Ask yourself in 1998...
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In 1998 I was playing... Xenogears and Parasite Eve 1.Ando85 said:
This year I played... Xenogears.
And a bunch of current gen stuff.
It's just... a little eerie that you picked 1998 specifically.
Well I knew that the graphic would be better but not to the point that is so high quality. I also want to laugh at this video game book which had a section on their view on the future since they only got one thing right (graphic get better). One of them was like playing a game while crossing arming (like your left hand use the right control stick and vice versa with the other hand)!
Well back then about the only video games I played were some JumpStart games on the computer and even then I didn't do that often.(hell, I barely even touched the computer) I didn't really get into gaming until I got a GBA for Chistmas in 1999. So to ask myself what kid of games I would be playing now I would probably wonder what the hell I was talking about because I barely played video games at all.
I started playing video games when I was but a wee lad. The one thing I always (and still do) wanted to see was when I typed my character's name (such as Johnny Shepard in ME) and have the characters speak to me as "Johnny" throughout the rest of the game. Alas, decades later and my dream has not yet come true
I understand the crazy technological limitations this presents, but a gamer can dream, can't he?
Captcha: hoity-toity. I hate you
I understand the crazy technological limitations this presents, but a gamer can dream, can't he?
Captcha: hoity-toity. I hate you
I think in 1998 I'd be more focused on trying to stop past-me from shoving beads up his nose than asking what he thought I'd be playing.
I'm not sure if I'd even have touched my first videogame at that point but if I did I knew I'd definitely be playing Super Mario Land back then so he'd probably answer with "Mario!"
How wrong he is...
I'm not sure if I'd even have touched my first videogame at that point but if I did I knew I'd definitely be playing Super Mario Land back then so he'd probably answer with "Mario!"
How wrong he is...
Honestly I don't know, but 1998 me sure as hell couldn't have predicted this. Not even 2005 me would've imagined that the gaming industry would've become what it is now, and would be terrible disappointed to learn what it does become because 2001-2006 me actually believed that the industry had become something of a... how to put it? Well something to believe in anyway. Now I certainly don't. I'm not even sure about Nintendo anymore and I've always believed in them despite some of the more questionable things that they've done.
Not meaning to sound like I'm whining, just stating how I feel.
Not meaning to sound like I'm whining, just stating how I feel.
After playing Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe in late 1998, I confidently predicted that online multiplayer would take off. I was both 100% right, and yet utterly wrong, in that I predicted a long and bright future for online "sim" games. Turns out everybody just wants a rehash of the same old shit every year instead. Oh well...
I didn't see the demise of the more "hardcore" sim either. In the 90's, at least around these parts, it was often the release of the latest space or flight combat game that prompted hardware upgrades, and it seemed like a new one was released every other week, from the fairly simplistic Knights Of The Sky and Birds of Prey to the insanely complex Falcon and Flanker games. There were helicopter sims (Jane's AH-64 Apache), submarine sims for every occasion (Silent Service, Silent Hunter or the likes of SSN or Jane's 668), space "sims" ranging from the awesome X-Wing to the brutal and complex Freespace, and sims of practically any other piece of military hardware you can think of.
On top of that, Microsoft would drop a new version of Flight Simulator every couple of years, usually with enough differences from previous versions to warrant the upgrade. Apparently by 2002, Flight Simulator was Microsoft's second most sold software product behind Windows.
Now? Ubi pops out a new Silent Hunter every 3 or 4 years, but in truth Silent Hunter III fitted up with the Grey Wolves mod is still the best, Microsoft have abandoned Flight Simulator and the best air combat games are all either at least a decade old, or at least running on 10 year old engines.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hunt Allied shipping in the North Atlantic...
I didn't see the demise of the more "hardcore" sim either. In the 90's, at least around these parts, it was often the release of the latest space or flight combat game that prompted hardware upgrades, and it seemed like a new one was released every other week, from the fairly simplistic Knights Of The Sky and Birds of Prey to the insanely complex Falcon and Flanker games. There were helicopter sims (Jane's AH-64 Apache), submarine sims for every occasion (Silent Service, Silent Hunter or the likes of SSN or Jane's 668), space "sims" ranging from the awesome X-Wing to the brutal and complex Freespace, and sims of practically any other piece of military hardware you can think of.
On top of that, Microsoft would drop a new version of Flight Simulator every couple of years, usually with enough differences from previous versions to warrant the upgrade. Apparently by 2002, Flight Simulator was Microsoft's second most sold software product behind Windows.
Now? Ubi pops out a new Silent Hunter every 3 or 4 years, but in truth Silent Hunter III fitted up with the Grey Wolves mod is still the best, Microsoft have abandoned Flight Simulator and the best air combat games are all either at least a decade old, or at least running on 10 year old engines.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to hunt Allied shipping in the North Atlantic...
Hmm. I was 6 or 7 In 1998, and I was playing stuff like Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Banjo Kazooie ect. basically almost nothing but platformers. I'd imagine I would still be playing those kinds of games on a regular basis.
I'd never imagine I would even touch stuff like Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy IX, Shadow of the Colossus, Fallout: New Vegas, ect. All of which are among my most favorite games.
I'd never imagine I would even touch stuff like Metal Gear Solid 3, Final Fantasy IX, Shadow of the Colossus, Fallout: New Vegas, ect. All of which are among my most favorite games.
I was 11 in '98, and still using Nintendo products exclusively because... Well, I just didn't know...
Lets see 1998 hmm
Grim Fandango
Baldur's Gate: I'm backing Project Eternity and Doublefine Kickstarter so past me would be proud.
