Fickle with gaming?

[CritAnime]

Are modern games just not as exciting as games from the 8 and 16 bit era's?
 
I look at my collection of modern console titles and none seem to pop out at me as been memorable in the same way that some of my c64 and Amiga games are. They seem to be a precession of like-for-like, more style than substance, lacking imagination games. There doesn't seem to be any "classics" in the sense of they will be still remembered fondly in another 10 years by current gamers.
 
Or is simply just me?

[commodorejohn]

There are exceptions, but by and large yes. Games just cost too damn much to make now; it makes most companies far too leery of taking any kind of risk by doing things differently, so you get a market almost completely flooded with imitations of the last blockbuster title, or if they're feeling really wild, imitations of the next previous blockbuster title with elements of the last blockbuster title sprinkled in. (And it doesn't help that nearly all the major developers are owned by megacorporate media conglomerates these days.) Even a lot of the exceptions are just that with more tweaking than usual done until something somewhat more interesting pops out.

Of course, you had that back in the day, too, but with much lower sums of money at risk per title, developers were a lot freer to follow their muse on interesting projects while the same-old paid the bills for it. Not anymore, sadly...

(I was hopeful that low-budget commercial indie gaming would prove to be the way out of this spiral of inanity, but it devolved pretty quickly into the nadir of the Internet Hipster Buzzword Mashup-A-Thon "creative" process. I blame the iPhone.)

[Kesa]

I'm not a big gamer at least with modern consoles but there are a few memorable games that will definitely be remembered. For me games like Assassins Creed and Call of Duty will be remembered for years to come because they are awesome and innovative (at least they were initially). But i don't really find modern games interesting as they tend to be the same. So yes i agree most games today are more style over substance.

[CritAnime]

@commodorejohn

I have to agree that the indie scene has devolved into some hipster net slang for anything that hasn't come out of major developer but still charged a large sum for.

@kessa
would you say that it's the series as a whole that would be considered a classic or a single game?

[ElPolloDiabl]

I'd say yes. I would love to get into a game like Cities XL, but they take so long to learn, I'll just push it away for another day.
If you need an indie recommendation, try Heileen, Cinders, and Spirited Heart. Make sure you only buy it from BMT Micro otherwise it is twice the price.
Spirited Heart is a child raising sim, the other two are adventure/novel games.

I have a wishlist for some redux games: European Air War. That was awesome and later sims just have the flying with none of the other frills.

I've also played through Warcraft 2 again I loved it more than Warcraft 3. You can build up big armies and not have a tank of hero resurrecting for 800 gold or whatever it was.
I also play some of the Total War series games to death.

I can't see the big game co's doing anything original and awesome.
Even a good game like the Sims will get dumbed down so more people can play it.

[ChuckT]

I'm a little annoyed with the games coming out on the Amazon Kindle.

They released Pacman on the Kindle but the problem I have is you can purchase content with real money.  That is how they get you.  The game is free but some games you have to purchase content to continue in the next level.

I think the controller on the Wii and the Gamecube is better than the Atari 2600 Joystick.

I play games like Super Mario Bros on the Wii which rocks, Super Mario party 7 which is my favorite.  I like playing Pikmin 1 and Pikmin 2.  One thing about the Wii, the games are family oriented whereas the other platforms are more adult.  The games can last 50 hours or more and there are plenty of sound tracks to keep you entertained.  I also like Need For Speed on the Gamecube and Wii.

The other good thing about the Gamecube and Wii was that some of these games influenced my son to want to read because the text goes up on the screen.  The games also influence cooperation because you can't win at some multiplayer games without cooperating.

I went to a retro arcade for a birthday party and they had those old games I haven't played for 20 years.  I remembered what to do but they were frustrating and hard.  Games which I can't physically play are annoying.

[Kesa]

@commodorejohn

I have to agree that the indie scene has devolved into some hipster net slang for anything that hasn't come out of major developer but still charged a large sum for.

@kesa
would you say that it's the series as a whole that would be considered a classic or a single game?

Not sure. I was only thinking about me personally. But i guess if you look at things that were innovative it was only in the first couple of games and the rest of the series just continued to run with the same formula without changing anything. Not sure what games will end up with classic status among gamers but i can pick out my favourites that mean a lot to me.

Out of curiosity what modern games do you think deserve to be considered classics? And why?

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I think we're at a golden age of gaming again. Because of online shops, creative geniuses don't have the burden of marketing and distribution anymore. Just look around on Steam, or Desura. 2D gaming isn't avoided anymore. Platform games like Capsized, Rochard, Intrusion 2, Trine, Dustforce, Mark of the Ninja, and LIMBO are all 2D and are excellent in their own way (though LIMBO is a game on it's own, it's almost.. beyond classic, it's art).
2D adventures are as well rising from their ashes. Wadjet Eye games have a couple of really great adventures, and Hector is as well really worth a try.
And I've spent way too many hours on the Total War series, on Assassin's Creed, Half Life 2.

Err... I eh, maybe I play too many games...

[commodorejohn]

Out of curiosity what modern games do you think deserve to be considered classics? And why?

Morrowind. A crystallizing moment for the sandbox genre, reminding everybody that as good as GTA III was, that didn't mean that sandboxes had to be limited to urban crime sims. A huge, beautiful world, with a highly distinctive look that sets it apart from traditional "medieval Europe, but with dragons" fantasy settings, but small enough that the dev team were able to lavish detail and make every region, town, and dungeon feel unique. A gorgeous soundtrack that never gets old. A complex, intriguing plot, but one that you can pursue entirely at your leisure, instead of being dragged through twenty-minute cutscenes between spurts of gameplay like so many other fantasy RPGs, with plenty of other things to do instead if you want a break; and backing it up, a rich mythology in the form of a vast selection of well-written in-game literature. And best of all, a comprehensive editor suite included right there with the game, so that its player community has been able to create huge amounts of extra content, upgrade the graphics well past the awkward PS1-era models included with the original game, and generally keep it polished - maybe not quite to present-day standards, but definitely far better than other games from 2002 have ever got.

Even its own sequels haven't really equalled it, in my opinion.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

I've also played through Warcraft 2 again I loved it more than Warcraft 3. You can build up big armies and not have a tank of hero resurrecting for 800 gold or whatever it was.
I also play some of the Total War series games to death.

Give Starcraft 2 a try