I don’t find video games much fun anymore

[fallacy]

So I did a google search a while ago and came across this thread.

http://pauljessup.com/2008/10/17/i-dont-find-video-games-much-fun-anymore/

this thread just keeps getting longer and longer with people that feel the same way about video games.  At 1 point we were totally addicted to games and something happened to where video games were no longer fun. We want them to be fun even if it is just 1 game worthy of our attention; they do not and it makes us sad  :'(

I’m 31 but it’s not an age thing. If you read the thread you will have kids as young as 14 to late 30’s saying the same thing. What causes it? If it is not as simple as just getting older then what?

[Paul Olson]

I think a lot of it is repetition. In the late 70s and early 80s, there was always something new to try. Now, for the most part, we just get to play the latest evolution of a game instead of something new. I have been a Zelda fan, but they impress me less with every new edition. I enjoyed a few hours of Twighlight Princess, then took a break and never started again. I am looking forward to the new one, but I would not be at all surprised if the same thing happens.
I have 13 arcade games in my garage, and I probably play out there less than an hour a month most months. I enjoy the little time I spend out there, but most of the time, I don't feel a need to play more. It is weird; I have spent more time playing Angry Birds than any other game in the last year. Maybe not, I played through Fable 2 in January, and that took a while. The last game I played through was Dungeon Siege...that was a while back. I think I took a break in DS2 about halfway through, and never came back.

The funny thing is, if you asked people who know me, I think most would say that my life is completely consumed by games. I rarely play, and I only play when it is fun. Some people play games like they are working. That is just too much for me.

Tonight, I played 1 game of Time Crisis 3, 3 games of Moon Patrol, and 2 games of Donkey Kong Jr. It was great. That is a big game day these days, and it is plenty to tide me over until next time.

[Howard_Casto]

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but I don't think that unique games don't exist, it's just the consumer only demands more of the same and then complains about the franchise being stale even though they would complain just as much if the same company didn't make a sequel or took the franchise in a radically different direction. 

You've got to remember that video games as a form of entertainment, is still in it's infancy.  We are at the stage to whre consumer and producer alike have whittled their tastes down to a slim margin and the whole medium suffers for it.  For cinema it was the western, for tv it was the sitcom, and now for video games it's the FPS (bah!!!!).  Eventually someone will wise up and realize that a big risk in terms of game design is exactly what we need right now.

Companies that make fantastic games are already catching on to this... ubisoft's POP and AC series have created a whole new action genre and more is on the way.  The thing is people need to actually buy these games, or they won't further development.

[fallacy]

I think a lot of it is repetition. In the late 70s and early 80s, there was always something new to try. Now, for the most part, we just get to play the latest evolution of a game instead of something new. I have been a Zelda fan, but they impress me less with every new edition. I enjoyed a few hours of Twighlight Princess, then took a break and never started again. I am looking forward to the new one, but I would not be at all surprised if the same thing happens.
I have 13 arcade games in my garage, and I probably play out there less than an hour a month most months. I enjoy the little time I spend out there, but most of the time, I don't feel a need to play more. It is weird; I have spent more time playing Angry Birds than any other game in the last year. Maybe not, I played through Fable 2 in January, and that took a while. The last game I played through was Dungeon Siege...that was a while back. I think I took a break in DS2 about halfway through, and never came back.

The funny thing is, if you asked people who know me, I think most would say that my life is completely consumed by games. I rarely play, and I only play when it is fun. Some people play games like they are working. That is just too much for me.

Tonight, I played 1 game of Time Crisis 3, 3 games of Moon Patrol, and 2 games of Donkey Kong Jr. It was great. That is a big game day these days, and it is plenty to tide me over until next time.

The fact that you still sit down and play games regardless of how much time you play them means you still find video games fun. You are still not at that point yet, lucky you.

[SavannahLion]

I started writing this post with the mentality that these people probably suck and that their lives suck. Seriously, who the hell would get bored with games?!? After reading the comments and writing this post down, I came to realize that I too have slowly begun my travels away from the world of gaming. Read on.


Hhmm... I imagine the reasons are different for different people.

Some look like they might be burnt out. It happens. Happened to me. They make movies about prodigies who burn out. People hear about it with chess players, but it happens in all interests. My father was an Olympian, I wouldn't have even qualified in the pre-qualifiers.

For others, it appears they've reached a skill limit or upper ceiling. A particular genre doesn't hold an interest because the challenge is no longer there. It's one of the reasons I stopped playing the 8-bit Megaman games. Except for the first, every single release followed the same basic rule set. Not much challenge after a fashion. In fact, I think Megaman (or Secret of Mana) is where I grasped the concept of an Engine (though at the time I had no idea that's what it was) and the basic rule sets they tended to follow. In a nut shell, once I understood the rules of the engine, the game came to be too easy.

