The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only.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.
Developers of games, like Eidos, Konami, Capcom, Nintendo and the whole industry really do have a Mission Impossible when it comes to today's games.
Tom Cruise ? All he has to do in MI2 is retrieve a virus, stop the bad guys, rescue the girl and get an antidote.
Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Each console's new releases, no matter how great, are usually 'tripped' by one factor or another. Popular images of certain games are common now, here's a few;
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Loads of cut scenes, sprawling plot, great graphics, too easy.
Halo - Great graphics, best FPS ever (maybe) but easy for the most part.
Tekken 4 - Rubbish controls (digital only), mediocre graphics, no unlockable extras like games e.t.c. and not as hard as Virtua Fighter 4.
Mario Sunshine - Bright, colourful, suited to children (heresy !!) and not for 'adult' gamers.
Okay, so that's not a comprehensive list, but you get the point. Perfect games don't exist because someone somewhere will find a fault with a game. Also, as most people reading this will know, impressions of a game are unique - Anyone who has a Gamecube and had played Mario Sunshine will attest to the fact that the commmon view here is wrong - it's a great game.
Difficulty levels are the worst thing. Sure, many of you can devote hours to cracking a game in one or two sittings, you have the spare time to finish a game in a weekend, so if you can do that with a new game it's seen as bad. I don't have that kind of free time - I gave up on Final Fantasy X because I'm only 10 hours into it after having it since launch ! Difficulty ratings should be gauged by reviews as to how long a game will last in time, not how easy it is to sit in one go and do half of it. A game that takes 6-8 hours to complete doesn't bother me if thats the only fault it has because that's plenty for me.
Hitman 2 is a perfect example of this. I've had it since Thursday and I'm not off the first level yet, I've played it ten times but the slow pace of play you need to adopt to get anythign other than "slayer" rating means I have to stop start my way from save point to save point.
Yet many here have said they've completed the game over the weekend !
Developers do have a tough time pleasing us all, and I don't think everyone should assume that most people can sit and play games for hours on end with nothing else to do. Or is it just I need more free time...hmm :)
~~Belldandy~~
Tom Cruise ? All he has to do in MI2 is retrieve a virus, stop the bad guys, rescue the girl and get an antidote.
Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Each console's new releases, no matter how great, are usually 'tripped' by one factor or another. Popular images of certain games are common now, here's a few;
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Loads of cut scenes, sprawling plot, great graphics, too easy.
Halo - Great graphics, best FPS ever (maybe) but easy for the most part.
Tekken 4 - Rubbish controls (digital only), mediocre graphics, no unlockable extras like games e.t.c. and not as hard as Virtua Fighter 4.
Mario Sunshine - Bright, colourful, suited to children (heresy !!) and not for 'adult' gamers.
Okay, so that's not a comprehensive list, but you get the point. Perfect games don't exist because someone somewhere will find a fault with a game. Also, as most people reading this will know, impressions of a game are unique - Anyone who has a Gamecube and had played Mario Sunshine will attest to the fact that the commmon view here is wrong - it's a great game.
Difficulty levels are the worst thing. Sure, many of you can devote hours to cracking a game in one or two sittings, you have the spare time to finish a game in a weekend, so if you can do that with a new game it's seen as bad. I don't have that kind of free time - I gave up on Final Fantasy X because I'm only 10 hours into it after having it since launch ! Difficulty ratings should be gauged by reviews as to how long a game will last in time, not how easy it is to sit in one go and do half of it. A game that takes 6-8 hours to complete doesn't bother me if thats the only fault it has because that's plenty for me.
Hitman 2 is a perfect example of this. I've had it since Thursday and I'm not off the first level yet, I've played it ten times but the slow pace of play you need to adopt to get anythign other than "slayer" rating means I have to stop start my way from save point to save point.
Yet many here have said they've completed the game over the weekend !
Developers do have a tough time pleasing us all, and I don't think everyone should assume that most people can sit and play games for hours on end with nothing else to do. Or is it just I need more free time...hmm :)
~~Belldandy~~
Belldandy wrote:
> Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too
> easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly
> control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Impossible nowadays methinks. Back in the late 80s gaming was a kind of niche market, there were relatively few gamers, and they all had one thing in common, every game that was getting released was GREAT! because it was new, never seen before stuff.
So back then there were a lot of games that could be considered perfect, even though they were only on the Commodore or the ZX Spectrum. I had a good think about your post, trying to think of the perfect game, and for me it was Wiz 'n' Liz on the Megadrive. Everything about it was just right, I still, even today, can't find any faults with it.
Now when a game comes out it is expected to appeal to everyone, and that's just not possible because gamers come from all walks of life. There are 'casual' gamers who only play on the odd evening after work, there are 'hardcore' gamers who play all day and all night, there are 'inbetween' gamers who play as often as they can but school or work gets in the way.
So for some games will be too short, for some too long, for some just right. Then, of course, there's the genres. I personally hate platformers, I've yet to find one where jumps don't have to be inch perfect towards the end, so I find them difficult. So there can never be a perfect platformer in my view. Others will find the same faults in the FPS, driving, puzzle and wealth of other genres out there.
But for those that say they've 'completed' one of today's games over the weekend, I'd challenge that. Today's games are meant to contain over 60 hours of gameplay on average. The only way you could beat a game like that over the weekend is either by entering cheat codes or by redefining the word 'complete'.
For example I hear some people complaining that Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was too short. Bet you my entire console and games collections that they didn't complete it on all levels, nor did they collect every item in the game, do all there is to do, or get a complete collection of all the Dogtags there are to collect.
> Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too
> easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly
> control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Impossible nowadays methinks. Back in the late 80s gaming was a kind of niche market, there were relatively few gamers, and they all had one thing in common, every game that was getting released was GREAT! because it was new, never seen before stuff.
