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Old games: Are they shit?

ben0207ben0207 Registered User regular
edited September 2008 in Games and Technology
So, upon seeing this "discussion" on Slashdot (land of neckbeard-sporting open-source twats) about whether modern games will stand the test of time I found it an interesting question. Indeed, will modern games stand the test of time. My initial answer was "no, of course not", but now I'm not so sure. I mean, old games are shit aren't they?

What does UK Resistance say (or at least did, ten years ago)
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Interesting!


Funnily enough, the original interblag post (here) has the quote
"I think more than half of the games you see today with huge budgets and such a ‘realistic’ focus will be either stale or forgotten in 20 years,"

hahahaha, you crazy fool. That's so full of shit, and you're just saying it because you've been eating out on Galaga and Pole Position for 20 years. What's the matter, can't keep up with the big boys any more?

See, I've played Pacman CE, and it is indeed really good fun. But the same as I don't play Pacman these days, no I won't be playing CE in 20 years. Maybe Portal? And I still occasionally play Sonic 1, so I guess maybe that, at a push. I'm certain it'll have been ported to everything I own in the future, too. But ultimately old games are clunky pieces of shit, with awful control schemes and none of the advancements the last 40 years have given us. Ask a "retro gamer" to swap their copy of Company of Heroes for Warcraft 1. Will they fuck.

So my basic point is, no, modern games won't still be played. But neither will old games. We'll just play whatever is modern at the time, same as now. Unless the cockroaches win, or the LHC really does kill us all.

One last quote from the UK R Retro Gaming special
Let us tell you something about "retro gaming" -- it's SHIT and it's for LOSERS. If you are into "retro gaming" you need to STOP LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD, you need to GROW UP and you need to STOP KIDDING YOURSELF that old games are still relevant today. They're not. They're shit. All of them. Even Outrun. You're just making yourself look stupid.

ben0207 on
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Posts

  • SeeksSeeks Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    People still play old games.

    Therefore, this post is false and you have failed, sir.

    Seeks on
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  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Retro gaming or modern gaming, if the game is fun then i'll enjoy it.

    Polago on
  • KhavallKhavall British ColumbiaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    That's like asking if music today will last the test of time and all old music is shit.


    Or art

    Or theater

    Or fucking anything.

    The good games are good. The shitty games? Well some are still played just because of nostalgia, and some are played because they're still good.


    This will always be the case regardless of when they were made.

    Khavall on
  • DisruptorX2DisruptorX2 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Let us tell you something about "retro gaming" -- it's SHIT and it's for LOSERS. If you are into "retro gaming" you need to STOP LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD, you need to GROW UP and you need to STOP KIDDING YOURSELF that old games are still relevant today. They're not. They're shit. All of them. Even Outrun. You're just making yourself look stupid.
    Protip: all video games are irrelevant. Its escapist entertainment.

    DisruptorX2 on
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  • PolagoPolago Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Hell, i'll play Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde just for how horrible it is and laugh my ass off.

    Same applies to Vampire Rain which came out just last year.

    Polago on
  • randombattlerandombattle Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Khavall wrote: »
    That's like asking if music today will last the test of time and all old music is shit.


    Or art

    Or theater

    Or fucking anything.

    The good games are good. The shitty games? Well some are still played just because of nostalgia, and some are played because they're still good.


    This will always be the case regardless of when they were made.
    Yeah totally.

    I'd be safe saying that 20 years from now people will still load up Deus Ex when it gets mentioned or play a few games of Lunar Lander. People play games that they like to play.

    randombattle on
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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    old games are shit aren't they?

    What? Who told you that? Maybe if you weren't around to play them when they came out, but I play games 10-15 years old that I have never played before and I like them. A while ago I considered making a post about how I feel the "soul" of gaming has been lost to me. I miss the days when the credits consisted of three to five people, and companies weren't always big and faceless. Look at id compared to EA (both existed at the same time, I know). When I think of id I think of John Romero and John Carmack. When I think of EA...I just see a logo.

    Zombiemambo on
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  • mrflippymrflippy Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    You know what I've been itching to do lately?

    Have my friend over, order a pizza, and play through Super Mario Brothers.

    mrflippy on
  • AntihippyAntihippy Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Of course games wouldn't stand the test of time. Seeing that the human race would sooner or later die out, and with them the memory of games and other things too, as space and time keeps going till the universe dies out.

    Seems pretty obvious to me.