The OP talks about growing away from gaming. That's how I feel sometimes. I still play some hard core sessions, playing for two to four hours at a stretch. But it's more like escaping daily pressures of being a parent that actually gaming. Wife is out shopping, kids are gone, got tired of all the pron, it's raining. Might as well play some games. This is coming from someone who wouldn't have thought twice about doing twelve hour cow runs in Diablo or playing Half-Life with the forward key disabled ten years ago. But those sessions are growing further apart and fewer in number. Now if I have some free time, I put it towards more "important" things. Cleaning and repairing the house. Studying. Things like that. My long game sessions are about six months apart now. I still get thirty minute to hour long sessions in, but that's usually late at night, around midnight or 1AM and those are pretty rare now too. Not because I have better things to do, but because I'm just too damn tired.

I still like games, I just don't want to dedicate as much time to them anymore. I'll still buy DNF and it'll probably the only game I'll play for the next six to nine months. Not because I'm hardcore into it. Because I just can't span my attention across more than one game.

Mind you I'm not talking about casual games. The times I play something like Angry Birds at work. I still don't play casuals much, I play them more to prevent my coworkers from socializing with me. I seriously do not want to talk to them about their problems and I don't want them asking about mine.

I think that's why I like BYOAC so much. Here, it's less about the games and more about actually making something that's tangible. Sure, I can get trophies on the PS3 Network, but five years down the road, what do I have? Nothing. According to Sony, those sequence of bits aren't even mine anyways. If I build an arcade cab, what do I have five years later? A bunch of wood/plastic/metal that says, "I built this ---smurfing--- thing and when I die, my kids might sell it on Craigslist. But you know what? I don't care, at least they have something of mine they can sell." Can't do that with a digital trophy on a network that might not even be around in five years.

I think this poster articulated it better than I can. I've included the direct quote for prosperity. The bold portion is key.

NZ says:
February 21, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Hey everyone, This is a long one sorry :/

I thought I would share with the group. I have been, like most of the other posters here, playing games since I was very young and have kept up with gaming trends and motions over the years. I am 27 now and I have also realized that games (both past and new) don’t hold the same luster. I gave it some thought and I think I know where it stems from. Now this is not to say my opinion applies to everyone but maybe it helps shed some insight on your situations too.

For me, my lack of enthusiasm for new games is three-fold:
Overexposure, Cynicism, and Maturity.

By this I mean after 20 some odd years of gaming, you kind of have seen it all and done it all. Oh look another shooter *bang bang*, great a new quest for more fake praise… We already know what to expect before we even play – granted there are some surprises that wake us up once in a while, but after that gameplay goes right back to the same ol same ol.

Now thats not to say games aren't fun, but that most games are getting old hat. Fun (for me anyway) comes from keeping my interest and engaging me in the story/action/event etc. That ties into the fact that every game, no matter how fresh and different will always result in the same cycle of events:

Wait for game > Buy game > play game > beat game > master game > sell/trade/forget game.

We are just avid gamers that stop caring somewhere around "play game". And thats fine! Games are for recreation not as a replacement for our real lives. There are 8th graders out there that swarm the forums and live play and think that being the best at games is what life is all about. And fine great knock yourselves out but frankly if I have to spend 28 hours improving my skillz so as not to be beaten by an 8th grader - than I have fallen too far to be helped.

And that's what it's really all about - Im getting more Mature and excepting that my life means more than arbitrary values sent by a virtual world that knows nothing of me and my goals. WoW is a perfect example, no matter how good you are or whatever, there is always someone out there better or has more ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- than you. What’s the point of owning 30 different rpg's (20 of which have the same story basically anyway?) why am I spending so much time collecting experience points, when my real wife wants a child? And really when it's all said and done, when I mastered the game, unlocked all the achievements, and schooled all the n00bs - what's left? A bored man, on a coach holding a plastic toy.

Face it, you didn't get bored of games, you just found more meaning to life. Consider it a solid indication that you're doing something right. Games will always be there, and sometimes you can shut off and enjoy it but who says it has to be anything more than just good ol fashioned fun - take it or leave it - the game doesn't care.

TBH, once I get a few cabs built, I'll probably move on. The cabs won't care. Mario isn't getting any older, but my kids are. I already miss my oldest son and the experiences he's gone through that my daughter is going through now.

[fallacy]

? And really when it's all said and done, when I mastered the game, unlocked all the achievements, and schooled all the n00bs - what's left? A bored man, on a coach holding a plastic toy. Face it, you didn't get bored of games, you just found more meaning to life. Consider it a solid indication that you're doing something right.

LOL but I am still board. The only difference now is I don't have video games to help me with that 

[lokesen]

I'm 31 too and I know what you mean...

But after a few years of gaming fatigue, I turned my attention towards indie games and discovered Braid, Super Meat Boy and Machinarium. Now I high quality games can actually still be made and it is not my age or taste that has changed, just the creativity of most commercial games.

[drventure]

For me anyway, the games are kind of secondary. They're fun, but most times, I don't even play a full credit's worth of lives. But I enjoy the hell out of building on my cab, coming up with new ideas, surfing other people's projects to see what kind of creative things people are doing, and scrounging through junk shops and garage sales for parts.