So back then there were a lot of games that could be considered perfect, even though they were only on the Commodore or the ZX Spectrum. I had a good think about your post, trying to think of the perfect game, and for me it was Wiz 'n' Liz on the Megadrive. Everything about it was just right, I still, even today, can't find any faults with it.
Now when a game comes out it is expected to appeal to everyone, and that's just not possible because gamers come from all walks of life. There are 'casual' gamers who only play on the odd evening after work, there are 'hardcore' gamers who play all day and all night, there are 'inbetween' gamers who play as often as they can but school or work gets in the way.
So for some games will be too short, for some too long, for some just right. Then, of course, there's the genres. I personally hate platformers, I've yet to find one where jumps don't have to be inch perfect towards the end, so I find them difficult. So there can never be a perfect platformer in my view. Others will find the same faults in the FPS, driving, puzzle and wealth of other genres out there.
But for those that say they've 'completed' one of today's games over the weekend, I'd challenge that. Today's games are meant to contain over 60 hours of gameplay on average. The only way you could beat a game like that over the weekend is either by entering cheat codes or by redefining the word 'complete'.
For example I hear some people complaining that Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was too short. Bet you my entire console and games collections that they didn't complete it on all levels, nor did they collect every item in the game, do all there is to do, or get a complete collection of all the Dogtags there are to collect.
It's a fine art, I agree, but most developers have had a long time to try it and many times it's been proven that you CAN make a great game.
I guess we'll just all have to keep reaching for that rainbow.
I guess we'll just all have to keep reaching for that rainbow.
Developers of games, like Eidos, Konami, Capcom, Nintendo and the whole industry really do have a Mission Impossible when it comes to today's games.
Tom Cruise ? All he has to do in MI2 is retrieve a virus, stop the bad guys, rescue the girl and get an antidote.
Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Each console's new releases, no matter how great, are usually 'tripped' by one factor or another. Popular images of certain games are common now, here's a few;
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Loads of cut scenes, sprawling plot, great graphics, too easy.
Halo - Great graphics, best FPS ever (maybe) but easy for the most part.
Tekken 4 - Rubbish controls (digital only), mediocre graphics, no unlockable extras like games e.t.c. and not as hard as Virtua Fighter 4.
Mario Sunshine - Bright, colourful, suited to children (heresy !!) and not for 'adult' gamers.
Okay, so that's not a comprehensive list, but you get the point. Perfect games don't exist because someone somewhere will find a fault with a game. Also, as most people reading this will know, impressions of a game are unique - Anyone who has a Gamecube and had played Mario Sunshine will attest to the fact that the commmon view here is wrong - it's a great game.
Difficulty levels are the worst thing. Sure, many of you can devote hours to cracking a game in one or two sittings, you have the spare time to finish a game in a weekend, so if you can do that with a new game it's seen as bad. I don't have that kind of free time - I gave up on Final Fantasy X because I'm only 10 hours into it after having it since launch ! Difficulty ratings should be gauged by reviews as to how long a game will last in time, not how easy it is to sit in one go and do half of it. A game that takes 6-8 hours to complete doesn't bother me if thats the only fault it has because that's plenty for me.
Hitman 2 is a perfect example of this. I've had it since Thursday and I'm not off the first level yet, I've played it ten times but the slow pace of play you need to adopt to get anythign other than "slayer" rating means I have to stop start my way from save point to save point.
Yet many here have said they've completed the game over the weekend !
Developers do have a tough time pleasing us all, and I don't think everyone should assume that most people can sit and play games for hours on end with nothing else to do. Or is it just I need more free time...hmm :)
~~Belldandy~~
Tom Cruise ? All he has to do in MI2 is retrieve a virus, stop the bad guys, rescue the girl and get an antidote.
Developers ? Make a game that is challenging but not too hard or too easy, or that has a complicate plot, or a simple plot, or a fiddly control system or a lack of controls, and on and on and on.
Each console's new releases, no matter how great, are usually 'tripped' by one factor or another. Popular images of certain games are common now, here's a few;
Metal Gear Solid 2 - Loads of cut scenes, sprawling plot, great graphics, too easy.
Halo - Great graphics, best FPS ever (maybe) but easy for the most part.
Tekken 4 - Rubbish controls (digital only), mediocre graphics, no unlockable extras like games e.t.c. and not as hard as Virtua Fighter 4.
Mario Sunshine - Bright, colourful, suited to children (heresy !!) and not for 'adult' gamers.
Okay, so that's not a comprehensive list, but you get the point. Perfect games don't exist because someone somewhere will find a fault with a game. Also, as most people reading this will know, impressions of a game are unique - Anyone who has a Gamecube and had played Mario Sunshine will attest to the fact that the commmon view here is wrong - it's a great game.
Difficulty levels are the worst thing. Sure, many of you can devote hours to cracking a game in one or two sittings, you have the spare time to finish a game in a weekend, so if you can do that with a new game it's seen as bad. I don't have that kind of free time - I gave up on Final Fantasy X because I'm only 10 hours into it after having it since launch ! Difficulty ratings should be gauged by reviews as to how long a game will last in time, not how easy it is to sit in one go and do half of it. A game that takes 6-8 hours to complete doesn't bother me if thats the only fault it has because that's plenty for me.
Hitman 2 is a perfect example of this. I've had it since Thursday and I'm not off the first level yet, I've played it ten times but the slow pace of play you need to adopt to get anythign other than "slayer" rating means I have to stop start my way from save point to save point.
Yet many here have said they've completed the game over the weekend !
Developers do have a tough time pleasing us all, and I don't think everyone should assume that most people can sit and play games for hours on end with nothing else to do. Or is it just I need more free time...hmm :)
~~Belldandy~~