Gaming Got Worse
Xbox 360. PlayStation 3. Wii. The video game industry not only is responsible for these household names, but over the years has become one of the most lucrative industries in the world. Gaming has come a long way since the early days of Pong. Or has it?
I have no problem with the consoles of today. I think each console has something unique that it brings to the table, and gamers have many options for solid titles for each system. However I cannot help but notice in the current age of video games that something is different. I think something was lost in the transition from the 16-bit era of gaming (Super Nintendo and Genesis) to the 3D era (PlayStation and Nintendo 64).
Classic gaming (anything before the 3D era by my standards) is superior to almost everything we have today. As I thought about this a few days ago, I wondered if that was just a product of the time I was born. Is my preference of Super Mario to Halo just because my first console was an original Nintendo and not an Xbox? Or is there something else that really does make classic gaming better beyond nostalgia?
Memory has a funny way of making things seem so much better the older they get (hence, “The Good Old Days”). However, there is a simple test that can clear up my classic gaming question: are the old games still fun?
Super Mario World: Pretty much a perfect game.
Yes. A thousand times yes. Super Mario Bros. is still a blast to play. The game is 24 years old, and somehow remains an addicting and endlessly replayable game. Are people going to be playing Halo 3 in 24 years? Absolutely not. The prequel Halo 2 faded into obscurity once its successor entered the market.
There are numerous examples of games that fit this category (including sequels Super Mario Bros. 2 & 3). Pac-Man, Tetris, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Turtles in Time, the Super Mario World series…the list goes on. About a year ago I posted some of my favorite Sega Genesis games as well. There are just too many classic games to name that are still extremely fun to play now.
I would not be the man I am today without Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I do not see the same type of future for the current consoles. Between the 10,000 first-person shooter games on the market, rarely does a game identify itself as something that could possibly stand the test of time. Gaming used to create classics like cinema. Many people enjoy watching old movies, works so well-crafted that they can be enjoyed at any point in time.
Maybe it was the money, maybe it was the rapid advancement of technology, but whatever happened left that concept behind for gaming. Try playing an original PlayStation game today. Seriously. Plus with the current culture of the shortest attention spans in history most people buy a game like Halo 2, beat it in a weekend, and then wait for the sequel. Games are not made to last anymore. Generally speaking their gameplay does not remain engaging beyond a few weeks.
The games of my youth have rarely been matched. The next generation Metal Gear series is one of my favorites, and I am sure some scattered newer games are spectacular. It is sad that these are the exception rather than the norm. There is a lack of creativity and innovation. Hockey games still have not gotten better than NHL 94.
Remember the days when you did not have take 20 minutes to explain to your friend how to play a new game? What happened to simplicity? Easy to play, difficult to master (like Othello).
Are classic games always going to be the best, or am I just needlessly hating on the games of today?
18 Comments
Will comment soon.
I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this post. I suppose there is some validity to your statement, but I still think there is replay value today. I know that I myself have gone back to playing Xbox and Halo 1 with friends. Play it for many hours over a weekend then put it back in storage. Thinking about it now, I cannot picture another game that is as simple as any of the Mario games yet as fun. It’s a game that anyone can pick up and play regardless of age and gaming ability. Maybe games like that only come out once a century.
I agree with you dude. I guess it was the simplicity of the games that cause them to be so addictive. Nowadays game creators are interested in testing how many buttons you can push within three seconds to get that Ryu’s special move, sometimes gaming is that fluid anymore, but I must say there are still classics to be found in more modern consoles though. See Mario Kart 64 for instance. That is a Classic
Hey Justin, what’s up? I agree that the video games back then were awesome. I figured this wouldn’t be a bad first post for me, considering I grew up on the Ninja Turtles game you have pictured. I absolutely loved that game, and this post has made me want to go home and play it right now. I have beaten that game a ridiculous amount of times, yet I always want to go back and beat it one more time. Same goes with Super Mario Bros. There are other games from that era that are like that as well. I know where you are coming from.
@Tiz: The question is will you go back to playing Halo 1 ten years from now? My rationale is that if Super Mario is fun 20+ years after its inception, I believe it will still be fun for the next 20 years also. I do not see that from the current crop of games. Look how quickly Super Smash Bros. Melee dropped off the map once Brawl was released for example.
However I agree with you about the Super Mario series being an unfair example. The game is easily one of the greatest of all time, so perhaps I applied its success to other games unjustly. My main point was that gaming (much like cell phones) has gotten to a point of installments rather than classics, and the classic games will always be fun.
@Adim: There are definitely modern classics that I did not really address in this post (other than the Metal Gear series). Some would say Mario 64, though I do not put it on the classic level.
I think your point about fluidity is interesting. Your example of the complexity of Street Fighter making it less fun is dead-on, and could be the reason that a game like Smash Bros. (joystick + two attack buttons) appeals to the masses while still pleasing the hardcore crowd with tight gameplay.
@Putt: Thanks for the comment! I am so glad there is someone out there who shares my love for the Ninja Turtles games in particular, and classic games as well. After writing this post I wished I had brought my Super Nintendo to school with me, so we are on the same page there.
