Have video games lost their way?

[nakamura]

IMO video games have become very dull since the boom in sales and production. So many games are being produced that are just dull and samey, millions of FPS and dull racing games.

They just seem to have no new ideas anymore.

Original games like ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Viewtiful Joe, Katamari Damacy, LocoRoco are just not being released in UK or made full stop.

Ive been playing games for over 20 years and i find the industry in a very sad state. Yes there are some great titles out there but very little to get really excited about. I havent even moved on from PS2 yet as the 360 and PS3 offer nothing extra to buy them for.

For instance Assasins Creed, what a completely average game and without the graphics it would be nothing yet it was the most hyped game this last year.

Its refreshing to see Super Mario Galaxy and Zelda Twighlight Princess as these are both games with outstanding gameplay and ideas within the games.

The focus now seems too much on simulation based games but surely isnt that the reason we play games,



to escape reality?




Discuss.

[Negativvv]

Problem is innnovation is often overlooked or simply not understood by alot of the "mainstream". Look at films for instance, alot of the big money Hollywood films arent necessarily good to watch so its no different here.

Its because gaming has become mainstream so they need to make fancy hyped stuff to pull in the punters. Few people will have a knowledge of games from years back so they wont see or understand how generic alot of stuff is!

Assassins Creed was helped on by the fact a stunner of a girl produces it

[matt_mr2t]

Speak for yourself.

I've had more fun with my 360 than anything in the past.

[H3RB]

i no what you mean, i remember when i was younger id sit and play games all day n night with my mates/ brother there were so many great games back then! now i play one for an hour and get bored even if i love the game...
games just dont seem to have any lasting appeal any more.
althought i cant wait for metal gear 4! the metal gear series arent ur average fps or shooter game so they are so much fun to play

[Negativvv]

i no what you mean, i remember when i was younger id sit and play games all day n night with my mates/ brother there were so many great games back then! now i play one for an hour and get bored even if i love the game...
games just dont seem to have any lasting appeal any more.
althought i cant wait for metal gear 4! the metal gear series arent ur average fps or shooter game so they are so much fun to play

That might because your a little more grown up now

Theres games i can still play for hours if left alone but i can take or leave them unlike when i was a kid lol!

[matt_mr2t]

The grown up factor is what it's all about.

I used to rinse my Nintendo for days not just hours lol. But looking back the games were all xxxx.

[H3RB]

its not so much the grown up thing i can still play a game for 8 hours straight if i like it but what i mean is most games now arent as "gripping" as they used to be its just a prettier version of something youve already played 1000 times.

[matt_mr2t]

I find a bit of a story to a game is what grips me and keeps me going back for more.

I dont care if it's the same format. It's a bit like watching films. Your never really watching anything new are you lets face it. It's just another horror, another comedy, another chick flick. The base is always the same. Just the fine details is filled in differently.

[ENSMR2]

BAck in the day, games were proper games!

I can still load up old games on the NES, SNES, N64 amiga/spectrum.commodore emulators and be on there for hours with games I've played and played. For a while now I can't say more recent games have kept me as interested. In fact when I complete a game, I rarely go back to it. Only the online side has kept me going with Resistance and COD4. In fact with COD4 in my collection I've not played resistance for a long time.

[Andy Jones]

I agree with Enis, I spend more time on emulators on the XBOX trying to finish all the old stuff i owned/poured 10p's into and and never completed as a kid/teen than on the PS2 and i doubt the PS3 will change this. I just find the old 2D stuff a lot more FUN!!! and as H3RB says:

most games now arent as "gripping" as they used to be its just a prettier version of something youve already played 1000 times.

I turned off the PS2/Killzone last night as i decided i'd much rather try and finish Bad Dudes vs Dragon Ninja on MAME on the Eggbox. Quality game and after over an hour i still couldn't get past the 4th boss

[nakamura]

The grown up factor is what it's all about.

I used to rinse my Nintendo for days not just hours lol. But looking back the games were all xxxx.

Never have i read a more wrong comment. Many Nintendo games, especially in-house developed titles on NES and certainly SNES are the best titles ever made. Pure gameplay which is lost today.

