Do you ever feel that gaming has passed you by?

I find it harder and harder to get into new systems and their games. I've owned several Wiis, PS3s, and Xbox360s... but I find that there's just not that much I'm interested in or that the games just do hold my interest like older games.

I gave up on the Wii because I had to waggle everything when I just wanted to push the buttons and go.

I gave up on the PS3 because it had a hardware problem and an error code that not even Sony knew what to do with (but they would fix it for $140, even though they couldn't identify the problem... it wouldn't update). I didn't play many games for it though; it was mostly a Blu-ray player for me.

And now I'm questioning whether I want to keep my latest 360 or not. I like Pac-Man Championship and some of the Japanese Arcade games; but I don't play FPS at all, and I really don't like Cave shooters much, and that's what I have for it.

And now that I've gotten into MSX and FM Towns, I find the games... more fun. Sure, they're not as whiz-bang as the stuff that's available now, but I get more joy out of playing them.

Does anyone else out there find that the past has more to offer them than the present in gaming? And why do you think that is?:luigi:

 

yeah. I use my Xbox 360 for FPS and SF2. And I use my Wii for Neo Geo and SNES VC titles. My most played PS3 game is Eden, Mortal Kombat 2 and Gunstar Heroes....

 

The last system I bought was a PSP. Before that a Dreamcast. When I hang out with friends and they show me the latest games on the latest consoles there is not much that really makes me go: wow! Sure, it looks great and multiplayer is cool and all, but older games are more fun to me.

On the PSP I play the Final Fantasy remakes, the 2d fighters and the Mini's based on classics. The same on the Dreamcast, which I'm gonna sell, cause I've got an Neo Geo now and I'm going to build a Mame PC. It seems I'm kinda stuck in the 16 bit era . Also on the PC I only play older games, except Minecraft.

Not sure why though. The main difference with systems of the past and the current systems is the graphics style of the games. I guess I like my games to be more abstract/colorful/cartoony then realistic. It leaves more to my imagination.

 

Very much the case. I have nothin newer than a PSP and DS Lite. Console wise it's the Game Cube (mostly used as a GBA player).

I think I can't get into the present and nextgen systems. They just do not appeal to me, or give me any real playfun.

I miss the part were games still were games and not pseudo reality simulations.

Nothing to change.

 

I've been playing Shenmue over the days. Horrible voice-acting aside, it is an amazing game. I don't think a game has ever topped it in terms of immersion, with the possible exception of Half Life.

(In case you didn't realize, my new avatar is a screenshot of the Saturn model in Shenmue)

 

Yeah, readily identifiable by the edged controller cord ;-)

 

I think you're right. I work in a visually creative field (I'm a director) and I'm constantly looking for things to stimulate me mentally. The new generation games give you everything on a platter. There's nothing left up to the imagination.

 

sometimes by games in general.

Not because of new stuff. I'm always open to playing new things because if you play the same shit over and over , you're gonna get tired of it eventually.

 

The only games I play on my 360 are 'bullet hell' shooters and the Rock Band/Guitar Hero games. On the PS3 again I play the RB/GH games, a few racers and fighters and SingStar. As for the Wii, dust magnet.

Modern gaming is an entirely different beast than it was in previous generations. Gone are the days of maverick developers who had a vision and disregard for conformity, everything now costs a squillion pounds or dollars and take 197 million man-hours to make. A lot of games are now promoted as 'lifestyle product', aimed at a target demographic and no-one can afford to take chances in the modern climate unless the tow the corporate line and produce yet another 'me too' title. If your game's not a sequel or easily coupled to a recognizable brand the chances are that if it is actually green lit it will more often than not bomb. Can you imagine going up to a producer today and trying to pitch the Cho Aniki games? They'd laugh you out of the building.

Everything today is based on hyper-realism and in my personal opinion that is to the detriment of gaming. I don't want realtime lighting, real life physics or any of that bullshit. I want detachment from reality, not to be reminded of it's mundanity further. And older consoles give me that in spades, either by emulation via my Xbox or actual hardware like my PC Engine, SNES and Mega Drive, machines where for some the driving force was heart.

