I miss when companies could not patch their game for bugs after publishing them. It forced them to devote real efforts into testing their software.
My 3 toon on Skyrim on PS3 (around 200-300h of gameplay in total) are all unplayable now, despite the patching. Within 30 minutes of playing any of my 3 saves, the game will freeze. I have not played Skyrim in over a year now and it still pisses me off thinking about it.
[QUOTE=Ninjamohawk;1958468]Ha! I used to work at Toys R Us when they did that would take the tickets for me and any friends I had who wanted a soon-to-sellout game.[QUOTE]
I think I specifically rushing through the doors when Zelda came out.
Also of note. The Toys R Us where I live is still in that same location. The build out they made where they kept all the NES carts and where you would have to go to exchange your ticket for a game is still standing. Brings back memories everytime I go in there with my children.
I miss having nice colorful manuals to read to go along with games. Or just manuals in general, as most new games hardly even have one.
A couple I thought of
Carts: They're practically indestructible, if you buy a used cart and it looks OK there's about a 98% it's going to work. In fact, I don't think I've ever bought a bad cart, I've bought a few bad discs that looked totally fine but still didn't work. No load times is a big plus too.
Reliable Systems: This kind of goes back to carts, because cart systems don't have moving parts. Think about it, a good portion of the SNES, N64 and Genesis systems that are still out there still work like they were new (and most NES systems will work fine too once you solve the 10NES issues), most disc-based consoles have mediocre-terrible hardware failure rates. Nintendo has been pretty good about it (which is funny considering they had the cheapest console for the last two generations), but with a Sony or Microsoft console you know there's at least a 50/50 shot that you'll have to either repair or replace that shit within 3 years.
Second-Hand Prices that Aren't Insane: This is self-explanatory, I would think.
Complete games with no DLC, no loading, no bullshit. Amen
Originally Posted by snes_collector
Oh yeah for sure. I used to bring the manual for the game I was playing with me to school to pour over on the bus.
Speaking of covers, has anyone noticed the back covers of modern games? Literally 2/3 or more of it is taken up by legal notices, system requirements, EULA's, and other mumbo jumbo. Most games have, at most, 2 screenshots and a sentence or two of text. It's as if the idea of selling a customer on a game at the retail level is gone; they assume if you're standing there looking at their product you already want to buy it from the previous media onslaught.
What I miss the most is an abstract concept, one that for me is hard to put into words. I guess I hate the carrot on a stick psychological motivation appeal in newer games. It's like they can't design a game (especially a single-player one) that you play just for the sake of enjoying the game, or to have fun. Games are designed from the ground up to have all but the most basic of features locked, and the player's motivation for playing the game isn't because the game is good or fun, but to unlock shit. Or people play a game for the sole purpose of achievement points or trophies. Then, once everything is unlocked or achievements won, the game is never touched again. Really? You slogged through a shitty game purposely just for that? At least my excuse was that I was a young, stupid, broke kid without anything else to play when I tortured myself with shitty games.
How many times in game reviews or comments have you heard that there was no motivation to play the game after everything was unlocked? Or conversely, if a game didn't have something to unlock, it was somehow less fun? I can think of dozens of games I've beaten or games I've played to death and basically seen everything it had to offer content wise, but even 10-20 years later I plug them in because they're fun to play. I don't play Final Fight to make my e-penis gamerscore larger, or have the psychological equivalent of someone patting me on the head telling me I did a good job. I play it because it's fucking awesome. And it's just as awesome today as it was in '89.
Maybe that's a chicken or egg thing, because it wouldn't exist unless buyers didn't seek it out, so maybe my gripe isn't with developers but rather with the change in gamers' mindsets.
I agree with pretty much everything everyone said in this thread. Namely:
-Toys R Us gaming aisles that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. The thrill of nabbing the final "ticket" to take to the gaming office... there was nothing like that. Remember peering through the glass window and seeing HUNDREDS of video games? It was jolting. Something that never leaves you...
