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Classic games I've never played

24

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭Kinski


    Grimebox wrote: »
    Extended demo? What does that even mean?

    It means it's very short. I thought they were just trialling a majorly-innovative gameplay addition for Half-Life 3, rather than launching a new franchise (an assumption reinforced somewhat by the developers' commentary track, where they talked about just being at the very beginning of what they would do with it.)

    I suppose part of my problem stems from the fact that we don't differentiate game forms in terms of length as much as we do in other areas of arts and culture. We don't consider short films "equivalent" to feature films, or short stories to novels. For instance, it would seem a bit unfair to rate The Turn of the Screw higher than War and Peace, when one is about 40,000 words long and the other is well over half-a-million. But people talk about Portal being better than Half-Life 2. To be sure, they both have great gameplay, brilliantly-realised gameworlds, and excellent scripts, but one sustains it over maybe 15hrs, the other over just, what, 3 or 4?
    And KOTOR was a decent RPG set in one of the most popular franchises in the world, while not necassarily a classic, it was certainly something special

    Meh. It was much more orientated towards the po-faced scale of space opera than the movies. Didn't have that swashbuckling adventure feel I associate with the franchise.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 346 ✭✭dorkacle


    For anyone who hasn't played Half Life:

    First: Seriously wtf? :P

    Second: This

    Its a remake of the original on the Half Life 2 engine. Its free, it should run on pretty much anything you can by in the shops today, and its quality!
    Easily the best FPS I've played this year.

    The original is still a great game too, and will run on your latest calculators I'd imagine :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,997 ✭✭✭Adyx


    I have to say I've always preferred SMB3 to SMW too. And KOTOR is a classic and considering the potential in KOTOR 2 I will be very interested to see what comes of this RPG Obsidian are supposedly pitching to Lucas Arts.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,997 ✭✭✭Grimebox


    Kinski wrote: »
    It means it's very short. I thought they were just trialling a majorly-innovative gameplay addition for Half-Life 3, rather than launching a new franchise (an assumption reinforced somewhat by the developers' commentary track, where they talked about just being at the very beginning of what they would do with it.)

    I suppose part of my problem stems from the fact that we don't differentiate game forms in terms of length as much as we do in other areas of arts and culture. We don't consider short films "equivalent" to feature films, or short stories to novels. For instance, it would seem a bit unfair to rate The Turn of the Screw higher than War and Peace, when one is about 40,000 words long and the other is well over half-a-million. But people talk about Portal being better than Half-Life 2. To be sure, they both have great gameplay, brilliantly-realised gameworlds, and excellent scripts, but one sustains it over maybe 15hrs, the other over just, what, 3 or 4?



    Meh. It was much more orientated towards the po-faced scale of space opera than the movies. Didn't have that swashbuckling adventure feel I associate with the franchise.

    I'm one of those freaks that think Portal is the perfect length for a game. I got more utility out of Portal than I did HL2. Both are fantastic though of course







    but HL2 is overrated...!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,399 ✭✭✭Vyse


    Panzer Dragoon Saga. The only unplayed "classic" that I'd be remotely interested in dedicating some time to.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 346 ✭✭dorkacle


    Never really been interested in 'Mech' games, but I always wanted to atleast try Steel Battalion with this controller! :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,997 ✭✭✭Grimebox


    lazlo wrote: »
    BG2 is the better game. Same engine as the first, but a more refined deployment of it. However the full scale and scope of the series is only appreciated by playing both game with their expansions.

    Do I go for Shadows of Amn or Throne of Baal? I'm not sure if TOB is just extras on top or a different game entirely


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    dorkacle wrote: »
    Never really been interested in 'Mech' games, but I always wanted to atleast try Steel Battalion with this controller! :D

    years ago I worked in hmv and was in charge of buying in stock for the games section, and I ordered one of those for the craic :pac: sold it too! manager was like a bull thinking it'd never shift I thought I'd have to buy it myself lol


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,031 ✭✭✭Cravez


    Kinski wrote: »
    (I'm not sure the original Resident Evil is considered classic, said to have aged badly)

    If you think RE1 has aged badly (I wouldn't consider it to be very badly aged) then try RE:Remake on the Gamecube (or get an emulator on the PC). Still looks one of the best games made.


