Only the good things about modern gaming

[Gamemoose]

My 2 zenny:

 

-I like how some of the retro-inspired games don't punish you harshly for dying. I don't have time to slog through an entire level much less a whole game if I bought it near the end.

 

-"Open world" type games like Amazing Frog, Goat Simulator and such allow you a place to play how you see fit. Makes for good zen moments.

 

-Variety and selection: this is a double-edged sword as there is a LOT of software out there in the download arena in regards to PCs and consoles. You can fall into the trap of being blinded by the sheer number of titles which you spend more time sifting through than actually playing anything. However, you can come across some great games of many different flavors than ever before. Limbo, Flower, Journey, DLC Quest, ArcadeCraft, FTL, Papers Please, Dear Ester, Superflight, Hotline Miami, To the Moon....all different games with some fresh concepts.

 

-Computer gamers have the ultimate selection: between physical games, Steam, GoG for old games, online play (web and such), emulation of practically everything, it's a great time to be a computer gamer.

[moycon]

I love video games. Liked the games back then, and like the new stuff coming out today. Video games are awesome!

[Flojomojo]

I love video games. Liked the games back then, and like the new stuff coming out today. Video games are awesome!

 

Yeah!! That's the spirit.

 

Sometimes I think about how cool Need for Speed was on the 3DO. Then I remember how awesome Forza Horizon 3 is on the Xbox. They're basically the same game, only one is amazingly realistic, and the other one? Well, I don't play that one anymore.

[spacecadet]

Things I like about modern gaming that we didn't have in the old days:

 

Wireless controllers

 

Giant flat-screen TV's - I used to play games on a 9" screen! My current TV is 55" and my wife is already complaining that it's too small.

 

High resolutions

 

Surround sound

 

Handhelds that don't suck and are every bit the equal of a home console (literally, in the Switch's case)

 

Computers that you can build yourself from standardized parts, with components that even look cool on their own - yes I know you could build computers in the 70's, but you'd usually end up with some niche thing that you had to learn to program yourself. You couldn't, for example, build an Atari 800 that ran regular Atari 8 bit software but looked exactly how you wanted and ran faster than other Atari 800's.

 

VR

 

And yes, emulation, multicarts, floppy emulators, HDMI mods and other things that are modern inventions designed to make playing old games more fun and accessible.

 

[Gamemoose]

 

Sometimes I think about how cool Need for Speed was on the 3DO. Then I remember how awesome Forza Horizon 3 is on the Xbox. They're basically the same game, only one is amazingly realistic, and the other one? Well, I don't play that one anymore.

I had Need for Speed on the 3DO back when I had that system. To me it felt really slow, so the title was also a statement....

[Newsdee]

I had Need for Speed on the 3DO back when I had that system. To me it felt really slow, so the title was also a statement....

I remember thinking exactly that back then!

[WispFollower]

Sound design can be quite immersive if done properly, and many modern games do it well. I love the ambient music, sounds, dialogue, etc. Some soundtracks are so incredible, I can't believe they haven't released them on cd and vinyl- Elder Scrolls and the Uncharted series are some that come to mind immediately. It is rewarding to invest in a nice surround sound or headphone set up and just listen to the awesome sounds of some of these games.

[bussinrounds]

Mainstream gaming lost it's way when all this big AAA nonsense started. It's a general trend that games now appeal to the common lowest denominator, instead of challenging the player to climb up to the game's level.

The biggest thing to blame is the merging of game studios, the few big ones started buying every studio that put out anything good. With that the emphasize from artistic expression to making the biggest buck most efficiently.

 

Instead of original ideas, game studios are now producing games using safe formulas that are kind of entertaining for players and that's the limit of it. With that most games have become steady riding (no real ups and downs), more fast paced, more automation in how the character controls, more grindy, always trickling the bare minimum to keep the player interested. As a result they also have become much less engaging.

Edited May 14, 2018 by bussinrounds

[Bill Loguidice]

Mainstream gaming lost it's way when all this big AAA nonsense started. It's a general trend that games now appeal to the common lowest denominator, instead of challenging the player to climb up to the game's level.

