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End of the Golden Age of Gaming

1 by ghhyrd
Elite SG Admiral
Is it just me who thinks that the golden age of gaming has ended? Even if that is too extreme, does anyone even feel that the age of simply good games has ended? I spend 1.5K on a new PC, and I am so bored I have to resort to posting on SectorGame. I'm just bored, I don't want to play Crysis, I don't want to play Far Cry 2, I don't want to play (spits) Valve games, I don't want to play (spits) Bethesda games...

All these supposed brilliant developers, but I still am bored of their games! (some of) The(m)y are good, but they just don't seem to have the magic that I got when I was playing games like Dark Forces II, FreeSpace II, Descent, Red Alert II, Freelancer, even later ones like Star Wars KOTOR. The only real reason I'm not playing them is because they either don't work or I have played them inside out to the point of death by boredom allready.

Why has the well run dry on these newer games so much sooner? What has gone wrong? Has something not been included? Something is missing? Or have they done something wrong? Is it just that we are all used to these fabulous graphics and gameplay etc now and our standards were much lower then?

I just don't understand it. Mind you, these insane ramblings are probably my thoughts alone, and everyone else will have at least 1 game created in the last two years that is the best game they have ever played. Actually that is just ridiculous, but I doubt many people will fully agree with me is what I'm saying.

You get the point.
'Memory and imagination are but one thing, which for diverse considerations, have diverse names'
¦- F R E D E N T H U S I A S T -¦

2 by Hunter
Founder
Well because most companies are just out to make a quick buck, and aren't interested in being too creative or committing to a truely fascinating plot. Take a break. Obviously when you've done something once, you've done it a hundred times. When you've done it a hundred, well let's not even get started on a thousand. I think hysteria for that classic game feeling is simply because they are what we played first, and well, because like a good movie, there aren't *that* many good games out there. There are fair and just simply *ok* games but something that you like will probably only come around once a year. That depends on how broad your interest is. I can count all my favourite games on my fingers.

3 by BloodEagle
SG Defender
Sadly, very few games made in the past six years are worth a damn. Cave Story (not Cavestory), LA-MULANA, and Red Valkyrie are some of the good ones.

One of the most disappointing things about modern games is that you can see exactly what's wrong with them. E.g., Oblivion, no replay value after the first hour and no dialogue; Bioshock, no real dialogue, and disappointing combat system; etc.

As far as Valve games go, Portal is the only good game they have.
"Ignorance is the greatest weapon of tyranny, and old wounds open all too easily."

4 by CIH
Elite SG Guardian
I agree. When DeusEx 2, Thief3 and one or two others went south a few years ago I pretty much gave up. I dabble with games but I'm not really interested all that much.
I've yet to see anything as impressive as Quake2, UT2004, FS2 et all where back then. I think 1999-2004 was a great time to be into games. Especially with the net-gaming communities.

I nearly bought a new rig couple of years ago. Glad I didn't now.

6 by CIH
Elite SG Guardian
This thread reminds me of how I was wondering what the long-term FS peeps make of how things have progressed. Obviously the SCP has taken things far beyond what anyone imagined but they must miss the old days ie; active multiplayer servers, devs posting on forums, FS3 a genuine possability, project release dates that weren't taken as a joke etc etc.

7 by ghhyrd
Elite SG Admiral
Kietotheworld wrote:Mass Effect was the best game I've played in a long time.
I have to confess I really enjoyed Mass Effect, but I can't say it had as much replay value as other games, say KOTOR for example.
'Memory and imagination are but one thing, which for diverse considerations, have diverse names'
¦- F R E D E N T H U S I A S T -¦

8 by Vasudan Admiral
Elite SG Elder
This isn't addressing anyone in particular - just the vibe I'm getting off this thread. :)

I do like games with immersive fascinating stories in them, but I must say that graphics really do have an effect on how 'immersed' I can get in a game.

For example, I played System Shock 2 for the first time late last year, and while I found a few things I liked, but was rather underwhelmed by the overall experience. FEAR and it's expansion by comparison felt very immersive and provided an immensely gratifying experience.

Conversely, I didn't really enjoy HL2 very much, but had a load of fun with HL1. Games serieses like quake or UT don't count though as I see them as the exact same game with varying degrees of bloat. :p

Overall I think the whole 'good old days' vibe with anything game related is a fairly narrow view on the industry as a whole, and really just a sign that you're becomming one of those old people you used to giggle at for trying to warm up the microwave. :p ;) The industry has changed and grown, and people forget the multitudes of crappy games that came out back then too.

