra or Ninja Gaiden I guarantee would take most of you more than 40 hours to complete without cheating.

Truth. I have bought a couple years ago Ninja Warriors on Mega-CD. Still playing it to this day every once in a while. I am maybe at my 30th playthrough ?

This game has you learn and remember. It is really demanding. I can now make it to the final stage every single time, but I did not really have the opportunity to learn that stage yet. Only made it to the second set of stairs, and it seems I should have instead continued going to the left to see if there are other stairs further.

Excellent game, I am really enjoying my time with it.

Also tried for the first time Gain Ground yesterday (on MegaDrive). Made it to stage 4 (so more than 30 levels). Again, this is an interesting game that has you learn a lot. It feels like this will be a bit more manageable than Ninja Warriors.

Every time I play a game like this, I get an engaging experience that lasts for 30 minutes to 1 hours and I am done with it. With modern games, it starts being engaging after investing 2 hours if not 10. And then it goes back to the usual bloat.

 

[Krathoon]

I beat Ninja Gaiden 1 when I was a child.

Not certain if I can beat 2 or 3. I heard that they are absurdly hard.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

I agree with op. Games were great then. They're great now too though. I think we just miss being young. I sure as fuck do lmao.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Grab an snes mini, mod it, and toss a load of games on to it.

Best of both worlds

 

[Tajaz2426]

corniest thread on the site hands down

No, he is right. People today are morons and will part with their money, easily. If you purchase these games today, you deserve it. I can’t lie I enjoy hearing people that spend money on digital goods with no value. Makes me think the movie idiocy is becoming true and not just a movie.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Nostalgia is a heavy drug.

I do actually think that the 6th generation of consoles and that period of PC was the best time of gaming (and honestly most of media as well) but in many ways games are better now.

For me though the 6th generation had the best games that have still yet to be beat (MGS2/3, Gran Truism 3/4, Silent Hill 3/4, Fatal Frame 1-3, GTA trilogy, Jak, Wind Waker, Max Payne, etc I could go on and on and on) but that doesn't mean that performance was great or that there weren't problems.

I think the biggest problem is the rise of the internet. Everybody has a voice now and that means that even small things get amplified. Look at the 8th gen and the rise of resolution comparisons from places like Digital Foundry. The vast majority of people probably wouldn't have noticed or cared if it wasn't all over the internet. Look at "woke culture" which I think is only a problem because the minority can be loud on the internet. It makes everything seem bigger than it is. I work in tech and there's always people that are like "this issue is all over the internet". Of course it is but even if you see 500 people mention it there are millions of users without that issue.

Back then I also didn't go own gaming forums and I didn't know about every single game that came out. I went to the store and picked something that looked cool and I didn't have disposable income so when I got a game I really played it and even if it wasn't great I made myself put time into it. Now I buy a ton of games are don't finish them or start them because there is too much stimuli.

I played the original FEAR at probably 20 fps or so back in the day and I loved it. People loved OOT despite like 15fps because it was a genuinely great game. Now people have been convinced that you can't enjoy a game unless it's 4K/60 with no visual issues. I'm not saying that games should perform like shit, I'm simply stating that sometimes they performed like shit and we didn't care as much because you just enjoyed games inside of your own small bubble without being influenced by the internet.

I think the internet is ultimately the reason why I find modern culture terrible overall. Some of that is nostalgia for the "good old days" and some of it is a genuine disdain for how it's evolved.

 

[64bitmodels]

No, he is right.

Even if he were (he's not), you can say something correct without coming off as a massive dork. This thread is genuinely corny and not in the good way. Shit like this is why the word cringe got so popular

People today are morons and will part with their money, easily. If you purchase these games today, you deserve it.

People arr morons for buying some of the best games since the 2000s.... ok bucko

Makes me think the movie idiocy is becoming true and not just a movie.

Bro is calling everyone but him an idiot while also getting the name of the movie wrong.... (It's Idiocracy)

 

[Tajaz2426]

Even if he were (he's not), you can say something correct without coming off as a massive dork. This thread is genuinely corny and not in the good way. Shit like this is why the word cringe got so popular

People arr morons for buying some of the best games since the 2000s.... ok bucko


Bro is calling everyone but him an idiot while also getting the name of the movie wrong.... (It's Idiocracy)

Yes he is right. Sorry didn’t get the name right. Like I said if you purchase digital goods with no value, you’re a moron. You can believe what you wish, but these companies hire psychologists to figure out ways to screw you.