    Antihippy on
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  • mrflippymrflippy Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I guess if all one plays is old bad games, that might be stupid.

    mrflippy on
  • RichardTauberRichardTauber Kvlt Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I've been filling up on gba games now that most stores are getting rid of all their stock. Gonna play Castlevania tonight because, you know, it's really awful probably. Like all old games are. :P

    RichardTauber on
  • GilderGilder Aw snap Macaroni PartyRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Some old classics are bad. Like 90% of the NES library. However that 10% that isn't bad is still good today. To say something is good because it's old is stupid, but to say something is bad because it's old is even stupider.

    Gilder on
  • Mr_GrinchMr_Grinch Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Retro gaming is very popular and it's not just because people like to relive their past. I agree some old games are unplayable, I personally find it very difficult to go back to PS1 era titles. It's when 3D was in it's relative infancy and games were indeed ugly and clunky.

    I've been playing a lot of PS2 and Xbox games recently though (hardly retro yet, I know) and I think they'll stand the test of time much better. Much like the Snes and Megadrive have stood the test of time, they perfected (pretty much) 2D gaming and the games are generally an utter pleasure to go back to. Yearly I still complete Super Mario World. Yoshi's Island can still stand up with the big boys, the Megadrive Sonic games are still awesome and worth going back to and 2D fighting games have hardly changed since that era of video gaming.

    I mean, look at the Monkey Island games, by all definitions they should be retro but (even graphically) they still hold up very well today. In fact near enough all the Scumm games do. I played through Full Throttle for the first time (to my shame) about 6 months back and enjoyed it just as much as I've enjoyed some 360 and PS3 titles.

    Games are really the same as movies when re-visiting old ones. You wouldn't watch an average 70's flick (well, I would, but I'm odd like that and love awful horror movies) but you would watch the classics.

    If a game truely stood out when it was released, there's a good chance it'll be playable and fun in years to come.

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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I've been playing SamSho 2 on Gametap and , in my opinion, it remains as one of the finest fighting games ever made. Hell, almost the entire SNK library is timeless to me.

    Zombiemambo on
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  • bsjezzbsjezz Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    i think the only game i could play as constantly as civ 4 is transport tycoon

    bsjezz on
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  • ben0207ben0207 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    God guys, way to miss my point entirely. I'm not saying all old games are shit. I'm saying that comparing them to more current games they fare badly, not due to graphics but because of improvements in accessibility, control and balance. And despite the fact that most of us here no doubt have old games that they still play (I mentioned Sonic 1 in my original post, and it's nice to see Deus Ex get some love) the majority of normal people never play old games because of this. And so the original comment that spawned this post, the idea that twenty years from nopw we will have somehow forgotten HL2 and MGS but will still want to pay money for Pac Man is still clearly bullshit.

    The man on the street isn't buying or playing Pac Man, or Sonic 1. He's buying FIFA 08 and Gears of War. 20 years from now he still won't be buying Pac Man. Or Gears of War. He'll be buying whatever is current, and we'll still be on a forum on the cortex meganet saying that even though the graphics aren't very good and it doesn't run on holodeck XP, isn't this "half life" still amazing to play.

    ben0207 on
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    God guys, way to miss my point entirely. I'm not saying all old games are shit. I'm saying that comparing them to more current games they fare badly, not due to graphics but because of improvements in accessibility, control and balance.

    And I still disagree. See my point about SamSho 2.

    Zombiemambo on
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  • OlivawOlivaw good name, isn't it? the foot of mt fujiRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    So the question you are trying to ask with such an inflammatory and flamebaiting OP is "can outdated games still be enjoyed?" Like, can you play Dawn of War and Company of Heroes and still go back to Age of Empires II and Warcraft III? Can you still play them and enjoy them independent of the technological and gameplay advances made in the time between their releases?

    Well, I personally can't, but there's shitloads who still play StarCraft so I guess some people can

    Olivaw on
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  • UnbreakableVowUnbreakableVow Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I'm playing Spyro the Dragon right now. The first one.

    It's pretty sweet, fun as it ever was, and it has a nice charm to it I can't explain.

    I guess what I'm trying to say here is that fun games are fun, and people will always play fun games. People don't fork over money for Pac-Man because Pac-Man isn't readily sold on the 360 (in disc form).

    I'm not sure if my post "gets" it, but this seems like a pretty dumb topic anyway.

