Old timers : Do you REALLY enjoy the games today like past games?

Just because it doesn't have complex graphics doesn't mean it can't have great graphics, and complex graphics doesn't mean a great gameplay.

Challenge (limitation) breeds creativity and innovation. 2d/8-bit/bitish is not going anywhere, the wizards will continue weaving the magic until the heat death of the universe.

 

As I get old gaming changes focus - I have more fun in games that are family friendly and more story driven.. also I'm finding myself enjoying more simple games where its more focused just a few hours of fun like the new star wars battlefront..

 

I get the older and few hours of fun. However I did this when I was younger. Some Supermario 3. Counterstrike a few rounds, fire up some Streetfighter on Genesis. Today I fire up World of Tanks or Battlefield 1 or Titainfall 1 or 2 for a few rounds or the new King of Fighters on PS4. I don't see them being more simple.
Counterstrike 1.6 for a few rounds wasn't more "complicated" than today's Battlefront for a few rounds. Maybe its your approach to the gaming session is less serious and stressed.

 

Yes, I do find games as fun / interesting now, as I did when I was younger. The biggest difference I notice is that PC gamers, today, love to hate their hobby ... and I just don't get it. So many PC gamers slam games because the game does not cater to their individual needs. Sometimes you just have to take what you are given and make the best of it. A perfect game is NEVER going to be made .... so stop looking for it.

 

Oh man, good ol' Bawls guarana (sp?). I remember that I thought it tasted good back then, wonder about now.

I remember my first LAN bringing my 13" CRT and plunking it down to some dudes 20" CRT...talk about IRL e-peen shrivel.

But the community aspect - back then I actually sent money and computer hardware to my favorite CS server to help keep it up and running (Hunger For Blood, what up!). That was my personal "golden age" of gaming. But another poster brought up a good point, the passage of time also helps weed out the good and the bad; at the time, I don't think I felt like I was overwhelmed by great games, there were quite a few crap ones. But being younger, I could obsess over one game much more.

 

Am I an old timer if I'm only 32 years old?

Been playing PC games since midish 90's.

Nothing will compare to my early WoW years when I was a wee teen. I still enjoy games today, but I don't think I'll ever have that experience again when I was younger.

 

Been gaming since there were computer games.

That being said, great games are great games. There were amazing games made in the past, and there will be amazing games made in the future.

There are games that are old as hell that i still play today, but that doesn't mean that new games aren't great as well. I still play MOO 1, which is in my opinion then best 4X game ever made. But i also play modern titles, and love playing them.

BUT! (you knew there was going to be a but didn't you) I do feel that the pioneers were more about stretching the boundaries and trying new things than what we are getting today. Back in the day, nobody knew what was going to work, so they made all kinds of games. Nowadays, all we seem to get are retreads of tired old tropes, with very little new in the way of creativity. Sure, there are some indie titles that are trying new things, but i get tired of the AAA games being the same shit on a different day.

I think the problem is the money people, instead of the creative people, are calling the shots. Which is why i love crowdsourcing. It allows people to support those making games that AAA publishers won't touch, but that the community wants. Sure, there are people abusing crowdsourcing, but that doesn't mean that it's not a good thing for the industry. Research the people making the game, and know that some of the projects aren't going to pan out.

In short, new games have the advantage that the platform is so much more capable than in the early days of computers. That doesn't matter, really, what matters is the people making the game. If they make a great game, it's a great game. If they choose to do the same old thing again and again, well, it's just going to be the same old thing. And just making something different isn't the same thing as making something great. Greatness is that indefinable quality that makes it timeless.

 

For me anymore gaming is like trying to find that needle in a hay stack. I limit myself and am very choosy in what I play. Aint got no time fo busheit.

 

Objectively speaking, there are probably as many good games in the past decade or two compared to when we were kids but a combination of nostalgia and more responsibilities skews most of our perceptions. If I didn't have to work and still had spring, winter, and summer breaks; I'm sure I'd find myself just as engrossed in today's games as when I was a kid. Similarly, it's much harder for me and my gaming buddies to find the same time to play together compared to when we were kids.

 

I'm 33, gaming since I was 5.

I barely game anymore. Life has taken precedent.

This new generation of gamers want the same ole', same ole'.

I remember when games were original....

Games like Tenchu, Tale of the Sun, and Mario 64.

Today's games are less like games and more like movies. A temporary spectacle disguised as a gaming experience.

I want to quit, but I keep crossing my fingers that something great will come about....

 

I like this, well said Spugnor.