If that’s what you like, go for it. Don’t expect someone not to say you’re stupid for it, though. I guess we can just disagree.

 

[Krappadizzle]

As someone who is past 50 at this point having gamed since I was in the single digits, it's never been better. Quality, quantity, variety of genres along with the sheer amount of ways to even play the game still blows my mind. My internet is some of the worst - I'd happily take some of the shit speeds people complain about. So even download anything takes much, much longer for me, but the benefits are so worth it. My past self would have shit himself thinking about having access to so many games, storing them on one system with no need to get out of bed to swap 'em, and being able to easily stream them from various spots away from the tv. That's not even getting into VR...


And then you have a year like this popping off almost every month with amazing games that's going to be entertaining just to listen to goty lists. What a fucking time to be alive. I cherish all my old gaming memories but have little interest going backwards.

Yeah, I feel the same way too. I cherish all the fond memories I have of Friday coming along, buddies and I planning out the game we'd like to rent, then if that was rented, pivot to something else and then be up all night playing and laughing. So many great lan party games with friends and family, using Gameshark to do things never intended with games..So many things. SO so SO many great memories.

But it's way better now as far strictly gaming is concerned. I think people look back and think things were better because they had more time and less responsibility then and not strictly the quality of the titles. I couldn't tell you how many times I'd rent a real dud and be stuck with that all weekend as I didn't know any better and it's not like I could just take it back and swap it out.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Taking minutes to connect to an online message board (with annoying modem sound)
Loading games from cassettes
Using boot discs to even launch a game
Figuring out which DOS prompt to key in to run a game
playing a MP game and someone picking up the phone---disconnecting the session.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Steam was trying to charge $60 for Skyrim VR.
I found a third party key for $15.
Jackasses.

Buy on Steam, play it for under 2 hours to decide if you like it.

If you do, request refund on Steam, buy off key site.

This is the way.

 

[Bungie]

GAAS BABY LETS GOOOOOOO!

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Toxic progressivism claims everything from the past is automatically worse than their counterparts from today or tomorrow, just because it's older. But age doesn't carry any normative qualities with it, even technological progress doesn't necessarily represent progress in a strict psychological or social dimension, having the conditio humana in mind. It's a somewhat pathological need for constant revolution, which of course is the enemy of man in the disguise of "progress" and betterment. We have always been able to learn tons from past generations and the things they did, more importantly in this context: specifically how they did it. Every new technology brings it's own risks and drawbacks. The latter are rarely ever discussed until many years have passed and there's the next new thing to rave about.

 

[Gamer79]

Video game companies have always inflated their prices. It got pretty absurd on the PC in the 90s.

I remember Phantasmagoria being $70.

I paid $80 for shadows of the empire on n64 back in 1997

 

[sachos]

I used your post as input for a GPT-3.5 poem

In days of gaming past, a simpler time we find,
No patches, no downloads, just joy for every kind.
A cheat code unlocked wonders, extras in a snap,
No nickel and dime DLC, no need for a money trap.

Releases were complete, not broken, no despair,
No waiting for patches, the games were worth the fare.
Uniqueness was the charm, not a formulaic trend,
Big name publishers dared to break and bend.

No worries 'bout the internet, the game would stand alone,
No fear of servers shutting down, a world of fun we'd known.
In those gaming days of yore, we found a different grace,
A time when gaming's purest joy put a smile upon our face.

 

[Gamer79]

I used your post as input for a GPT-3.5 poem

In days of gaming past, a simpler time we find,
No patches, no downloads, just joy for every kind.
A cheat code unlocked wonders, extras in a snap,
No nickel and dime DLC, no need for a money trap.

Releases were complete, not broken, no despair,
No waiting for patches, the games were worth the fare.
Uniqueness was the charm, not a formulaic trend,
Big name publishers dared to break and bend.

No worries 'bout the internet, the game would stand alone,
No fear of servers shutting down, a world of fun we'd known.
In those gaming days of yore, we found a different grace,
A time when gaming's purest joy put a smile upon our face.

Those were the days