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Remember the good old days? Some here, Wookiee, Goatboy and others will all remember having their rubber keyed Speccy on their desk, Typing LOAD "Jet set willy" and going off to the fridge to make a sarnie and drink, and have the game loaded on return. (Croony voice) Thems were the days! Graphics at that time were really poor by todays standards, along with loading times, sound, playability, pretty much everything was pants, and though you look back on your mis-spent youths with fondness, play them today and you'll realise how bad they really were.
And then you got your first console. "Blimey! Loaded allready!" "WOW! Look at the graphics!" "It sounds so real!" the 8 bit generation slapped us all in the face, and the 16 bit machines blew us away. I remember owning Sonic 1 on the Master System, and a mate got it on the all new Megadrive. I washed a lot of cars saving for a Megadrive...
What do we have now? Games that load in seconds, Look fantastic, digital sound sampled from real life, Actors doing voiceovers and motion-capture. The game industry is far bigger than we or our parents could ever imagine in the Speccy era, and we still get excited at the latest games, wowing and oooing at their features.
What's the point of this? Well, there was a post not too long ago about loading times, and that they are too long. Too long? I never notice them. I don't have time to fix that drink anymore, and for the graphics quality of the latest games I am happy to wait that few seconds while the machine sorts itself out. People also complain about the graphics, and great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond what the PS1 is capable of, let alone a Snes or a Speccy! I myself had a little moan that on the demo of GT3 the tyre squeals of hard cornering were not very good. The Spectrum was capable of monotone beeps, and I diddn't complain then...
I'm trying to say that games today are seriously impressive on all the machines, and the next batch of games and machines are even more astonishing. But people don't realise how good gaming has become, and take for granted the millions that are spent. Why moan about waiting 10 seconds of loading? It gives you opportunity to light a cig, take a swig of your drink or a bite of your sandwich or chat to your mate. In the same way that if you own a Ferarri, drive to work in a mini and then you'll appreciate your Ferrari a lot more. Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it now.
Right, I'll stop being old now.
Slave.
And then you got your first console. "Blimey! Loaded allready!" "WOW! Look at the graphics!" "It sounds so real!" the 8 bit generation slapped us all in the face, and the 16 bit machines blew us away. I remember owning Sonic 1 on the Master System, and a mate got it on the all new Megadrive. I washed a lot of cars saving for a Megadrive...
What do we have now? Games that load in seconds, Look fantastic, digital sound sampled from real life, Actors doing voiceovers and motion-capture. The game industry is far bigger than we or our parents could ever imagine in the Speccy era, and we still get excited at the latest games, wowing and oooing at their features.
What's the point of this? Well, there was a post not too long ago about loading times, and that they are too long. Too long? I never notice them. I don't have time to fix that drink anymore, and for the graphics quality of the latest games I am happy to wait that few seconds while the machine sorts itself out. People also complain about the graphics, and great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond what the PS1 is capable of, let alone a Snes or a Speccy! I myself had a little moan that on the demo of GT3 the tyre squeals of hard cornering were not very good. The Spectrum was capable of monotone beeps, and I diddn't complain then...
I'm trying to say that games today are seriously impressive on all the machines, and the next batch of games and machines are even more astonishing. But people don't realise how good gaming has become, and take for granted the millions that are spent. Why moan about waiting 10 seconds of loading? It gives you opportunity to light a cig, take a swig of your drink or a bite of your sandwich or chat to your mate. In the same way that if you own a Ferarri, drive to work in a mini and then you'll appreciate your Ferrari a lot more. Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it now.
Right, I'll stop being old now.
Slave.
The winning posts are pouring in now...
I had a football management game rather imaginatively called "Football Manager" by Addictive Games, which took around 20 minutes to load. The worst part of it was that I knew what number on the counter the game was supposed to finish loading at (three hundred and something), so if it just carried on you knew you were stuffed and had to start again.
I don't remember getting that bothered by it though, it was more or less expected half the time.