 

Yes... I been gaming since Atari 65 XE with tape recorder, and I still find modern games as much fun or even more fun than all the past stuff. The only thing I can't stand is perfectly good single player games, being ruined by forced multiplayer (yes, ME 3, I'm talking to you), or when promised SP campaign for the multiplayer games to be total rubbish (yes, BF1, that's you now).

 

I think it's the massive amount of games available today, meaning both that there are so many and I can buy whatever games I want to play. Back in the day I got a couple games for my single system every birthday and Christmas, those were what I had until next year so I played the ever living shit out of them. I put hours upon hours into games I couldn't even beat like Double Dragon 3, T&C Surf Design, Low G Man, Battletoads, TMNT, Mortal Kombat, etc. I loved every minute of it and the nostalgia for those games is crazy, but if I were put into that situation now I would say "fuck this shit" and move on to the next in my queue of 200 Steam games.

I enjoy them as much, but don't appreciate them as much I would say.

 

Well, at 47 and been gaming since I was 12 or something. I certainly like new games - I played the shit out TW3 (270 hours) and Oblivion/Skyrim (both heavily modded) and the FEAR series.. I also like games like SOMA and Diablo III (yes I plated I and II plus the expansion as well).. I think there have been some really good games to come out lately, GTA V - and thus my love of PC gaming continues. I have a PS4 also which I like for some games, Until Dawn was pretty epic, I also played a lot of ESO on that with friends. So YES I enjoy games of today as much as my old nostalgic faves (System Shock, Doom, Decent, NOLF, Quake 2, Giants, Unreal.. )

 

New games still don't do what my N64 did for me as a kid.

Gaming for nearly 20 years will make being impressed by a video game MUCH harder.

Walking around in 3D for the first time playing Mario 64 was a big deal.

 

Mario Cart and Goldeneye....Good times.

 

Indeed, I also loved games like Turok, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, Mortal Kombat 4, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Party... Oh man, the list goes on.

 

I enjoy the games a LOT more. But I am a nostalgic kinda' guy. What I do miss is going in the store to buy a cd of the new game and going through the install process manually. The buying of a game was more ceremonious. I'm the same with movie rentals. Going in to the video store and sometimes not knowing much about a film other than what was on the box (or caddy), then putting it in the drive and hoping you liked it.

 

Well if being 48 qualifies me as an "old-timer", than I'd have to say "Yes", although differently.

My first loves were X-Wing, Jedi Knight, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, No One Lives Forever, etc. But I've also loved The Witcher, The Divison, Mass Effect, Dishonored, Doom 2016, almost all the Battlefields... the list could go on for pages.

I don't have the reflexes for twitch shooters anymore, so my tastes have gravitated more towards story driven single players, stealth, cover based and rpg's. I'll still play the MP's, but where I used to always finish in the top 3, now I'm lucky to get middle of the pack, and that's using all the cheese weapons to get me there. I love the old games for the pure passion and development for a singular platform, but I also enjoy the production values, size and variety of the new titles. There are certainly things I wish would make a come back from the old days, like decent Mouse and Keyboard support, and games built specifically for the PC with no other platform to compromise it. Apart from that, I think there are both great and terrible games from yesteryear, and great and terrible games from today.

 

Reminds me of when 3D Graphics cards first hit the market. I had been playing Jedi Knight in software mode on a Pentium 1 I built, and then bought an OPUS 3D (3rd party VooDoo) for it. I'd only been married for about a year, and the wife was already thinking she'd lost me.

 

I think we enjoy them differently. Compare Zork with Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider is as much if not more a visual puzzle as an intellectual one; Zork is purely an intellectual one. Or, it's theatre of the eyes vs theatre of the mind.

 

No for a simple reason:

Childhood for most is free of worry about bills, job, food, and other things. The memories are pure, innocent and good for most part. You don't worry about what-if's or how you are going to make it. Those activities that were 100% joy become tainted by life as you get older, have a career, family, etc. You simply cannot replicate your childhood as a adult, it's too complicated.

That's it. At least for me.

 

guess Im a old timer Im 65. Before iD hit the world I found gaming mostly boring. Did text games and some pong and some pacman. But when Doom, Quake, et al came out. Things got rough.
Could and did spend 10 12hrs a day playing shooters and had a blast.
Now that Im a great deal older I dont have the speed or dexterity needed to play. So, I play slower paced games such as Oblivian, Skyrim, Dishonored . I got the new Doom, I get spanked every time I just dont have the needed skills any more.
Oh well.

 

Dont forget duke nukem 3d atomic edition and r.o.t.t. !! Samurai warrior as well.

My first pc games i bought was duke nukem atomic edition and quake! The original quake had the best creeky atmosphere out of all of them and quake 2 ffa was tops along with quake 3. Best times ever was playing quake online. :/

The new doom was close to feeling like the old quake online but just s tad short.. obviously as i must of playing quake online for like 10 years!

