Video Games just don't cut it anymore

[barnaclelapse]

I kind of know how you feel. I still play games, still love them, but I can't at the same time shake the idea that the industry has passed me by. I remember the mindset I had up to the first couple years of the PS2, the ability to still get completely absorbed in a particularly extraordinary game, and it's just not there anymore. After twenty-something years of being a gamer, I just don't have the interest anymore.

It's my fault. I was happy with the way things were, but the industry naturally had to progress and grow. I wasn't on board with that, so video games aren't a big deal to me anymore.

 

[Reverend]

I'll second those. Although Demigod is really only good in multiplayer and still (I hear) a little broken...

Now there's a sign of the times! Remember when publishers would release games AFTER they were completed? I don't think I ever encountered a "broken" game (hardware conflicts aside) until well into the late 90's and even then it was minor stuff. These days it seams as though you're lucky if a new game boots up!

As for video game fatigue...I'm not sure fi I'd consider myself a "gamer" as such, although I do regularly play the odd PC game and I still have my PS2 & Gamecube (both second hand) though they've been gathering dust allot lately and I generally only get them out my my brother's kids come to visit. I think because I've always been happy to be a year or two behind the times (cheeper and easier that way) that I tend to be a little more particular about what I play.

Back in the old ZX Spectrum days I loved the old 'Dizzy' games, with the Atari ST it was games like Lemmings, Magic Pockets & Xenon 2. On the Mega Drive & SNES it was all Flashback (still a fav) Sonic the Hedgehog (I hear he's let himself go of late), Mario All Stars and the 'Super Star Wars' games. When I got a PC I discovered (quite late) the X-Wing series and the LucasArts adventure games; Monkey Island, Full Throttle & Grim Fandango as well as Fallout 1 & 2 then later on Half-Life & Command & Conquor. On the PS1 & 2 I really enjoyed the first three Metal Gear Solid games and adored 'Beyond Good and Evil' (the upcomming sequal to which may be the only thing that could pursuade me to by a next gen console!) And it wasn't until I bought my second hand Gamecube of eBay (ofstensivly to play Twin Snakes) that I finally discovered the Zelda series.

So you can see I tend to hop about a bit, genre-wise and often stuble into things long after their prime (played Halo for the first time 2 years ago and failed to see what all the fuss was about) so I've yet to get totally bored with these things and I still have a healthy stash of bargin bin bought games that I've yet to really get into (still haven't gotten off the first planet on KotOR) so I shall be amused for some time to come.
Seriously, I highly recommend keeping yourself behind the times! You're rarely disappointed and there's plenty of gems to be found without spending a stupid amount of money. Actually, the only exeption to that rule is the Valve games. I've yet to be disappointed or felt ripped off by them so I tend to get their games as soon as they're on Steam...give or take a few months.

 

[Akiraprise]

. However I find myself playing more and more games that I played 15-18 years ago when I was as young as 5 when I got my first nintendo for X-mas. Games just dont seem to have the "fun" factor that they once had.

Could that be a factor of us getting older?

I think so. I used to be hardcore when I was a teen and in school. SNES, N64, and the like before I moved on to the PC. I'm 27 now and I still like gaming. I play when I can, but more older titles. I just don't seem to have the time anymore to get so involved. I bought my top of the line PC for gaming 3 years ago and all I use it for now is POGO, BBS surfing, and news sites. The horror.


What's happened to me?

 

[MANT!]

started with computer gaming in '76 with Super Star Trek and Hunt the Wumpus..graduated to some of the early coin ops..(Asteroids, Gravatar, Tail Gunner and the like)..and played many through the 80s..got into PC gaming in the early 90s
(Spaceship Warlock, ST 25th, and many other classic titles) and have done some intense gaming until 2006...when I simply lost interest with the legions of shooters, Tycoon, puzzle, and simulation games..I'm now rediscovering all those games of my youth and playing them again...and find that good gameplay is now almost forgotten, like movies, it's become more about the graphics and less about the story..

 

[gh4chiefs]

I'm coming to the stark realization that gaming has passed me by. The last couple of days I've had an ongoing discussion the Prototype thread. For me, that game is impossibly hard, but most people on the thread have commented on how easy it is. So I've come to the conclusion that I'm just completely out of touch with the gaming world and maybe it's time to hang it up, or at least play Wii Sports or something. Clearly I'm not up to the challenge of "real" games anymore.

 

[CaptainStoner]

You're playing the wrong games. Fable and Oblivion sucked. I suggest you check these out:

1. Mass Effect
2: Fallout 3
3: Demigod
4: Dragon Age: Origins (another soon-to-be-released BioWare RPG)
5. ArmA

I'll second those. Although Demigod is really only good in multiplayer and still (I hear) a little broken. Arma is very much for the hardcore war enthusiast who doesn't mind being shot dead by a couple of pixels from across the map and the trailers and pre-release buzz of Dragon Age are less than stellar, although it's Bioware, so I have far more confidence that they'll eventually pull it out by release than I would with most developers.

I actually planned a motherboard/video/CPU upgrade around Mass Effect, (due to the dx10 requirement)but have put $$$ into other projects and musical equipment for now.

