Over 40 and less into new games?

[danny_galaga]

See, I skipped a HUGE chunk of gamings development. The hey-day was early 80's for me. Then somehow it all passed me by- NES SMS SNES etc. I'd occasionally play a PS at a friends place but it didn't gel with me, mostly because they tended to play racing games and I sucked at them. But this century, I got a taste for all I had missed and now I play more complicated games than I ever did when I was younger. I've almost (but not quite) gone from Galaxian to Call of Duty with almost nothing in between! I've collected some of the games I missed out on though...

I do love to immersion of some of these modern games. Ones I get sucked into are Monster Hunter on the Wii and Steel Battalion on xbox.

Having said that, I do enjoy a quick blast on the MAME cab. there's almost a spiritual connection with Galaxian (",)

[Louis Tully]

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[jennifer]

    At the risk of dating myself, I will say that Jen has seen it all...Pong, handheld football, whatever,but then came the concept of Mame, I waited
for years, waited with visions of great things to come, To me it never did happen, And feel a bit letdown....For me the original games were losing
there magic the more I learned about how they worked, It became a job, Everything was a blur.... Today I very rarley ever play a game
but still love the art, and working on them.

[Gray_Area]

...For me the original games were losing
there magic the more I learned about how they worked, It became a job...

I was thinking about this a little while ago, having hit a certain rut in playing games. So I took about a month off - not so much intentionally, but because I had plenty of other things I was doing and wanted to do, and so just stopped thinking about playing games. I have the luxury of space and all to leave something alone in a part of the house for a long spell and not need to get rid of it because it isn't being used.

[Cynicaster]

Yeah, I’ve kind of lost faith in new games.  After playing a few dull graphics wank-off type games like Uncharted and God of War back to back, I found I just wanted the games to end.  Then, I realized how silly it was for me to continue playing if I wasn’t having any fun.  So, I have a bunch of games that I started but never finished.  With no score to shoot for and no merit system to measure my performance, I find the experience completely pointless.  And no, “trophies” and “achievements” do not a merit system make.   

I’ve been wanting to give the PS3 another shot—I even picked up a few games used a month or so ago—but I just can’t muster the motivation to play them.

So now I play my MAME cabinet pretty much exclusively.  So many of those classic games are just magical to me because they come from a time when you couldn’t hide a $hitty game behind HD graphics.  First and foremost, the designers had to come up with a fun idea and implement it using the meager hardware they had available.  If they failed at the “fun” part, they weren’t able to fool anybody.

As for iOS games and the like, personally, as a lot, I think they’re the worst of the worst in the history of gaming.  Mind you, I’m not talking about word games and Mahjong type stuff—the mobile devices do those quite well—I’m talking about video games.  I’ve heard those platforms being referred to as the “new Atari 2600” in that they largely offer basic pick up and play type games, many of which even include scoring systems (gasp!).  That’s great, but where they fail is with the horrifying experience of touchscreen controls.  They look and sound great, but graphics and sound can’t save a game that I find unplayable.  I’d rather play Sorcerer on the Atari 2600 than Angry Birds or Temple Run—both games blow, but at least I’d have a controller in my hand for the latter. 

As for reboots of classics, more often than not, I don’t see why it’s necessary.  I mean, how many different iterations have we seen of Asteroids through the years, where they try to make “3D” effects with shading on the rocks, etc.  Who cares!  The original cannot be topped, IMO.  And I’m not just saying that out of nostalgia, because I never played the original as a kid.

There are rare exceptions.  Pac-Man Championship Edition DX on PS3 might be one of my favorite video games of all time.  They totally nailed it with that one.  It’s just enough like Pac-Man to not feel like shameless name-whoring, and it’s just original enough to be a whole new experience.     

[easevagsub]

I’m 45 too…..Lol

[dekar24k]

What I hate most about new games, with a few exceptions, is the low framerate and sluggish gameplay. Especially on consoles. People seem to be happy with the average 30 fps game, but I just simply can't enjoy it!

Must be why I love (most) good old 8bit/16bit side scrollers, as they have ultra smooth 60 fps scrolling and fast, responsive gameplay. That's also why I mostly play newer games on PC, as I can beef up my PC enough to be able to run all the new games at 60FPS, instead of playing the console versions in "sluggish" 30 frames per second.

Don't get me wrong, they still make a good games occasionally, but most of the games coming out nowadays are crap and gamers seem to be happy about it.

[gkarnik]

There is something to be said for simplicity.  A game that requires nothing more than a joystick to play can somehow engage an entire generation. The best iphone games are a lot like that now and do just as well for this generation.

[Vigo]

A little anecdote on benefit of simplicity.

So last week I bit on a new handheld. I bought a 3DS XL. So far, I have only a couple games. One that I have been itching to play, Resident Evil Revelations, and a bargain bin copy of Sims 3 that I only bought because my wife likes to make people in Sims.

Well, between taking care of a sick family, having some long work hours, and me trying to find just any random minute to play, I have probably clocked 4-5 hours in the Sims, and all of 10 minutes in Resident Evil. Just because I can pop in the Sims and play at any moment. Resident evil demands that I have the focus and a good chunk of time to get into it or else I just don't get the real benefit of playing a game like that.

[MaxVolume]

What I hate most about new games, with a few exceptions, is the low framerate and sluggish gameplay. Especially on consoles. People seem to be happy with the average 30 fps game, but I just simply can't enjoy it!

Must be why I love (most) good old 8bit/16bit side scrollers, as they have ultra smooth 60 fps scrolling and fast, responsive gameplay. That's also why I mostly play newer games on PC, as I can beef up my PC enough to be able to run all the new games at 60FPS, instead of playing the console versions in "sluggish" 30 frames per second.