 

I think I enjoy them more now. Because as a young know nothing I never appreciated the intricacies of games. Of course that changed long ago, but not so long ago. The beginning of my enlightenment was right at the edge of the millennium, actually when I turned 18. Thanks to games like DeusEx, System Shock II, and Mafia. Those three still have a place amongst my top 5 games of all times. Before them I was all about gameplay, and action, and didn't even want to hear about stories or rpg elements.

 

There are just as many crap games today as there were back then.

The difference between today and yesterday is I know what I can't stand, so I avoid series containing that as a rule.

Saves me time and money

That and Steam's 2-hour free demo system makes gaming more risk-free than it every has been. Even back in the heydays, a game demo was not a guarantee. And then GETTING that demo meant buying the right magazine with the right disk, which was usually not cheap, or going to a shop that sold shareware discs (not common).

 

Yes "multiplayer games" today are just as good, although I'm constantly seeking the next "Ultima Online". Nothing has ever filled that gap since 1997 which is surprising given the time elapsed and growth of the gaming industry.

Back in the day I used to love playing Quake 2, Quake 3, Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, Neocron, WoW, etc.

These days I like to play Rocket League, Warframe, H1Z1, and am looking forward to Quake Champions. So I think that there are still plenty of great games being developed. I am also trying Shards Online which is a UO replacement but so far it is just in alpha so we'll see how it goes.

 

I don't think any game today offers me the excitement Zork, Wizardry, Might & Magic series, etc did back in the day when I had my first Apple, then IBM clone.
I am retired now and still can't play games when ever I want. Back then after work I would play to the early morning hours then drag myself to work only to do it again that night.
I do think the games today offer a visual quality that is nothing short of amazing. Perhaps it is my age that I tend to not get so excited about gaming now. In the beginning it was all new and experiencing it for the first time can never be equaled.
I miss having stores that sell only computer games. Being able to go into one after work and having a large number of titles to choose to play that night was great to me. Knowing the owner of the store and seeing regulars that bought games on a regular basis.
Now it is all downloads even with the game forums I feel disconnected somewhat.
Time moves on.

 

Sometimes. Although, the focus in the past used to be on solid single player experiences, whereas now it's almost entirely dominated by PvP multiplayer (which I got bored of after I stopped playing Counter-Strike back in high school). Games nowadays on a high-end PC have certainly never looked or played better in terms of graphics and framerates. Unfortunately, the development quality of the games themselves is all over the place (even from "AAA" developers), and of course the overwhelming surge of DLC, microtransactions, and other anti-consumer BS has not helped the situation.

I think it was just a simpler time back in the days of N64.

 

Agree! and differ somewhat... circa 1985 seeing the Ultima III box and walking over to it, picking it up, and then quickly looking around as if I had just picked up a Playboy. The art on that box made me wonder if such a thing was even legal! That was so [H]ardcore at the time.

Playing the demos on PC Gamer disks, eagerly anticipating John Romero making me his bitch, reading about how I could turn people into blood sausages in Fallout, ....can't be all nostalgia though, maybe youth too, as I could and would play for 12 hours... now, even if I'm engrossed, maybe 6 - tops.

Finally, games are disposable now. Back then you made due with what you had because well, that was it - only so many choices. You played Warcraft 2 OR Red Alert... much harder to afford both! Now I can go on my phone or steam and there's a never ending stream of free games. I guess in my mind if something is freely available and never-ending with choice it looses some of the luster. That's why I've put off playing Witcher 3. I know I have at least one awesome experience ahead of me.

Oh and IMO firing up Quake on the Orchid Righteous 3D was even better, at the time, than VR is today.

 

The short response is no. But has been mentioned by other old farts in this very thread there were a lot more factors at play when I started PC gaming. The first game I remember really liking playing was Castle Wolfenstein off a tape drive hooked to an Apple II... circa 1981? I sank countless hours playing SWOTL on a 486dx and did not think it could ever get better until we started hooking PC's together on a LAN. I remember being the only person I knew to play Lucasarts game Outlaws on my home "LAN" which consisted of 2 PC's and one 5 port 10bt hub. Hell, at that time just having 2 computers in the same house that ran and could play games was pretty darn rare. At that time in PC gaming EVERYTHING was new, the PC themselves and all the hardware and software. We had to learn it all. It was quite an exciting time. Downloading games on Steam/Origin today bears little resemblance and has lost much of the excitement. I still enjoy the games... but to a lesser extent.