I don't remember getting that bothered by it though, it was more or less expected half the time.
Combat School.
9 mins to load.
US Gold rocked. And the Codemaster games for £3.99.
A lot of the old ones sucked though,let's not let nostalgia warp their fragile little minds.
The Ultima Games, Knightlore etc.
Class.
But give me a PS2 any day of the week.
Except they have never been able to beat "Frank Bruno's Boxing" or "Daley Thompson Decathalon".
9 mins to load.
US Gold rocked. And the Codemaster games for £3.99.
A lot of the old ones sucked though,let's not let nostalgia warp their fragile little minds.
The Ultima Games, Knightlore etc.
Class.
But give me a PS2 any day of the week.
Except they have never been able to beat "Frank Bruno's Boxing" or "Daley Thompson Decathalon".
Just about the only thing that I miss about loading times is the music that went with it. Rob Hubbard is a bloody genius, Audio Technical Director at Electronic Arts as well now.
My favourites would have to of been Crazy Comets/Mega Appocalypse, Hunter Patrol, Zoids, Star Paws, Commando and Action Biker.
My favourites would have to of been Crazy Comets/Mega Appocalypse, Hunter Patrol, Zoids, Star Paws, Commando and Action Biker.
Slaveunit wrote:
> Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover
> it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it
> now.
3 minutes! Ah, the joy of the turboloading tape game!
I remember a game called Arcadia on the C64, which was out just before the tape turboload systems were invented.
It was a fairly simple shoot-em-up game, and it took 19 minutes - yes NINETEEN minutes - to load. NINETEEN MINUTES to fill 64k of RAM.
And the game was crap.
"Novaload" was a blessing when it arrived. Remeber the U.S. Gold games? Flashing, multi-coloured, sometimes fit-inducing flashing borders, with the SID chip belting out the US National Anthem. Others, if you were lucky, let you play a quick game of Space Invaders while the main game loaded.
They don't make 'em like they used to. Thankfully!
So you see... 7 seconds for the next section of PS2 Red Faction may be mildly annoying, but it's totally irrelevant!
> Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover
> it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it
> now.
3 minutes! Ah, the joy of the turboloading tape game!
I remember a game called Arcadia on the C64, which was out just before the tape turboload systems were invented.
It was a fairly simple shoot-em-up game, and it took 19 minutes - yes NINETEEN minutes - to load. NINETEEN MINUTES to fill 64k of RAM.
And the game was crap.
"Novaload" was a blessing when it arrived. Remeber the U.S. Gold games? Flashing, multi-coloured, sometimes fit-inducing flashing borders, with the SID chip belting out the US National Anthem. Others, if you were lucky, let you play a quick game of Space Invaders while the main game loaded.
They don't make 'em like they used to. Thankfully!
So you see... 7 seconds for the next section of PS2 Red Faction may be mildly annoying, but it's totally irrelevant!
Yeah! That is what I TRY to think of when looking at a game. I take into consideration how good the machine actually is before comparing it to say a PC or PS2. But it can be hard when you know there are things so much, better, and it is hard to remember that there are so many worse things out there before you judge a game.
Slaveunit wrote:
> great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you
> not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond
> what the PS1 is capable of
It wasn't exactly the £300 leap forward in gaming that Sony had hyped it up to be though.
We have bigger expectations because there more possibility.
People were fine with black and white TV's until there was colour.
People were happy with long loading times until they were unnecessary.
Basically, games are compared to existing games and to the potential they could've been.
Most games nowdays are rushed, poorly done and over hyped/advertised.
That's why when compared to a decent game, we call them crap.
> great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you
> not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond
> what the PS1 is capable of
It wasn't exactly the £300 leap forward in gaming that Sony had hyped it up to be though.
We have bigger expectations because there more possibility.
People were fine with black and white TV's until there was colour.
People were happy with long loading times until they were unnecessary.
Basically, games are compared to existing games and to the potential they could've been.