[Donkbaca]

There are a couple of reasons I can think of.  First the classic games are pushing 30, heck even the games from the fighter resurgence of the 90s arcade scene are nearing 20 years old. That is just a long time to be playing anything, especially for games that were really designed to be played for a few minutes at a time.  
I am in love with gamin at the moment with the release of
SSFIV, MvC3, NBA jam and the Mortal Kombat. But these will dissapoint because the nature of gaming has changed. Those games were fun partly because of the arcade experience of plunking your quarter down and facing off. Now the closest we get is XBL, and it's just not the same.

Gaming was a big part of my youth, all the way through college, and a big part of the fun was gaming with friends. That was part of the reason for me getting g an xbox, to play online with all my buddies that moved away, but it's just too hard, we are too busy.

The nature if games has changed too, they are too long.  I don't have 60 spare hours to put into a game. It used to be you could get a good game and beat it in a day. There was something cool about that. Now that is impossible, and I think games suffer by trying to make them too big and too long. The new thing is non-linear gaming and open world, which is fun, to a point.  Eventually you get bored because the story isn't as important and you kinda start thinking, what's the point ? Also I get maybe 4 hours a week, tops for gaming.  If I get an 80 hour game that's 20 weeks to beat it at least. That's 6 months. No way I remember what happened in a game 6 months ago.

The last epic gaming experience I had was the first metal gear solid. Got it the day it came out and played it all day with a buddy until we beat it. That experience is impossible today.

Controls have gotten too complicated too, and for no reason. It's like game companies feel obligated to use as many buttons as possible. Take the new NBA jam. All you need is three buttons for the game, but you can use every button in the controller. For offense and defense, turbo is the same, block/shoot is the same, but pass and steal are different buttons. Oh, and you can't reassign buttons. Stupid.

*edited to repair sleepiness*

[leapinlew]

The last epic gaming experience I had was the first metal gear solid. That game was awesome. Got it the

OMG, the suspense is killing me.

[isucamper]

On the one hand, it frustrates me to see a thread like this mingled in with threads about how no one wants to give new games a chance.  There's a lot of amazing games out there that no one on here wants to give the time of day because of some weird bias towards anything made after 1987.  Games are a lot like music, there's more good stuff out there than one person could ever find the time to consume, but without an open mind and and a humble attitude, you're never going to find it.

On the other hand, I believe that the current generation of console hardware is a stark step backward for videogames in general.  Great games are still there, but they are layered in so much crap you have to waid through... red rings of death, 2 hour updates before you can play a new game, expensive fad and gimmick games congesting the shelves... it's really been a pain in the ass. 

[Woodshop Flunky]

When I was a kid the best games were only in the arcade, and those cost quarters.  Taking a trip to the arcade once a week was about as much as I could hope for.  Then when I got there, I knew I wasn't going to get more than about three or four dollars to play (it was usually only $2 ).  I would cruise the arcade watching others play and I was VERY selective where I dropped my few quarters.  Once I got into the game, it was short lived.  This sort of limited opportunity made each moment of gaming valuable.  Now I've got consoles in the home, and a PC that allows me to play DAYS of games anytime I want (before I was married actually).  They are still fun, but enough is enough at some point.

I love pizza, and when I was a kid, we ate pizza maybe once a week.  Compared to gaming now, it's like I have an entire room of my house stacked to the ceiling with pizza!  I'd have to quit my job just to eat it all!

[Donkbaca]

I love the new games, but people who are all nostalgic about gaming in the old days need to come to grips with the fact that times have just changed, and the nature of gaming has changed.  Take Batman Arkham Asylum, the game is brilliant, its 20 hours long.  Some reviewer was talking about how the game is "too short" a 20 hour game would take me 2 months to beat!  Don't get me wrong, its nice to have some long games, but when a game is that long, its just too cumbersome to enjoy in short spurts.  Lets say its a Tuesday and the wife is going to go grocery shopping with my daughter, so I have maybe an hour to kill.  I turn on red dead redemption, not a whole lot you can do in an hour that will get you real progress, the wife comes home, I need to shut off the game, and its frustrating. I feel like I wasted an hour almost.

Casual games, on the other hand, are just not deep enough.  I might be the only person on the planet, but I don't like angry birds.  I find it boring.  

I fired up the SNES emulator and played Super Mario World with a friend the other day. That game was great.  It was long, but it was broken up into stages, so, you could actually play for 30 minutes and make some sort of progress, and it had all these great easter eggs in it that made replaying it fun.  I don't know, if gaming experiences like that are around anymore...

There seems to be an arcade like renaissance, at least in my mind, that started with SSFIV.  It was marketed with its own arcade controller, as was MvC3 and Mortal Kombat has one as well.  It seems that these games are targeting people like me, these are the games I played when I was a kid, and they are trying to recapture some of that lost arcade magic, but they will fail.  I remember going to the 7-11 after school and crowding around the SFII machine.  It was neat to battle people one on one, talk about different strategies, watch people play, that is something that xbox live won't capture.

I don't know, in a sense I guess I have changed, but the nature of the games have changed too.

[VanillaGorilla]

Ooh, good post. I have been feeling this way a lot lately. I got an X-BOX Kinnect for X-mas this year. What a piece of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---. This quote sums up my feelings exactly:

Great games are still there, but they are layered in so much crap you have to waid through... red rings of death, 2 hour updates before you can play a new game, expensive fad and gimmick games congesting the shelves... it's really been a pain in the ass.

