The 'take a step back' movement

[omega 616]

snip

Here is the problem, in the "golden days" that you are speaking of there was no such thing as a patch or update.

Does game X have a major, almost game killing bug? Tough shit, there is nothing you can do about it.

Not to mention games in them times looked like HD lego, had memory card saves and the term "ergonomically" designed controller hadn't been invented yet ... The best N64 players had 3 hands ...

 

[SargentToughie]

Here is the problem, in the "golden days" that you are speaking of there was no such thing as a patch or update.

Does game X have a major, almost game killing bug? Tough shit, there is nothing you can do about it.

Not to mention games in them times looked like HD lego, had memory card saves and the term "ergonomically" designed controller hadn't been invented yet ... The best N64 players had 3 hands ...

Yeah, but we didn't NEED updates or patches in those days. If there was a game killing bug, that's the sort of stuff that would have gotten ironed out pre-release. Devs didn't have the opportunity to just go 'f it, we'll just patch it post release' and ship an incomplete and buggy product. They had to take more time and make sure that everything worked well.

In fact, the rushed deadlines that have come out since the advent of the constant internet connection are, I might argue, harmful to the industry as a whole.

What's wrong with bad graphics? You're honestly telling me that the merit of a game is decided by how good it looks?

What's wrong with memory card saves? I don't really see the merit in that criticism.

As for controllers? The PS3 uses almost the exact same controller as the PS2 and the PS1 before it, and those are the two easiest consoles to pick up that I'd actually be interested in replaying again.

 

[locke]

Xenogears. No way to not play it and feel like older games were better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0xGILHchUo

 

[omega 616]

that's the sort of stuff that would have gotten ironed out pre-release

Yet how many times did you run on the spot as your face grinded against a game wall? How many times during a racing game did you take a corner super close to the apex and your thinking "holy shit that so close, it was awesome!" only to lose ALL speed or spin like crazy?

I was recently playing a rather recent but still old game, need for speed underground 1 (I think it came out in 04) and I know off by heart every corner with a game wall. I can think of about 3 or 4 just of the top of my bonce.

Yeah, it seriously all balances on graphics .... That is not what I am saying. I am ok with playing old games but old games VS new games, I would rather stare at a new game.

Memory card saves are fucking awful, having 2 or 3 of these things holding next to no amount of data. If you lose one you just lost about 16 saves, not to mention how many times I got corrupted data through no fault of my own.

PS2 and 3 are quite similar but the PS1 is a very skinny controller, especially without the sticks.

 

[SargentToughie]

snip

Never played racing games, they just weren't my cup of tea back in the day. If those are serious concerns of yours then I'm sorry and I can understand why you would be frustrated, but I have no such memories.

As for memory cards? I played with memory card systems for about 8 or so years of my gaming life, and I never had any issues with them whatsoever. One memory card typically had all the memory I needed for whatever games I owned at the time, as long as I took the initiative to delete the save files to games I no longer owned/wanted to play, and I rather liked being able to take a small stick of memory over to a friend's house as opposed to an entire console if I wanted to play a game with him and have all my characters/levels/whatevers unlocked.

I don't think I ever had data corrupted, not even once.

 

[blizzaradragon]

I go back and play the three Digimon World games on the PS1 all the time, as well as Digital Card Battle. Also just recently went on a Rare binge by playing Donkey Kong Country 1-3, Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Banjo-Tooie.

As for right now, my buddy got me Diablo II and it's expansion as a late birthday present for me so I'll break that out and give it a try. Otherwise I'll probably go play Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on my Gamecube.

 

[omega 616]

snip

Never played racing games, they just weren't my cup of tea back in the day. If those are serious concerns of yours then I'm sorry and I can understand why you would be frustrated, but I have no such memories.

As for memory cards? I played with memory card systems for about 8 or so years of my gaming life, and I never had any issues with them whatsoever. One memory card typically had all the memory I needed for whatever games I owned at the time, as long as I took the initiative to delete the save files to games I no longer owned/wanted to play, and I rather liked being able to take a small stick of memory over to a friend's house as opposed to an entire console if I wanted to play a game with him and have all my characters/levels/whatevers unlocked.