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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,457 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    I think in years to come ME2 will be considered an all time classic. It is certainly one of, if not the best game of this generation. Along with ACII: Brotherhood.
    No, not even close. ME1 or ME3 possibly yes (ME1 being the role play game with a fun buggy, ME3 being the epic action adventure story streamlined utterly for consoles and easy consumption but having some "epic" decisions on who dies), Borderlands 2 maybe, Fallout 3 possibly. But ME2? No, not even close to best in generation; it's bland, boring and bring nothing that the ME1 or ME3 does not do better.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,909 ✭✭✭sarumite


    Nody wrote: »
    No, not even close. ME1 or ME3 possibly yes (ME1 being the role play game with a fun buggy, ME3 being the epic action adventure story streamlined utterly for consoles and easy consumption but having some "epic" decisions on who dies), Borderlands 2 maybe, Fallout 3 possibly. But ME2? No, not even close to best in generation; it's bland, boring and bring nothing that the ME1 or ME3 does not do better.

    Am I the only person on here who preferred Fallout:NV to Fallout3?


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,555 ✭✭✭✭Sir Digby Chicken Caesar


    sarumite wrote: »
    Am I the only person on here who preferred Fallout:NV to Fallout3?

    no, it seems to be the more commonly preferred of the two. I'd admit that NV is probably the better game but I loved the atmosphere of the DC ruins in Fo3 more than the wasteland in NV so I'd always pick 3


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,107 ✭✭✭steve_r


    Kinski wrote: »
    I suppose part of my problem stems from the fact that we don't differentiate game forms in terms of length as much as we do in other areas of arts and culture. We don't consider short films "equivalent" to feature films, or short stories to novels. For instance, it would seem a bit unfair to rate The Turn of the Screw higher than War and Peace, when one is about 40,000 words long and the other is well over half-a-million. But people talk about Portal being better than Half-Life 2. To be sure, they both have great gameplay, brilliantly-realised gameworlds, and excellent scripts, but one sustains it over maybe 15hrs, the other over just, what, 3 or 4?.


    I think that's a very interesting point. From my own perspective, I don't have as much time to game as I used to. So shorter games, for me, are better, because I keep getting put off by long cut scenes/intro/character setup etc.

    These things are all great and immersive if you have the time, but I just don't have that at the moment. It's a shame because there's games I have like Arkham City, Max Payne 3, AC Brotherhood etc that I know I'd love if I had the time but they are just so time consuming before I even get to play! I guess that's my long winded way of saying that I prefer shorter games! Most recent game I finished? Jetpack Joyride on Android. Jump in and jump out, easy to pick up and play, just fun, fun, fun.

    Back on topic (And I haven't played the portal games either )

    SMW was my first game for my first console (I got all stars as well). I preferred it but I love both it and SM3 (and Yoshi's Island) in their own way.

    I never played Super Metroid either. Tried it a few times but couldn't get into it.

    I missed out on a lot of the major PS1 and PS2 games (Technu, any RPG’s (FF etc – no patience for them unfortunately). Never played anything on the Wii or the Gamecube. Only really getting back into gaming now, finding that I prefer games on tablets/handhelds because it’s easier to jump in and jump out, I’m getting a bit frustrated that recent games I’ve played on PS3/PC just haven’t “grabbed me” the way they used to. Maybe I’m getting old, and just don’t have as much time/energy!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 23,555 ✭✭✭✭Sir Digby Chicken Caesar


    why on earth would you specify colour=black on boards?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,909 ✭✭✭sarumite


    why on earth would you specify colour=black on boards?