-Renting games. All the rental store options. Mom n pops... making that Saturday trek with your dad. Getting in some quality time while looking forward to that brand new game to play for the weekend. The joy of watching Saturday morning cartoons, having breakfast and then heading out to the gaming rental store(s) around 11AM to noon to rent the latest NES/Genesis/SNES video game
^ BTW I have such a fondness for those good old renting days that I even shared my trials and triumphs here:
http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/259301.html
My childhood Hollywood still standing, well, at least in 2006 when this pic was taken. Not anymore today
-Box covers, box backs, and game manuals. Pretty much what everyone else has already covered
-Arcades
-Here's a new one though. I'm going to say 1992-1995 were very special years in terms of playing the latest arcade game, knowing it would come out for the SNES, and then getting a faithful translation (not in all cases but many) that blew you away, yet you still played the arcade original whenever you went back to the arcade hall, because as awesome a port say MKII on SNES was, the arcade was still THAT much more powerful. Still, your old SNES gave you a hell of a port at a fraction of the cost. That was one of my favorite things as a kid. Playing games like Fighter's History, World Heroes 2, Power Instinct and so forth in the arcade... then waiting for the SNES port... and then not being disappointed by the port. Some were crap, but the majority (more than) captured the essence and spirit of the arcade originals IMO
It was just different once 32-bit came and beyond. '92-'95 were no doubt the golden years for SNES fans
-Magazines... 'nuff said. I love 'em so much I've devoted a whole section to them on my website
-The feeling of getting a new video game (or system) on Christmas morning!
-The feeling of hearing the last bell ring in June, knowing you have 3 whole hot summer months to rot away with your best friend
-The good old days when your gaming crew had nothing but time to talk, discuss, speculate and play games to death. I can't count the number of hours that my gaming crew and I wasted on Saturday nights throughout the early-mid '90s bombing each other and dunking on one another (Super Bomberman 1+2, NBA Jam TE). There was a real innocence to those olden days. I guess that's why my childhood was so special. Great family, great friends and great games. What more could a robust suburbanite kid growing up in the heartland of America ask for? They were the "Wonder Years"
Man, this thread is killing me and your post specifically has made me want to cry... Oh! There goes a tearI agree with pretty much everything everyone said in this thread. Namely:
-Toys R Us gaming aisles that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. The thrill of nabbing the final "ticket" to take to the gaming office... there was nothing like that. Remember peering through the glass window and seeing HUNDREDS of video games? It was jolting. Something that never leaves you...
-Renting games. All the rental store options. Mom n pops... making that Saturday trek with your dad. Getting in some quality time while looking forward to that brand new game to play for the weekend. The joy of watching Saturday morning cartoons, having breakfast and then heading out to the gaming rental store(s) around 11AM to noon to rent the latest NES/Genesis/SNES video game
^ BTW I have such a fondness for those good old renting days that I even shared my trials and triumphs here:
http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/259301.html
My childhood Hollywood still standing, well, at least in 2006 when this pic was taken. Not anymore today
-Box covers, box backs, and game manuals. Pretty much what everyone else has already covered
-Arcades
-Here's a new one though. I'm going to say 1992-1995 were very special years in terms of playing the latest arcade game, knowing it would come out for the SNES, and then getting a faithful translation (not in all cases but many) that blew you away, yet you still played the arcade original whenever you went back to the arcade hall, because as awesome a port say MKII on SNES was, the arcade was still THAT much more powerful. Still, your old SNES gave you a hell of a port at a fraction of the cost. That was one of my favorite things as a kid. Playing games like Fighter's History, World Heroes 2, Power Instinct and so forth in the arcade... then waiting for the SNES port... and then not being disappointed by the port. Some were crap, but the majority (more than) captured the essence and spirit of the arcade originals IMO
It was just different once 32-bit came and beyond. '92-'95 were no doubt the golden years for SNES fans
-Magazines... 'nuff said. I love 'em so much I've devoted a whole section to them on my website
-The feeling of getting a new video game (or system) on Christmas morning!
-The feeling of hearing the last bell ring in June, knowing you have 3 whole hot summer months to rot away with your best friend
-The good old days when your gaming crew had nothing but time to talk, discuss, speculate and play games to death. I can't count the number of hours that my gaming crew and I wasted on Saturday nights throughout the early-mid '90s bombing each other and dunking on one another (Super Bomberman 1+2, NBA Jam TE). There was a real innocence to those olden days. I guess that's why my childhood was so special. Great family, great friends and great games. What more could a robust suburbanite kid growing up in the heartland of America ask for? They were the "Wonder Years"
I miss those days so much and they are gone.
I guess today's children will just remember the days when they would scream racist things at one another via headset while "teabagging" eachother. I feel sorry for them.
I miss the magic. Going from Super Mario Bros. to SMW, was a magical leap. Then stuff like Donkey Kong Country, Yoshi's Island, and Super Mario RPG, really showed what the SNES could do. Mario 64 on the brand new kiosk, waiting in line and taking control for the first time, magical. Even stuff like Metroid Prime and Smash Bros Melee, quite the advancements in technology. I still think F-Zero GX looks quite nextgen for its time.
