Desensitized to video game awesomeness

[Beldaran]

Do you remember when you first played a video game? I sure do. It was "Bushido" for the IBM PC. I was playing it on an 8mhz 8088 machine with 612k of memory. And I was blown away. It was a karate game. It had horrible graphics and even worse sound. And I was mezmorized!

Flash forward sixteen years later. I am 21. I now play a 1000mhz Pentium III with 256,000k of RAM. And I have many awesome games, from Max Payne, Half Life, and Grand Theft Auto 3, to Tetris, Xwing, and Space Invaders.

I was thinking back to a couple of months ago when I rented "Spiderman" for the xbox. This game had the most amazing graphics and sleek gameplay. But I was like "blah". Why? I don't think it was because Spiderman is a bad game. I think it is because I have become desensitized to the awesomeness of video games.

Imagine if a game like Spiderman had come out in say, 1992. The gaming world would have been in an uproar. I would have lusted after the game like nothing you can imagine. We would all have it and we would play it over and over and over again.

I think with the onset of impressive gaming technology, and impressive movie making technology, we have forgotten the sense of fun that comes from playing a video game. We are overdosed. We have done so much digital cocaine that we now need massive amounts of graphics and sound just to reach a normal level of boredom. We are constantly searching for the next ultra powerful narcotic.

Having realized this, I went back and played some old games. I plugged in my SNES and played Mario World. I busted out the 133mhz pentium I and played Warcraft 2. I now rent games I've never heard of and I find myself enjoying them immensely. I have discovered a new source of joy in video gaming. And the reason I have done so is because I've gone back and enjoyed these games for what they are and what they are meant to be.

I even went to the arcade this weekend and just played Galaga and Street Fighter instead of "Super Virtual Jet IV" and "Tekken 4". Having gone through this video pilgramige, I am now able to enjoy the new games that come out with renewed gusto, and I suggest you re-evaluate your sense of gameplay enjoyment and do the same.:)

[Paradox]

agreed, beldaran. though i don't get as much joy from playing old games anymore.
when i was younger in the early 90s, i had about 3 computer games... FOR MAC (yes, i had a mac long ago) Star Wars-Rebel Assault, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and some chess game. i really enjoyed them. i still have the disks for all three and would like to play it again to remember what they were like, but i don't have a mac. :|

[Warlock]

Yes, this is true (incidentally Spiderman was a cool game, but I got more enjoyment out of it watching my little brother play it than actually playing it myself.. he managed to beat the thing whereas I only got up to level 2 before I lost interest)

It seems videogames don't hold as much excitement as they once did. These days I consider it a testiment to the game if it holds my interest long enough to beat it (recent examples include Eternal Darkness, WarCraft 3, Super Mario Sunshine, and a few others). The sad thing is I actually am finding I enjoy the shorter games a bit better. Like Metroid Fusion. I can whip through that game in 2 hours, and it's still a blast. Whereas RPGs have me hooked for awhile but then I come on 20 hours or so and I still havn't beaten the thing, and I usually loose interest by this time.

[Jigglysaint]

As far as I'm concerned, witht he exception of GBA, I never left. I play old games over and over. I also have a secret trick when I know everything about the game....change it! Zelda 4 was fun, but hacking the game is the equivenlent to most people playing a gamecube. It is immensly satisfying and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

[Rijuhn]

.......there is nothing in life like 2d gaming....nothing....

I feel reawakened again...I can't wait to play an over head RPG again.

[jman2050]

I know what you mean Belderan. That's why I have my nice old NES (which has Galaga on it incidentally, still one of the most addicting games ever) and my almost-fully-functional sega genesis(one word: Sonic) just in case. When ever I tire of video games, i whip up my old games either on my systems or on my snes/gb emulators. They are so fun to play. Just as a little side note, I have a GB emulator on my Palm m125 with Megaman V on it. I must say, that game must be really REALLY good if I patiently played through the entire thing with no save states (my emu didn't support it) at 1/4 the normal speed. Seriously, it took forever for me to move from place to place, but playing through it was so fun i actually suffered through it and even beat Sunstar! Heh, try to play Metroid Prime at 1/4 normal speed, and you'll tire very quickly I suppose :D .

[raptorscyther]

Ah yes... old games were great.

The first game i played was Kroz, an old ASCII code game, not a text adventure but more like a RPG, representing objects as ASCII characters!

Sorta like ¥ was an enemy and § was a key. and Kroz was a smiley face.

Have any of you played the Commander Keen Series?
If you havent, I suggest you download and play them now! They were awesome 2d scroller games, far better than duke nukem IMO.

[Beldaran]

DUDE! I played Commander Keen TO DEATH. That was a fun frikin game.:)

[Blonde799]

One of the reasons a lot of people are desensitized is because we've been used to playing "movie games", like MGS2 and FFX, rather than true ones, like Shinobi, BM:BA, or Maximo. Playing challenging remakes of old classics got me back into the gaming spirit.:)

[MottZilla]

No. I play lots of games no matter what technology it is, if the gameplay sucks then I don't want it. Sipderman was very lame. The latest one had very cool graphics, but that was ALL. Gameplay was really shitty.