Most games nowdays are rushed, poorly done and over hyped/advertised.
That's why when compared to a decent game, we call them crap.
Remember the good old days? Some here, Wookiee, Goatboy and others will all remember having their rubber keyed Speccy on their desk, Typing LOAD "Jet set willy" and going off to the fridge to make a sarnie and drink, and have the game loaded on return. (Croony voice) Thems were the days! Graphics at that time were really poor by todays standards, along with loading times, sound, playability, pretty much everything was pants, and though you look back on your mis-spent youths with fondness, play them today and you'll realise how bad they really were.
And then you got your first console. "Blimey! Loaded allready!" "WOW! Look at the graphics!" "It sounds so real!" the 8 bit generation slapped us all in the face, and the 16 bit machines blew us away. I remember owning Sonic 1 on the Master System, and a mate got it on the all new Megadrive. I washed a lot of cars saving for a Megadrive...
What do we have now? Games that load in seconds, Look fantastic, digital sound sampled from real life, Actors doing voiceovers and motion-capture. The game industry is far bigger than we or our parents could ever imagine in the Speccy era, and we still get excited at the latest games, wowing and oooing at their features.
What's the point of this? Well, there was a post not too long ago about loading times, and that they are too long. Too long? I never notice them. I don't have time to fix that drink anymore, and for the graphics quality of the latest games I am happy to wait that few seconds while the machine sorts itself out. People also complain about the graphics, and great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond what the PS1 is capable of, let alone a Snes or a Speccy! I myself had a little moan that on the demo of GT3 the tyre squeals of hard cornering were not very good. The Spectrum was capable of monotone beeps, and I diddn't complain then...
I'm trying to say that games today are seriously impressive on all the machines, and the next batch of games and machines are even more astonishing. But people don't realise how good gaming has become, and take for granted the millions that are spent. Why moan about waiting 10 seconds of loading? It gives you opportunity to light a cig, take a swig of your drink or a bite of your sandwich or chat to your mate. In the same way that if you own a Ferarri, drive to work in a mini and then you'll appreciate your Ferrari a lot more. Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it now.
Right, I'll stop being old now.
Slave.
And then you got your first console. "Blimey! Loaded allready!" "WOW! Look at the graphics!" "It sounds so real!" the 8 bit generation slapped us all in the face, and the 16 bit machines blew us away. I remember owning Sonic 1 on the Master System, and a mate got it on the all new Megadrive. I washed a lot of cars saving for a Megadrive...
What do we have now? Games that load in seconds, Look fantastic, digital sound sampled from real life, Actors doing voiceovers and motion-capture. The game industry is far bigger than we or our parents could ever imagine in the Speccy era, and we still get excited at the latest games, wowing and oooing at their features.
What's the point of this? Well, there was a post not too long ago about loading times, and that they are too long. Too long? I never notice them. I don't have time to fix that drink anymore, and for the graphics quality of the latest games I am happy to wait that few seconds while the machine sorts itself out. People also complain about the graphics, and great little games get slated because they aren't GT3. DAMN, people! How can you not be impressed? Smugglers Run is not a (page 3) stunna, but it's far beyond what the PS1 is capable of, let alone a Snes or a Speccy! I myself had a little moan that on the demo of GT3 the tyre squeals of hard cornering were not very good. The Spectrum was capable of monotone beeps, and I diddn't complain then...
I'm trying to say that games today are seriously impressive on all the machines, and the next batch of games and machines are even more astonishing. But people don't realise how good gaming has become, and take for granted the millions that are spent. Why moan about waiting 10 seconds of loading? It gives you opportunity to light a cig, take a swig of your drink or a bite of your sandwich or chat to your mate. In the same way that if you own a Ferarri, drive to work in a mini and then you'll appreciate your Ferrari a lot more. Go out and get a Commodore 64 (a tenner at a car boot sale should cover it), Stick your tape in, wait 3 mins then realise how good you all have it now.
Right, I'll stop being old now.
Slave.