Poll: Gaming has changed.

[chip-off-the-old-blo]

Anybody else get this feeling that the game industry is turning away from the classic fun Saturday morning passtime to the inner message of love and peace thats carried to you by killing Nazi's? Take the Sega Megadrive: games like Sonic where you simpley ran around finding lost jewellery and beating a fat guy with non-lethal means to some sweet music. But now, games like Metal Gear Solid and COD4 seem to be growing ever more dark and seem to be there to amplify teenage angst. Just sommin to think about.

 

[Same River New Water]

While at the same time, people on forums like this one bemoan the "kid-friendly" games produced by Nintendo and others.

Gaming has diversified.

 

[joystickjunki3]

Games. Games never change.

[edit] More appropriately: "Gaming. Gaming never changes."

 

[SharPhoe]

Games. Games never change.

" I don't want to set your gaaames ooon fiiiiire..."

In all seriousness, though, gaming has simply evolved and diversified into something for several audiences.

 

[chip-off-the-old-blo]

I totally see that, I got nothing against a good bit of violence and what not, I just don't like the whole making me feel quilty about it.

 

[SilverKyo]

i don't know if they have really changed, more like the difference has become more stark. back in those days, the most hardcore action shooter was golden eye and lets face it, by today's standards, that would probably be rated E, maybe T if someone at the ESRB was having a bad day. And now we've gone from golden eye and sonic into a hardcore bloodbath and a casual kiddie minigame for kindergardeners and their moms.

 

[CheeseSandwichCake]

The infinite struggle for entertainment will be a game with no end...

And gaming... Gaming never changes...







(REALLY BAD FALLOUT REFERENCE.)

Edit: FUCK SOMEBODY BEAT ME TO IT.

 

[jamesworkshop]

gaming changes because hardware does sonic ran around collecting stuff because it was the most you could do in a game of the time

 

[teisjm]

The "looking too deep into it option should be "you're not really looking deep enough" cause as someone said you basicly just forget about all the simpler less gritty games, think wii for example

 

[phar]

Umm just fashion really. Look at James Bond movies at these times. 80s/90s had some good classic villains easy to follow story lines and all bright settings.

Now we have Daniel Craig bonds and they are all dark and semi realistic.

Can be said about everything, but Bond is a good example as it constantly changes with the times. Hopefully if the expendables movie is a success we might have 10 billion clones and have good old fashioned easy to follow action movies rather than crap like the bourne series.

 

[Woem]

While at the same time, people on forums like this one bemoan the "kid-friendly" games produced by Nintendo and others.

Gaming has diversified.

I agree. I would even say that the Wii added more to the "classic fun Saturday morning passtime", casual gaming and it even added a new category of social gaming. It made playing games on a console with friends "fun" instead of "nerdy".

 

[Sensenmann]

They got more brutal and have unneeded but cool enhancements like the cover system, but otherwise innovations have been shot down, like Mirrors Edge - A perfectly good game- but too short and "not enough violence for some", while other's didn't undestand that you had to build momentum. Other innovations have had such small audience.

That's my two pence (british sorry ).

 

[skorpion352]

yes gaming has changed, but you are making that sound like its a bad thing. i think it is good that gaming has changed because now there are more options. if your just looking for a game to play maybe a n hour or 2 on the weekend or if you are looking for something to get lost in for several hours a day, there are plenty of options out there

 

[Frybird]

They got more brutal and have unneeded but cool enhancements like the cover system, but otherwise innovations have been shot down, like Mirrors Edge - A perfectly good game- but too short and "not enough violence for some", while other's didn't undestand that you had to build momentum. Other innovations have had such small audience.

That's my two pence (british sorry ).

Yup, that's pretty much my problem with many gamers. Whenever there is a new, fresh IP that happens to be not perfect, it gets bashed to the ground, at least if it does not have extremely pretty graphics or got overhyped. And on the other hand everyone whines about the lack of innovation in Usual-First-Person-Shooter 3 (the shootening!).


To get closer to the actual topic, i'd like to think that games evolve, rather than "change". Although this "Evolution" process is not always for the better...

 

[Reaperman64]

Some developers have truly forgotten that a video game is ment to be fun, not a place for you to stick your overconvaluted cesspool of a story (im looking at you kojima...)

thats why i think Gears did so well...theres nothing revolutionary about it, you have a gun there are bad guys.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Fundamentally, no. Games are driven by changes in technology and trends based on what sells. There are also a lot of people who online who demand that everything that the game industry does reflects their current state of emotional and intellectual development. Like, saying that Sonic was OK in the 90's but what we need now are stories about soldiers dying in nuclear blasts and dark superheroes who swear and break bones.

 

[not a zaar]

i don't know if they have really changed, more like the difference has become more stark. back in those days, the most hardcore action shooter was golden eye and lets face it, by today's standards, that would probably be rated E, maybe T if someone at the ESRB was having a bad day. And now we've gone from golden eye and sonic into a hardcore bloodbath and a casual kiddie minigame for kindergardeners and their moms.

WTF are you talking about? Doom and Wolfenstein came out years before Goldeneye and are way more violent and hardcore.

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

Gaming has changed. There is more emphasis on sex and violence than ever before. People are calling for a push of better graphics more than a drive for better gameplay. Many video games made today cost several times more than games made 10 years ago, but the older games have more lasting appeal and many of them are still funner to play now than the new ones.

I have had/played almost every console in existence over the last 27 years, and I can say that I personally find more enjoyment in games made during the SNES and PSX era than I do in today's era. The feeling of games has changed. People place an emphasis on "wanting challenges" rather than simply having fun. It feels like competition drives a lot of players too. I miss the old days when I just played games for entertainment. You know, that word that used to be included in the freaking NAME of the console Nintendo Entertainment System or Family Computer because everyone in the family could play it.

Today, games are over the top, almost as expensive to make as movies and quite often just as disappointing as them. I feel like we're in the era of games that comics were in during the 80's when everything started "going sour" and the industry needs a swift kick in the ass to change gears again.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

Yes its changed, but its for the best. people would have gotten bored a long time ago otherwise

 

[hypothetical fact]

80s = era of the sidescroller
90s = era of the platformer also the rise and fall of the point and click adventure game
00s = era of the FPS and era of the FITNESS REVOLUTION!