Over the years, there have been videogames that were considered groundbreaking and revolutionary. Along with the times, they’ve had their flaws – flaws that we accepted and overlooked.  It didn’t  stop people like me from complaining about crap in a game that pissed me off, and it on occasion makes me reflect on “the good ‘ol days”.

  But after some soul searching, and a couple (hundred) of hours on an emulator, I’ve come to a decision: Those times are going to fade away.

In my (always correct) opinion, throughout the generations of Atari, Nes, Snes, Playstation,
Xbox and on, there are fewer and fewer reasons to play anything a year
old. Due to the fact that videogames are down to such a science that
you can see into a dead soldiers eyes in Call Of Duty, with surround
sound effects of players online a world away screaming at you over a
mic, it’s a shame that most of us are desensitized to the majesty of it all.

  Checkpoints
at every twist and turn. Saving your progress at anytime, or not even
needing to bother. Music by real artists blaring. Game designers that
view their art as exactly that: Art. This is stuff I analyze on every
game I play, and lack therof on others. There’s plenty of ass material
out there, especially in the form of hack money makers.

  
But no mater how shitty a modern game can get, it would have been game
of the year if it were released 5 years prior. Imagine what you would
have thought of Bullet Witch if it were released in 1999. (Ugh.)

   I
view videogames truly as the future of all entertainment, especially
with the modern move to multimedia consoles of this generation. The 360
and PS3 have lifespans that will likely supersede a majority of older
consoles simply due to it’s compatibility with the average Joe. Many,
many online titles are still going strong simply based on fan base, and
the down-and-dirty fact that online play is extremely fun.

  
All of these cute things said, I myself like to fire up an old game now
and then, for nostalgic purposes. Me, Fudd and Loco all enjoy running
through a few dozen old titles and remembering what they were like.
Thank God for emulators. But I think we all share a common problem with
anything a few years old: They suck now.

    I won’t even
critique graphics and sound like punk ass kids do to irritate people
that grew up on this. But the fact of the matter is every
groundbreaking title ever released has contributed to the next in some
way. Even the consoles itself rip off the previous one’s concept and
features.

   For example, best to my knowledge the N64 was
the first console to introduce force feedback, in the form of the
Rumble Pak (gotta misspell everything, people!). Not to be outdone,
Sony releases the “dual shock” controller within a short time. What was a novel feature for a single console is a requirement for every new one. Unless you’re Sony, and like dropping the ball.

   Cue
in the recent trend of “new old school”, which has been given me reason
to have an aneurysm. Both Bionic Commando: Rearmed and Mega Man 9 had
driven me to insanity, which usually is only done when I play online.
Every review of these games are top notch, simply based on it being Old
School, with updated graphics. (Well, at least with BC).

  
Well it’s all well and good, it’s just something that we don’t need
anymore! For fuck’s sake, I can’t deal with instant death over and over
again. It’s an OLD CONCEPT. Call it Old School all you want, I call it
bullshit. I watched my buddy Jason die 30 times in Mega Man 9 on a
stage I can plow through in 2 minutes. Why? Because I died on that
stage 112 times already.

   I can absolutely guarantee you
he’s a better 2-D gamer than me, because he’s played them all.  He’s
beaten 9 opponents in a row in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out! with a blindfold
on. I watched. It made me laugh, however, when he struggles in a
platformer as much if not more than me. It reminded me what Old School
is.

  
I can compare for hours, filling my head with nostalgia of times nearly
forgotten. But nostalgia is to me, truly a waste of time. Seriously,
not to sound like an emo, but life is too fucking short to be playing
shitty games, and these games are a waste of time now. Comparatively, I
can sit around looking at pictures of people I used to know by myself,
or I could have spent those 2 hours writing a blog.

   I
can’t claim it’s not fun to dive into old games, again, it’s not really
my point. All I’m claiming is that our focus should be focused (and
appreciated) on the future of games, and how far it’s come.

  
People bitch and moan about COD 5 not being as good as the last one,
based on trivial facts about WW II themes, respawns and other bullshit.
It’s still an amazing game, with a level of detail that none of us
could accompolish within 10 years of programming.

   So, in closing, I say: “Quit bitching and play”.

Related posts:

• Complaint Filed: Cheaters ZOMG   I have a random, seemingly perfect idea that Xbox Live, PSN and future online services should implement into their...
• Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack Review: Worth your 800 MS points?The new Mythic Map pack has been out for about a week now, and some people are possibly refraining from...
• Peter Moore on the Dreamcast, 10 years laterYesterday was not just the launch of some rhythm game, it was also the anniversary of one of the more...
• Most random Modern Warfare 2 Kill you’ll see this week.Well, uh… the title says it all really. I know if it were me getting knifed here, I’d be pretty...
• Review: Alan Wake (IGN parody version)He hurdles through the air like a giant football in mid spiral. Suddenly, Alan Wake lands his face in the...