Video Game Blahs

[IntvGene]

I hate to sound old but...

I remember getting games when I was a kid. I couldn't wait. As soon as I got them, I would pop them in the machine and be completely amazed, and then completely transfixed for hours in front of the TV.

Nowadays, I get a game, I try it out when I get the chance. I note how they used an interesting graphical effect to do something, I learn the controls and follow the steps,level up, etc. But, it just isn't the same.

Is it me, getting old, or is the games? One thing that I notice know is that I am much more aware of what it can do. Back in the old days with the Intellivision and Atari (Coleco too!), I was amazed at what they could do, but I wasn't hooked on the graphics. Sure, they were neat, but it wasn't driving the industry that I now feel that they do. Now, it's just like the 3-d world of video games has been built. Whether I drive a car, swing a sword, or shoot a gun, it's pretty much all the same. Some companies make the world interesting, and some don't. But, the wonder and awe are gone. It seems like most of the games these days are using the same template. Before, I could expect anything with a new game, nowadays it's all the same. The genres are so fixed, and nobody tries to do anything outside of those genres. Anyway, I am ranting off here, and better finish before senility sets in. But, how do younger gamers feel about games, the way I used to, or the way I do now?

[AB Positive]

I've had this problem a lot with the newer games, but sometimes getting one of those older games puts me back into that childhood state of exitement. There aren't many games coming out that I'm looking forward to anymore (save for Soul Calibur II).

Newer games seem almost no-substance anymore.

-AG

[digitalpress]

There's a sociological condition that fits the state you're in. It's the ol' "joy of discovery" vs. "joy of playing" paradox setting in. I am certain that this is what you're suffering from, because I just made it up now.

This isn't due so much to getting old as it is to experiencing so much in the electronic medium. I've had that feeling of "been there done that" on and off for quite some time now (it set in on me circa PlayStation era, 1998/99), and you're right - the wonder and amazement of it all has given way to tides of reality. When gaming was new, it forced the player to be imaginative; you had to picture really "being" a guy on a winged horse or firing from your base at an attacking alien horde. Now, you see everything in lifelike detail. Remember driving a car in a game like Enduro, which had one background and a car that just went from slow to fast, and romanticizing "the voyage" in your souped-up vehicle? Nowadays, driving games are judged on their realism. There's nothing left to imagine. Like many others, you've lost the "joy of discovery", at least temporarily.

There is a cure. Take it from the people who don't feel the way you do. They're experiencing "joy of gaming". It's not always easy to get there, but I'd recommend two things: 1: find a game that you loved playing when you loved playing games and play it again now. 2: find a game that you've recently enjoyed but felt you were "going through the motions", and start over, but THIS time, go about playing it altogether differently. Don't pick the car you'd normally take, don't follow the paths you're expected to follow, and don't "comply" with any of the game's parameters. Drive backwards. Kill your wingman. Challenge your wife to a game and try to let her beat you.

And call me in the morning.

[Jorpho]

In the past, people have drawn comparisons between video games and works of art. There was a period in painting where everyone concentrated on making paintings that looked realistic. Then movements like cubism sprung up as a response.

It sounds like an interesting point of view, but I am not well versed in art history.
________
Medical Marijuana Patient (http://mmjp.org)

[Ed Oscuro]

There's nothing left to imagine. Like many others, you've lost the "joy of discovery", at least temporarily.

How about the joy of creation? Most of the reason there are video game blahs is that indeed we're looking at the same type of game redone...this is why I don't play racing games or buy every FPS game. I say it's an unfortunate side effect of having a packed game market, with everybody wanting to capture the crown for Best Game of Its Kind or even just to siphon off a few dollars for the game's popularity.

On that note, has anybody seen the hidden Mario platformer in Elite Force 2?

[The Unknown Gamer]

There are so few what you could call truely good games these days. Its
always 3-D this or that. But I am looking foreward to the new Tron game
and Ninja Gaiden.