Don't get me wrong, they still make a good games occasionally, but most of the games coming out nowadays are crap and gamers seem to be happy about it.

What?  It's always 30FPS... "60FPS" doesn't really exist... it's 60 fields per second, not frames.  It refers to interlaced video, where one half of the picture is drawn at a time.  In the NTSC world, the 60Hz power supply means half of the image is drawn each cycle, resulting in 30 full frames per second.

Now you know... and knowing is half the battle!  Yo Joe!

[matt4949]

Mt kids built a parkor course on minecraft last week and asked me to give it a try. After 20 minutes with an Xbox controller I still had not made it up the stairs to start the challenge. I stalked away in disgust mumbling something about building an easy to play video game and went to the garage and doubled the effort of building my cab. Yes the new games are more difficult and more challenging but at the end of the day my kids are faster, smarter and more computer literate than I ever was and I have an excuse to be out in the garage trying to get ASTRO BLASTER to start up.

[DaOld Man]

You young kids with your fancy video games!
Why when I was a kid a barrel hoop and a stick was a great challenge, and for the less athletic kids on the block, a tin can could take several late afternoons of practice to master.
It aint as easy as it looks kicking that can in a straight line, I tell you what!
But the real challenge was knucklebones (you kids of today probably know that game as "jacks").
That game was reserved for the real players.

[matt4949]

You young kids with your fancy video games!
Why when I was a kid a barrel hoop and a stick was a great challenge, and for the less athletic kids on the block, a tin can could take several late afternoons of practice to master.
It aint as easy as it looks kicking that can in a straight line, I tell you what!
But the real challenge was knucklebones (you kids of today probably know that game as "jacks").
That game was reserved for the real players.

And don't forget about marbles, Hopscotch and invent the wheel

[CoryBee]

You young kids with your fancy video games!
Why when I was a kid a barrel hoop and a stick was a great challenge, and for the less athletic kids on the block, a tin can could take several late afternoons of practice to master.
It aint as easy as it looks kicking that can in a straight line, I tell you what!
But the real challenge was knucklebones (you kids of today probably know that game as "jacks").
That game was reserved for the real players.

And don't forget about marbles, Hopscotch and invent the wheel

POGS!!!! - or not...... 

[matt4949]

You young kids with your fancy video games!
Why when I was a kid a barrel hoop and a stick was a great challenge, and for the less athletic kids on the block, a tin can could take several late afternoons of practice to master.
It aint as easy as it looks kicking that can in a straight line, I tell you what!
But the real challenge was knucklebones (you kids of today probably know that game as "jacks").
That game was reserved for the real players.

And don't forget about marbles, Hopscotch and invent the wheel

POGS!!!! - or not...... 

Pogs? what's that? You are definately not over 40

[CoryBee]

nope, but I am working on it 

if it is any consolation the waitresses at the diner let me order from the senior menu.........okay I will leave

[molton]

Gatt, that definitely has something to do with interest fading in new video games. 

Aside from that, dumbing down of innovation has never helped.  How come games haven't enjoyed save game systems that remember every little thing about the game world like the original deus ex?  Or how come bullet damage never looks as good as it did in Soldier of Fortune II?  How come the Farcry and the 1st Crysis had better combat and enemy AI then any other video game ever, just to not be matched in their own sequels.

This  recent Deus Ex isn't bad but still lacks in certain areas the original delivered in, the 2nd Deus Ex is a crime against video games, tiny little unexplorable levels, a single "energy source" for all ammo across all guns instead of an array of guns and ammo types to effect your strategy, no unreal engine to make mods like all the fabulous mods for the original Deus Ex, I hate how little modding is supported today.

[Mario]

I agree also but for a different reason...

time

At 40 now I have my first child, she's 7 months old and of course takes up nearly all of my wife & I's time. I used to be a hardcore WoW raider playing 4-5 hrs a night 5 days a week in a very high end guild which I enjoyed immensely but of course I cannot (and wouldn't want to) do that kind of thing now I have a wife and family.

The classic arcade games let you dive on for 5 minutes, have a quick bit of fun and be on to the next thing that needs your attention, it's no coincidence that PC and Console game sales have taken a hit since casual easy gaming has been easy for many to keep in their pockets on their phones and iPods.

Also, I look forward with great joy to sitting down and watching my baby girl play pacman, d'kong or pinball when she gets older and introducing her to the fun and wonder of simple games with great characters and fun gameplay that don't require her to mash 45 buttons while looking down the barrel of an ultra realistic weapon head shotting her friends.

Same for me. Mostly, I don't have the time due to my kids. But also because I want or need to do other things (browse web, relax by the TV, various chores).

My most-played games are Freecell on my iPhone, and Ultimate Wizard using the C64 emulator running on my son's NDS.

Mario

[Burn4Evr]

30 here and to me, games have gotten easier not harder. In some cases I'm ok with this... sometimes you just want to be a badass. In other cases its frustrating, One of my favorite series is a great example, XCOM.... the first game was brutal...and exausting trying to both manage your base, your money and everything else on top of combat.
The recent sequal while fun, and simplified may have gone too far in making it easy... choices such as not being able to fire at walls to create your own doors, or having missed shots actually travel past your target really hurt the game.

I think the gap between easy games and difficult games is widening too much.....it seems either you can shoot a nuke from a jet with one click in some games, and in others you can barely take off without having to read a 400 page manual.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I recall playing Madden Football on the Xbox 360 (can't remember what year the Madden game was) and I was able to choose a 2 button control layout while my younger nephew chose the normal more complex layout.

It felt like I was playing it on the Genesis.  It was great.

D