    Its even worse for people like myself who have the "evil" forum skin whereby there is a black background :pac:


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,191 ✭✭✭✭Penn


    krudler wrote: »
    Can't believe people havent played stuff like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, you can get a snes emulator and the roms in 5 mins.

    But do those games still hold up for people who have never played them before and wouldn't be playing them with rose-tinted glasses, and are they worth spending time playing more than current games out there?

    I'm just saying, I could easily spend a few hours getting an emulator and playing Sonic, and a lot of the enjoyment would probably come from nostalgia. But I'd have zero urge to do that for Metroid when I could be playing current gen games instead.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,120 ✭✭✭✭Star Lord


    Penn wrote: »
    But do those games still hold up for people who have never played them before and wouldn't be playing them with rose-tinted glasses, and are they worth spending time playing more than current games out there?

    I'm just saying, I could easily spend a few hours getting an emulator and playing Sonic, and a lot of the enjoyment would probably come from nostalgia. But I'd have zero urge to do that for Metroid when I could be playing current gen games instead.

    Each of those three games hold up fantastically, and are still extremely playable today.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,881 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Super Metroid still holds up, it's as good today as it has ever been. The Zelda games from Link to the Past onwards are all amazing, however be warned the 3D games take a while to get into.

    If it's a good game it will always be a good game. If it doesn't hold up then it was mostly hype, good graphics or lower expectations early on in a genre that made it so popular.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,120 ✭✭✭✭Star Lord


    Retr0gamer wrote: »
    If it doesn't hold up then it was mostly hype, good graphics or lower expectations early on in a genre that made it so popular.

    Or platform limitations that were overlook-able at the time, or not particularly noticed, but now stand out like a sore thumb.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,191 ✭✭✭✭Penn


    I don't know, I remember years ago a bunch of us got emulators and roms off a friend of ours, including Mario and Sonic games. One of my friends was constantly playing Mario, and I was constantly playing Sonic. Why? Nostalgia. I played Mario every now and again (and he played Sonic, to see what the other saw in the games) and it was certainly playable, but I wouldn't really have chosen to play it.

    I just think that without the nostalgia element, I'd have zero urge to play Mario, Metroid or Zelda given the current (or even previous) gen games I could be playing instead, even if they aren't considered classics and Mario/Metroid/Zelda are.

    So again, even though there are emulators and roms out there for these games and they're easily obtainable, I don't see any reason to play those classics rather than playing current gen games. And I don't doubt why people call them classics and I'm sure they are very playable and enjoyable, but I do think nostalgia also plays a big part in it. Someone who played those games as a kid and who now downloads the emulators and roms would get far more enjoyment playing the game now than someone who never played the game and is playing a now 20-25 year old game, when they could be playing current games.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,563 ✭✭✭stateofflux


    red faction
    portal
    battlefront 2
    avp classic


    ...really looking forward to them


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,225 ✭✭✭snausages


    A real classic will be just as playable as any current gen game. Over the past 2 years I've played through Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, RE1-3 and the first two Silent Hill games. Had more fun with them than any new release I've played recently and nostalgia definitely wasn't a factor in that. Some games don't age well though, like RE1. It was such a shock going from that to RE2 and 3, both of which look beautiful.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,467 ✭✭✭McSasquatch


    I've never played any of the Theme or Tycoon games. I keep saying I'll remedy it, but stupid developers keep releasing new games. Stupid new shiny graphics.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,997 ✭✭✭Grimebox


    Penn wrote: »
    I don't know, I remember years ago a bunch of us got emulators and roms off a friend of ours, including Mario and Sonic games. One of my friends was constantly playing Mario, and I was constantly playing Sonic. Why? Nostalgia. I played Mario every now and again (and he played Sonic, to see what the other saw in the games) and it was certainly playable, but I wouldn't really have chosen to play it.

    I just think that without the nostalgia element, I'd have zero urge to play Mario, Metroid or Zelda given the current (or even previous) gen games I could be playing instead, even if they aren't considered classics and Mario/Metroid/Zelda are.