[SoulBlazer]

I guess this is one reason I play more PC games then console ones. :D PC games are more willing to take risks and try new things.

Yes, I found that 'Mario Easter Egg' in Elite Force 2 this weekend. Nice bonus. :-D There's also a famous conversation from Star Wars in the game that had me rolling on the floor with laughter!

I'm looking forward to getting another new PC game, Pirates of the Caribean, on Wed. Susposed to play a lot like Pirates, one of my all time favorities. (And I believe this game is coming to consoles also.)

[petewhitley]

That was really a beautifully thought-out post Joe. In all seriousness. I was actually thinking something very similar along those lines, but I couldn't have made the point as eloquently as that.


There are so few what you could call truely good games these days.
It's funny, because I feel the exact opposite. (And yes, I started playing games back during the Pong to Atari heyday.) There are alot of copycats, but really now, how many copycat platformers did we see on the NES? Lots. And lots. I don't really see such a difference. Maybe I'm just in that blissful "joy of gaming" trance, but I'm surrounded with so many good games I lament every day how little I actually play new releases.

[hezeuschrist]

I'll never be as excited as I was when SMB 3 came out and I didn't have enough money, I came home and I said something to my brothers and then my mom and I went hunting for it all over the place, she paid. I came home and played it forever.

Only a very very few games now can even get me moderately excited. Most recently I'm looking forward to Chaos Legion... a real heir to DMC. Nintendo is outta first party games to wow me with, so now I sit back and continue on with the ones I've missed in the past, right now Xenogears. I haven't been sucked into a game like this since FF7. I'm nearing the end (I think, according to the guide I really don't have all that much more to do) and I just started it a week ago.

If you can find a game that can just pull you in like that, it'll all be gravy.

[nellwyn5]

I get like that, too. I find that I need a game to really grab me in order to get back in the swing of things. Usually, when I buy I game that I know I'm really going to enjoy, I put it aside for this reason. That way, when I'm feeling very into gaming, I play through the lesser titles I own and save the really great ones for times of gaming ennui. The current game is Grand Theft Auto III.

[zektor]

I hate to say this but I believe the "wow factor" has age to do with it. I went crazy over the Atari VCS, Colecovision, SMS and NES when they were in production. I went wild over the TG16, Genesis, and Snes as well. Then I was wowed once again with the Saturn and PSX. But, sometime after that the so-called "wow factor" kind of toned down. See, it wasn't only the new systems back in the day being released with cool new games, but more my friend who enjoyed them with me. He married pretty much after the PSX release, so every console after that has been played pretty much on my own. Well, my girlfriend is there, and a few friends that stop by once a month or so, but it just isn't the same. I really think this is why I don't have as much fun with the newer games or systems as I should. This may also be the reason I pay top dollar to grab old games I used to have and play...that we both used to play. Trying to grab ahold of that great past fun and hang on to it some more. This is why I think age has to do with it. Well, at least for me.

[digitalpress]

Well, my girlfriend is there, and a few friends that stop by once a month or so, but it just isn't the same. I really think this is why I don't have as much fun with the newer games or systems as I should.

This wouldn't have happened if you'd started attending NJ Classic "game nite" or even NAVA. Lots of friends right around the corner, Bruce. Hope you can make it out sometime soon.

[Ed Oscuro]

Come to think of it, just about the first thing I ever did on the XBOX was drive backwards for a while in Nascar Thunder 2002, and wait for cars to come by so I could see the, Um, "great" physics in motion and blow up the other cars. I don't like racing games except for Xtreme G or Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions. A game like Mario Kart 64 was fun for me because there was some feeling of adventure to the whole thing (and yes, I managed to spend over 20 minutes or so in that game driving backwards on the haunted boardwalk). Just about all a game's got to have for me is neat new places to go, and I'll overlook much of the rest.

[calthaer]

Not to get this too off-topic...but is there info on that NJ game night anywhere on this site? I couldn't find it...in Sept. I'll be back home in DE for a while and it's not that far.