It's not that the games aren't good out there. I'm enamored with what graphics engines can do these days, when I remember plotting out low-rez graphics on Apple II's and "high-rez" on the Tandy 1000 with its fancy GW-BASIC graphics commands.
I think I've just reached a point where I have a huge creative backlog, and even award-winning games feel like a waste of time to me.
I did like running around in LOTRO for its social aspect - offline RPG'ing really isn't RPG'ing at all when it comes down to it.
Maybe I'll run an AD&D or Rifts game this fall/winter. There is just nothing like the dynamics and hilarity that a real RPG brings about. Although online gaming can come close, it's not the same. And, its not good to order pizza alone.

I'd also really like to make a retro-game. Some of you have been talking about how you like to play older games, or ones you'd missed. I do that also. I didn't have a decent computer in the 90's, so over the last year I've gone back in time to play Bridge Commander, Hidden Evil, and picked up a few other odd Trek games, replayed Judgement Rites, etc.
I've dug up some game creation software here and there, and my but times have changed!
Here is my pseudo-Voyager based game pitch: you pick one of 3 or 4 starships to start, spend points training a crew (this part a bit like Starship Creator perhaps) and then the game puts your ship on the far left corner of the starmap, which is randomly generated for each game. The object is simply to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, with ample rewards for exploring along the way, and various factors that will proclude taking a simple straight line across (although it could happen with the random dynamics). It's basically Voyager meets Starflight.
Ahh, too many projects, too little time.

 

[Reverend]

Here is my pseudo-Voyager based game pitch: you pick one of 3 or 4 starships to start, spend points training a crew (this part a bit like Starship Creator perhaps) and then the game puts your ship on the far left corner of the starmap, which is randomly generated for each game. The object is simply to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, with ample rewards for exploring along the way, and various factors that will proclude taking a simple straight line across (although it could happen with the random dynamics). It's basically Voyager meets Starflight.
Ahh, too many projects, too little time.

Sounds like a mod for 'Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space' to me.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Your could be experiencing burnout, or it may be that your tastes have changed, or maybe just that you aren't as easily impressed as you used to be. I know that I am a lot pickier about what games I am willing to devote time towards than I used to be. I still love gaming though.

 

[Colonel Green]

I actually planned a motherboard/video/CPU upgrade around Mass Effect, (due to the dx10 requirement)but have put $$$ into other projects and musical equipment for now.

It would probably be cheaper to buy a 360. PC gaming is on its last legs for this very reason.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I actually planned a motherboard/video/CPU upgrade around Mass Effect, (due to the dx10 requirement)but have put $$$ into other projects and musical equipment for now.

It would probably be cheaper to buy a 360. PC gaming is on its last legs for this very reason.

Naw, the same $$$ put into PC upgrade will smoke an XBox.
If it were between a new PC and an XBox, I'd pick the console.

 

[Trubinator]

I think the quality of games is certainly going down. Part of the problem is market oversaturation and the fact games as an entertainment platform are now commonplace and watered down. But there are still loads of gems on every system to be found. Although personally, I think PC knocks the socks off consoles because (sans a few XBOX 360 titles) most console items are brainless and unimaginative ... made for the lowest common denominator.

 

[Da'an]

I have the same problem, lately I just can't be bothered playing games to completion anymore.

Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Oblivion, Fable, I play them for a few days and they just don't hold my interest.

However I will say that there are some games I find incredibly addictive and will play for weeks, even months.

I've completed Final Fantasy VII about a dozen times, each time playing it for a few hours a day over the course of a couple of months. I know it's an old Playstation 1 game, but it's just been re-released for the PS3/PSP download network thing, so I highly recommend it.

Another game I can't put down is "The World Ends With You" on the Nintendo DS. It's my #1 DS game.

 

[CorporalClegg]

You can always do what I did. I put down the controller for over two years. When I picked it back up again everything was exciting and new.

 

[darthraidr]

i dont think the OP needs a break, in fact i think the OP needs to dive into more games. whatever it is you're playing isnt doing it for you. but i bet there is something out there that would. your tastes may be changing... you may just need a break from the games you typically play.

i go through phases where i get tired of gaming, or certain game types, but then i
try to play something new that i normally wouldnt try. other than prototype i havent really gotten into any "big" games in a while (i still play WoW though). a lot of my game time has been spent on smaller games... Flight Control or Galcon for the iphone, Plants vs. Zombies for the PC... you just gotta break the mold and see what else is out there. check out a Katamari game, or rock band/guitar hero, maybe wii sports is for you, try a God of War, mess around with Animal Crossing, or perhaps a Need for Speed or Pacman Championship edition...

 

[Jim Steele]

I happen to think we're going through gaming's golden age right now, and I've been a gamer since the Amstrad CPC 464 was a respectable home computer.

 

[Da'an]

Gaming's "Golden Age" was the era of the Atari ST & Amiga.

At least, it is to me.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

^^^Here here.

 

[Jim Steele]

It's still a young medium

 

[Skywalker]

I have to agree with Jimmy-boy. I think the medium is stronger than ever. Developers can do so much nowadays, it's ridiculous.

 

[Da'an]

Sure, they can do so much. But the hardly ever bother.

As long as it has good graphics, the gameplay can be thrown out of the window.

Also, western games developers these days seem to have a habit of only ever releasing Beta versions that need several different patches before they work properly. Even console games.