    So again, even though there are emulators and roms out there for these games and they're easily obtainable, I don't see any reason to play those classics rather than playing current gen games. And I don't doubt why people call them classics and I'm sure they are very playable and enjoyable, but I do think nostalgia also plays a big part in it. Someone who played those games as a kid and who now downloads the emulators and roms would get far more enjoyment playing the game now than someone who never played the game and is playing a now 20-25 year old game, when they could be playing current games.


    While I agree to extent, Sonic VS Mario is a bad example. I haven't seen anyone in this thread calling Sonic a classic (I could be wrong). I genuinely think nostalgia does come into account with that game series. Even back in the day I thought it was good, but not great. I would proudly tell anybody to give Yoshi's Island a shot and would love to hear any reasonable arguments of its shortcomings.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,274 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    Kinski wrote: »
    I suppose part of my problem stems from the fact that we don't differentiate game forms in terms of length as much as we do in other areas of arts and culture. We don't consider short films "equivalent" to feature films, or short stories to novels. For instance, it would seem a bit unfair to rate The Turn of the Screw higher than War and Peace, when one is about 40,000 words long and the other is well over half-a-million. But people talk about Portal being better than Half-Life 2. To be sure, they both have great gameplay, brilliantly-realised gameworlds, and excellent scripts, but one sustains it over maybe 15hrs, the other over just, what, 3 or 4?

    Couldn't disagree with this more. Some stories need to be War and Peace, others need to be The Old Man and the Sea (arguably a novella, but that's being pedantic). There are novels of varying lengths (from 100 to 1000 pages, and more), feature films of varying lengths and games of varying lengths. Length should be dictated by the demands and potential of the central ideas or story, and the ability of the author to realise them. There's a lot of great, important 'long' novels, but there's a lot of great 'short' ones too, plus everything in between.

    If anything, brevity is the single-most underappreciated trait in gaming. In the last year or two, several of my favourite games have been playable in one brief sitting. Nothing wrong with the epic game either - Ni No Kuni is currently consuming my time - but even otherwise great game developers have repeatedly shown their inability to understand concerns of pacing or repetition (Hideo Kojima, anyone?). How many otherwise spectacular games have run out of ideas long before the end credits roll, or buff up their running time with streams of endless enemies or fetch quests? Games like Half-Life 2 that sustain their extended length are, IMO, very much exceptions - rarer still when you enter time consuming genres like RPGs. Many games' single greatest crime is that they waste our time.

    Developers are always working against time limits and with tight resources. Sometimes, making a short game full of imagination and new ideas is vastly preferable to a hundred hour epic filled with mindless sidequests and lazy storytelling. Portal's most admirable trait is that at no point does it feel like ideas are being recycled - it's a couple of hours of consistently inventive, exhilarating gameplay and frankly inspired writing. Crucially, it never wears out its welcome.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭Kinski


    Couldn't disagree with this more. Some stories need to be War and Peace, others need to be The Old Man and the Sea (arguably a novella, but that's being pedantic). There are novels of varying lengths (from 100 to 1000 pages, and more), feature films of varying lengths and games of varying lengths. Length should be dictated by the demands and potential of the central ideas or story, and the ability of the author to realise them. There's a lot of great, important 'long' novels, but there's a lot of great 'short' ones too, plus everything in between.

    Something I probably didn't make clear in my last post was that just as I think it "unfair" to appraise a novel in relation to a short story, I consider it equally unfair to dismiss a short story because it's not a cinderblock-sized tome.

    But really what I was arguing for was for a greater range of formal descriptors for games. If we had a recognised category of "short games," then Portal could be argued to be one of the great short games, and HL2 one of the great "epic" (or whatever) ones.

