The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Do you remember back to the days of the Atari 2600, the Spectrum and the Commodore C64 ? Scart cables were a foreign invention with little use, games were played through mono sound, and if you saw more than 10 colours on screen..well they were impressive graphics. Saves were a bizarre concept, and loading times provided an opportunity to make a cup of tea, and tea itself in the case of games like Dizzy. Full price games were a shocking £12.99 and, some, whisper it!, were even £14.99 !! Even the cheapest games began at £2,99, oh the horror of it !
Yet I believe those days, and the consoles that followed right up until the Playstation (but not including it) offered the golden age of video gamingin terms of value for money and playability. Back then me and my firends would sit around the tv taking it in turns to complete games like Crystal Castles, and many a friday night was spent on a Dizzy marathon. Caterpillar, Moon Buggy, Space Invaders, Pacman, 1942, Outrun, Spy Hunter and so on. New games came out once a month and the magazines dutifuly reviewed them on about 1 page most of the time. Sure, we all bought new games now and then, but generally people played a game to its end then bought a new one. Games lasted for months because of the high difficulty level and fiendish puzzles (Dizzy being a main culprit here!) The Mega Drive offered better graphics and stereo sound but for the most part, those games were tough but sheer fun. Marioland on the SNES remians one of the best games you'll ever see. Some people moaned about the price of games all along this period of time but it was a small minority.
Then came the Playstation. Every game could be saved, new releases flooded out and everyone was constantly chasing the "next big game". There ws more choice, superb graphics, superb sound, but to me, the fun was slowly waving goodbye. Sure, they were still fun, but not the kind seen previously. Games became finished in hours after just a few sittings for many, then discarded for the next release. Copied games flooded the market because the publishers were ripping us off anyway, apparently, at least thats what the buyers told themselves.......
Now the next gen consoles are facing off against each other, and the fun is still yet to be rediscovered, as many MGS2 buyers will tell you. Things are getting better as deelopers include uincentives to play games repeatedly to unlock new features, but the graphics and sound are all that matter to many now. A few titles come close to those forgotten days, GTA3 and EA sports games being a couple of examples, but many games are one shot wonders that are bought, played and traded. I have a Playstation 2, I decided against an X Box, and playeda Game Cube at the weekend. i've ranted to all and sundry that Nintendo's little box will fial because the games are cartoony. They may be, but I think one company might just have found that long lost formula for playability..... :)
Games have become mainstream, but at what cost ?
Yet I believe those days, and the consoles that followed right up until the Playstation (but not including it) offered the golden age of video gamingin terms of value for money and playability. Back then me and my firends would sit around the tv taking it in turns to complete games like Crystal Castles, and many a friday night was spent on a Dizzy marathon. Caterpillar, Moon Buggy, Space Invaders, Pacman, 1942, Outrun, Spy Hunter and so on. New games came out once a month and the magazines dutifuly reviewed them on about 1 page most of the time. Sure, we all bought new games now and then, but generally people played a game to its end then bought a new one. Games lasted for months because of the high difficulty level and fiendish puzzles (Dizzy being a main culprit here!) The Mega Drive offered better graphics and stereo sound but for the most part, those games were tough but sheer fun. Marioland on the SNES remians one of the best games you'll ever see. Some people moaned about the price of games all along this period of time but it was a small minority.
Then came the Playstation. Every game could be saved, new releases flooded out and everyone was constantly chasing the "next big game". There ws more choice, superb graphics, superb sound, but to me, the fun was slowly waving goodbye. Sure, they were still fun, but not the kind seen previously. Games became finished in hours after just a few sittings for many, then discarded for the next release. Copied games flooded the market because the publishers were ripping us off anyway, apparently, at least thats what the buyers told themselves.......
Now the next gen consoles are facing off against each other, and the fun is still yet to be rediscovered, as many MGS2 buyers will tell you. Things are getting better as deelopers include uincentives to play games repeatedly to unlock new features, but the graphics and sound are all that matter to many now. A few titles come close to those forgotten days, GTA3 and EA sports games being a couple of examples, but many games are one shot wonders that are bought, played and traded. I have a Playstation 2, I decided against an X Box, and playeda Game Cube at the weekend. i've ranted to all and sundry that Nintendo's little box will fial because the games are cartoony. They may be, but I think one company might just have found that long lost formula for playability..... :)
Games have become mainstream, but at what cost ?
Page:
Ah yes, Crytal Castles was quite some game, wasn't it?
I followed this with an Acorn Electron, and the games on this were so difficult. There were so many that I never completed, but they were great fun.
I don't really agree that games continued to be good value up until the days of the Playstation, many NES games launched at £40, or more in some shops, which was a bit of a rip-off. Mind you, the Sega Master System's games were more reasonable, with 'card' games at £12.99 (like Transbot and Hang On) with cartridges costing £20-£25. Expect fro Phantasy Star, but that had unique Battery Back Up!
I reckon it was in the days of the SNES and the Megadrive that gaming started to appeal to a larger market, as there were so many games available for these systems, many of them weak platformers trying to emulate the success of Mario on the SNES and Sonic on the Megadrive.
I thought there was too little that was fresh coming to the Megadrive after a while, and it was only RPG's like Secret of Mana that managed to hold my interest in the SNES.
When the Playstation was launched the market did seem to boom, and again there were more developers, with more games, that were, in the most part, offering very little new.
I think 3D gaming came not a moment too soon, as it opened up more possibilities, and we were able to move away from the platformer that had become so typical.
But again, we seem to have entered a time where there are so many FPS games on the shelves, each boasting to have a little twist to try to give it more appeal.
Still, there are original games coming through, it's just a case of separating the good from the bad.
I followed this with an Acorn Electron, and the games on this were so difficult. There were so many that I never completed, but they were great fun.