Although Matt i agree about your story comment as its certainly an important part of modern games.

But games like Sonic, Super Mario World, Mario Kart, R-Type, just are still amazing games. Not just that, Wipeout, Nights and many early 32bit titles are amazing to play still and still feel fresh and exciting today.

Games just seem to lack character now.

[ENSMR2]

The grown up factor is what it's all about.

I used to rinse my Nintendo for days not just hours lol. But looking back the games were all xxxx.

Never have i read a more wrong comment. Many Nintendo games, especially in-house developed titles on NES and certainly SNES are the best titles ever made. Pure gameplay which is lost today.

Although Matt i agree about your story comment as its certainly an important part of modern games.

But games like Sonic, Super Mario World, Mario Kart, R-Type, just are still amazing games. Not just that, Wipeout, Nights and many early 32bit titles are amazing to play still and still feel fresh and exciting today.

Games just seem to lack character now.

Yep me and my cousins etc still whip out our snes/nes/N64 even and whoop each other on various games. Always go back to Goldeneye and Mario Kart. In fact I'm gonna get out mario 64 soon and get on with that again.

Used to get out the game boy every now and then and fire up Mario or Terminator 2

[Negativvv]

Have you ppl been introduced to the joys of emulation?

SNES stuff looks amazing on a PC when its emulated

And i used to play PSX and N64 emulated but with original controllers, i had a USB converter that recognised them as a PC control pad!

[nakamura]

Yes my xbox has all NES, SNES, Megadrive,PC Engine,MAME, GBA, Amiga< Atari ST, C64, CPS1+2 arcade,PS1, N64 , Bandai Wonder Swan, Neo-Geo, Neo-Geo Pocket and some more on it.

I actually sold my SNES 2 years ago for a bargain £450!

[ENSMR2]

Have you ppl been introduced to the joys of emulation?

SNES stuff looks amazing on a PC when its emulated

And i used to play PSX and N64 emulated but with original controllers, i had a USB converter that recognised them as a PC control pad!

Occasionally. I still have the consoles boxed up, its great when you dig them out. Gives a different feel to playing them emulated. Although all the spectrum/amiga/C64 stuff is emulated. Frick waiting for the tapes/discs et to load up lol.

[thai boxer]

I actually sold my SNES 2 years ago for a bargain £450!

Who the hell paid that for it!!!!!????? You certainly saw him coming didn't you!!

You can pick em up for about £50 with a load of games now.

I definately think the 'grown up' thing is having a big influence when stating games are getting boring. I've ALWAYS been into computer games as young as I can remember. Had just about every console going over the years and loved all of em. My SNES and PS1 proberly took the biggest bashing!

Games were very different back then and a lot more simple. The technology wasn't there to produce amazing graphics and sounds, it was all about gameplay. Pure and simple.

Games today are definately going for the 'wow factor' and missing the point of a video game altogether.

I'm a huge graphics whore and love a game to look amazing but fundamentally it has to play well and make me wana play it again and again.

Online gaming is where its going people!

[H3RB]

i sitll play oldddd games, my xbox has almost ever n64 rom on there along with mega drive, nes and snes. i recently completed little big adventure one again and ive been playing moon stone from the amiga. onhly thing good about most next gen titles is the online, i very rarely touch the single player anymore the games are either 2 short or 2 boring

[Negativvv]

Yeah ive played fps online for f*k knows how long and even the cr@ppest player usually more fun than the AI! And theres a social side when u rope ur mates into team games too, or atleast blaming them for faliure never gets old

[nakamura]

I actually sold my SNES 2 years ago for a bargain £450!

Who the hell paid that for it!!!!!????? You certainly saw him coming didn't you!!

You can pick em up for about £50 with a load of games now.

Well i had all the rare titles, Mana,Zelda,Terranigma,Dragon Quest,Chrono Trigger,Street Fighter Zero 2, Mario RPG, shed loads&#12288;and i paid&#12288;very little for them too.

[Negativvv]

You actually had the originals of Chrono Trigger/Mario RPG??! What about Final Fantasy 3/6?

I had to play them thru other means cause they were near impossible to get hold of, thanks Nintendo