    You're quite right to say that certain "stories" (though games are never just about narrative, and are often barely concerned with narrative at all) are suited to short-tellings, some to long, but I would disagree that the distinction between a novel and novella is "pedantic." Measuring a prose work's length in terms of pages is a very imprecise and unreliable method, but for convenience sake, we'll say a novel is roughly between 180 and 1300 pages, give or take (and I guess most would fall between 240 and 400); any prose fiction that goes much over or under than, and really you're dealing with a different form. Same for films: a feature might be 70mins or four and a half hours, (and most would range from 90mins to 2 1/2hrs) but it won't be 10mins, or 60hrs.

    So why shouldn't we think like this for games? I think everyone would agree that, even examining them just in terms of their respective lengths, Skyrim and Super Hexagon are profoundly different experiences. To me, they are both examples of different forms of games, and I wouldn't ask which is "better" than the other.

    And so maybe the same applies to Portal, which is only a fraction of the length of HL2. But having said all that, I still think Portal falls short. IMO, it doesn't outstay its welcome because it doesn't have enough ambition, doesn't push its gameplay mechanics as far as it can, leaving lots of unrealised potential leftover. That's why I don't consider it one of the greatest games ever.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,464 ✭✭✭✭Potential-Monke


    Darvich wrote: »
    I've never played any of the Theme or Tycoon games. I keep saying I'll remedy it, but stupid developers keep releasing new games. Stupid new shiny graphics.

    I'll recommend Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 so, as best as i can tell, there is no more!

    Quite a few "classics" I've never played:

    Any Sonic game
    Any Zelda game
    Any Metroid game
    Nearly anything on PC pre-2007 (I do believe i've only played RCT1&2 and Age of Empires 1 & 2)
    The Final Fantasy Series (tried 7, hated it, tried 12 & 3, hated them)

    There are a lot more, but like Penn, i prefer more modern games as there are many of them which i haven't played either!


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 541 ✭✭✭lazlo


    Portal always struck me as a concept-game. A template for Portal 2. Which is a marvelous game, one that will take it's place in history as a classic.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    Penn wrote: »
    I don't know, I remember years ago a bunch of us got emulators and roms off a friend of ours, including Mario and Sonic games. One of my friends was constantly playing Mario, and I was constantly playing Sonic. Why? Nostalgia. I played Mario every now and again (and he played Sonic, to see what the other saw in the games) and it was certainly playable, but I wouldn't really have chosen to play it.

    I just think that without the nostalgia element, I'd have zero urge to play Mario, Metroid or Zelda given the current (or even previous) gen games I could be playing instead, even if they aren't considered classics and Mario/Metroid/Zelda are.

    So again, even though there are emulators and roms out there for these games and they're easily obtainable, I don't see any reason to play those classics rather than playing current gen games. And I don't doubt why people call them classics and I'm sure they are very playable and enjoyable, but I do think nostalgia also plays a big part in it. Someone who played those games as a kid and who now downloads the emulators and roms would get far more enjoyment playing the game now than someone who never played the game and is playing a now 20-25 year old game, when they could be playing current games.

    Because a lot of them are simply better games than some of the stuff around today? Its all relative, I'd easily get as much enjoyment out of playing Mario World for the day as I would something current gen.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,896 ✭✭✭penev10


    Older games can be off-putting because of their aesthetics, difficulty, control systems etc. You need to be able to look past these anachronisms to appreciate their quality but sometimes one of these factors is so discouraging it's a deal breaker.

    For instance, I have no problem with 2D sprites (and actually love good pixel art) but give me 32-bit era polygons and usually I just can't play the game (despite being in awe of them in their day). A 3D environment requires a good draw-distance for starters and those insipid textures just kill the immersion factor for me.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,126 ✭✭✭Reekwind


    Darvich wrote: »
    I've never played any of the Theme or Tycoon games. I keep saying I'll remedy it, but stupid developers keep releasing new games. Stupid new shiny graphics.
    Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe (OpenTTD) is an open source version of Transport Tycoon available online. Highly recommended


  • Moderators Posts: 5,580 ✭✭✭Azza


    Glad to see no one mentioning Street Fighter, everyone deserves to experience pyscho power at least one time during their life. Without that they will never be truly able to appreciate Tuesdays.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,732 ✭✭✭Magill


    Im ashamed to admit it, but i've never played shadow of the colossus... im sorry.