The biggest thing to blame is the merging of game studios, the few big ones started buying every studio that put out anything good. With that the emphasize from artistic expression to making the biggest buck most efficiently.

 

Instead of original ideas, game studios are now producing games using safe formulas that are kind of entertaining for players and that's the limit of it. With that most games have become steady riding (no real ups and downs), more fast paced, more automation in how the character controls, more grindy, always trickling the bare minimum to keep the player interested. As a result they also have become much less engaging.

 

If you ignore the premise of this thread, today's additional control schemes/options never before available, VR/AR/MR, the prolific indie development scene, and the fact that past gaming was itself littered with endless clones and poorly implemented visions, your statement is 100% valid.

[Flojomojo]

Mainstream gaming lost it's way when all this big AAA nonsense started. It's a general trend that games now appeal to the common lowest denominator, instead of challenging the player to climb up to the game's level.

The biggest thing to blame is the merging of game studios, the few big ones started buying every studio that put out anything good. With that the emphasize from artistic expression to making the biggest buck most efficiently.

 

Instead of original ideas, game studios are now producing games using safe formulas that are kind of entertaining for players and that's the limit of it. With that most games have become steady riding (no real ups and downs), more fast paced, more automation in how the character controls, more grindy, always trickling the bare minimum to keep the player interested. As a result they also have become much less engaging.

 

[carlsson]

I suppose the best thing about modern games is that nowadays you can even count for how long you play them and compare with others in the tracker.

 

(We count everything past year 2000 as modern, for reference)

[keepdreamin]

Mainstream gaming lost it's way when all this big AAA nonsense started. It's a general trend that games now appeal to the common lowest denominator, instead of challenging the player to climb up to the game's level.

 

this self-declared elitist nonsense again? Most people want to play games and enjoy them. You want masochist difficulty, I'm sure there's countless NES games with terrible platforming you can go spend the rest of your days mastering. The rest of us don't care.

 

I wonder if we should forward your post to Jim Sterling, so he can feature you in the next Duke Amiel du Hardcore video

 

Edited May 19, 2018 by keepdreamin

[Video]

Don't know if you consider it good or not, but massive amounts of lives and continues are rather abundant in modern games. I know I'm certainly not as patient (or have the free time of my youth) so I certainly appreciate this in modern games.

 

Also, most games have tutorial levels and snipits to show you how to play, or use new found items and powers. Old games? Figure it out, dumbass lol.

[omegadot]

I increasingly find myself playing more and more modern games. I never thought I'd see the day where I had all major current systems. But the reality for me is there are enough good titles on each as well and system specific features I like enough to do that. Granted it was over time and mostly on sale, but still, it's a good time over all.

 

For my use I don't feel that left out by not picking up all the extra DLC or loot boxes etc. I still feel like the titles I do choose to get are full games that are worth my money. While there is plenty that might feel gated off, the fact is I have access to way more games for reasonable prices than ever before. It's a good time.

[Bill Loguidice]

For my use I don't feel that left out by not picking up all the extra DLC or loot boxes etc. I still feel like the titles I do choose to get are full games that are worth my money. While there is plenty that might feel gated off, the fact is I have access to way more games for reasonable prices than ever before. It's a good time.

 

I don't either. I'm just fine with the base games. It's hard enough to find the time to play all these games, let alone complete them and then want more.

[cybercylon]

Save states for older games (and new ones too)... most retro games ported to the consoles have some form of this. So I can go back and enjoy older games without having to sit for hours, and I don't have the patience to get though a tough patch like I used to, so I can just save and come back to it later. One of my all time favorites is SMB 3, but there is no need to do it all in one sitting.

 

Of course, this has been borrowed from modern games.... Games that I have enjoyed in the last year... The Last of Us, Persona 5, Horizon Zero Dawn all are much more approachable with frequent save points then the scattered around. Many modern games let you save almost anywhere. This is very important when one has long stretches of time where there is no time to play due to life. You can just come back later. No more staying up late (not that I can get away with that anymore). It will be there tomorrow, likely where you left off.

