What do you miss about the old video games?

Started by Koren, April 14, 2011, 09:47:56 PM

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Koren

A counsin of mine recently started a blog on games and after she told me about it i found this post

http://gamesinthedark.blogspot.com/2011/02/games-of-antiquity-what-was-and-what-is.html

I just had to laugh. I can relate to that so much. After recently picking up the original Tomb raider again I relate to this a lot.
I'm just going to add one thing to her list: useful game manuals. Not ones that had info on the weapons or the magic but one that told you the controls and the plot overview and little tricks and help things.


I'm just interested in what everyone else misses about the old video games from the last century?

Event Horizon

I was thinking this article was going as far back as the Atari. *feels old*

But I can relate to some of it, anyways.

SinClaire

I miss 2D. Call me old fashioned, but nothing beats a good, pretty 2D game. Sure, 3D is realistic and flashy and all that, but... I don't know. There's something about 2D that simply calls me and beckons me and makes me say, "damn, I want to be there!"

That, and bonus galleries. Some games have them, but not as many as I'd like. And no, trophies don't count! (Not for me, anyway :P)

Funguy81

a game easy to pick up with only two buttons to worry about, yet hard as hell to beat.  Like ninja gaiden! (and i mean from the original nintendo system. I mentioned ninja gaiden to a couple of people in my class today for speech.. all of then 18 or 19 years old thought i meant the xbox 360 version. they didnt even know there was ninja gaiden before the xbox 360 version.)

Koren

I can relate to the think of bonus galleries.

To be honest the latest game I can think of with a bonus gallery was Primal in 2003. Im sure theres others but still. Actually SSX3 had one as well.

Yeah, 2d games are good as well. Even games that are 3d with a 2d style just don't quite work. I will even go so far as to say I miss 2d textures. No bump maps or displacement maps (sorry for the tech terms, what you get when you are trying to get into the industry) that give the walls a nice rough texture, just simple flat tiles, like in tomb raider 1.


Yeah. remakes sometimes take the fun out of it. I think the simplest game I have played with a button system was tomb raider. eight buttons MAX that you use every ten minutes or so. And four of those are movement.
Controls can get really confusing now. Looking at Infamous 2 where you have to use one button to set an option out of about five - ten for another button just to use an attack -dies-

NotoriusBEN

what I miss?

old games had GAMEPLAY. Pick up Contra or UN Squadron or Metal Marines, just about any SNES game, even.
they had garbage graphics (by today's standard) but it wasnt about flashy-ness and the bump-mapping on Kasumi's rump (tho it is appreciated)

those old games would suck you in with absolutely rock-solid gameplay mechanics that were FUN.

TheSilkenVoice

Newer games do not have the ability to retain the players like old games did.  Like Super Mario Brothers for example.  The fact they are still making games on that series is a sign.  Games nowadays are made to play and to let go as soon as you beat em.  Few of them warrant you play them through more than 2 times and then if ever again.  I also miss how frustrating it was when you got stuck in an old game and just had to figure it out without youtube or walkthrough books to help you out.  Simplicity and complexity all bundled up in a nice mean 2d game.  My hubby happens to own an arcade and its interesting to watch people start a game and leave it only to get interested in the good old classics like Street Fighter, pacman, and galaga.

Braioch

Mmm, the original Crash Bandicoot ;D

And Donkey Kong Country 2

They were the staples of my childhood
I'm also on Discord (like, all the time), so feel free to ask about that if you want

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Pyewacket75

We had Colecovision years ago and had a 2-4 player blackjack game. THAT was fun. Also we had a game called Turbo with a racing wheel, another great game. GORF was totally fun as well.  I'm surprised the consoles don't have a casino game with blackjack, roulette, and the various poker games on them. I think it would do well.
"Normal is overrated." - Gregory House M.D.

Lyron

It's hard not to love the older games. Yeah, the graphics are terrible to today's standards, but the gameplay is just so awesome--simple yet addictive. I grew up with the Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot series. My bf has a FC Twin and a few NES and SNES games, so we sometimes play those. I really hated that I gave away my SNES when I was young. I really miss it now. =/ I'm just glad I was able to at least purchase the DK Country games on the Wii...Actually, that reminds me of something. Did anyone try playing the Wii remake for DK Country? I remember seeing it in an ad once, but I didn't bother thinking about getting it because I had a feeling it was going to be terrible compared to the original.


M/M Players for Groups: A Registry


Music junkie here!
Love random song shares.
Anyone, any genre, any time.

coolhands

I really miss the simplicity of games like sonic, where all you can really do is just jump.  Even in bionic commando you couldn't jump, all you could do was swing.  I also miss the lack of point and click adventure games these days.  They don't seem to be as popular as they used to.

