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Things you miss: "In my day, we had to walk uphill both ways to get to the internet."
Kris_xK
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
The purpose of this thread is to discuss things from our gaming past that we miss.
IE:
What you miss - Why you miss it
It would be nice if we could all follow the same format, but I won't hold my breath.
I'll go first!
Kali - I loved Kali. I guess some of the new kids may not remember it, but back in the day of Dial up Kali was the shit. It allowed you to play games over the internet! Warcraft2, C&C, Rise of the Triad, all worked on it as Kali would disguise the internet as a LAN. As if that wasn't good enough, it was "fairly" hard to get into (you couldn't be fully retarded mainly), so there were very little instances (in my experience) of annoying little shits. Every time I get called a cockmonkey on XBL by a 13 year old, I wish I was still playing on Kali.
No Patches - Don't get me wrong, patches are good. But it seems that these days companies will just push a beta out the door into retail just so they could make a deadline. That didn't really happen in the old days, as patches largely didn't exist. Sure, a company could release a bugladden game, but no one would play it, the magazines (remember those?) would trash it, and the developer would cry himself to sleep (3000 AD anyone?)
Focus on Gameplay, not Graphics - The 16bit console war was fucking fantastic for gamers. Nintendo and Sega squaring off, both trying to get the best games on their systems. And there was a lot. Since photo realistic graphics weren't even imagined yet, developers focused on making the games fun. And a lot of the time, they succeeded. I mean, there's gotta be a reason why we're buying all these classics again from XBL, PSN, and Wii right?
Good Sonic Games - I'm thinking TSR and APZ will prob agree with me on this. Fuck Mario, Sonic was the shit. Now? Not so much.
X-Com, Jagged Alliance, and Ascendancy - I miss you all so much. You will always live on in my heart. *sniff* I... I promised myself I wouldn't cry...
IE:
What you miss - Why you miss it
It would be nice if we could all follow the same format, but I won't hold my breath.
I'll go first!
Kali - I loved Kali. I guess some of the new kids may not remember it, but back in the day of Dial up Kali was the shit. It allowed you to play games over the internet! Warcraft2, C&C, Rise of the Triad, all worked on it as Kali would disguise the internet as a LAN. As if that wasn't good enough, it was "fairly" hard to get into (you couldn't be fully retarded mainly), so there were very little instances (in my experience) of annoying little shits. Every time I get called a cockmonkey on XBL by a 13 year old, I wish I was still playing on Kali.
No Patches - Don't get me wrong, patches are good. But it seems that these days companies will just push a beta out the door into retail just so they could make a deadline. That didn't really happen in the old days, as patches largely didn't exist. Sure, a company could release a bugladden game, but no one would play it, the magazines (remember those?) would trash it, and the developer would cry himself to sleep (3000 AD anyone?)
Focus on Gameplay, not Graphics - The 16bit console war was fucking fantastic for gamers. Nintendo and Sega squaring off, both trying to get the best games on their systems. And there was a lot. Since photo realistic graphics weren't even imagined yet, developers focused on making the games fun. And a lot of the time, they succeeded. I mean, there's gotta be a reason why we're buying all these classics again from XBL, PSN, and Wii right?
Good Sonic Games - I'm thinking TSR and APZ will prob agree with me on this. Fuck Mario, Sonic was the shit. Now? Not so much.
X-Com, Jagged Alliance, and Ascendancy - I miss you all so much. You will always live on in my heart. *sniff* I... I promised myself I wouldn't cry...
Kris_xK on
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PSN ID - S-Starwind (Playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Gundam Battle Ops)
Final Fantasy XIV - Masamune Server (Moving to Sargantanas) - Rykosho Hoshikaze
Steam ID - The Starwind
I miss what the world of videogames was like before Playstation. You had arcades, magazines were used for cheat codes and previews for the new hotness, 2D fighters being the only option, Donkey Kong Country being the game you told all your friends about at school and how it made your eyes melt from the amazing graphics. Playing Super Metroid for the first time, playing Super Mario for the first time. Sonic 3 coming out and then Sonic and Knuckles coming out to blow our collective minds. Cheat codes being a topic talked about between kids at school.
but yaknow what? I don't think I miss the way gaming was, I miss being that young and finding the world of games to be *that* fascinating.
