Games you're currently playing?

[Voltage Spike]

What I do believe, however, is that the points of reference of what constitutes 'fun' for someone in the 30+ age bracket are going to be a lot different than those of someone 10 ot 15 years younger. I didn't grow up with consoles capable of fairly photorealistic 3D gameplay; consequently, my expectations are considerably different than those of the current generation of gamers.

You could be right. I tend to believe, however, that what constitutes fun simply varies from person to person. Most of the age difference, from what I have seen, comes from your social situation. If you have a family and only brief moments of free time, then you are probably going to like "old-style" games that are brief, have no save feature, etc.

I also grew up without 3D graphics, or, in the beginning, fancy things like 256 colors. I think there is an impression that younger players care only for graphics and discount gameplay, but I believe that impression to be true mostly of "professional" reviewers and trade magazines. At the end of the day, a boring game is a boring game. (To be honest, though, I prefer a fun game with newer graphics over the exact same game with older graphics. )

That certainly is part of it, but not all. I also appreciate things like the work that was done with comparatively little computing power, or the fact that someone had to come up with and implement the idea in an era where there were virtually no guideposts for games, or even the socialogical aspects behind the games.

I can certainly agree with you on that point. Programmers (in all fields) are spoiled today in that they can accomplish so much with so little effort. Of course, the requirements have increased in complexity as well...

As for guideposts, there are still many companies that ignore such things. There are a lot of games that utilize "game theory" to some extent or another (Sony hired psychologists to aid in the design of Everquest), but there is always someone willing to take a risk and try new angles that sound crazy at the time.

That completely makes no sense in the context of what we've been talking about so far. Are you talking about bootlegging of arcade games, or piracy of home software? Sorry, but your point is lost on me here.

Uh, no. Many companies chose to bootleg existing games. There's a difference between stealing someone else's product and trying to enter the market on the merits of your own products. Saying that they were "forced" into making cheap knock-offs is very inaccurate.

I apologize if I wasn't clear. I was referring to the copying of the gameplay, not the wholesale ripoff of code. How many variations on Arkanoid and Centipede did we need? The industry was producing arcade cabinets, but I would have difficulty arguing that more than a few games were innovating upon the existing products. I personally believe that this is a direct result of low budgets and limited hardware, but I could be wrong.

Note that most analysts tend to attribute the original collapse of the home console market to a lack of innovation in gameplay and a glutton of fly-by-night game producers.

*Shrug* You can post it, but the simple fact of the matter is that I (much like many others in the same age bracket) don't care.

That's why I didn't post it. I may be in separate age bracket, but the issue isn't that clear in my mind. I have been playing video games for 18 years. While that is long enough to see most the industry come into existence, it isn't so long that I was personally affected by the original downfall of home console gaming.

Re-read what I wrote earlier: I never said that there was *no* innovation in the games industry, merely *very little*, and that more powerful graphics engines don't necessarily equate to better games.

I apologize, then. I would simply hate to see someone discounting the enormous progress being made in the games industry. I personally believe that the producers are innovating gameplay at a faster rate than they were two decades ago, but I also understand that those who have watched its evolution may be unable to see beyond the original seedlings of ideas.

Which is fair enough, but you'll notice at no point have any of the advancements been dismissed, simply questioned in terms of overall achievement.

Fair enough.

By the same token, I believe it was George Santayana who famously said, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Looking at the past 15 years of videogame design and development, they seem toi be content to keep rolling out the past in ever-flashier packaging.

Perhaps, but you might guess that I'll disagree here. Many companies "play it safe" by repackaging successful gameplay in a new product. Sometimes this tactic pays off (especially for story-driven games or those with an extremely low budget), but most companies have difficulty selling the same old crap. (If you are interested, an excellent example of the rise-and-fall (and rise again) of a product may be seen in the Mortal Kombat series.)

Now that you have elaborated, I realize that I may have been a little too antagonistic (hey, it happens). While we may not see completely eye-to-eye, at least I know you aren't completely discounting the (entire) industry as a bunch of hacks.

[bascule]

I haven't really been an enthusiaist of PC games for pretty much a decade now. To me Windows 95 brought about the end of innovation in PC gaming, and we've only seen games grow maddeningly more complex and the simple joy of gaming has been lost. I think of all the games I played circa 1994 before Windows 95 destroyed everything... Day of the Tentacle, the Dig, Beneath a Steel Sky, Corridor 7, Blake Stone, System Shock, Nomad, Inherit the Earth, Detroit, Legend of Kyrandia II: The Hand of Fate.