[Blonde799]

Originally posted by Mottzilla
No. I play lots of games no matter what technology it is, if the gameplay sucks then I don't want it.
Good way to live by in terms of gaming. I however, only go as far back as the SNES days.

A lot of games concentrate on graphical quality, therefore, gameplay will most likely be shitty and/or very easy(MGS2 is an exception, but it could've been much better). It's nice to play games that focus on good old classic gameplay a la the late 80s and early 90s.:)

[ShadowTiger]

But some of these games are still actually kinda fun. Zelda Classic isn't as much of an example of this, as an example of the perfect game. (A reference to a previous thread by me.) Take the game "ZZT" for example. Sure it looks primitive, almost as primitive as KROZ, but you can program your objects to do whatever the heck you want! :thumbsup: If you want a block to change into a person, you can. If you want a lake to be filled suddenly, you can. If you want an object to draw a picture of Princess Lea on the floor, you sure as heck can! :naughty:

So some games are still worth checking out even in the days of the upper end gaming machines and XP. That's why I'm here at AGN, 'cause they've got my favorite game. Honestly, I haven't played a better game since I've gotten it. That's because I haven't had to. :sb:

[MEGA MAN X]

if it was a good game you should ejoy it for that, unless it had so crapy graphics its too hard to under stand, but 2d games in a way were better and faster , like maximum carnege ,2d makes it look like a comic, give it 3d qualities and that takes away that effect.

[Michael Moore]

Yup, It was when I was little in a store. I was with my father looking around and he showed me the NES. Then bought it for me and helped me set it up. I played Super Mario. I remeber It sayign there was two games. Duck hunt and Mario bros. We didn't realize it was a two in one till after we took a closer look at the games cover.

[DarkDragoonX]

Originally posted by Beldaran
Do you remember when you first played a video game? I sure do. It was "Bushido" for the IBM PC. I was playing it on an 8mhz 8088 machine with 612k of memory. And I was blown away. It was a karate game. It had horrible graphics and even worse sound. And I was mezmorized!

Flash forward sixteen years later. I am 21. I now play a 1000mhz Pentium III with 256,000k of RAM. And I have many awesome games, from Max Payne, Half Life, and Grand Theft Auto 3, to Tetris, Xwing, and Space Invaders.

I was thinking back to a couple of months ago when I rented "Spiderman" for the xbox. This game had the most amazing graphics and sleek gameplay. But I was like "blah". Why? I don't think it was because Spiderman is a bad game. I think it is because I have become desensitized to the awesomeness of video games.

Imagine if a game like Spiderman had come out in say, 1992. The gaming world would have been in an uproar. I would have lusted after the game like nothing you can imagine. We would all have it and we would play it over and over and over again.

I think with the onset of impressive gaming technology, and impressive movie making technology, we have forgotten the sense of fun that comes from playing a video game. We are overdosed. We have done so much digital cocaine that we now need massive amounts of graphics and sound just to reach a normal level of boredom. We are constantly searching for the next ultra powerful narcotic.

Having realized this, I went back and played some old games. I plugged in my SNES and played Mario World. I busted out the 133mhz pentium I and played Warcraft 2. I now rent games I've never heard of and I find myself enjoying them immensely. I have discovered a new source of joy in video gaming. And the reason I have done so is because I've gone back and enjoyed these games for what they are and what they are meant to be.

I even went to the arcade this weekend and just played Galaga and Street Fighter instead of "Super Virtual Jet IV" and "Tekken 4". Having gone through this video pilgramige, I am now able to enjoy the new games that come out with renewed gusto, and I suggest you re-evaluate your sense of gameplay enjoyment and do the same.:)

... You just more or less recited my entire philosophy, except mine is shorter ("New Stuff Sucks Dick").

Heh, I still routinely play the old BBC game, "Elite. " WarCraft 2 has never left my hard drive. Oh, and Pitfall, too. That game kicks ass. Dammit, now you've just reminded me of about 80 games I haven't played in ages... there goes my weekend.

Oh, and BTW, it's spelled "mesmerized."

[gdorf]

I can only imagine what It'll be like for the generations to come. Kids and their VR games won't have the slightest clue about the beauty of Mario and Zelda games.

*goes back to playing his NES*

[Gerudo]

my first video gaming experience was SMB for nes... i remember playing that when i was like 4... way back in 1987 :eek:

that hooked me and is probably why i absolutly LOVE platform games!!! :heart:

[mrz84]

my first game? digdug. still get kicks out of blowing up innocent monsters.....:kawaii:

[obi]

I can't remeber my first game exactly, but it most probably was Turtles for the NES, we had gotten the Turtles NES combo. That was a fun game. :)