    Also, never played... starcraft or buldars gate.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,997 ✭✭✭Grimebox


    Magill wrote: »
    Im ashamed to admit it, but i've never played shadow of the colossus... im sorry.

    I've played next to no console games since the N64


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,732 ✭✭✭Magill


    Grimebox wrote: »
    I've played next to no console games since the N64

    noob.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 541 ✭✭✭lazlo


    Azza wrote: »
    Glad to see no one mentioning Street Fighter, everyone deserves to experience pyscho power at least one time in during their life. Without that they will never be truly able to appreciate Tuesdays.

    :cool:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,827 ✭✭✭✭CastorTroy


    Magill wrote: »
    Im ashamed to admit it, but i've never played shadow of the colossus... im sorry.

    I've got that and Ico sitting on my PS3 hard drive.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,315 ✭✭✭circadian


    I've played many classics. Super Metroid in a friends house all summer. Lemmings on the Amiga. Cannon Fodder and sensi soccer etc. Speedball 2 anyone? Gunstar Heroes was amazing!

    One classic I never played.
    Chrono Trigger. Must correct that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,120 ✭✭✭✭Star Lord


    Penn wrote: »
    I don't know, I remember years ago a bunch of us got emulators and roms off a friend of ours, including Mario and Sonic games. One of my friends was constantly playing Mario, and I was constantly playing Sonic. Why? Nostalgia. I played Mario every now and again (and he played Sonic, to see what the other saw in the games) and it was certainly playable, but I wouldn't really have chosen to play it.
    Grimebox wrote: »
    While I agree to extent, Sonic VS Mario is a bad example. I haven't seen anyone in this thread calling Sonic a classic (I could be wrong).
    My first console was a Sega one, my first console game was Sonic, and I loved them. But while I've tried playing the old Sonic games a few times, they hold no interest for me. Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Link To The Past: All three of those I never actually owned, I'd just swapped/borrowed for a while back in the day, and enjoyed them immensely. When I go back to play them, particularly Super Metroid, it just leaves me wanting more. (Although, it also leaves me wanting the grip mechanic that Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission introduced!)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,191 ✭✭✭✭Penn


    krudler wrote: »
    Because a lot of them are simply better games than some of the stuff around today? Its all relative, I'd easily get as much enjoyment out of playing Mario World for the day as I would something current gen.

    That's fair enough, and it is a subjective thing. I guess my point was basically, I don't know if Mario World is a good game. I don't know if Sleeping Dogs is a good game. But given a choice between the two (which is a realistic choice as like you said, emulators and roms can be downloaded in minutes, and I'm currently downloading Sleeping Dogs for free from PS+), I'm going to play Sleeping Dogs because I think current gen games (with good reviews) are more appealing to a lot of people than much older games (even if they are considered to be classics). Just my opinion based on my own preferences though.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 52,881 CMod ✭✭✭✭Retr0gamer


    Penn wrote: »
    That's fair enough, and it is a subjective thing. I guess my point was basically, I don't know if Mario World is a good game. I don't know if Sleeping Dogs is a good game. But given a choice between the two (which is a realistic choice as like you said, emulators and roms can be downloaded in minutes, and I'm currently downloading Sleeping Dogs for free from PS+), I'm going to play Sleeping Dogs because I think current gen games (with good reviews) are more appealing to a lot of people than much older games (even if they are considered to be classics). Just my opinion based on my own preferences though.