I agree pretty much 100% with astcell. What we've seen is a departure from the days when the hardware was so limiting that making the most innovative game possible with the available hardware was the only way to stand out. Most older games (Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man, etc.), even older shooters, were about control of territory. Nowadays we've seen the move to the lowest common denominator, namely rewarding death and destruction. It's not that you can't make an innovative game with death and destruction as the fundamental qualities (GTA certainly proved that), but gone are the days when a small smattering of pixels on an otherwise black screen could provide hours of enjoyment.

If there is any true innovation going on in gaming today it's being ushered in by Konami with their Bemani series, and derivatives thereof. There's hundreds of these types of games now, BeatMania, Dance Dance Revolution, DrumMania, Guitar Freaks, Samba de Amigo, Taiko Drum Master, ParaParaParadise, etc. Interaction with these games occurs with the full body, not just mashing buttons on a controller or keyboard. In this respect I'd say it's a much more immersive experience than can be had with a controller or a keyboard/mouse.

That said there's still plenty of fun to be had on PS2. Here's what I'm playing right now:
Ratchet and Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal
MGS3: Snake Eater
PoP: Warrior Within
Karaoke Revolution Vol. 3
Soul Calibur 2 (Yes it's old but I have Tekken 5 on pre-order)
Guilty Gear X2 (Also old but still the best 2D fighter ever made!)
Katamari Damacy
GTA: San Andreas

[skroo]

And since Voltage Spike (with whom I mostly agree, per his replies) and I have already wasted enough space in this thread, I'll change the diversion to something somewhat different but tenuously related:

The Accidental Video Game Porn Archive

This may or may not be safe for work depending on your employer and/or coworkers' sense of humour, so click at your risk. And anyone who gets off to this stuff needs professional help.

[allentrace]

And since Voltage Spike (with whom I mostly agree, per his replies) and I have already wasted enough space in this thread, I'll change the diversion to something somewhat different but tenuously related:

The Accidental Video Game Porn Archive

This may or may not be safe for work depending on your employer and/or coworkers' sense of humour, so click at your risk. And anyone who gets off to this stuff needs professional help.

Proving once again that it is possible to find anything on the internet.

[Siviak]

my life has been consumed by Star Wars Galaxies... and KoL whilst at work

[TheCotMan]

my life has been consumed by Star Wars Galaxies... and KoL whilst at work

Paid? to play? Conman! Err... Cerebral Terrorist !

I stopped playing RtCW. Bored with it. Still doing KoL (these exploding chefs and bartenders are a real drag... If they make the clockwork maids explode as well as detective skull, explosions will be everywhere! After dropping RtCW, I added a game called "boggle" at part of /usr/games on this *nix box.

[Second]

Um... *looks around carefully* ...I still play counter-strike

*Shoosh!*

/me ducks thrown brick

whoo! another one to the dark side. I enjoy a few rounds of cs now and then.

[Epyon]

Counter strike and the various mods
Everquest 2

[dYn4mic]

When i want to brave teh windows... Counter Strike: Source, HL2 (messing with cheats and just playing around after beating it).

[pezz]

What? No runescape?

[dandroid]

hrmm. My blackberry has "brick breaker" on it. I play that alot. Once, I even downloaded a texas holdem game for the BB. It expired after 3 days thoa.

:P





"Remember the summer in Abaddon"

[astcell]

hrmm. My blackberry has "brick breaker" on it. I play that alot. Once, I even downloaded a texas holdem game for the BB. It expired after 3 days thoa.

Yea, brickbreaker is fun for about 3 minutes. No freeware for my crackberry yet!

[enven]

Ahhh, I am playing IL2 Sturmovik - PF

and CMBO and waiting for the game... Insurgency (hl2 Mod) to be released..till then those 2 are what i am playing...

[Second]

Once, I even downloaded a texas holdem game for the BB. It expired after 3 days thoa.

Maybe the
Phil Helmuth Special?

:)

[AlxRogan]

Yea, brickbreaker is fun for about 3 minutes. No freeware for my crackberry yet!

If you can upgrade to the 4.0 BB OS, it has a much more "arkanoid" style breakout. More fun and more levels. Plus an AES-encrypted Password Vault is included.