Ya know, go ---fudgesicle--- yourself Microsluts, I dont wanna HAVE TO BE ONLINE just to play a dvd-rom I stuck into the drive. I don't need your updates immediately. If I run into an issue, or want to get on LIVE I will update. But forcing me to update the OS just to play an OFFLINE game is insulting to my intelligence, and completely disrupts the fluidity of inspiration to play in the first place.

 I want to stick it in, turn it on, and play. (just like my women ).

Long story short: Anyone wanna buy a hardly used XBOX360 with kinnect and an unopened copy of Black Ops?

This rang very true:

But I enjoy the hell out of building on my cab, coming up with new ideas, surfing other people's projects to see what kind of creative things people are doing, and scrounging through junk shops and garage sales for parts.

The hobby here has definitely overtaken the gameplay hours. I seem to derive more pleasure as an adult from building. Good new games are still out there, I'm sure, I've played a couple of cool shooters recently, but seriously, people need to get back to basics. I'm tired of killing people in hiDef realism. I'd rather be smashing flaming chickens with a hammer...

[ark_ader]

I blame the Internet and the availability of games.

The over saturation of titles that we can get, for so many platforms, numbs the whole deal.

PC games do not come into this, as they have an entire value of their own.

I fire up CoinOPS on the Xbox, and just play like 5 games.  Everything else is just a blur, no excitement value just repetition.

I fire up the Xbox 360 and play Pacman CE or Space Invaders - I can play them for awhile but the rot sets in.  Bored...

I won't mention the 30+ games I bought the 360 or the 30+ games for the PSP I have not even tried.  

I haven't played Dragon's Lair or Space Ace in nearly a year.

I think games get boring, because we have so much, and we take so much for granted.

Time warp back to 1990, and we would dream of what we have today.

The 5 games:

Digdug
MrDot
Discs Of Tron
Asteroids
Legend Of Hero Tonma

These get instant replay value.  Something that is missing from games of today.

[Bootay]

Donkbaca:

You and I have the exact same feeling on this. I am 38 and have a wife and 2 kids. I don't have time for long 120 hour games. I would love to be able to have this time to beat the next Final Fantasy or Zelda. But I don't have the time. Before I was married with kids I would sit back and play through games like Metal Gear Solid or FFVII on PS1, and I considered those games LONG. I don't mind a long game and I understand why they exist, but at the same time I think some developers throw a whole lot of filler in their games to make them seem longer than what they are story wise which is annoying. I don't want to come in first place in a hi-lo race 3 times before I can advance. That's stupid and has nothing to do with the story. (In case you don't know I am referencing Shenmue..the last "epic" game I beat).

I also feel that every game is the same as another game that already exists. There does need to be more innovation instead of the next big FPS, or the next big God of War clone. And people want that. The Guitar Hero craze proved this. When that game first came out it was something new and frsh and it instantly became the biggest thing ever because it was different. Then what happened? They did the same thing they do with every other genre...flood, flood, flood. Before I knew it, I went from loving GH and Rock Band to despising them because every week was either a new version or another company trying to copy.

I also agree that the games that have held my interest most recently are SFIV, SSFIV, MvC3, and the new MK as soon as that arrives. There are games here and there that come out on 360 that look like something I would love to play if I were able to dedicate 8 hours a day to it. But my life is too busy now for that. I get a few hours a night for gaming and so I mainly find myself playing the older games that don't require more than 4 hours to complete. Don't get me wrong though. I do not hate new games nor do I find them boring. But I can see how some could once they get older and have real responsibilities like jobs and kids. heh

[Rando]

Donkbaca:

You and I have the exact same feeling on this. I am 38 and have a wife and 2 kids. I don't have time for long 120 hour games. I would love to be able to have this time to beat the next Final Fantasy or Zelda. But I don't have the time. Before I was married with kids I would sit back and play through games like Metal Gear Solid or FFVII on PS1, and I considered those games LONG. I don't mind a long game and I understand why they exist, but at the same time I think some developers throw a whole lot of filler in their games to make them seem longer than what they are story wise which is annoying. I don't want to come in first place in a hi-lo race 3 times before I can advance. That's stupid and has nothing to do with the story. (In case you don't know I am referencing Shenmue..the last "epic" game I beat).

I'm in a similar state,
I've never been a massive gamer, other than when I got divorced and dove into some online MMORPGs.  But that was okay because I had loooots of time and nothing to do.  When I was a kid I could hit the boardwalk on vacation and spend hours in arcades.  But that was okay because I had looooots of time and it was fun to do.

Now I've got a Wii that I love to play, but I'm lucky if I get a few hours a month.  I have lots of games started (like Metroid, argh!) but I can't sit for an hour to progress, and by now I've forgotten how I got to where I'm sitting.

Which is why I'm looking forward to a finished cab, so I can play the old short games, bang out a few levels, watch my wife struggle at Donkey Kong jr, and call it a night.