I don't really agree that games continued to be good value up until the days of the Playstation, many NES games launched at £40, or more in some shops, which was a bit of a rip-off. Mind you, the Sega Master System's games were more reasonable, with 'card' games at £12.99 (like Transbot and Hang On) with cartridges costing £20-£25. Expect fro Phantasy Star, but that had unique Battery Back Up!
I reckon it was in the days of the SNES and the Megadrive that gaming started to appeal to a larger market, as there were so many games available for these systems, many of them weak platformers trying to emulate the success of Mario on the SNES and Sonic on the Megadrive.
I thought there was too little that was fresh coming to the Megadrive after a while, and it was only RPG's like Secret of Mana that managed to hold my interest in the SNES.
When the Playstation was launched the market did seem to boom, and again there were more developers, with more games, that were, in the most part, offering very little new.
I think 3D gaming came not a moment too soon, as it opened up more possibilities, and we were able to move away from the platformer that had become so typical.
But again, we seem to have entered a time where there are so many FPS games on the shelves, each boasting to have a little twist to try to give it more appeal.
Still, there are original games coming through, it's just a case of separating the good from the bad.
I only flirted with games in the "golden age", and I must admit that it was the Playstation which hooked me and drew me in. Since then I've owned every console (Xbox is next on the list) and I've never looked back. Maybe I'm not a nostalgic person, but the "old(er)" games don't really appeal to me. In fact, I don't think they ever did.
Do you remember back to the days of the Atari 2600, the Spectrum and the Commodore C64 ? Scart cables were a foreign invention with little use, games were played through mono sound, and if you saw more than 10 colours on screen..well they were impressive graphics. Saves were a bizarre concept, and loading times provided an opportunity to make a cup of tea, and tea itself in the case of games like Dizzy. Full price games were a shocking £12.99 and, some, whisper it!, were even £14.99 !! Even the cheapest games began at £2,99, oh the horror of it !
Yet I believe those days, and the consoles that followed right up until the Playstation (but not including it) offered the golden age of video gamingin terms of value for money and playability. Back then me and my firends would sit around the tv taking it in turns to complete games like Crystal Castles, and many a friday night was spent on a Dizzy marathon. Caterpillar, Moon Buggy, Space Invaders, Pacman, 1942, Outrun, Spy Hunter and so on. New games came out once a month and the magazines dutifuly reviewed them on about 1 page most of the time. Sure, we all bought new games now and then, but generally people played a game to its end then bought a new one. Games lasted for months because of the high difficulty level and fiendish puzzles (Dizzy being a main culprit here!) The Mega Drive offered better graphics and stereo sound but for the most part, those games were tough but sheer fun. Marioland on the SNES remians one of the best games you'll ever see. Some people moaned about the price of games all along this period of time but it was a small minority.
Then came the Playstation. Every game could be saved, new releases flooded out and everyone was constantly chasing the "next big game". There ws more choice, superb graphics, superb sound, but to me, the fun was slowly waving goodbye. Sure, they were still fun, but not the kind seen previously. Games became finished in hours after just a few sittings for many, then discarded for the next release. Copied games flooded the market because the publishers were ripping us off anyway, apparently, at least thats what the buyers told themselves.......
Now the next gen consoles are facing off against each other, and the fun is still yet to be rediscovered, as many MGS2 buyers will tell you. Things are getting better as deelopers include uincentives to play games repeatedly to unlock new features, but the graphics and sound are all that matter to many now. A few titles come close to those forgotten days, GTA3 and EA sports games being a couple of examples, but many games are one shot wonders that are bought, played and traded. I have a Playstation 2, I decided against an X Box, and playeda Game Cube at the weekend. i've ranted to all and sundry that Nintendo's little box will fial because the games are cartoony. They may be, but I think one company might just have found that long lost formula for playability..... :)
Games have become mainstream, but at what cost ?
Yet I believe those days, and the consoles that followed right up until the Playstation (but not including it) offered the golden age of video gamingin terms of value for money and playability. Back then me and my firends would sit around the tv taking it in turns to complete games like Crystal Castles, and many a friday night was spent on a Dizzy marathon. Caterpillar, Moon Buggy, Space Invaders, Pacman, 1942, Outrun, Spy Hunter and so on. New games came out once a month and the magazines dutifuly reviewed them on about 1 page most of the time. Sure, we all bought new games now and then, but generally people played a game to its end then bought a new one. Games lasted for months because of the high difficulty level and fiendish puzzles (Dizzy being a main culprit here!) The Mega Drive offered better graphics and stereo sound but for the most part, those games were tough but sheer fun. Marioland on the SNES remians one of the best games you'll ever see. Some people moaned about the price of games all along this period of time but it was a small minority.
Then came the Playstation. Every game could be saved, new releases flooded out and everyone was constantly chasing the "next big game". There ws more choice, superb graphics, superb sound, but to me, the fun was slowly waving goodbye. Sure, they were still fun, but not the kind seen previously. Games became finished in hours after just a few sittings for many, then discarded for the next release. Copied games flooded the market because the publishers were ripping us off anyway, apparently, at least thats what the buyers told themselves.......
Now the next gen consoles are facing off against each other, and the fun is still yet to be rediscovered, as many MGS2 buyers will tell you. Things are getting better as deelopers include uincentives to play games repeatedly to unlock new features, but the graphics and sound are all that matter to many now. A few titles come close to those forgotten days, GTA3 and EA sports games being a couple of examples, but many games are one shot wonders that are bought, played and traded. I have a Playstation 2, I decided against an X Box, and playeda Game Cube at the weekend. i've ranted to all and sundry that Nintendo's little box will fial because the games are cartoony. They may be, but I think one company might just have found that long lost formula for playability..... :)
Games have become mainstream, but at what cost ?
Page: