Question of the Day, April 28, 2010

[DarkSpectre]

Gaming is going through what flying went through. The golden age of flight was fueled by near unlimited funding for any manner of crazed idea. You could come up with a nutty idea and somebody was willing to fund it (usual Howard Hughes). It isn't that way anymore. Producing airplanes became vastly more expensive and we went through tough economic times. The industry became more focused. Companies invested in purposed R&D to achieve a desired end. In all coming up with new innovative aircraft became costly. That didn't stop big companies like Boeing from coming up with some pretty creative and innovative ideas and enacting them. The games industry is going through a similar situation. This is why we see a lot of sequels. They are improving a tried and tested idea. Companies aren't going to want to invest a lot of money in a crazy idea with the cost of making a high end game so high.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

I've heard that the age of 16 bit console wars was the golden age.
I've listened to arguments that the PS2's era was the greatest.
I've been told that the time of the Super Street Fighter arcade was best of all.
The golden age in my opinion? Whenever I fall in love with the game I'm playing. More of a golden moment, sure, but that's how I view it. I love our current generation, but I take time to visit the classics. XBOX 360, Playstation 3 and Wii downstairs; Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast upstairs. *Salute*.
-F

 

[mexicola]

No, I'd say people who think so are living in the past and/or doomsayers. It's ridiculous to sign off all the games that are made today and will be made in the future.

 

[-Torchedini-]

No

Nostalgia is a *****

 

[Abedeus]

I love Diablo 2. I love Persona 3/4.
I love Nox. I love Torchlight.
I love Neverwinter Nights. I love Dragon Age.
I love Heroes of Might and Magic III. I love... Warhammer 40k?
I love Beyond Good and Evil, I love Oni. I also love Assassin's Creed.
I love Enemy Territory, I love Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
I love Pokemon RGB, SGC. I love Pokemon Soulsilver/Heartgold, I love Shin Megami Tensei.

So, I've chosen the option 3. I still enjoy all of the good games. Time of birth is a secondary issue.

 

[Tharwen]

Games are as good as the boundary that they push. That boundary has been improving since it was created.

 

[Guru Cube]

I think the question is not appropriate. Why? Because my answer would be that games have changed so much over time. Modern games have outstanding graphics and often some excellent functionality. Quite often so much functionality that I feel I never fully make use of it all. However, the negative to moden gaming (in my opinion) is summed up by marter...

It is mostly because so much time and money is going into the graphics, that gameplay is almost looked upon as a secondary feature.

By that, I mean that I love the playablility of older games and feel that in the vast majority of new games, this is definitely not given as much thought. Now, be aware that I am definitely generalising here and there are exceptions to every rule, however it seems to be the way I feel more and more. The games I tend to go back to most often seem to be older ones (Transport Tycoon, Civilisation, the ScummVM collection etc.) and every now and again I'll reach for one of the newer ones (like GTA 4).
(Oh, and of course driving and simulator games generally just get better and better with time)

Really Escapist? I can't believe so many of you voted that you don't see a difference.

I did, because it was the closest option to show my neutral view to this question. Maybe next time the question asker can give us more suitable options?

 

[mikekearn]

Gaming is improving all the time. People look back on older games and nostalgia hard, but how often do you actually go back and play any of those games for more than 20 minutes? Honestly, now. I love playing some old school Mario, but I'm not going to sink a hundred hours into the game even over the next 30 years. I put twice that into Oblivion the first year it came out.

As some others have said, every generation is going to have shitty games. Shovelware is never going away as long as companies can keep making a few quick bucks on it. However, just because any random game might end up being crap doesn't cancel out the fact that bigger and better gems are being lovingly crafted every year.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Of course some of the greatest games have passed us.

Just as they are here now, and will undoubtedly continue to be。

 

[Casual Shinji]

Games in the old days felt much more free and up in the air compared to today's games.

It's not really better or worse, it's just different. It's more constricted by the large amount of money it needs to make them and by audience who doesn't have enough money to buy more then one a month.

 

[Denamic]

Games are getting better and gamers are getting whinier.

 

[Shadowflame66]

Hmm... Apparently this poll is serious.

Developers these days have more money, more technology, more to work with, bigger teams, more opportunities, they're more mainstream and as such... Well... There's fewer limitations.

-Much- fewer. The further along time goes, the better games we can have. As Yahtzee said, there's nothing inherently good about old games, they're just old.

Try to match Space Invaders to Oblivion and I think the point becomes clear. Potential, and possibility, are both greater now, and that's what's important.

 

[Simalacrum]

what? No no no.

I reckon the golden age will come in a generation or too, once gaming tech has reached its peak.

Of course, then comes the fall...

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Rather blandly you can say: "You win some, you lose some...".
It applies for me to gaming as well, anyway.

 

[Proteus214]

Gaming is just evolving as time goes on. The only way to recapture the old days is with a time machine. Luckily I have one. Adios! ZOOOOOOOMMMM!

 

[JokerCrowe]

captialism has certainly made the industry a bit more mainstream. But Naaahh... creative games are still being made, and competition only adds to companies wanting to make good games. At least in theory... >_>

 

[Zydrate]

Every generation will have its classics.

 

[tendo82]

Yeah, games pretty much peaked with the release of Nightmare Creatures II. It's basically been the decline and fall of the roman empire all over again since that very high and magical point.

 

[tehweave]

It's a hard question to answer. My favorite generation is the 5th, but I wouldn't say the 'glory days' of gaming are gone. More like, games aren't at the quality they used to be. Sure, they look prettier, but that gets very few points in my book.

What does it say about current gaming when I have more fun spending 24 hours on a black-and-white pokemon game trying to catch 151 of the critters or spending a marathon afternoon trying to beat Ocarina of Time as fast as I can, then spending 24 hours leveling my Warlock in WoW or sniping people in modern warfare?