I'd LIKE to play the long epic games that everybody loves, but not going to happen.  I've only finished a handful of games in my life to date, and will likely never do so again. 

[Vigo]

Put me in this boat, video games are just not the same anymore. I still play them, but the thrill is fading. I usually play a game and move on to something else within a couple plays.

As Jim mentioned, the creativity well is dry. Remember when a new game concept came out? People in their 20's-30's have to remember their first introduction to a ton of different genres. RPG's, FPS's, fighters, simulation. How special they were and new in concept. Remember when the talk was about even a game like Tetris? Everyone was talking about this game made by some Russian scientist used to make other Russian scientists even smarter. It was cold-war badassery! Like Rocky IV style. No one thinks of any game in that way these days, even if it is the 1000th incarnation of Tetris.

[Nephasth]

I became bored with video games a year ago. But then I heard that a new game was "released" for an almost forgotten system (for me). Battle Kid for NES is what brought me back. It was like a complete rediscovery of what I loved when I was a kid. Ultimately the rediscovery of the NES is what led me to buying arcade machines and making a MAME rig. There are so many arcade games that I never played as a kid, that I'm sure it will be quite some time before I begin to get bored with these.

[ids]

Funny reading this - I've been like this for several years.  I agree with the frustration level too.  e.g. I was a big fan of NFS:HP series, and was excited to get the new one.  What a massive disappointment!  It takes so goddam long to get to a race that I stopped playing entirely - after only two 10min sessions.  First it has to show you all kinds of b.s., then nearly insists on logging in (wtf?), etc, etc.  By the time you're ready for a race, you're also ready to turn off the PC (or throw it out a window).  I paid how much for that POS frustrating mess?  Anyway, beyond the cab, I haven't played games much for ... 3? 4? 5? years.  Completely lost interest - almost feel guilty about it too.  And the cab - it's more fun building and tweaking and learning about new things (woodworking, electronics, etc).  And once in a while the bug bites and I'll lose track of time with the classics.

[LeedsFan]

I've had the same feeling this last couple of years or so. I'm 45 and my last big gaming experience was Final Fantasy XI (online). it was first MMORPG and it will be my last. I've sunk 6 years (yes that's six) into my character "Darwinion" on Phoenix server. I'm coming to the end of my time with that game as I play it less and less now. And I will never play another MMORPG again simply because I don't want to invest the same amount of time again into one title. Not that I regret it... outside of Donkey Kong this is my all time favourite game.

But regarding other games... I've tried Dragon Ageand The Witcher and other single player games and I just don't finish them like I used to do 10 years ago. I get bores so easily now. And I always end up back to emulation and building stuff. I get more of a kick from that now that I do playing games. Surfing these forums and getting inspiration from other peoples projects and seeing what people think of mine.

[Vigo]

Jeez, I agree with so much that is said on this thread! The interesting this is that most all of us are either born before video games existed, of they were at least in infancy. We seen all the progress, but I am not sure about what future generations will be thinking.

I can't help but to think that classic video games will be considered nothing more than a novelty of the past for future generations, like silent movies or something, they won't have the same levels of appreciation ever again. And very few younger generations will even dare try older games because they look dated.

And we will probably be fated to be the old geezers wanting the glory days back, and boring kids with stories about how when we were their age, we had to walk to the arcade to play video games (uphill both ways).

[Rando]

I can't help but to think that classic video games will be considered nothing more than a novelty of the past for future generations, like silent movies or something, they won't have the same levels of appreciation ever again. And very few younger generations will even dare try older games because they look dated.

Will they seek them out?  Probably not.

But do they like them if they try them?  Absolutely.  My son is 10, has played Playstations and Wiis, has a DS, plays learning games in school, and loves loves loves playing Frogger & Dig-Dug on my PC/Pending cab.  Classics are classics for a reason. 

[DNA Dan]

I think the person who stated you found more meaningful things in life hit the nail on the head. When you are young, most people are pretty self serving. As you age and mature, have kids and whatnot, you start to look at every moment you spend your time on as time you will never get back. Would I rather play a 1000th game of Donkey Kong, or go with my girls on a bike ride? One's perception of what consitutes "quality time" changes as you age. For some, games are an escape, especially during times of youth. Remember those arcades in the 80's that were dark, dingy and full of smoking? How many of us felt like rebels going to the arcade to witness the lastest hot shot play a game of pinball.

If anything, I think the whole gaming thing is entertainment. When you feel like you have nothing better to do. Thing is, when you get older with more responsibilities and children, there's a lot more "other" things that you find rewarding as entertainment. Just spending time with your kids can be rewarding in and of itself.

[Donkbaca]

Very true.  There is universal appeal to a good game.  I jailbroke my friends psp, and now he says his kids (8 and 7) fight over it because they want to play the NES games on it, whereas 6 months ago it was sitting around collecting dust.

I think we are starting to see some of the focus back on gaming, the 360 has a bunch of 2d shmups and 2d fighters are making a comeback.  The wii has some good platform games.  I think of myself ( I am 33) as the sweet spot for game developers, I have been playing consoles for 25+ years, you can see how before an M rating was death for a game in terms of marketability and now you have plenty of successful games with that rating (Mortal Kombat).  Games shifted from being aimed at kids to being aimed at hardcore gamers, now they are moving back towards the adults that were the kids that were originally marketed at 20 plus years ago.