    UnbreakableVow on
  • kedinikkedinik Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Are you a bad enough dude to retro game?

    kedinik on
  • Kane Red RobeKane Red Robe Master of Magic ArcanusRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    As soon as people start releasing modern turn based strategy games maybe I'll stop playing old games. :evil:

    Kane Red Robe on
  • JohnDoeJohnDoe Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    This is a retarded thread.

    JohnDoe on
  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    The Good Old Games (GOG.com) thread says that retro gaming is alive and well, and that people are more than happy to pay a reasonable price for retro gaming goodness that works on modern day systems without any fuss.

    I repurchased Fallout 1 today and have made it to Junktown. I've only managed to beat the game once before almost ten years ago, and it's like returning to re-read a favorite book that you cherished.

    And the idea that retro games are not relevant to today's games is completely bunk. Every single platformer today owes credit to the ones that came before it. Most of these types of games are still compared to Super Mario Bros. One of the most positive and well-received features of Super Mario Galaxy was how it emulated Super Mario Bros. 3 with the multitude of powers. If a Super Metroid remake were to appear in 2d glory on the DS, I truly believe it would sell millions of copies.

    DoctorArch on
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  • EriosErios Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    The SNES would like to have a word with you, Original Poster!

    Erios on
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  • bloodatonementbloodatonement Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Khavall wrote: »
    That's like asking if music today will last the test of time and all old music is shit.


    Or art

    Or theater

    Or fucking anything.

    The good games are good. The shitty games? Well some are still played just because of nostalgia, and some are played because they're still good.


    This will always be the case regardless of when they were made.
    But art, music and theater evolved at a much slower rate than video games. The leap from Pong to MGS4 in 30 years would be like going from banging on a hollow log to The Beatles in 30 years.
    Even with film, which has evolved rather rapidly, good films show can show there age rather quickly, especially films with special effects. What was good, or even great when it came out, while they still can be fun, aren't considered good but classic, which is more of a sentimental tie than a quality issue.
    There are a few highly regarded early 3d games that over the years I've tried to go back and play through, and because of the progress since they came out they just come as clumsy.
    I think (and this applies to films as well), the older a games gets the better it will have to have been to remain fun to play if sentimentality isn't a factor. A lot of game from 3~4 years ago are still fun to pick up and play. Fewer from games from 7~8 years ago are still fun, etc.

    bloodatonement on
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  • atat23atat23 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I don't really know how old a game has to be before it's classified as retro but I'd say in 20 years there will be a number of people playing old games just like a lot of people on this forum do now. Not to mention the fact that in 20 years they will still be using most of the same characters in some god awful context. I mean how many pac man games have we had that no way resemble the original? I'm sure it'll will be no different when MGS is considered retro there will still be games released like "MGS:Sons of snake 4", "FIFA 2030 - Holo-football" or "Wario the Wapist 3" so people may want to play the originals.

    I love going back and playing games I may have missed though, currently playing JK2O, released in '02, one of the best games I've played in a long while.

    you really answered your own question with this:
    ben0207 wrote:
    The man on the street isn't buying or playing Pac Man, or Sonic 1. He's buying FIFA 08 and Gears of War. 20 years from now he still won't be buying Pac Man. Or Gears of War. He'll be buying whatever is current, and we'll still be on a forum on the cortex meganet saying that even though the graphics aren't very good and it doesn't run on holodeck XP, isn't this "half life" still amazing to play.

    but fuck the man on the street. fuck him hard.

    atat23 on
  • cj iwakuracj iwakura The Rhythm Regent Bears The Name FreedomRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I still prefer the original Ninja Gaidens to the new ones, so definitely not.

    cj iwakura on
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  • delphinusdelphinus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    ben0207 wrote: »
    But ultimately old games are clunky pieces of shit, with awful control schemes and none of the advancements the last 40 years have given us.

    the entire country of korea for the past 10 years, would like to have a fucking word with you.
    250px-StarCraft_box_art.jpg

    delphinus on
  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Given their MMOs they don't have a clue what constitutes a decent game, though.

    Glal on
  • zanetheinsanezanetheinsane Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I'm still waiting for a tennis game that controls and feels as good as Virtual Tennis for the Dreamcast. It's 90% of the reason why we still have a dedicated slot on the shelf for a Dreamcast (with the other 10% being Virtua Athlete 2k :winky: )

    We ended up getting 4 wireless controllers for the 360 when Virtual Tennis 3 came out but they still just haven't got the magic back. There simply hasn't been a single tennis game released in almost 10 years that's as much fun in a 2-on-2 doubles match with 3 friends than the original.