EDIT: Yeah, about magazines... I did not get them. Same with any kind of "hint hotline" like Nintendo's. I already had the video game. Why spend more money just to play it? I would've got the belt across my ass for some stupid shit like that.
This is missed. Waiting for next months issue because it promised a huge preview for a new game. Reading cover to cover for every bit of info. There was a sense of discovery and anticipation that is just lost with the ability to "google it".
PSN ID - S-Starwind (Playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Gundam Battle Ops)
Final Fantasy XIV - Masamune Server (Moving to Sargantanas) - Rykosho Hoshikaze
Steam ID - The Starwind
i'll vote for arcades though.
The Complete X-Com series is available on Steam.
The complete Jagged Alliance series is available on GoG. And although it's been delayed, there's still a JA3 in the works.
Old, but certainly still available and playable today.
PSN ID - S-Starwind (Playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Gundam Battle Ops)
Final Fantasy XIV - Masamune Server (Moving to Sargantanas) - Rykosho Hoshikaze
Steam ID - The Starwind
I miss aspects of Kali. Like the community. I don't; for example, miss the interface.
Oh I know. I've still got all my discs, JA2 (like TA) is installed 1st day on every computer I have ever owned.
X-Com is on my PDA.
Still great games, still playable.
I just miss the days of wonder I guess.
And arcades. I certainly don't miss having to beg being taken to the mall or for money to play with, though!
Also, the internet age has diminished the whole sense of discovery you get when playing a new game for the first time, at least somewhat, for me. Now you can pretty much learn almost all there is to know about a game before ever trying it yourself. Which is why, with certain titles at least, I intentionally avoid over-saturating myself with preview coverage.
XBL/PSN-Polaris314/Twitter/DJ P0LARI5
Also the rare nightgibbing at the local gaming cafés, which seemed like the only places in the world that had primitive broadband uplinks.
I can think of much more as well.
We no longer have to pay money for overpriced walkthroughs/guides
Obscure, little-selling games are both easier to find out about in the first place, and easier to find once they've vanished from shops
The only thing I miss is the days before the stupid "hardcore" label.
That, and specific (now dead) companies, like Bullfrog or Black Isle or Looking Glass.
Now, I'm a picky fuck.
Fair enough.
What I miss:
Space Combat Sims: Almost nobody does these anymore, it's pretty much become an abandoned genre. There's the odd one coming out of Russia, but so far it's been about 10 years since Freespace 2 and nothing seems to have matched it since. At least the SCP is keeping things alive on that front
So far the footage for Naumachia is looking enticing though, even if that's multiplayer only
http://naumachia.aureasection.com/
In a similar vein:
Mech sims: Come on, there HAS to be a Mechwarrior 5 (and MW5: Mercenaries) at some point, I'm sure even the console players will love it.
Also, itt nostalgia overides common sense.
In this spirit, I miss when people didn't glorify mediocre games just because they were part of their childhoods.
I did this exact thing with Mass Effect. All I knew about it, at release, was that it was a space RPG from bioware. Pre-ordered it, first time I loaded it up I was completely sucked in by it. This is probably true for alot of people who did immerse themselves in the coverage of the game. It still seemed to have a positive effect on my experience of it though.
PSN ID - S-Starwind (Playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Gundam Battle Ops)
Final Fantasy XIV - Masamune Server (Moving to Sargantanas) - Rykosho Hoshikaze
Steam ID - The Starwind
How the fuck do you explain X-Com then?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
there were good games then, there are good games now? or was that a rhetorical question...
I think what everyone misses isnt how the games were or what was out then and what we used, but rather because for some reason, it all seemed new and wonderful to us. There wasnt any of this "Ill buy this or rent this, grab the gamerscore and be done with it." Youd play a game to perfection, no matter how hard, and love it. You could play a game like Sonic for hours at a time and do the same every day for a good few months until that brand new game came out where you then did the same. These days people seem to tire replaying old levels in games. People dont want to go back through the games twice, they dont want them to be repetitive. I dont mind that myself but I remember going through Earthworm Jim ....god I cant COUNT the times Ive gone through that game. And not to mention the amount of times I went through it back when I owned it (my brother lost it on me when I was younger) in the span of a week or a month. Id replay it like crazy and never tire of it. It always seemed fun and new. Things have definitely changed, maybe things HAVE gotten better, but WE have changed. And that is a bit saddening when you think back to how much fun you could have from a game that took only an hour to complete.