I don't think I ever had data corrupted, not even once.

Ok then, what about hit detection in FPS games? A 1 CM wide post being 1 inch thick? You line up a perfect shot from cover only to find you can't hit the guy 'cos the car you are behind doesn't have windows that you can shoot through.

Speaking of which, what about in games like GTA 3 where you can do things like pop tyres and shoot through windscreens to kill the driver? I remember being in high school and being so excited for that shit, one of the features of the game listed in the magazine was "the elbows are no longer square".

Nostalgia clouds a lot of games shitty qualities.

 

[SargentToughie]

MOAR SNIPPAGE!!!

Again, I haven't run into any of these problems that you claim to have. I can understand, hell, I can even respect that you don't really want to play older games because of their flaws, but I don't really see where these problems of yours are coming from. Now, I'll be the first to say that not all the games were better 'back in the day' then they are today. I'm not saying that no good games have come out this generation.

However, the fact remains that some of the greatest games ever made, as well as the games that have formed and shaped our opinions about gaming today, came from those days. We all have memories of that one game, or those two games, that completely shaped the gamers we are today.

I'm not saying 'only play older games'. No, that's dumb and it does nothing to help the industry. However, I'm saying 'play the older games that are special to you every now and again, and remember why you love video games so much'. It beats the hell out of keeping your face in the lobster bucket of modern gaming all the time, I'll tell you that much from personal experience.

For every shitty FPS with a 1 inch thick post, there was a game like Chrono Trigger, there was a game like Megaman Legends, there was a game like Kingdom Hearts. These games are instant classics that I remember fondly years later as being some of my best experiences playing games.

If you can only see the negative parts of going back and playing some older games, then I actually feel kinda sorry for you. You're missing out on some amazing experiences.

 

[Nooners]

Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Yes. Yes, it is. And that is why GoG is so important and so successful.

I have a Sega Genesis and N64 emulator for this exact reason. God bless old-school gaming. There may have been just as much garbage back then, but the good stuff - the stuff worth remembering - still SHINES like a beacon.

 

[SageRuffin]

I have to confess, I never got the Moonlight Sword. Could never find all the right stuff to break in that bloody level where you have to stop your ship being sunk by slime.

Releasing the spirits, right? If that's the stage I'm thinking of, Phoenix magic plus the Lotus Wing. A simple Light,Light,Light,Magic combo will fuck those little blob thingies sideways. You jump off, break shit, float back to the ship, unleash a Magic combo, lather rinse repeat.

I think you need your Magic to be level 3 or whatever the highest in that game was though. It's been a while and a half; I can't recall all the details.

Or you could take your chances with the one-hit-kill weapon, but if you catch, say, a stray floating kiss or something Raikou turns to ash. :/

Credit to FROM though, they really knew how to make a hack-and-slash with tons of replay value. Even moreso with the sequel. I don't think I've ever seen a hack-and-slash game with so many extra levels and challenges thrown in.

Most def. I had my reserves with the second game, but the other characters were actually pretty fun to use. I liked using the little girl with the scythe and the wolf guy with the twin swords (and really, who didn't like using that guy?).

 

[Strain42]

I've recently taken a step back to 2005 and busted out Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

After never being able to get it to run on my desktop, I tried installing it on my laptop, and I'm happy to say it's running great, and it's nice to enjoy one of my all time favorite WRPGs

 

[Jandau]

I just finished reading the entire Girl Genius webcomic, which means I'll be "stepping back" to Arcanum with a full tech character. Kinda hard to find proper steampunk games. Not games that feature a steampunk-themed level or something, but actual steampunk games. Shame, really...

 

[Lord Beautiful]

Most def. I had my reserves with the second game, but the other characters were actually pretty fun to use. I liked using the little girl with the scythe and the wolf guy with the twin swords (and really, who didn't like using that guy?).

Surprised the hell out of me. Made the inability to play Raikoh in every stage a non-issue. For the most part, anyway. I never did like Suetake's play-style.

Now if there were ever a couple of games I'd like in an HD collection...

