Why do we play old games

[Monster Bonce]

Well, how about it?

I genuinely prefer 2D (and so-called 2.5D) games but I don't know how much nostalgia is involved in that preference.

I rented a PlayStation from the video store when they were popular and really enjoyed Klonoa so it can't just be nostalgia, can it? On the other hand, I loved Mystical Ninja on the N64 and it's fully 3D. I'm playing Ocarina of Time on the VC at the moment and find it, well, a bit disappointing.

Am I just a misty-eyed fool or did we lose something with the transition to 3D?

[FM-77]

Mostly nostalgia, as I don't play "new" old games (i e old games that I didn't play back then) that much. I still play my old games a lot though. Probably too much.

The nostalgia is strong in this one...

Aside from that, I mostly play new games simply because they are almost always so much better than the old "junk". I prefer 3d over 2d, and I can't stand "2,5d" at all. By 3d, I mean good 3d, I really don't like old stuff with PS1 and Dreamcast graphics. I'm a grade 1 graphics w*ore, and I'm proud of it.

[Necromancer]

For me, fun is fun.  I don't care if it's new, old, 2D, 3D, 7D, Double D.... wait that last one's the best.

[Monster Bonce]

I love playing, as you put it, "new" old games. On the other hand, I have fairly strong memories of reading about a lot of them when they came out so nostalgia can't be discounted.

The only new games I'm playing much are Sauerbraten on my Mac and Wii Sports. Before you say there are few games on the Mac, which is true, it's a MacBook Pro so if I could be bothered I could install Windows to play games. I haven't done so.

Anyway, what I'm driving at is are games still an inferior form of art? I think they are. That's fair enough, after all, they haven't been around for that long really.

However, I find myself watching lots of old movies from the 40s, 50s and 60s and they are usually superior to contemporary mainstream cinema in that they have not been afflicted by the legacy of Jaws—the big budget B movie. (Jaws itself is a fine film, but its success transformed mainstream American cinema to the point where fewer and fewer films are actually made that deal with adult themes.)

I don't think there is a direct equivalent to this with games or at least I suspect there isn't. Does the "golden age" of games have as much to offer us as the golden age of cinema, even on its own terms?

Interestingly, I also find much American independent film insufferably smug and small in scope—small, personalised stories that tell us very little of universal value. In that regard mainstream US cinema trumps its much-lauded independent cousin.

By the way, I'm not picking on American film by singling it out. There are plenty of problems with European, Chinese, Korean and Japanese films but, with the exception of the Asian fighting blockbusters and gangster films, the pressures are different.

[FM-77]

I don't really consider games an art form. At least not yet. Back then, in what a lot of people consider the "golden era", most games seemed to be like hobby projects made in some computer enthisuast's basement. It wasn't really impressive in any way, but still fun (I am talking about the 8-16 bit eras here). Games are really starting to become something like movies, etc. nowadays though. I can't wait to see what games on the PS4 will look like.

[termis]

Most PCE games I play are new, so it's definitely not nostalgia for me.

New games probably aren't bad, but I just don't care enough about games to put down a wad of cash to buy a new system when I still have fun with my old systems.

[Monster Bonce]

I don't really consider games an art form. At least not yet. Back then, in what a lot of people consider the "golden era", most games seemed to be like hobby projects made in some computer enthisuast's basement. It wasn't really impressive in any way, but still fun (I am talking about the 8-16 bit eras here). Games are really starting to become something like movies, etc. nowadays though. I can't wait to see what games on the PS4 will look like.

Well, it's certainly a difficult one. I was educated in fine art and part of my work is as an art critic. I think they are an art form, just not necessarily a particularly good one. As an analogy, people outside the art world always see some dreary piece of conceptual art and ask: "But is it art?" The only answer can be, yes, but it's still shit.

On the other hand, the directly interactive nature of games may mitigate against them being art. Salman Rushdie, a Mario fan, made this point a while back.

[offsidewing]

For me, fun is fun.  I don't care if it's new, old, 2D, 3D, 7D, Double D.... wait that last one's the best.

Hell Yeah!

By the way, I'm not picking on American film by singling it out.

Wait until you take that "Reflections of Society in Films" 200 series class!  You'll really be upset then!

Movies are simply there to entertain me.  They are like circus monkeys.  Here's my eight bucks, go sing, dance, or blow shit up for me for 120 minutes.  No more, no less.  If I want to be moved or provoked into thought, it's history, dicovery, or travel channel.

Magical Dinosaur Tour is AWESOME!!!

I don't really consider games an art form. At least not yet. Back then, in what a lot of people consider the "golden era", most games seemed to be like hobby projects made in some computer enthisuast's basement. It wasn't really impressive in any way, but still fun (I am talking about the 8-16 bit eras here). Games are really starting to become something like movies, etc. nowadays though. I can't wait to see what games on the PS4 will look like.

Well, it's certainly a difficult one. I was educated in fine art and part of my work is as an art critic. I think they are an art form, just not necessarily a particularly good one. As an analogy, people outside the art world always see some dreary piece of conceptual art and ask: "But is it art?" The only answer can be, yes, but it's still shit.

On the other hand, the directly interactive nature of games may mitigate against them being art. Salman Rushdie, a Mario fan, made this point a while back.