Resident Evil 2. Past me sees what RE has become and falls to the floor sobbing.
Ocarina of Time: Past Me: 'Those are the graphics on a HAND HELD and they are in 3D?!? NERDGASM.
Quake 2: Past Me really likes the look of Borderlands 2!
I would continue but yeah 1998 was a great year for games wasn't it. Honourable mention for Spyro...
Grim Fandango
Baldur's Gate: I'm backing Project Eternity and Doublefine Kickstarter so past me would be proud.
Resident Evil 2. Past me sees what RE has become and falls to the floor sobbing.
Ocarina of Time: Past Me: 'Those are the graphics on a HAND HELD and they are in 3D?!? NERDGASM.
Quake 2: Past Me really likes the look of Borderlands 2!
I would continue but yeah 1998 was a great year for games wasn't it. Honourable mention for Spyro...
Yeah, I thought that developers would create even better adventure games. Amazing cinematic productions that looked like the best Disney movie, but with great interactivity and storytelling, multiple paths and many endings. Well, in a sense adventure games have been absorbed by every other genre, even FPS, but it's a shame they haven't advanced much since those golden years.Cyberbob87 said:
1998, huh? I honestly think I would have imagined technology not too far off from what we have today, but with games still in the same kinds of specialized niches we had in the 90's. There's no way eight year old me could have conceived of the homogenization the industry saw this gen. Oh, one other thing: I probably wouldn't have been able to imagine digital distribution or indie games. I think my family got cable internet somewhere around 2001, and we were ahead of the curve on that. Digital distribution back then pretty much meant "spend all day downloading one or two shareware demos."
In '98, I was pretty busy playing through many seminal games of the era, like Goldeneye, Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid and although not as important as the ones previously mentioned, Turok 2 (Starcraft, Half-Life, Unreal, Thief and many other games of that time would come much later as I was busy with consoles back then).
My prediction about gaming back then, would be bigger and better games, no more polygonal characters, no more "pixelated" graphics, shorter loading times (wich hasn't been adressed to this day in consoles), and everything just plain better, back then I wasn't dreaming about holodecks or something like that, I just wanted to improve everything we already had back then.
I wanted consoles to look as awesome as arcade games, if not better. (It's been a while since we got past that point)
Seriously... '98 - 2000 were great years for gaming, everything was fresh and exciting. Nowadays I'm still pretty excited and positive about gaming, but there are a few things that can make it hard not to be excited about it anymore.
I think I'd be incessantly weeping if I'd know what Rare has become in 2012... And that Killer Instinct 3 would never be released... ever...
My prediction about gaming back then, would be bigger and better games, no more polygonal characters, no more "pixelated" graphics, shorter loading times (wich hasn't been adressed to this day in consoles), and everything just plain better, back then I wasn't dreaming about holodecks or something like that, I just wanted to improve everything we already had back then.
I wanted consoles to look as awesome as arcade games, if not better. (It's been a while since we got past that point)
Seriously... '98 - 2000 were great years for gaming, everything was fresh and exciting. Nowadays I'm still pretty excited and positive about gaming, but there are a few things that can make it hard not to be excited about it anymore.
I think I'd be incessantly weeping if I'd know what Rare has become in 2012... And that Killer Instinct 3 would never be released... ever...
That would have been just a year after the N64's release, meaning I would already have it and would have been playing Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario 64 constantly.
Between that and Pokemon (also released in '97ish), I probably would have thought I'd be playing even better racing and platforming games in the future. I probably wouldn't have been able to fathom a 3D Pokemon game or anything near where we are now in terms of graphics.
However, I clearly remember thinking that holographic/full simulation gaming was the future. I really thought that virtual reality was going to be a thing, where you could go to an arcade, jack your head into a server, and play in full virtual reality like the goddamned Matrix. That, or devise a rolling sphere that would allow for infinite movement in any direction, combined with VR goggles. I'm still of the opinion that we'll get there eventually. Eventually.
Between that and Pokemon (also released in '97ish), I probably would have thought I'd be playing even better racing and platforming games in the future. I probably wouldn't have been able to fathom a 3D Pokemon game or anything near where we are now in terms of graphics.
However, I clearly remember thinking that holographic/full simulation gaming was the future. I really thought that virtual reality was going to be a thing, where you could go to an arcade, jack your head into a server, and play in full virtual reality like the goddamned Matrix. That, or devise a rolling sphere that would allow for infinite movement in any direction, combined with VR goggles. I'm still of the opinion that we'll get there eventually. Eventually.
In 1998 I was neck deep in roguelikes. By virtue of being something you could pour hundreds of hours in to for free, they got me through my broke-ass college years. Past me would have been pleasantly surprised by the renaissance that genre is going through right now.
What would I have predicted? Maybe I could have seen MMOs coming, if I was being particularly perceptive. I never played Ultima Online, but I was aware of it and its predecessors, and it seems obvious in retrospect. But more likely I would have asked for ambitious sim projects along the lines of Dwarf Fortress.
Shame about the space games, though.
What would I have predicted? Maybe I could have seen MMOs coming, if I was being particularly perceptive. I never played Ultima Online, but I was aware of it and its predecessors, and it seems obvious in retrospect. But more likely I would have asked for ambitious sim projects along the lines of Dwarf Fortress.
Shame about the space games, though.
The reason I choose 1998 is based around Xenogears and the year I got a PS1. Such great games like FF7, Xenogears, Parasite Eve, Resident Evil 2, Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid were coming out around that timeframe. I choose 1998 cause those games really shaped what kind of gamer I am to this day.Bara_no_Hime said:
1998 was a wonderful year for gaming!