You know what i think would be great?  If instead of some enormous sixty dollar 120 hour game, they would break that up into a 20 dollar 30 hour game, and add content through DLC.  Wasn't that sort of the original plan anyway?

[DNA Dan]

.

You know what i think would be great?  If instead of some enormous sixty dollar 120 hour game, they would break that up into a 20 dollar 30 hour game, and add content through DLC.  Wasn't that sort of the original plan anyway?

There were some serious issues with this model. For one, once the appeal wears off, people would not buy the DLC. Second, if people bought the first part for $20 and felt ripped off, they would not buy the DLC. Thirdly, developers were not putting as much time and effort in the quality of the DLC, so many people feared buying into "more levels" and whatnot.

I think the main issue however is developers consider DLC a way to increase margins on a title losing appeal. In other words all the extra "junk" that comes in a Bluray version of a good movie is put up for DLC. Many people don't care about added characters, weapons, uniforms, etc. What people want are more gaming levels and from what I have seen on a cost per level basis, you pay more for this by purchasing DLC. I guess they figure it's for the die hard fans or the folks who like the frills. Either way, many just don't put as much effort into it as the original game.

For the vintage arcade games, they are just that, vintage. It's akin to driving an old '57 Chevy and getting you're kicks for those few moments you get to "re-live" the past.

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, but this model is working for the iphone.  5 bucks for a game, a buck or two for additional levels and what not. 

[DNA Dan]

I think there is a psychologial barried around $5. Once something costs more than your morning latte, people tend to think twice about it.

Besides to develop good gaming levels, the DLC needs to be $10 and up.

[Xiaou2]

There are a few major problems with modern games.

1) Too Slow

  Even most racing games feel like your pushing a shopping cart around.  Games like Outrun (past the first level)  had hairpin turns and tight traffic to deal constantly.  Turbo & Spy Hunter, accelerate like they have Rockets attached to the cars.  It may not be realistic, but its more fun and challenging.

 No speed = No fun = Snorefest.

2) Too Easy / No Intensity

 Too many games out there are simply too easy.  You walk around waiting for things to happen, and when they do, its cake to take care of.  Theres no intensity. No feeling of excitement or stress.  Its a meaningless romp to look at pretty graphics... which gets old soon enough.

 The best memories and experiences come from challenges.  Such as when I was Skiing as a kid on a school outting. Some kids piled up right on the steep hill in front of me.  Couldnt turn left, as there was the lift gate.  Couldnt turn right, as it was a merging of many hills with tons of skiiers heading that way.  The bottom of the hill was the short, with little space to stop before hitting another gate... AND, I was not a very good Skier.

 Two had stood up, and I just enough space and time to tuck between them.  I hit the bottom pile, flipped over, landed flat and slid on my head.  Miraculously, nobody was injured.   It was a rush, and it all happened in like 3 seconds flat... but those 3 seconds were the most memorable and intense moments in the entire day... let alone much of my typical boring life.

3) Too Much Load Time.   If you died in Mario, the game was quick to let you try again to keep the action going.   Yet in the Wii verion, you have stupid cutscenes and long load times which break up the action... and create more of a negative experience than an addictive & fun experience.

4) Poor / Boring Controls.  Sorry, but the mini analog controls are very poor for precision control of anything.  There also is no original controllers such as trackballs or spinners.

5) Horrible animation.  Look at the latter Mortal Kombat games, and one can not only spot how slow the game is compared to the earlier games.. but how bad the animations are.  Part of the slow speed coming from animators who put too many frames in, for instance, a punch... making that punch look smooth.. .but way too slow and completely unrealistic in every way.

6) Too many explosions / Bad explosion graphics.

 Many games put so much garbage on the screen that you cant even see what they heck you are doing.  Also, they draw it poorly, looking nothing like real explosives.  Often, they stay on-screen too long as well.

7) Same game over and over again.

 Most games use the same engine over and over again with little to no real difference.  The only real change is the graphics.

Pathetic game score.

 Techno-like backing that has no emotional impact at all to the player.  It also gets boring and grating really fast.  Listen to some c64 compositions and they are amazing, even though they may not sound as good as modern instruments/synths. They actually convey emotions and have musical complexity & creativity.

9) 3d not 2d.

 Sorry, but many 3d games just are not as fun, or even good looking as a well made 2d game.

10) Crazy Camera pans, slow-mo & Cutscenes in the middle of Live action.

 Ugg. I dont care what it looks like to break a fighters leg in slow motion.  It only serves to make me dizzy from the camera pan, and annoy the heck out of me for taking away the gameplay speed and intensity.


 I would also say originality..  But heres the deal...  I could play a zillion versions of the 2d supermario games... and as long as they remain challenging, with only a few changes and tweaks, they will still remain fun to play.

 
 So, if you are getting tired of playing games... I suggest you start playing some intense games that really kick your butt (probably older mame and console games, possible indie creations).  You cant get board, when every moment is living on a razors edge.