Magic is lost in a lot of new games. Sure there's still moments, like making your way to the surface of the water at the very beginning of BioShock, or emerging from the sewer/vault in Oblivion/Fallout 3 respectively, but for the most part these magical times exist only in memory these days.
Also those current gen magic moments could almost be achieved in a movie.
Sort of. I'm generally of the opinion that you can't manufacture magic, it kind of just happens all on it's own due to good design. Disney and Nintendo haven't quite caught on to that yet.
Heh, go play half the NES library and see just how much testing actually went on.
I think it's definitely an age thing. We could easily compile a list of things from past generations that pissed us off. Things like manipulative marketing with nonsense buzzwords, peripherals that never worked as advertised, long and labyrinthine games that had no save or password feature, punishingly unfair difficulty, and game software that barely functioned with no recourse to the poor sap who bought it. It wasn't perfect. But it was ours. And it was that innocence that made it special. It was before the "seen it all" cynicism kicked in. So while we may look upon the PS3, Wii U, and 3DS with a weathered eye, there's a 10 year old kid somewhere out there seeing it all for the first time. Video games may not be "for kids" but, in many ways, its best when they are. Because only a kid can be so dazzled.
As far as the "magic" goes, I think what made it for a LOT of us was the well-composed and instrumentated music, and the graphics complimented that. Some of the best examples I can picture:
This first one I never even played before a week or so ago. The soundtrack is literally the main reason I got myself a cartridge, and grew to love the sim gameplay after that.
SimCity (SNES) (1991) - Title Screen:
Without music: It's a city at night. Cool.
With music: This is pure childhood.
This one I never SAW as a kid because I could never best the final boss, but it's still magical.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (1992) - Ending
Without music: They escape the boss and fly off. cool.
With music: It all concludes with a daring escape, sonic descends as the song builds up to its finale...the day is saved, and all is right in the world.
This final example is one I remember fondly from my childhood.
Yoshi's Island (1995) Ending/Credits
Without music: well, this is nice. They gonna loop this flying animation forever?
With music: THE TEARS WONT FUCKING STOP. OH GOD, THAT MARIO CLEAR THEME AT THE END. I'VE GIVEN HELPLESS CHILDREN A LOVING HOME. I AM A HERO.
At least, that's how I see it.
Last edited by recorderdude; 03-21-2013 at 02:17 PM.
[QUOTE/]I think it's definitely an age thing. We could easily compile a list of things from past generations that pissed us off. Things like manipulative marketing with nonsense buzzwords, peripherals that never worked as advertised, long and labyrinthine games that had no save or password feature, punishingly unfair difficulty, and game software that barely functioned with no recourse to the poor sap who bought it. It wasn't perfect. But it was ours. And it was that innocence that made it special. It was before the "seen it all" cynicism kicked in. So while we may look upon the PS3, Wii U, and 3DS with a weathered eye, there's a 10 year old kid somewhere out there seeing it all for the first time. Video games may not be "for kids" but, in many ways, its best when they are. Because only a kid can be so dazzled.[/QUOTE]
WORD! Could not have been explained any better.
Last edited by segafan1989; 03-21-2013 at 02:29 PM.
Mascots with attitude!
"If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made."
You know, I saw the Golden Mullet Awards of 2006 and Sonic 06 has a decaying city scape in a level, damn was that the cliche of all cliche's this past generation of games. What happened to happy backdrops to levels?
Last edited by SOL BADGUY; 03-23-2013 at 05:14 AM.
Red Book audio that synthesizer sound you got on the sega-cd and turbografx-16
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPXK0OkB04U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJnMXlDq6cs
Most of my things I miss have been covered and I agree with pretty much everyone.
- Game Anticipation - With the wealth of information and coverage on the internet...nothing is really a surprise anymore. I remember a good game getting a several page layout in a mag and then that was it until you went out and bought it.
- Gaming Magazines - Growing up I read Gamefan like it was going out of style...which unfortunately it did. I have a hard time with current gaming mags, they just don't have the charm or excitement of the older mags.
- Packaging - This is a lot of different things....but I really miss all the cool stuff that we got in different games. I loved opening up games to find maps and posters. Also I miss the in depth instruction manuals..especially for RPG's...I'd spend a good hour just reading everything in the manuals before playing my new game! For those who grew up in the Working Designs days though...I think we were just plain spoiled
Currently attempting to complete my Genesis collection! Always looking for hard to find complete games! Send me a PM
Please feel free to follow my collecting blog here! http://genesaturn.blogspot.com/
Posting Permissions
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Similar agreements apply to other advertising or affiliate programs such as those from eBay, Google, etc.
Copyright © 1991 - Present of Digital Press. All rights reserved.
Reply With Quote