    In my opinion, choosing Sleeping Dogs over Super Mario World is a terrible choice, but then the world sometimes has to deal with terrible choices :P

    A lot of it is down to other factors. As a lot of us on the arcade and retro forum have discussed despite us all having emulators and roms on PC's we very rarely ever play them. There's a convenience thing as well to it. Why would you turn on a PC, wait for it to boot and then boot up an emulator, connect up a pad that isn't total dirt for these games (in other words not a PS3 or 360 pad) just so you can play a game when you can just jump into your steam list and be playing away or play a game on a console that is sitting in front of the TV. There's also the 'bamboozled with choice' factor as well. You have an entire consoles library in front of you it can be hard to pick one.

    In my own experience I never played emulators much myself until I hacked my Wii. Now it's convenient for me to just switch on the wii and be in snes9x within seconds.

    Now if you had a super nintendo with super mario world in front of the TV you'll be more inclined to play it. Then you will kick yourself for wasting time on mediocre open world games when you could be playing something with heart, soul and pixel perfect game design.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,827 ✭✭✭✭CastorTroy


    Or play Mario World while waiting for Sleeping Dogs to download. :) What I sometimes do is use emulators as "just a quick go" games like you would solitaire or minesweeper. Or in my case GTA 2, which I never played properly. Had it on my desktop and if doing a report for college, would open it up, go to the bottom right corner and get the tank for a kill frenzy. Ah fun times. :D Got to level 3 without doing any missions.

    Though I remember just starting up the Simpsons arcade game on MAME for a quick go. The quick go lasted until I completed the game. :) Reminds me I must do the same with the Turtles Arcade game


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    Penn wrote: »
    That's fair enough, and it is a subjective thing. I guess my point was basically, I don't know if Mario World is a good game. I don't know if Sleeping Dogs is a good game. But given a choice between the two (which is a realistic choice as like you said, emulators and roms can be downloaded in minutes, and I'm currently downloading Sleeping Dogs for free from PS+), I'm going to play Sleeping Dogs because I think current gen games (with good reviews) are more appealing to a lot of people than much older games (even if they are considered to be classics). Just my opinion based on my own preferences though.

    Preferences are good, as are valid opinions and articulate arguments that don't just go "old games are sh1t!" :pac:

    I think a big part of it is a generational thing as well, I'm almost 32, so I was a kid during the late NES/early SNES and Megadrive years, teenager during PS1 when gaming became cool again, adult for the PS2 and onward and now a grownup (ha!) during the current gen.
    Rose tinted glasses may be a big part of why I emulate a lot, but I just enjoy playing older games, sure tons of them don't hold up at all, but bonafide classics like Super Metroid (I think that game has been mentioned more times than anything else on this thread lol), A Link To The Past, Mario World, etc. etc. will stay classics forever because they're brilliantly designed and simply enjoyable to play.

    I enjoy playing current gen stuff as much as the next person, and there's loads on the radar I can't wait for. But the 16bit era will always hold a place in my withered, blackened heart. If someone told the 10 year old me that one day I'd own a device with more SNES games than I could dream of that fits in my pocket, I'd have called them a lying scumbag, but here we are, best of both worlds, HD current gen gaming at home and classic stuff on portable devices. It's never been a better time to be a gamer and revisit past generations of stuff.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,274 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    Kinski wrote: »
    And so maybe the same applies to Portal, which is only a fraction of the length of HL2. But having said all that, I still think Portal falls short. IMO, it doesn't outstay its welcome because it doesn't have enough ambition, doesn't push its gameplay mechanics as far as it can, leaving lots of unrealised potential leftover. That's why I don't consider it one of the greatest games ever.

    I think it's important to remember the context of Portal's arrival, which still dictates why it enjoys such a strong reputation (although of course the game speaks for itself too). It was - despite being developed by Valve - a bit of an underdog. An experimental game, made by a couple of graduates based on a final year project, and bundled with two of the most anticipated sequels of all-time. Both those games were fantastic, but it was the little game that got the most attention - this brief, wildly imaginative title that had more ambition in its short running time than dozens of higher profile titles put together. Add to that a near peerless script and one of the rare breed of genuinely 'funny' games and you had a true one-of-a-kind - and all built on basically one glorious gameplay trick. If it was a proof of concept, it was perhaps the finest proof of concept gaming had ever seen. HL2: Episode 2 and TF2 were no slouches in the quality department, but they were more than matched by Portal's wild invention.