 

So I don't know how to file this... convenience... approachability? You pick....

 

(How did I miss this thread....).

[keepdreamin]

Save states for older games (and new ones too)... most retro games ported to the consoles have some form of this. So I can go back and enjoy older games without having to sit for hours, and I don't have the patience to get though a tough patch like I used to, so I can just save and come back to it later. One of my all time favorites is SMB 3, but there is no need to do it all in one sitting.

 

Of course, this has been borrowed from modern games.... Games that I have enjoyed in the last year... The Last of Us, Persona 5, Horizon Zero Dawn all are much more approachable with frequent save points then the scattered around. Many modern games let you save almost anywhere. This is very important when one has long stretches of time where there is no time to play due to life. You can just come back later. No more staying up late (not that I can get away with that anymore). It will be there tomorrow, likely where you left off.

 

So I don't know how to file this... convenience... approachability? You pick....

 

(How did I miss this thread....).

 

I wouldn't say save states are really modern by any standard. They've been a mainstay of emulation for many years now.

[cybercylon]

 

I wouldn't say save states are really modern by any standard. They've been a mainstay of emulation for many years now.

 

Sure... on the PC, they have been available for ever. I was more referring to the consoles. I am stretching "modern" a bit since some sort of saving has been available for older games ported from the PS 2 onwards.

[Keatah]

The modern gaming ecosphere gives a gamer 101 options for playing current and retro games. There's plenty of marketplaces. There's FPGA. There's Software Emulation. And new games are constantly being made for both old and new systems alike.

[digdugnate]

i guess i'm a gaming fuddy-duddy sometimes, lol. the most recent Modern Game i've played is Horizon 4 (which you guys have heard me talk non-stop about, lol); what blows me away about this game is just how GOOD everything looks and plays. This applies, too, i think to other games.

 

You like 40s cartoons? Cuphead looks insanely good. You like photo-realistic driving stuff? The Forza games look great.

 

like Keatah mentioned, there is absolutely no barrier to gaming since there's TONS of ways to get a gaming fix.

 

it's a great time to be a gamer, IMO!

[eightbit]

I used to be set in my ways and against most modern gaming, but it was primarily because most modern gaming had gone the way of the "first person shooter" for the most part over the past decade or so. I can play one or two of these and say "cool" (like when I played Resistance for the first time) but it just seemed to me that nearly every game coming out was one of these. So, I dropped off for a while and went back to play the games that to me were fun...8-bit and 16-bit games.

 

But nowadays the playing field is different. More and more developers are realizing that games should be fun and diverse. I am specifically referring to the Switch. I purchased it on a whim because I wanted to play a new Mario. That was really fulfilling of course, but the variety of great stuff that has come out since then on this console is just astronomical. So much variety, so many different play experiences, so many homages to my video gaming past...just so much of everything I have wanted for so long.

 

So, in my opinion (at least as a Switch owner, I don't have anything else) modern gaming is GREAT. It feels like it did when I was a kid waiting for that next Master System or NES game release...and that is a feeling I thought I would never experience again.

[Tanooki]

I stayed entrenched in the past too, quite a bit, but not luddite level like you shot for it seems eightbit.

 

I'd find things, but then I kept myself Nintendo centric on home and handheld in these more trying times of this century with Sony and the PC as my secondary. It worked out well, because Nintendo kind of gave up giving a crap what the other guys did so you still got that modern coat of paint on the more diverse past field of options so it didn't get as bad really. Switch I was going to pass on if it were a console due to the whole Wii/U branding, thankfully it didn't because as you said so much is going on there with the variety that had been superficially missing so there's been some nice things to really do on it. I actually quite dug some stuff really on the PS3 unlike PS4, same can be said of PS1 vs the PS2 too, so I've had choices over time outside of Nintendo. But like you the Switch has been the best experience on console to me outside of PS3 periods since the Gamecube days and before that you're back to the 2D stuff really with spotty fun periods on N64 (I didn't get a PS1 until 2001.)