 

[RustlessPotato]

I'm going back to Morrowind =D. Well going back isn't true. I started with Oblivion and figured i'd try Morrowind. Boy have I been missing out: the completely alien environment is superb. Yes it doesn't have the best graphics, but I think it has aged well and it is great aestethically. I can see now how people found oblivion borin after playing Morrowind. Haven't tried Skyrim yet though.

My brother and i often play ps 1 games together. We settle arguments by playing tekken 3 xD.

But to be honest, not all gaming from today is bad. I think that when people say "gaming used to be better" they just remember the great games of then and not the tons of bad ones. In 20 years people will say gaming now was better, because they'll just remember the good ones.

Though, i might be contradicting myself here, but i do think that gaming now is more simple than it used to be. I base that on Morrowind vs Oblivion, and i realise that I shouldn't base my opinion on my own comparision of 1 game. I think we should up the standards a bit, storywise and willing to take some risk so that we have something fresh.

My captha was "over the hill". Which made me think of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHP6IAxH1aA =D.

 

[Vegosiux]

Old Infocom games for me and later stuff like Space/King's/Whatever Quest.

"Oh, you didn't pick up the screwdriver on the third turn of the game? Well, sucks to be you..."

Ah yes, those were the days *chuckle*

if you wait to long with your expansions, the chance that people will buy it get slimmer.

and that affects also the digital distribution. people lose interest. thats all.

Can we stop using the terms "DLC" and "expansion" interchangeably?

 

[DustyDrB]

I'm pretty much always mixing in old games with new ones. And a lot of them are just as good as I remember them being. And no, it isn't nostalgia at work (though I don't see anything wrong with allowing nostalgia to elevate an experience). Many old games really are just very good.

 

[Minjoltr]

I play undemanding things like Zork, Sonic and Hexen on my netbook on long train journeys and
I've been replaying Morrowind lately because Skyrim made me miss colours, being able to steal every brightly coloured, shiny object in the game to hoard in Fast Eddie's my house and having to put some effort into looking for things.
Don't know if it really counts as old though. To me, Doom is pretty old but I hear some people talking about Oblivion as though it's an old game but I remember when it came out so it doesn't feel particularly old.

I know people will look down on me for saying this. But so many old games are just too damn ugly.

Some games have aged well like doom or most oldschool strategy games where everything is 2d. But any of the first real 3D games is just too ugly for me now. I cant immerse myself in a world like Morrowind anymore and it sucks that I feel this way now.

Plus designs of games were horrible back then, nowadays game developers actually put a lot of work with test groups and stuff like map markers into making sure the player actually has an idea of where they are meant to be going and what they are meant to be doing. The amount of times I would get stuck in some old game because I saved and went to bed and the next day I couldnt remember that one piece of dialouge that said to go west or whatever...ARGHHH!!

Have a look at the Morrowind Overhaul [http://morrowindoverhaul.rpgitalia.net/]. It makes the game prettier and shinier and lets you use magic while holding a weapon (it doesn't improve quest directions though). Morrowind still looks like Morrowind but less derpy.

 

[Luca72]

Have a look at the Morrowind Overhaul [http://morrowindoverhaul.rpgitalia.net/]. It makes the game prettier and shinier and lets you use magic while holding a weapon (it doesn't improve quest directions though). Morrowind still looks like Morrowind but less derpy.

Listen to this man! The Overhaul looks gorgeous. I installed it after my stint with Skyrim, which I loved, but still found myself more attached to Morrowind. The main reason is that the world is really unique, the plot is interesting (direct involvement in a sort of Greek pantheon of Gods that are all fed up with each other), and that you really get to design your character from the ground up. Not just mage, fighter, rogue. I made an unarmed/polearm wielding monk, who can alter his own gravity, and the gravity of others, and absorbs magic and spits it back at attackers. I miss the physics and radiant AI, but I still feel closer to the world of Morrowind than Skyrim.

Got a few tests next week, but after I'm done with them I think I'm going to give X-Com a go for the first time. Any tips for a beginner? I hear it's pretty brutal.