Yeah, how come Games now adays suck ballz?

[mawk]

;>>

(There were bad games in the 80s and 90s too.)

(Since apparently I didn't say things loud enough, here's Miek Miek Redux

We only remember the good games, and the bad ones are sifted to the bottom in a very laissez-faire sort of way. The fact that there are also bad games now, in the glorious futurescape of the aught-nothings, does not mean that this generation will not have its Chrono Triggers and its Ocarinas of Time (just as it has its Sonic Rs and its Zelda CD-is.)

It doesn't make sense to think that somehow games are universally getting worse, that somehow the human race has lost touch with the ability to evoke its own emotions and create an enjoyable experience for itself. Like I've said, it comes down to our standards. No matter what you say about how hilariously overbeaten the Mario horse has been, look me in the eye and tell me Super Mario Galaxy wasn't just a little bit fun. It doesn't count if you picked it up and put it down as soon as you discovered that you might need to get used to thinking in three dimensions all the time.

Graphics and engines have evolved, but so have gamemaking tools and techniques. Even the mindset has been refined a little. When people don't rely on gimmicks (remember the Power Glove? Don't act like gimmicks are a new thing,) things can turn out really well. It's gonna be a rocky road, there are gonna be good games, bad games, games banned in the UK, games make of recycled fibre, and games endorsed by the Vatican. Don't take half of an image and paint a picture based on that. : P

(Oh, and just what wrong with linearity? I don't care how a game flows so long as current's fun to be in. Linearity's always stricken me as more of an excuse to give a game a certain sort of review than an actual factor in a game's experience.)

 

[Sic Semper Tyranosaurus]

Are you people high??

Mass Effect has rave reviews from everyone.

I relied very heavily on reviews in magazines and on websites until I began to notice a pattern known as the four point scale. Now I wait for one of my little idiot friends to buy or rent the game before I shell money out for it.

Regarding the quality of games, there have always been bad games, and there always will be. At least 90% of every form of media is utter crap. I hated the shit out of Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston. It was a giant pain in the ass, and I can't tell you how often I stormed away from the NES, infuriated by it.

The only real complaint I have with games today is that there's considerably less risk-taking involved in creating a new game. Developers know what works, and what pays off. As Venny said, we know what's fun now. Unfortunately, some things can only be fun for so long before they become trite and horrible.

Bullet. Time.

 

[Justice]

It's a problem with audiences rather than developers. Audiences seem content to splash out £40 on the next installment of the FIFA franchise or the next spin-off/sequel. A good new original series is very few and far between because they won't sell as well as the trusted method of a new COD game without thousands of $$$ pumped into their marketing (see Assassin's Creed - one very successful new property because so much was spent on advertising)

You rarely get original settings/concepts like Comix Zone (from the Mega Drive) now because publishers don't want to take the risk of losing money of releasing and marketing something reasonably unconventional that won't shift units.

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007 ... x_zone.jpg[/img]

Unless it's a cute Japanese game like Beautiful Katamari that everyone seems to be lapping up because it's "quirky". There's a difference between original and quirky.

This is why I'm so disillusioned with Xbox Live Arcade - there's so much potential for small, cheaply produced original ideas to be released on it, it should be bursting at the seam with great titles from hot young talent but instead we just get Pac-Man. Fucking Pac-Man!

 

[Sic Semper Tyranosaurus]

Unless it's a cute Japanese game like Beautiful Katamari that everyone seems to be lapping up because it's "quirky". There's a difference between original and quirky.

If you want to split hairs. Beautiful Katamari was released because the first Katamari game did so well. Namco projected a rather low and restricted appeal for the first game simply because it's 'quirky'. Quirky, of course, is at least partly synonymous with 'unusual' or 'strange' and Katamari is certainly that. It's unconventional, which seems very much in line with the idea of originality.

 

[skirtboy]

I generally distrust reviews, as they are often either very good at making common gameplay elements into big deals, or they are too inclined to thrash a game because it uses too many tried and true elements.

 

[holloway]

Given you seem to be aiming largely at RPGs, I'm going to laugh and point out the past six years have given us Morrowind, Oblivion, KOTR series, FFX and FFXII to name a few.

Stop being a nostalgic idiot.

 

[Marcus]

You rarely get original settings/concepts like Comix Zone (from the Mega Drive) now because publishers don't want to take the risk of losing money of releasing and marketing something reasonably unconventional that won't shift units.

Comix Zone was also a pretty generic beat 'em up and the whole comic book thing was aiming at 12 year old kids who listened to terrible Grunge music and thought Rob Liefeld was the greatest comic book artist since Kirby.  This goes back to my original point that videogames in the 80s/90s were all about SUPER MARKETING.  "How can we sell this tripe shit to over privileged kids with moneybag parents??  I KNOW! LETS MAKE VIDEO GAMES INVOLVING BIG MUSCLED GRISLY MEN AND TRADEMARKS LIKE COOLSPOT AND NOID DRINK SPRITE YOU BANDWAGONING FAG!"