Really the only two types of games that I see as having gone downhill from 'the old days' are puzzle games like monkey island and space sims like FS2, and that's more because so few are made now rather than current ones being crappier than the crappy ones that came out back then.

Revolutionary games are still appearing today as well - stuff that is so different to what has gone before. Whether we like the 'revolutions' or not, things like world of warcraft, portal, guitar hero, many wii games that use the motion detection all do provide something 'new' to the industry (or at least, something that has never really taken off before).

Basically, I'm saying there have been good games appearing all along, and there have been bad games appearing beside them all along. In time you will forget the bad ones of today too, and this period will join the 'past golden age of gaming'. ;)
Twisted Infinities

9 by Top Gun
Elite SG Commodore
I think VA has a point about the "geezer" mentality. The error that some people commit when looking back fondly to some nebulous "golden age" of the past is that they're making rather unfair comparisons. Cherry-picking a select few top-of-the-line games from the past decade or so and comparing them to average release titles of today that haven't yet even established their place in gaming history doesn't make a whole lot of objective sense. There was a whole ton of really crappy to just plain mediocre titles released during that time frame that any standard generic WWII FPS of today would blow out of the water by default. If you're going to give modern games a fair chance, pick the best titles of today, wait until four or five years down the line, when their full impact has come to be known, and then go back and compare them to the old standbys.

Personally, I know that there have been any number of games released over the past few years I've been yearning to play yet don't have the hardware to run...everything from the Orange Box to Bioshock to Left for Dead to Gears of War to Twilight Princess are all on my "must play this someday" list. At the same time, there are any number of mega-classics from years gone by that I'd equally like to get my hands on. I was very happy to just get my hands on a copy of ICO for the PS2; despite never having played a true RPG, I've decided to bite the bullet and pick up the Chrono Trigger DS port; I just picked up a Sonic & Knuckles cartridge for the Genesis at long last; and I'm currently working my way through the original two Legend of Zelda games on the GBA. The graphical generation of a game neither helps nor hinders its status in my eyes; I'll play any game from any era, so long as I feel it's worth my while.
A.K.A. Mongoose, for you HLP denizens

10 by ghhyrd
Elite SG Admiral
Top Gun wrote: Cherry-picking a select few top-of-the-line games from the past decade or so and comparing them to average release titles of today that haven't yet even established their place in gaming history doesn't make a whole lot of objective sense.
Yes, but what I am saying is that I can't find the top-of-the-line games from today.

I have looked where mindless sheep, idiots, and reviewers told me to do, but there just is something about the best of the past that isn't in the 'best' of today. Maybe it's just the fact that apart from improved graphics, we have seen it all before.
'Memory and imagination are but one thing, which for diverse considerations, have diverse names'
¦- F R E D E N T H U S I A S T -¦

11 by Top Gun
Elite SG Commodore
Or it could be that it's just you. :P I have several friends whose opinions about gaming I trust as being well-informed and generally accurate, and they've been praising any number of titles that have come out over the past year or two. (My lack of next-gen consoles and a decent PC means that I haven't had a shot at them myself.) For instance, someone on the DBB I consider to be very intelligent was absolutely raving about how amazing Left 4 Dead's co-op experience can be. I know quite a few people who were all over Mass Effect, and much of the same group has been enjoying the hell out of Gears of War 2's multiplayer modes. It could be that today's releases aren't pushing your own buttons, but they certainly seem to be doing so for a lot of other people out there.
A.K.A. Mongoose, for you HLP denizens

13 by ghhyrd
Elite SG Admiral
Top Gun wrote:someone on the DBB I consider to be very intelligent was absolutely raving about how amazing Left 4 Dead's co-op experience can be.
*Pukes*

Left 4 Dead was just-
-run through corridor
-check behind you
-shoot zombie that spawned behind you
-check in front you you
-shoot zombie that spawned infront of you
-run forward
-turn corner
-shoot zombie off of friend
-run away from big zombie
-get killed because jerk has closed the Safe-House door on you
-quit game and punch monitor
'Memory and imagination are but one thing, which for diverse considerations, have diverse names'
¦- F R E D E N T H U S I A S T -¦

14 by aldo
The Blessed One
Surely the Golden Age of Gamins is only ever defined by a) what age you are and b) how much disposable income you had, anyways?

Also, rose-tinted spectacles.

15 by CIH
Elite SG Guardian
I actually quite fancy buying a new rig. I'm getting really enthusiastic about ut2004 (and similar games). I'm on a fairly solid assurance I'll be off feckin' dial-up in the new year.
Should be able to get something much better than current for as little as £4-500.
Current is a P4 2ghz, 1gb SDRAM iirc an AGP 6600GT.

Anyone playing ut2004 nowadays ?
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