Yeah, I've learned to basically avoid most info on games that I know I'm going to be interested in. I almost always avoid what gameplay footage I can these days if the game is going to be plot centric (heck, sometimes even if it isn't).
I think the most hyped I ever became for a game was for C&C2. I read everyday, every scrap and shred of information I could find.
Playing the actual game burned me off of hype pretty well.
Your Earth Worm Jim was my Super Mario Bros. 3 - the hours I've dedicated to that game cannot be counted on Cthulhu's tentacles!
Was X-com all the games released in 1993?
That is true where the games themselves are concerned. We're not just discussing games though.
On that point, however, a good game cant really be "missed" so long as you still have the means to play it. Even if you dont, if you really missed it that much, theres nearly always a way to get a hold of it again.
PSN ID - S-Starwind (Playing Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, Gundam Battle Ops)
Final Fantasy XIV - Masamune Server (Moving to Sargantanas) - Rykosho Hoshikaze
Steam ID - The Starwind
That's not all it is.
There were a billion and one mediocre to crappy games "back in the day". But do you remember the games you played that you didn't particularly enjoy? No, you remember the ones you loved, and you remember the ones you absolutely hated. And really even the hated ones not necessarily.
But people bring up X-Com, Chrono Trigger, and maybe 2 or 3 good games and compare them to Imagine: Party Babyz like only these amazing games that have stood the test of time were out and they just didn't make crappy shovelware 'till the Wii came out.
I grew up as a Sega boy so I didnt get to play those much until I was a bit older. I still remember getting the Sega...those were excellent days. I also remember my brother convincing my dad into buying the N64. That was a good trip to the mall. Super Mario Brothers 64 is one of my favorite games of all time no questions asked. Getting every star in that game took forever but goddamn the sense of accomplishment. I dont know if Id have the patience to do that again at this point in time but back then I could sit for hours trying to get one star. I think I need to buy the original Banjo because after playing the demo it feels so much like Mario 64 and it made me feel great playing it.
I know for me, scarcity was a big reason for that. Back when I was a kid, a new game was a very rare event, and something to be cherished. I'd play the tar out of those games until I knew some of them inside and out. It's been maybe a decade at least since I've played through Monkey Island 1, but I bet with some prompting I can still remember all the steps to get through the game. Games were new and fresh and whilst I did burn out on them, I'd come back eventually because there wasn't anything else I was waiting to play at the time.
These days, well when you grow up and have access to money, all of a sudden the shortage is gone, you can play whatever the heck you want. And it might just be me, but it also seems as if the last few years in particular have packed a LOT of interesting games and styles into them.
The possibility of having a backlog is something I never really considered when growing up.
I actually hadnt played Chrono Trigger until just recently due to the DS version coming out. And I was so horribly addicted to it...it was awful. Im still playing it now but Im at the end just doing all the extra stuff I can until I beat it. I also plan to level up like crazy before the final boss. I once had Final Fantasy 7 as my favorite RPG. This has taken that spot.
And I know what you mean, its not like the past is the best gaming there ever was, there were tons of shitty games, just like now. but even right now we have some great games. MANY great games. But honestly, if you were to look back and see how you played a certain game over and over and over for days and days and days then try to do that again, I dont think youd be able to. As many crappy games as there were back then, once I found a game I liked, I wouldnt let go, and I could play it for months without getting bored of it. Now I beat a game and dont have much want to go back through.
Have you seen the shit they're passing off these days? 4 pages long, black and white, with no imagination put into the layout at all. I understand that the colourful game books of yore were mainly the result of memory and graphical limitations in the games themselves, but I can't help but feel that part of the gaming experience has been lost along with the 2 page table of contents these manuals used to sport.
Related to this I actually miss the big paper game boxes. I can't put my finger on why, other then the obvious reason that size matters. :winky:
I really miss them
e: Oh and the game was great too.