My2c

 

Honestly, overall? No. Try as I might, I can't quite bring back how some of the classics made me feel. That said, I can get REALLY close, but it's much fewer and farther between now. This also applies somewhat to replaying those old classics. Some of them (Ultima, System Shock, Zeldas, Marios, to name a few) still feel like they did when I originally played them. Others, seem to have lost some of their shine.

There are a few cases though, where a new game, meant to feel like an older one, has actually surpassed my original experiences. FEZ, Axiom Verge and Hyper Light Drifter have done this for me. They sucked me in just like their classic counterparts did, only because of their modern conveniences and advanced designs, they actually were MORE enjoyable than anything like them that I'd played as a kid in a lot of ways. Maybe I have a slightly smaller sense of wonder over it, but they did as well as anything I could imagine bringing that back. New Zelda and Mario games are pretty good at this for me too. I'm really excited for Breath of the Wild. That will more than likely snap me right back into that state of mind. Ocarina still manages, as well as Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

System Shock (and System Shock 2) still pull me right in too, and the last time I played UItima 7 or 8 they managed to as well. (playing via Exult and Pentagram added a bit of that modern convenience I mentioned too)

However, a lot of bigger titles that I try to get excited about now, don't quite grab me like they would have years ago. Doom did. id pulled that off masterfully. I'm expecting the same for Quake Champions. However, Deus Ex MD has yet to fully pull me in. I'll of course give it a few more tries. I think HR took me two or three starts to fully grab me. (then of course it did) I think MD will eventually too, but it's honestly a bit harder for me to get pulled in than when I played HR. It's a little sad, but I'm confident it will. It's weird, Dishonored 2 is doing something similar. It's better than the first, it's better than the Bioshocks IMO, but it's taking me longer to get into it too. That might be because that setting (while cool and intriguing to me) doesn't have that automatic appeal of sci-fi-cyberpunk that System Shock has. Deus Ex does, but I always leaned toward SS over DX.

The big test is going to be the new Prey. It absolutely NAILS my favorite setting, play-style, and genre from everything I've seen. If that doesn't pull me right in, then something is broken in my brain. (same with System Shock HD and System Shock 3) We shall see.

Short answer, yeah, with a few exceptions, things aren't quite the same as they used to be. Some things bring me right back, some require a little more effort on my part, and still some don't quite do it at all. Not enough to make me find a new hobby or anything like that, but definitely fewer and farther between. (Maybe it's the fact that I DO have a few other hobbies that I can still occasionally be wowed with games. I think if I only had games as a hobby, this could be worse than it is.)

It is cool to me though that some of the indies (like the ones I mentioned above) are able to do it though, where some of the big budgets haven't.

 

I was going to start my own thread but I figured I might as well post on here.

This pretty sums up online gaming for me. I remember loading up gamespy to find TF, UT and Quake 2 servers. Especially Quake 2 since I was heavily into the mod scene (Action Quake, Weapons Factory and Lithium mods!); planetquake was my favorite website back then.

Before this, does ANYONE remember the mplayer.com gaming network? I used to play Mechwarrior 2 on there in an organized league (MNL). This was also the first time I've been exposed to toxic online gaming community...

Then we got battle.net, played Diablo 2, and remembering the initial release was a total disaster, I think it took me week just to get a proper game going. I can recall Diablo 3 having the same crap happen on launch, some things never change.

All that is history now, I miss lag shooting....

Nowadays I find myself playing single player games, such as Civilization, Tropico, Don't Starve and Last of Us. Multiplayer games frustrate the hell out of me since I suck so bad, I just can't keep up.. And I don't game much as I used to. I rather be backpacking/camping, snowboarding or taking the firearms to the shooting range. Although I am looking forward to the new Metro (nostalgia reckons to the STALKER series).

 

There was only four maps (although later on I did see a couple of servers with custom maps) and as stated the dedicated server software was mostly guesswork to setup/configure, but gawd damn we had a ball in that game. The multiplayer implementation was fantastic, really creepy.

Makes me want to set it up again, I tried a while ago but couldn't get it to work.

 

Target audience is kids with ADD

 

What is considered an old timer? 50+?

 

If you remember Pac Man in the arcade or the local bowling ally.

 

I also think some of the older text driven games like Zork let my imagination visualize the world and i like to think I do a better job of that than a game designer

 

That theory works well using your own open source imagination on top of what is missing. The sorry fact today is text based games won't sell compared to something made in Unreal 4.

 

There is a "play zone" very near me with a life-size pac-man statue at the entrance, the first thing you see really, as well as some of these old-school arcades, ticket dispensing ones, laser tag, go karts, trampoline, some other stuff I dunno... and just recently added an Escape Room. It's a pretty busy place and the pacman cabinet there still works.