Art is really only important to a few very, very silly people.  I'm the best mother f*ckin' stick figure artist in the world.  My sister with the double major from CCAD says so!  I'll post some of my finer works later...

The cover art for Impossimole is some of the best still based stuff I've ever seen.

[Tatsujin]

coz they're better.

[guyjin]

I play old games because the new games, by and large, suck, regardless of 3dnes. And even when old games do suck, I haven't wasted much money on 'em.

but I voted nostalgia, 'cuz that's my #3 reason.

[Monster Bonce]

Wait until you take that "Reflections of Society in Films" 200 series class!  You'll really be upset then!

Arf, arf. I'm a little bit old for undergraduate courses.

Movies are simply there to entertain me.  They are like circus monkeys.  Here's my eight bucks, go sing, dance, or blow shit up for me for 120 minutes.  No more, no less.

In which case you would be rather well served by contemporary film, I would suggest.

I take it you don't like the analogy. Oh well. Nevertheless, if singing, dancing and blowing things up is all it's about then you're pretty well served by games too. I don't like such things—at least not in movies, and yet that's more or less all there is to most games and I still like those. I think I'll have to chalk another vote up for pointless nostalgia.

[Golgo13]

However, I find myself watching lots of old movies from the 40s, 50s and 60s and they are usually superior to contemporary mainstream cinema

I totally agree, older American movies were the best, now its just a bunch of crap coming out of Hollywood.

[RCduck7]

A good game is a good game!
That's how i see it.
Allthough the more arcade kind of blasts seem to be lesser present then now.
Propably because of the high prices of games most seek something that lasts +10 hours to be finished.
But xbox live and downloadable content seem to fit that bill perfectly.
I also don't seem to be intrested in paying a full price in let's say a (new) Castlevania game for the GBA or DS if for example i have castlevania 4 for the snes in my collection.
However, the evolution in videogames i see is good, it slowly seems to mature like movies and music.
This opens genres!

[MrFulci]

That's something I agree with offsidewing on, and something I tell others about movies. I don't read much into them, I watch them for entertainment. Entertainment is the #1 reason I watch a movie. It's like an amusement park ride. I pay money, take it for a spin, see how I feel, and if I like it or find a lot of depth to it, I may return. Whether it be "Vengence is Mine", or "The Hidden", or any other movie I've purchased recently. It's there for entertainment.

Not to sidetrack this thread too much more, however "art" is all up to whomever. A lot of what makes the world go 'round is marketing. Tell enough people something is art, get the "art" attention, create demand, etc, and if all goes well and folks show interest it's, "art".


I have in my mind the games I play aren't, "old".  Part of me is stuck with certain brackets of years. To me, "old" stuff is 50 years in the past. 20 years.... pfffft, that's not "old".

I play games I enjoy. Final Fight, Ninja Spirit, Street Fighter 2, Samurai Shodown, World Heroes 2, Crusader of Centry, Shadowgate (univited, etc), Splatterhouse, Road Rash, Military Madness, TMNT Arcade game, Magic sword, etc, etc.

The above games are easy to pick up and play. A lot of new games seem to focus more on the looks. I'm not into 3D stuff, much. There are many games out there I've yet to play or complete, so it's not as though the well has run dry and I'm only playing the same games over and over again. Plenty of classics out there.

ALSO, new CONSOLE games sometimes are limited in key/button assignment. Bad key placement, shitty controllers turn me off on new games also. Most of the time, when I paly a new game, it's on a PC.

I also prefer to focus on certain types of games. I have other interests, so I stick to certain things when it comes to video games.

Around the time of the playstation was when I started to slow down keeping up with gaming. I already had other game systems at home, and nothing on the Playstation interested me. It's been that way for quite a while with the new systems. Though, this year I did purchase a Gamecube with a Gameboy Player (my "Gameboy Cube") and recently a Playstation 2.

Why did I buy the above consoles? "Cassic" games, hahaha. Magic Sword on the Capcom Classics, Volume 2 sold me on the PS2. Hearing King of Fighters XI, a recent game, was being released on the Playstation 2 added even more incentive to purchasing a PS2.

Since purchasing a PS2, I purcahsed a few games to go along with it. They are; Activision Anthology, Capcom Classics Volume 1 and 2, Atari Anthology, Midway Arcade Treasures 2, Metal Slug Anthology, Taito Arcade Treasures.

I hear about other games released on X-Box that interest me, such as TMNT Arcade, Double Dragon, etc. While that interests me, it's not something I could get too much into if I'm going to play with other players on that system (Not to mention the cost of that system). I feel it's more a game meant to be played in an Arcade setting, not online. Playing that type of game online doesn't have the same feel an arcade has, I've played in the arcade and playing those type of games online jsut seems to be missing something. Same goes for 2D fighters online, where there is a slight delay between players. I find it more fair to play on a single machine.

What it all comes down to in a simple answer, is I only have so much time with video games, and I prefer to spend it with games I like. I have enough other games to keep me occupied, not much need to buy recent games.

[Kitsunexus]

1. Nostalgia.

2. Some of the genres I like work better in 2D than 3D.

3. A lot of modern games are dull and stupid.

4. Older games have a better "pick-up-and-play" factor.

5. The music is almost ALWAYS better.