The Golden Age of Gaming?

July 16, 2008, 7:50 PM

So, I just bought a PS1 recently to play FFVII and FFVIII again. I must have bought 5 copies of each over the years... I just can't restrain from playing them through at least once a year! (Haven't touched any final fantasy past 10 and I doubt I ever will. FF used to be a seal of JRPG awesomeness whereas nowadays it seems just another generic JRPG label, or bad copies of what FF used to be. But hey I'm letting my traditional VII and VIII fanboy nature sidetrack here, let's move on shall we).

I'm a firm believer in the PS1 era being the greatest age of gaming. These days there is far too much emphasis on good looking games and an endless stream of games that are all attempting to do the exact same thing as whatever is God in that genre (ie. shooters aspiring to be Halo, action/adventures all copying button bashing mayhem that is God of War etc.). I can't think of another time when game developers focused so much on just making great games and coming up with original and awesome ideas (Space Channel 5, anyone? Simple, yes, but amazingly fun and an all out funky experience) during that PS1/N64/DC era. I'm content with buying old games on eBay for a tenth or the price of shiny new ones where the amazing graphical content novelty wears thin after an hour of gameplay.

(and that is why i will not be buying FFXIII or any formats capable of playing it)

What say you on the matter?

July 17, 2008, 3:04 AM

Uh, idk if I could choose...especially if you include handhelds, because the GBA lineup all on it's own kicked some major ass...I don't know though, the SNES/Genesis era was pretty top-notch. And heck, even 8-Bit had a lot of really great games....I haven't explored the PSX enough to call it the Golden Age...It's up there, but idk...

I think a lot of gamers are experiencing too much nostalgia for older games & systems...Whether this is a direct result of current games being less spectacular, or rose-tinted glasses, I can't say for certain. I also think that it's harder to judge because there isn't a lot of innovation happening these last few gens. We were wowed in the leaps from 8- to 16-Bit and blown away by the jump to 32- & 64-Bit games...But now? Perhaps we've become jaded and perhaps the graphical achievments just are too close now to be spectacular...?

August 9, 2008, 9:26 PM

I still play the same games as I did when I was about 8. >_> My old PS1 games like Tomb Raider 3 and 4, Cool Boarders, Parodius etc are among my most played. As for GB games, I personally think that Pokemon blue and silver for the GB colour were much better games than the new ones for GBA and DS. The new ones are just repeating the same old stuff but with new Pokemon (which imo they need to stop creating because they're just ridiculous now D=).

I guess it just varies with the different games though, some series will improve with time like Gran Turismo. The first game was alright for a while but kind of bland.. not many tracks and the cars were like blocks. But the new ones are really popular and much more advanced with new tracks, MUCH better selection in cars and are generally more entertaining. Although saying that, I'm not so sure about playing 5 (if I ever get a PS3), because I preferred 3 to 4. >_> GT4 had some really good tracks and cars, but there were some aspects of it that I didn't like, such as the rally mode which was much better in 3 I thought. D:

Anyhoo, as I said, I still play a lot of PS1 and Gameboy colour games, and if my old Sega Megadrive still worked then I would most definitely still be playing Sonic, Aladdin and James Pond on that. ;_; But that's a personal preference made from probably a lot of nostalgia from playing games that I know well from my childhood. I do get the odd new game too mind you, although these days there's hardly anything that captures my interest.

August 10, 2008, 5:18 AM

Gaming certainly has undergone quite a change in the last generations. I believe there has been a higher emphasis placed on reaching as large a fan base (thus a larger market) as possible, rather than necessarily sticking with the "original formula", as it were. At the same time, the gamer of today tends to place a higher focus on visuals rather than gameplay elements, and most third-party developers are happy to oblige.

Thus, a generations (or two) of mostly mediocre games, with a couple of gems scattered within. I can't say that about the SNES-N64 generations (I measure generations by Nintendo consoles). I still own a SNES and an N64, because I love playing the games in their original format, dodgy cartridges and all.

Nintendo was really on point at this time with their first-party titles, and other companies had to improve to keep up. I would say this measure of competition has largely disappeared, giving way to a race for profits.

August 31, 2008, 1:49 PM

The one thing that pains me is, being only 14 years old, many people my generation have never really played the older games. They have never felt what it was like to play a very well though video game. Now all people care about is graphics,graphics,graphics. As if that is the only thing that makes a good video game. Oh...and a game as to be really hyped and get all 10's. Whatever happened to video games being about playing the games YOU enjoy, no matter what anyone else thinks.

none of the games now a days are not very memorable to be honest....when i do play some of them, none of them live up to the hype.

And back to games being flashy....For Example: whenever i hear people talking about gears of war all i hear is "OMG!!! is is soooOOOooo awesome chopping that things head off with the chainsaw and wathcing the blood get on the screen!!!!111!"

What about how great the story is? Or the characters/music/quality of gameplay?

hardly anyone cares about these qualities that make good games GREAT games