For me the turning point was the release of the first Xbox. From the beginning the emphasis was on realism and distancing itself from what went before, promoting itself as an adult platform first and foremost for adult gamers. Because of that attitude we quickly saw the transition to the styles and genres that have to come to dominate today and with that shift saw the dominance of American and western developers over their Japanese counterparts. Take away Japanese influence and you have - in my opinion - an industry in stagnation that's unwilling to take risks. No risks leads to less innovation which in turn leads to even more ennui. It's just a vicious circle that shows no sign of improving any time soon and that's why I still play older games more than new ones. It's not a nostalgia thing, I'm not trying to relive my early 20's again and I'm not wearing rose-tinted spectacles, I just like to be completely detached from reality and for me that's where modern gaming loses the ability to compete.

 

I have a 3DS... I'm only holding on to it for two reasons:

1) I bought it 2 minutes before the Big Earthquake. I have the receipt with the time and the stamped warranty card, so it's a little special to me. The big one hit as I was walking out of Yamada Denki with my new purchase.

2) It's sad; but I'm hoping they'll make a 3D version of Bomberman '94 for it.

 

Isn't this just called getting older? loosing the magic and imagination you had when you were younger? losing the time to spend on it etc..

This is also true.

 

This conversation comes up every few months and everyone has a good moan about how crap gaming is today. I don't understand it. Each to their own, but if you're saying that retro-like games don't get made today, that's just factually incorrect. If you're a bedroom programmer there has literally never been a better time to be making games, the development environments are fantastic and there are a range of opportunities to get your stuff played by millions. If you like weird little games instead of blockbuster epics, instead of sitting around here moaning, go check out the indie scene - it's thriving.

 

I don't know if it's called getting older...

I grew up in arcades and playing my cousin's Atari 2600. The only things I had at home were a Vic 20 and an Apple IIe. Later I had an NES, but I only ever owned Mario/Duck Hunt, Zelda, and Donkey Kong Classics for it. Once I turned 18 I was able to afford a SNES; but what I really got into was the PC Engine (the only good way to import back then was through NCS and the like).

Since then I've owned every system that's been released save for the Lynx (but I did play it), N Gage, and Pippin.

But I keep turning back to the old games because there's just something about them. I just got into the Mega Drive, FM Towns, and MSX and I'm having more fun with them than I have in the last two generations of game consoles.

 

Yup, feel exactly the same. Had a PS3, 360 well pretty much every system you can think of and I'm still finding myself drawn to the 16-bit era.

I don't mind a bit of 32-bit now and again. I think the most "Next Gen" I'll ever be will be Dreamcast when I get around to buying one again.

That said I may pick up a PS3 for the new Sonic title...

 

Starting a game these days seems to feel like I'm making a commitment, that I'm undertaking some massive task that I have to see through until the end.

I'm increasingly becoming a handheld gamer these days because they tend to be designed around the older kind of 'pick up and play' arcade gaming, which ironically often have more depth.

 

this happened to me around the time ps3 etc appeared...
i got 4 of them (ps3's) 2 broken, 2 not getting any use.

there were a pile of games i wanted pretty badly, but at the time i got them....
well yeah..

i don't game pretty much at all nowadays, but when i do it tends to be the snes as the new systems are just flahy graphics, online bullshittery, touchscreens and motion sensors i really don't like using at all.
where's my controller with dpad and 2 buttons ? ;__;

 

That's named nostalgia :thumbsup:

For me it's mostly the childhood fantasy/imagination of playing those games that I can still feel, but I can't reproduce the actual experiance while playing the older games. :crying:

 

Not entirely, it is also a quite different thing in terms of gaming from what we have today. Since it is almost not comparable anymore, it is also a matter of fondness which one does prefer.

 

I have a 360 for cave shooters and street fighter 4 and that's all.
3d games give me headaches or even worse, nausea (on most fps) because of an internal ear problem so I guess next gen is not much for me ^^
The other "most recent system" I play with nowadays is... a game boy micro (top of the top for subway, bus or train)
And I've been mainly playing tetris grand master for four (or five, not sure) years now (except the last two or three weeks: streets of rage remake rulez !)

 

Apart from one game on my 360 none of the new systems have been all that special to me unlike older systems from the original xbox/ps2 and backwards.

When i got my ps1, ps2 and xbox 1 each at Christmas time throughout the years i couldn't wait to get them opened and boot them up for the first time and play whatever game or games i had for them.

I'm guessing for me the reason why i don't get excitied about newer consoles is the fact that i know i could easily save up enough money in a few weeks or less and get a new console if i wanted whereas before i had to rely on my parents getting me them and that usually was at Xmas time.