I wish that I would have brought mine with me as well, because there are those games you can just play over and over again. Also going off of what has already been brought up, the fact that games are becoming more complex. I love NHL09, but the controls they want you to play with are so much more complex than that of even five or so years ago. If you have played both NHL09, and an older game I hope you know where I am coming from. It’s just different now, and I play on classic controls just because I grew up with most of that and NHL94 and because it’s simply easier for me.
in complete agreement about nhl 94. what a legend. when you scored and the red light came on the you heard the whistling of the goal siren, oh what a feeling. also, how else would anyone remember the hartford whalers or quebec nordiques if not for seeing them on nhl 94.
Can you honestly think games like Tetris and Pac-Man (Jones) are still fun? There is no way you can play those for more than five seconds without being bored. Metroid Prime for Gamecube is incredible, blowing the old Metroid out of the water. You forgot a couple titles such as the Sonic series and X-Men for Sega, but the old games you named such as the Mario series, Turtles in Time etc. are some of the greatest and timeless games ever.
It’s unfair to compare new games to a very select number of titles that defined what video games are. I agree that some of the for mentioned games will be forever enjoyable. The list for me includes Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, X-Men, Mario Kart, and a very small list of others. However, the original consoles just don’t stand a chance any more. Mario 64 is one of if not the greatest games ever. New(er) console. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart for Gamecube, ones you will forever have fun with. Those are just a couple of examples that you enjoy. You and I both know Smash is more than a “joystick + two attack buttons”. Maybe I just know, and that’s why I’m unstoppable. Another game that just came to mind, GoldenEye.
Anyways, to say that “There is a lack of creativity and innovation.” in newer games is such a cop out. The creativity and innovation is so non-stop, that’s why games are brushed over so quickly, because so many games constantly are coming out, that are intriguing and imaginative that it’s hard to stay on one game while keeping pace with new titles.
Not to mention, the graphics today are phenomenal. As well as gameplay. I’m sorry, but to say NHL 94 is the best hockey game ever is ridiculous. Games today are so realistic, and are actually played like the real sport, plus graphically awesome. As a sports fan, how could you not want something like that? Cause you have to push two more buttons? By the way Putt, switching to classic controls on NHL 09 is more buttons than the default settings.
I think that you are needlessly hating on the new gaming era because you grew up accustomed to the 8bit and the SNES’ of the world. Just like our parents grew up playing Atari, which is why that generation still holds that as the best game console. Because of the simplicity. You can’t dwell on the past and what games were like. You have to embrace the current state of video games as they should be: challenging, fun, creative, beautiful. Technology is giving us realistic and imaginative games that weren’t possible in 1990.
You need to look outside the simplicity box you grew up in and appreciate the ingenious minds behind games today.
Trust me Luke, I am aware of this. But I think they can add the stick lift, and be able to shield the puck (just to name a couple), and not have to change everything all around. They completely changed everything. It just takes some time getting used to. I agree with the realistic features of the new sports games, especially hockey. Everything they do tries to make it as close as to what actually happens. Especially if you get the updates, so I agree with that. By the way, it is especially easy for you and I to notice because of how big of hockey fans we are, so I definitely see where you are coming from. Well put.
“Well put”, I think you mean…Well putt.
video games are for nerds, or n.e.r.d.s
1) luke is running for (nerd) president with his speech
2) putt is a tomboy
3) my favorite game is clue
4) tiz is a tomgirl
I love Luke, and hate Mark.
i love adim, and hate tiz.
@Luke: You bring a strong argument for games of today. It definitely has made me think more about things.
“I think that you are needlessly hating on the new gaming era because you grew up accustomed to the 8bit and the SNES’ of the world.” – Part of me thought this might be the reason behind my position on the issue. I think it definitely comes into play, but I believe the games of my youth are still great to play which means it is not just good memories.
Again, I am not saying there are no modern classics, because great games are still being released. However I do not think that they are going to be regarded as classics twenty years into the future. You did back up your argument though, and I agree that my original post was a bit harsh on today’s gaming.
But for the record, NHL 94 is unquestionably the best hockey game ever.
SWEET WEBSITE CUZ! It’s been many a moon since I’ve checked out jbomb. But I did today and couldn’t help but read this post.
Talk about intense nostalgia! I miss the Good Old Days of A Link To The Past, and Super Mario World, and Kirby. The whole parallel light world/dark world idea of Zelda leaves no doubt in my mind that Shigeru Miyamoto is a freaking creative genius.
I’m thinking a lot of the reason for the apparent high level of suckitude in most modern games has a lot to do with how we get jaded as we get older, in combination with longing for the past.
When you’re six, your ego doesn’t have any problem with the fact that you’re playing a game centering on a pink cream puff with an oral fixation. You just enjoy being immersed in the floating pink puff world.
There are so many games out now that we can’t possibly let ourselves be absorbed into them like we did when we were, say, under ten years old.
Them’s my thoughts anyway.
@Jon: I think your point about aging makes a lot of sense. We find something that we like (say, a video game we enjoy in our youth) and as we get older it is hard to put newer games ahead of that one in terms of mental ranking.
I think that is a big part of why older games will always appeal to me, and others who enjoy games from their childhood. That, and as you mentioned, the creative genius of masters such as Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear).
And the guys who made Ninja Turtles. We cannot forget about Ninja Turtles.
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