 

[Venetia]

You know what I do miss about the past? The Sega Channel. That shit was AWESOME. $15/mo got you all the SEGA games you could want, instantly. No buying them separately or only playing for a certain amount of time.

God DAMN the SEGA Channel kicked so much ass. XBOX live? Feh.

[/slightly off topic]

 

[e]

Given you seem to be aiming largely at RPGs, I'm going to laugh and point out the past six years have given us Morrowind, Oblivion, KOTR series, FFX and FFXII to name a few.

Stop being a nostalgic idiot.

I'm also going to point out we had FFX-2, to counter balance. I mean, I'm all for acknowledging gaming women, but seriously, we didn't need that.

 

[skirtboy]

X-2 was not really all that bad.

 

[moog]

X-2 was not really all that bad.

The fuck it wasnt.

 

[Dopples]

X-2 was not really all that bad.

I will say that FFX-2 was the first FF that I got 100% completion in. It didn't bore me like the rest of the games.

 

[Marcus]

X-2 was not really all that bad.

The fuck it wasnt.

I thought X-2 had the best battle system and gameplay out of all the turn based Final Fantasy games. 

Too bad ruined it with a cheesy, fetish filled, moe aiming plot.  I actually liked Yuna in FFX but they basically turned her into a huge stereotype.

 

[moog]

X-2 was not really all that bad.

The fuck it wasnt.

I thought X-2 had the best battle system and gameplay out of all the turn based Final Fantasy games. 

Too bad ruined it with a cheesy, fetish filled, moe aiming plot.  I actually liked Yuna in FFX but they basically turned her into a huge stereotype.

Thats why I hate this game so much. I played it and in the first 10 minutes I could feel the controller slowly slipping from my hands. I kept playing, only to find a let down of an RPG. If the story wasnt so bad I wouldnt hate it so much.

But hey, I beat Tales of Symphonia, and that story was awful....

 

[Sic Semper Tyranosaurus]

I'm also going to point out we had FFX-2, to counter balance. I mean, I'm all for acknowledging gaming women, but seriously, we didn't need that.

X-2, to the best of my knowledge, was all about them tittays.

 

[holloway]

How does a bad game counter numerous good games? For god's sakes, the SNES and Sega systems were full of shitty games. The difference being, we only remember the good games. The same will be said in ten years of the current systems- hell, people are starting to say similar things about the PS1

 

[NeoSamurai]

The thing is, people always need something to bitch about. They rarely ever see the good in anything.

Same goes with gaming. They play a couple bad games and conclude that this generation of gaming sucks.

If anything, games have become better. With the advent of 3D games, first-person shooters have become possible. You can point your gun at nearly any angle at any degree. You can peak behind walls at your enemies and fire away. You have a lot of control and strategy to employ on your enemy.

Besides that, I don't play that many newer games, however, I'm not going to bitch about older games being better than the newer ones. I'm just not that avid of a gamer.

Edit:

And also, this is coming from a guy who still only owns a PS2 and Gamecube, so that's still kind of considered "new" to me. :P

The only time I play newer games is if I'm over a friend's house and from what I played, they certainly aren't bad.

 

[Harvest]

I think people's tastes in games are on average evolving.  I think bad and good games have a much higher gap between them then they used to.  I used to be able to play "meh" games pretty easily but nowadays there are less meh games and more bad ones.
The great games these days are still awesome.  I couldn't go back to the old days at this point.  I can't take "frustration" games anymore where the longevity comes purely from the fact that you die a million times and start over again (darn you TMNT1) therefore most of the old school games I used to love I now can't stand (key word, most).

 

[arcthemonkey]

FFX-2 is just fine for people who don't take their franchises serious as a heart attack. I thought it was one of the best :{

But look at game from all genres - Lumines is a fantastic, modern puzzle game. Gears of War practically reinvented the third person shooter. We've got Ratchet and Clank pulling down universally high praise in the adventure/platformer genre. God of War has pretty much defines what makes a good combo based action game. We've got Burnout and Project Gotham Racing. Kingdom Hearts ALREADY triggers a nostalgic response in me. We've got Bully, Bioshock, and Dead Rising. I'd say that the 2000's are on track to produce just as many great games as the 1990's.

 

[Sparx-1]

I, too have noticed the decline in quality video games... Simply put, it seems to me that the human race is somehow loosing it's sense of style and creativity... Don't get me wrong, there have been quite a few creative things that have recently come out, but nothing I've seen recently has the potential to become a classic. It's not just video games, either... Movies nowadays are starting to get more and more unoriginal as well... Maybe it's just that the people in the entertainment industry don't care about the art of entertainment anymore, and all they see is money now and nothing else...