    So when you say that new games always bring better controls I scoff.

    Also, Pong was boring and terrible when it came out, but it was the only game in town. There, I said it!

    zanetheinsane on
  • Drunk_caterpillarDrunk_caterpillar Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I have played through Mega Man X more times than I care to mention, and will hopefully continue to do so. That aside, I really just don't feel the need to justify my love of any game to anyone. I like retro games, and I like new ones. I think any distinction that we make between the two of them is pretty arbitrary.

    Drunk_caterpillar on
  • tbloxhamtbloxham Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Virtua Tennis = Best Tennis game ever made
    Baldurs Gate 2 = Best RPG ever made (probably, but the only ones which might beat it are also on the infintiy engine)
    MOO2 = Best 4X game ever
    Sim City 3000 = Best city builder
    Conflict Freespace 2 = Best Space Sim shooter game
    XCOM: Terror From the Deep = Best squad strategy + squad builder game

    Seriously, old games are often still kings of their genres, and such will remain the case for many years. That article is nonsense.

    tbloxham on
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  • GlalGlal AiredaleRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Best first person shooter?

    Glal on
  • JohnDoeJohnDoe Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    tbloxham wrote: »
    Virtua Tennis = Best Tennis game ever made
    Planescape : Torment = Best RPG ever made (probably, but the only ones which might beat it are also on the infintiy engine)
    MOO2 = Best 4X game ever
    Sim City 3000 = Best city builder
    Conflict Freespace 2 = Best Space Sim shooter game
    Jagged Alliance 2 = Best squad strategy + squad builder game

    Seriously, old games are often still kings of their genres, and such will remain the case for many years. That article is nonsense.

    Fixed (With replacements that are also older games)

    JohnDoe on
  • AroducAroduc regular
    edited September 2008
    Man droogs, I'm so retro, I once played chess on a physical board.

    Crazy yo.

    Aroduc on
  • HerrCronHerrCron It that wickedly supports taxation Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Aroduc wrote: »
    Man droogs, I'm so retro, I once played chess on a physical board.

    Crazy yo.

    You Luddite.

    HerrCron on
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  • langfor6langfor6 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Check out the thread here on Infinity Engine games, and then get back to me about how we won't play old games anymore.

    langfor6 on
  • AroducAroduc regular
    edited September 2008
    HerrCron wrote: »
    Aroduc wrote: »
    Man droogs, I'm so retro, I once played chess on a physical board.

    Crazy yo.

    You Luddite.

    That how we roll here, biznatch.

    Aroduc on
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Old games suck. New games suck, too, while I'm at it.

    On one hand, most people who say old games are better will list the best 10 games for their system of choice and then the 10 most recent releases for the 360 or PS3. Of course the cherry picked crown jewels will stand out against an effectively random selection.

    On the other hand, the counter argument usually involves picking 10 selected pieces of crap from given past system and compares to the 10 best for the current.

    Same thing, it's like saying old movies suck by comparing 3rd rate 1920's slapstick to the best films of the last ten years, or saying new movies suck by comparing the tripe that's always flooded the screen to Citizen Kane. If you stack the 10 best from any given year with the 10 best from 2007, they'd stack up fairly well, unless you judge on purely technical merit. Real gems are rare, and it's pretty rare that a game breaks into the top of its genre and is still there after a couple years. If you pick the 10 worst games for the SNES and compare to the 10 worst games for the 360, they'll all be pretty bad, and if you can play enough of them to judge all 20 trainwrecks and can still form coherent thoughts, you'll probably find they stack up fairly well, too.

    Hevach on
  • SeolSeol Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    ben0207 wrote: »
    God guys, way to miss my point entirely. I'm not saying all old games are shit. I'm saying that comparing them to more current games they fare badly, not due to graphics but because of improvements in accessibility, control and balance.
    No, not really. It's very difficult to argue there's anything wrong with the accessibility, control and balance of, say, SF2, or Sonic, or any of the other games that have endured. Even taking, for example, second-string platformers, it's not that they're bad now, they're just overshadowed by better examples of the genre. But then, you can't really compare Super Mario World to Halo in any meaningful way. I'd even venture to say that people had a better grasp of those three metrics back in the SNES era than they do now - but it was easier then, because games were several orders of magnitude less complex.

    Seol on
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