Inkidu

Quote from: NotoriusBEN on June 29, 2011, 02:41:47 AM
what I miss?

old games had GAMEPLAY. Pick up Contra or UN Squadron or Metal Marines, just about any SNES game, even.
they had garbage graphics (by today's standard) but it wasnt about flashy-ness and the bump-mapping on Kasumi's rump (tho it is appreciated)

those old games would suck you in with absolutely rock-solid gameplay mechanics that were FUN.
*cough* Battletoads *cough*

Honestly, I don't miss a lot from old video games, and I'm an NES baby sure as you'll ever find. What I do miss was that old RPGs came with nice cloth maps.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Alice Wonder

I enjoy criticism on my stories - either way: The Student (explicit Femdom)

ryanmcallister80

To me OLD games are ones from the good old Spectrum and Atari, such as Sabre Wolf, Trashman, Adventure and Defender...

Now those were the days.

Martee

I miss the aspect of them being playable by just about anyone, with or without video game experience. There wasn't a huge learning curve to get into Frogger or Tetris or Super Mario Brothers. I didn't have a console until I was 16, but my cousins had an NES, and there were plenty of days when 8 kids sat there waiting for our 'turn'.

I know things like the Wii and the xbox & ps platform equivalents are making strides towards getting back to that sort of 'group' activity, but it's not the same, in my opinion. Yes, it's hilarious watching Uncle Al try to outbox his 10-year-old nephew and send the nunchuk flying, but... I dunno. Not the same as Nana hunkering down with the old brick NES controller and making it to the end of a level and letting loose with the swear (sonofabitch!) when she's knocked out by a koopa. Scandalous!

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HansTrilby

Replaying some old Tony Hawk Skateboarding on the Gamecube the other day (Not so old, I know.) when a friend suggested Skate 3.
I couldn't believe my eyes when it asked me to flick the controller stick in such a fashion that made my thumb ache after five tries of failure each session. So many more complicated ways in the controller design these days make me just want to throw it out the window in fury. Bring back the old N64 pad please.
"I wrote your name upon the back of my hands, slept upon it then I woke up with it backwards on my face: Reading forwards from my mirror to my heart."

"Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department," said Holmes, with a smile, when the dwindling frou-frou of skirts had ended in the slam of the front door.

DeadCell

What do I miss about old video games?

The fact that not everygame pre five years ago was a crappy call of duty 4 clone.

ONS AND OFFS / Click Me For Story Ideas /
What is the colour of night?

Inkidu


What I miss about old games is not having to be online or go online for anything. Perfectly self-contained units. No later fixes. Had to ship and hope for the best. Not now, now we'll fix it in a patch.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Saerrael

The first game I've ever played was Boulder Dash (1984).
I played it for years and even actually hunted for newer versions of it. It was the game nearly everyone played in my family, though everyone played it in their own way. And that was doable (and enjoyable).
What I miss about the older games compared to the newer games, would be that a game is made for a specific audience now. What my family had with Boulder Dash is currently very rare. You play a game certain way or you basically don't play it at all. That's, of course, aside children's games.

Mordred

I think in 1989 I played Dragon Warrior on the NES. I had never played an RPG before. Holy shit I was blown away. I think I played it nearly nonstop for three days until it was finished. Then a while later, Final Fantasy IIi.. than one again, straight till it was done. What I now miss is my patience. I occasionally come across one I like but then.. couple hours and I've had enough. Bums me out.
*See Pillory*

didoanna

I used to love playing Summer Games & SGII on the old Commodore 64. I know the C64 wasn't exactly a exactly a games machine but it was really good in its day.

And some how playing Trivial Pursuit with the family on the C64 was somehow just so much better than playing it on the actual board game.

Hemingway

I don't really miss old video games. I mean, games like the original Command & Conquer and Daggerfall were essentially my childhood, and I still occasionally play the games I grew up with ... but I don't think they're better than modern games. I mean, C&C has an unrivaled soundtrack, and Daggerfall is a massive RPG ... but the main reason is nostalgia. Games now are more streamlined and less frustrating, the graphics and sounds are better, they're more advanced ... and I would argue that the stories are better, too. Or at least the storytelling.

Yulen

Difficulty, plain and simple. Most new games don't have much of a learning curve, or even require you to think very hard. Of course, you can't have something pointlessly difficult otherwise you won't enjoy it. All I'm saying is a challenge once in a while couldn't hurt.

Inkidu

Quote from: Yulen on August 28, 2011, 12:56:32 PM
Difficulty, plain and simple. Most new games don't have much of a learning curve, or even require you to think very hard. Of course, you can't have something pointlessly difficult otherwise you won't enjoy it. All I'm saying is a challenge once in a while couldn't hurt.
Actually. I remember seeing some kids struggle over modern games, not M-rated or anything, but some of the E-titles on display. I don't think games are less challenging. It's just hard to find a challenge when you've grown up with everything the medium has ever had to offer. Still, I could be wrong.

I miss... cheat codes. Yeah sure, I don't use them. However, now that I've beaten Deus Ex: HR I'd really like a cheat code to just give me all the augs and let me go to town.
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Yulen

True enough. I guess it's all a matter of opinion, but that one just so happens to be mine.

Really? Damn. How is Deus-EX anyway? I haven't been able to get my hands on it.