[Bootay]

I really don't agree with a lot of that..but I do agree with the same game over and over again. I think that visually modern games are wonderful...the load times are mostly tolerable. I have only played a very small handful of racing games that didn't seem like it was going as fast as it should..most seem fine to me. I guess I can agree with too many cutscenes. I don't mind them if they aren't that often and they actually are necessary, but I hate when a game has really long cutscenes that are unskippable. Especially at the beginning of the game before you get to even see if you like it.. I want to play the game..fill me in on the story as I go please. 

One thing that I will add though...most games don't really have the threat of death anymore. With a lot of games,  if you die you can start right back at the exact moment you died, which makes dying not that big of a threat. And a lot of these games don't have a life count either, so you can die over and over again as well without the threat of a Game Over.

But for the most part...I like modern games...I just don't have enough time for them. If I did...I would play them.

[Donkbaca]

One thing that I will add though...most games don't really have the threat of death anymore. With a lot of games,  if you die you can start right back at the exact moment you died, which makes dying not that big of a threat. And a lot of these games don't have a life count either, so you can die over and over again as well without the threat of a Game Over.

I think this is a function of the 80+ hour game model.  How much would it suck if you were 80% done with Fallout 3 and you had a game over and had to start form the beginning?

[Bootay]

One thing that I will add though...most games don't really have the threat of death anymore. With a lot of games,  if you die you can start right back at the exact moment you died, which makes dying not that big of a threat. And a lot of these games don't have a life count either, so you can die over and over again as well without the threat of a Game Over.

I think this is a function of the 80+ hour game model.  How much would it suck if you were 80% done with Fallout 3 and you had a game over and had to start form the beginning?

LOL well this is true...

I was more referring to the action games like "Batman: Arkham Asylum" or "God of War". And I am not implying having to start all over from the beginning. But you know, like the PS1 and DC days. You would have to start from your last save point. I am not implying that it is a more superior way to design a game either, I am just making a point that the threat of dying for the most part no longer exists in most games.

[eds1275]

I guess I never plan to grow up. I love games, and I'd like to think they love me I play a fair share of video games - maybe an hour a night. I go through phases... I'll play tonnes of old arcade games for a few months, then I will go back to my xbox, then I'll dig out the SNES... really, the only thing is that I've gotten lazier. I know where my C64 is, but it's faster for me to download an emu and the games than it is for me to go out to the shed, grab the ladder, and go up into the attic to get it. Jumpman - now there is a wicked game.

[Xiaou2]

Guess what, there ARE a zillion ripoffs of the Super Mario games and you don't remember them because almost all of them suck.

 What I meant was actual Nintendo made 2D Mario games.  Theres quite a few, and they have all done really well.  They will continue to do well, even 20 yrs from now, because the gameplay is challenging & fun.

 There are however other platformers that are also very good.  There are of course, many really bad ones too.  A lot of times, they failed due to a combination of poor jumping formulas, slow speed, poor control due to having to wait for animation frames, poor collision detection, and more.

 The Mario games being one of the top platformers, much to the great amount of control and speed of the game.  Sonic's speed helped it to get good recognition, however, due to its severely limited depth of gameplay, it never was or ever will be as popular as the Mario series.

Music was so much better in the 60/70/80/90/00s, right?

 Great Musical compositions, no matter how old they are, are timeless.

 Remember, we are talking about game music too.  No recording faults, such as in the earlier musical recordings.

 What we are talking about, is music that evokes some sort of feeling or even a story, without a single word.  A droning repeating run of 'fly beats', evokes no real emotion.  Thats why you wont hear that in the latest Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Starwars movies.  Each movie score is both atmospheric, and contains sounds and compositions that convey emotions that would otherwise not be so present. Watch the movies without the score / sound, and it will be a different experience.

 Im not saying every game has poor compositions, but a lot of them out there do,
and it makes the game suffer as a result.  The best gameplay can be ruined by poor sounds.. and the most basic graphics possible, but with excellent sounds, can create an experience that transcends the graphical limitations.

[Epyx]

I just turned 39 and probably love gaming more than ever. Part of the reason is that I stopped being a gaming elitist...what I mean by that is I would only play computer games and emulated classics. I refused to play console games, deriding them as too childish. My friend who I have known since grade 4 would bug me yearly...starting in the late 80s (and admittedly i played a bit of NES with my lil bro just not much) with have you tried game "X"...that game might have been Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger and I would laugh...those games are for kids!

Well about 4 years ago I got off my high horse as I was in a bit of a gaming funk...I had just won Oblivion (awesome game) and was burnt out of WoW and thought Id give it a chance. Worst case I walked away with the same opinion...the games are for kids...then I tried them and was hooked. The first game I tried was Chrono Trigger.  Then I tried Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy XII and Ogre Tactics and lets just say all those years of bypassing console/handheld games means I have a library of possibilities and its been awesome.