    Games, probably more than any other medium (although very few authors or directors made their masterpiece first go around), are often reliant on sequels and iteration to fulfill their true potential. This is a bit of an inevitability, given the medium's reliance on advancing technology and commercial success. But even Portal 2, as wonderful as it is, needed to add a lot of new tricks and gimmicks over its extended running time. The original has a purity of mechanics and style lacking in so many games. Fair enough if you didn't think it fulfilled its potential, but for so many it was an exhilarating, perfectly paced breath of fresh air.

    If you think a different sort of classification or definition is needed, I'm not necessarily going to argue. It's an ongoing process, and being facilitated by paradigm-shifting titles like Dear Esther or Protheus that are causing many to vocally question what the heck the meaning of 'game' is in the first place.

    On a vaguely related note, have you played Thirty Flights of Loving? Think it's quite relevant to this discussion. Fifteen minutes long, but one that utilizes cinematic editing techniques to satirically but intelligently comment on the bloat that is often par for the course in gaming.

    On the other ongoing discussion: classic games aging? Some have, particularly early 3D titles. But just like the best of classic cinema or literature are still as much if not more vital today, it's great that we still have the opportunity to discover and experience them.

    Sleeping Dogs vs Super Metroid? The latter any day of the week.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    Portal is one of the finest experiences I have enjoyed in 25 years of gaming. Naysayers can gtfo.

    It is with no small amount of regret that I confess to never having played Beneath A Steel Sky.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,788 ✭✭✭✭krudler


    speaking of point n clickers, I've never played Full Throttle or Monkey Island 1, played 2 though.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭Kinski


    On a vaguely related note, have you played Thirty Shades of Loving? Think it's quite relevant to this discussion. Fifteen minutes long, but one that utilizes cinematic editing techniques to satirically but intelligently comment on the bloat that is often par for the course in gaming.

    No, but thanks for the recommendation, looks interesting in a deliberately-bad sort of way. Bloody hard to google though, since it's actually called Thirty Flights of Loving. If you've been secretly reading Fifty Shades of Gray, your unconscious guilt just caused you to give the game away.;)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭Kinski


    krudler wrote: »
    speaking of point n clickers, I've never played Full Throttle or Monkey Island 1, played 2 though.

    I've never played Day of the Tentacle! Actually, think there's an android app that lets you run all those games with touchscreen controls, might be worth checking out.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 30,274 CMod ✭✭✭✭johnny_ultimate


    Kinski wrote: »

    No, but thanks for the recommendation, looks interesting in a deliberately-bad sort of way. Bloody hard to google though, since it's actually called Thirty Flights of Loving. If you've been secretly reading Fifty Shades of Gray, your unconscious guilt just caused you to give the game away.;)

    Hah, I had to google it myself cause I kept writing down Fifty Shades of Loving even though I knew it was wrong :pac:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,714 ✭✭✭Darwin


    Have to agree with what Krudler said above about gaming and it being a generational thing, I've been around a bit longer than most I suspect and have been gaming since the 8-bit days, so the likes of Scramble, Defender, Jet-set willy, Beach head, Raid over Moscow etc were classics for me. I just can't understand the whole Pokemon thing nor the obsession with anything imported from the far east (e.g. Final Fantasy stuff). Having said that I've no great desire to go back and play those early 8-bit games, I think gaming has never been more exciting with the huge choice of platforms and genres to pick from these days. Anyway back on topic, and I've never played any Nintendo titles except for a small few on the DS, nor some mainstream PC titles such as Half Life 1, Counter Strike etc. I've gotten to the stage where I won't play through a game again either...there is always something else waiting in the wings!


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