Are older games better? Or is that just the Nostalgia talking?

[hermes]

Its mostly nostalgia talking.

Sure, that doesn't mean there are no old games that are really good, but most of them are forgetable.

As an exercise, try this... Name 10 good games from the 70s. How about the 80s? I am pretty sure it would be easier to ask for 10 good games of the last couple of years.

 

[DanielDeFig]

I think that just like with movies, the industry has simply gotten bigger. Most products from both industries are not great, and as the total number of products increase, so does the number of less-than average products.

Look on the bright side, while it may have been easier to find great games before, because there was a smaller library per year to look through, there are more above-average games per year nowadays(though admittedly harder to find unless you actively look beyond blockbusters. But i think it's the same for movies nowadays).

I also think nostalgia has a lot to do with it. I still remember my first foray into videogames as some of the best gaming experiences i've ever had. But i fear going back to them with my newly developed critical eye, lest my memories of their "greatness" be shattered (i still find myself playing older games, but less and less frequently, and never from the first few years).

 

[Von Dean]

I replay FFVII+FFIX almost once every year,I play the DS incarnations of FFIII and Chrono Trigger and it's not because of nostalgia,it's cos in my opinion they are some of the best games ever made. I don't really care for graphics more story and the soundtrack,and that's what matters to me. Obviously some people can't tolerate how shoddy some old games look now but that's only comparitive to todays standards...also I struggle to play LoZ:OoT these days due to the lack of camera control

 

[Booze Zombie]

Some older games are good, but you've got just as many terrible games in the past as you have in the present and coming up in the future, too.

 

[Echo136]

I love playing older games but I cant really say why. Whats everyones thoughts?

For most games I'd say its 99.9% nostalgia. Fallout 1 and 2 suck, in my opinion, and yet for some reason I cant understand the games have such a following.

 

[Sky Captanio]

I think it can be a bit of both. For example I love Deus Ex but I only got it a couple of months ago, so it can't be Nostalgia.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

I think it can be a bit of both. For example I love Deus Ex but I only got it a couple of months ago, so it can't be Nostalgia.

Same for me, actually. I didn't play it until last year, and still thought it was a truly excellent game. My brother, who grew up playing xbox/gameboy and now 360 got it as well, and still played it for over 25 hours (if his steam profile is to be believed). Sure, it might look ugly, but it garnering praise from even today's players seems to be universally true!

 

[Adam28]

It is almost all Nostalgia, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy old games that you haven't played before but the reason people enjoy these games so much more is mainly due to Nostalgia. There are of course some exceptions.

I also think that when people play older games they also over look flaws accepting the fact that these games are old, for example people may not care about the bad level design and frustratingly difficulty in older games - something I don't think games of today would be able to get away with as easily.

When I was younger, I didn't play OOT as I had a Playstation. Instead, I ended up playing the game when I got a bonus disc with Wind Waker, I enjoyed it but couldn't see it as one of the best games ever when comparing it to the other games I had played in my life. Instead, a game like KOTOR would be one of my favourites perhaps because I played it at the time.

 

[xPixelatedx]

Nostalga is a term used by children in an attempt to comprehend why their parents/older siblings would once play games with low polygon counts, or worse, no polygon counts (sprites). After all, the number of polygons is what makes a game good! Also, the color brown and one of these protagonists:

I recently played some particular NES and SNES games for the first time, and guess what? They were pretty good, I enjoyed 3 out of the 4 I played. I liked them in ways most recent xbox titles can't achieve.

For the record the games were 'Stunt Race FX (SNES)','Faxanadu (NES)' and 'Earth Worm Jim 2 (SNES)'.

 

[theheroofaction]

It's because There were good games in the past, people just don't remember the ones that sucked.
Whereas with today's games everybody remembers the recent shitstorms.

 

[IamQ]

It varies. I remember loving Burnout 3, but I played it yesterday and after 3 races, I just couldn't take it anymore...fucking small cars on the road killing me...

On the other hand, I also played SSX3, and I loved the hell out of that game. That game is what I call good nostalgia.

 

[robinkom]

It's partially a childhood thing. The kids of today will look back at the games they love now and say the same thing we do about our old games.

From a development standpoint, my philosophy has always been this: The less you have to work with, the harder you will try provided your passion is up to the task.

When video games were 6 people in someone's basement or a single office room, they had a lot of talent & ambition but limited technology. With only a few people working together, you had a more concise vision for what a specific game would be as a final product.

Now you have whole studios of hundreds of people and multi-million dollar budgets where a lot of what is intended by design is lost in transition from person to person in any part of the team. There is now greatly expansive technology but not enough great minds to put it to a lasting use. All too often there are supposed "Triple A" titles coming down the pipeline but none of them have lasting appeal or re-playability. They're good for that single initial play-through, after that, it's no longer a surprise or a treat.

That's not to say that there are a lot of vintage games that are just absolute rubbish, but there are, by far, a lot more memorable games of yesterday with staying power and lasting re-playability.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Some are, some are not. For example: Planescape Torment is the best game ever made.(my opinion)
\thread

Oh, don't do that. "/thread", I mean. It's really obnoxious. Please.

OT: My first console was a PS1, so I can't really comment, but I've never understood that blanket statement of "Old games are better". I mean, I'm sure SOME of them were better SOME of the games out now, and some were worse. What you're really asking is "What's the best game of all time, and when was it released?" I started gaming at an older age then most, so I don't have an answer, but I still think it's kind of an odd question in the first place.

 

[Feralcentaur]

Depends on what old game you're comparing to what new game, and you could also say it depends on what genres you like, like say for example you really like platformers and turn based RPGs but dislike Shooters, you would probably think of older games to be better since before platformers and RPGs were more common and now Shooters are EVERYWHERE.

 

[Arqus_Zed]

Both, here are a couple of arguments:

- Nostalgia:
-- You started gaming as a child, simpler days, a part of you wants to go back to those less complicated times and, as such, also the things which remind you of that.
-- When you started gaming, everything was all new and shiny. Now that you're older - and your knowledge about the topic has increased - games simply don't hold that many secrets for you anymore.
-- When you're younger, things amaze you more easily.

- Why they were actually better:
-- You like JRPG's and Platformers and realize that these two genres have taken quite a beating during the 7th generation. In every other generation, they were plentiful and grand.
-- Too many shooters.
-- Too many people using the same engine and using the textures delivered with the engine instead of making textures themselves. As such, many games seem alike and have a bland look about them.
-- The uncanny valley effect, the more real people want to make polygonal stuff look, the more apparent the mistakes become. // You like games with a side-dish or surreality, but most games seem bent on delivering humans looking as real as possible.
-- Online gaming didn't exist, many games had offline co-op or versus modes instead - and playing with other people is still more fun when you're all in the same room instead of thousands of miles away over the internet. Also, you knew you'd be playing with your friends and not some annoying 12-year old who keeps saying he slept with your mom.
-- While some games are made a thousand times (WW II shooters), other games are made only once (ICO, Killer7, Rez, ...). So in that case, the best games were made in the past, because it is unique in it's kind.

 

[Axolotl]

1 - Old games were simpler.

You don't play many old games do you?

Personally I play them because they're far more complex and indepth.