My current favourite games run a gamut of platforms/genres:

- Oblivion (yes this many years later and modded out this game is still *fun)) PC
- Civilization 5/Galactic Civilizations II (PC)
- Etrian Odyssey 3 (Nintendo DS)
- Class of Heroes (PSP)
- Ogre Tactics remake (PSP)
- Demon's Souls (PS3)
- Pokemon Black (dont laugh...) (DS)
- Rune Factory 3 (DS)
- Arcade Cab (Arcade games/Dreamcast/Playstation)


Wow...what better time to be a gamer?

[Donkbaca]

Haha, the pokemon games are actually pretty fun.

Anything blizzard makes is pretty amazing. I haven't bought Starcraft II and I am going to try and not buy Diablo III, because I know those woul suck up all my free time for months...

[Gray_Area]

I hear this echo....some phrase about....being high maintenance.

[Generic Eric]

*walks up to podium*

Hi, my name is Eric.  I am 33...and I like video games...I like arcade games, tiny plastic guitars, just dance and pinball machines.

This thread has an AA feeling to it.

I have 2 kids, married and my mother in law stays with us.  When I play video games, I make them count.  Same with steaks & beer.  Obviously, I don't have 2 or more hours to spend on video games, but I make sure I enjoy myself when I do get a chance.   Its not about playing what everyone else is playing, its about having a good time.

There are so many more opportunities for us nowadays, that everyone should be able to find a game they enjoy.
 
I hope everyone enjoys themselves no matter what they play.   


...there is something to be said about the "sameness" of games.  There are definitely trends, but if you take a chance on a "different" game you might be pleasantly surprised.

[DNA Dan]

I think a part of what makes games from the 80's so timeless is they were the pioneers of a new technology. No matter how many times Nintendo exploits the Donkey Kong or Mario franchises, there's nothing like playing the originals. They are in a class all by themselves. I just don't see those games ever getting boring for me.

[bobotech]

I grew up with video games starting off with my Telstar that I got in 76 xmas.  I have been with them ever since.  I am 42 now.

There was a dry period in my life with video games.  I lost interest in video games when the fighters hit the map.  I saw no interest in Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat at the arcades and pretty much quit going to any sort of arcade around the early 90s.  I just was such a lousy player at them that they didn't make me want to play them.  I didnt' get the whole fighter scene at all.

So the '90s were my dry spell.  Granted I had an NES and a few games and then a Genesis with my ex-wife but we had a kid and the systems sort of stayed in the background.

I did get a PS1 for the kids around 1997.

The part that really rekindled my interest was Mame.  I discovered Mame when it was really new.  I think it was around 97 or so.  I LOVED it.  I could play the classic games.  The other thing that rekindled my interest was thrift stores.  I discovered I could buy almost EVERYTHING that I wanted so dearly as a pre-teen and teen for pennies.  I started amassing a large collection of old game/systems/comptuers/etc.  I still ahve all that stuff but the thrifts really started drying up badly by around 2005-2006.  Now i'm lucky to find a decent game or two in all my forays.  

The odd thing was that I rarely played those classic games. I turned into a collector rather than a player.  I was in love with the idea of having the collection rather than the collection of games themselves.  I still didn't play all that much except I would fire up mame once in a while and play and have fun.

I did buy a used dreamcast a few years later and did enjoy playing games on it.  I had a lot of fun on that system.  We then got a PS2 but I rarely ever touched it, it was the kids.  Got an xbox around the same time and same thing, I rarely touched it.  

Then about 3 years ago, I bought my first 360.  I actually started having fun with some of the games.  It was stilll mainly for the kids but I did really enjoy the racing games. I have always been a fan of arcade racing games but have always never found what I was looking for.   however I discovered Burnout Revenge and Burnout Paradise.  I LOVE those games.  I played those frequently and ended up getting the other burnouts for my PS2 and enjoyed them as well.  Oddly enough, one of my favorites was a thrift store find of Outrun 2 for the xbox 1.  That game is arcade racing bliss as far as I'm concernred.

But the odd thing is that about a couple of months ago, I was at an auction and bought a few 360 games for 15 dollars including Street Fighter IV.  I told my buddy about it and he was so excited.  He was a huge fighting fan during their hayday in the '90s.  We started playign it and he started teaching me the finer points which made me acutally enjoy the games.  I got to the point where I had to build an arcade stick because I really was dissatisfied with the stock controller.  That made a world of difference for me.    

One thign about console gaming.  I hate paying full price for new games. I am ususally two or so years behind the curve and then I buy used games as cheap as possible.  For example, i bought 3 games over the weekend.  Need for Speed: Hot Prusuit, Fallout: New Vegas, and Red Dead Redemption each for 10 dollars from some desperate guy on craigslist.  I do not like paying almost 60 bux for each game.

I never did get much into the FPS genre except on the computer with Halflife and its relations.  I just can't handle using the twin analog stick of a video game controller inplace of the wasd/mouse combo.  

So my interest waxes and wanes.  Right now its at a high point but probably in a few months, I will rediscover R/c trucks and and lose interest in video games but for now, I have been playing a lot of video games lately.  

Don't really know if there is much point to my post other than it shows that interests go up and down.  One thing I do know for sure, the over saturation of video games sure has made playing games not a big deal experience that it was when we were kids going over to friend's houses to play atari.  I miss those days.