Whatever Happened to the Good Times?

[Da_Czar]

Great article. I share a simular mindset and I think that is why i get more enjoyment out of these titles today than some other people here. I still have my collection of older sports games and I play them before the release of the new game or even after release when the new game may be starting to show some age and its amazing how much life it pops into the games.

What we have to play today is just flat amazing in comparison to what we had a few short years ago. While I am all for games getting better I do know how to enjoy what I have in front of me. Again great article !!!

[Gman]

You're on point with this article Terry. Nice job. I turn 38 (yikes) this week and am at a juncture where i just want to have fun and not worry or dwell on faults. I have not been happy with the general consciousness of gamers for the past two years, where everything is negative and ripped apart. When I first started lurking at OS it seemed the community wasn't as argumentative and focused more on discussion/strategy for the games. I realize the hobby has grown exponentially and so has the expectations, which sadly are never going to be met by the developers. I found your article refreshing and mirrors my thoughts. Thank you.

[superjames1992]

I think newer consoles and better things leave gamers disppointed most of the time. We get the consoles and we expect the games to be flawless, but they aren't. I purchased my 1st Xbox in 2004 and it was fun!!! I didn't even look for flaws even thoug hthey were there. For example, NCAA Football 2005 had plenty of flaws, but I still played the heck out of that game to no end. That summer I must have spent 6 hours a day playing it.

As I continued getting games, I noticed more and more flaws which led to more and more disappointment. With the next-gen consoles, weas consumers expect games to be flawless for the most part, but they never are. I got a 360 in January and have enjoyed it a lot. Although, I enjoyed getting an Xbox far more in 2004.

When I think back it almost makes me sad to remember how much fun I had playing games like Madden 2004, NCAA 2005, ESPN College Hoops 2K4 (the best game ever made!!!) and others and even though they had numerous flaws and to look at myself now, looking for flaws and anything to disappoint me. It's quite saddening really.

Anyways, the point I am trying to make is that, we as consumers as times go by expect more which, in turn, generally leads to much disappointment and results in us not liking the game as much.

[DXZeke]

The Good Ole Days...


That is why the Wii is selling so well.
It appeals to kids that have the vivid imaginations and it's appealing to a lot of adults that LOVED games as a kid, but were turned off by so many extra buttons or the toughness of games once they got older.

There's a reason why the Wii Virutal Console is doing so well... some of those old games are still a lot more fun than what is now.

Take Madden and Tecmo Bowl for instance. They used to be fun. It wasn't about the "sim" aspect. In Madden 92 it was about bum rushing the CPU QB from the DE postion and sacking him and then seeing the ambulance come out. In NHL 94 it was the hit that made the blood show up on the ice. *laughing* God some of us were blood thirsty.

Now people get uptight over frikkin' uniforms or the game being to easy on default, the cpu calling odd plays, the skaters not looking 100% natural, etc.

The fun is sometimes still there, but most of the time it's not. We're to busy trying to make the perfect set of sliders to make it "sim-like" where as the causal Madden buyer is playing with the purpose of scoring as many points as possible. PURE CHEESE!!!


Old School Games...
You'd play them and they were kind of hard, but kind of easy. Take Mega Man for instance. I was able to ace the hell out of that game and not die for levels at a time. When the Collections came out I was getting tore up. It's like all the hard games were kind of easy and then they dumbed everything down to have a wider base of appeal to casual gamers. Since the Playstation Era it's been downhill in terms of games that are meant to be fun. Not even the Gamecube had that feel.

The Wii is the closest thing to that old school fun.
That's why Nintendo is doing so well even with a system that's not using a "next gen" video card.


At the end of the day, it is what it is. (those of you that post in the basketball forum will get a kick out of those 2 sayings)
It's still up to us to try and sit back and take the seriousness out of things and put the fun back in. It's there and it's possible. It's up to each and everyone one of us to make it fun.

[superjames1992]

Quote: Originally Posted by DXZeke

There's a reason why the Wii Virutal Console is doing so well... some of those old games are still a lot more fun than what is now.

That's exactly why I still play the heck out of ESPN College Hoops 2K4. It's by far my favorite game of all time and I love it. A few weeks ago, I figured out you can play it on the 360, so I began a coaching legacy with High Point on it. I'm havign tons of fun. I prefer it over College Hoops 2K7 and NBA 2K7 anyday. It's not the most realistic game and is not the best looking game, but it is great fun for me!

Note: I didn't really get into gaming until 2004 when I bought my 1st Xbox, so 2004 is my good 'ol days!

[doseyclwn]

I wasn't lucky enough to have a game console until I got my Playstation 1 in like 1997, though I had plenty of friends with them (I'm 36 now, btw). I will admit getting caught up in all the "buzz" about a title, but in the end, I just want to have fun. I never get good enough to have a decent online record, and I don't care. I just want to have fun. And I do. So while some may feel like they are better, more discerning gamers than I; I get to enjoy games that they will pick apart 'till they find something wrong with them.

[mlblover15]

Im a 36 year old gamer and had a atari 2600 but my first real exp. gaming was when I BOUGHT my own ninntendo system with mike tyson boxing, vs. baseball. i would make myself sick in school just to be able to go home and play mike tysons boxing for hrs...

i remember, playing such games as bases loaded, contra (still remmber the code for 100 men) jalecos bases loaded, tecmo football, baseball, life force. the list goes on and on and on. then i got into the sega genesis, wooooow, what a leap altered beast, golden axe, all the arcade games you loved came to the consoles.. well most... with amzing results...

the first maddeon on Genesis, i still ache to play that simple form of the game, no having ot memorize a billion buttons to do all this it was just A B C and soooo simple... half back screen... my fav all time offensive play and i would burn the cpu every time i used it... i once outscored teh computer 99-0 on that game.

then there was the time i nearly pitched a my first ever perfect game on tecmo baseball, it was the top of the ninth inning, two outs. i had run down the street to go get my buddy to come over and see it, while i was gone my mother had come into my room and turned off my console... i was crushed.

world series baseball on the genesis, when they did the three divs and put in trades i was in love all my prayers had been answered.. finally we could trade players in a game...

then came my computer days.. first baseball game on there was Sierra's front page sports pro baseblall 96, LOVED THAT GAME... Then came the sequeal 98 then the seeries was cancelled and i was devistateed... but then i found a game called high heat baseball for hte computer... WOOOOOOW.... i was back in love... and you could copy and past your box scores from teh game to the internet...

that is when i started reporting on my chise that i was running wth my A's team on some baseball videogame site. but yes the old games still rock and kick butt... i can if i want to go down to my used everuthng store and get a sega genesis for $25.00 and they have the orig Madden football which would be a blast to paly... im still thinking about it... oh well enough of this and back to reality...

[sbmnky]

Great read. I was just having a conversation with my buddy about this last night regarding sliders and what it used to be like when couldn't wait for the year's football game. Tecmo Bowl was not very realistic at all - I remember popping it in a few years back for fun and was averaging 400+ a game with Barry Sanders. It was an absolute blast.

We all want perfection and something that closely resembles the game we watch every Sunday, but as you state, it's unattainable. Video games are supposed to be fun experiences, not stressful quests to find the correct sliders to ensure each stat is as accurate as it's real-life counterpart - where's the fun in that. Hopefully we all want to take our favorite team to the Super Bowl and become Champions!

Thank you for giving the gaming world a reality check - it was long overdue!