The Evolution of Gaming

[Triton]

I would have t o say that it has gotten better over the years. My gaming goes way back to the time of binatone games, pacman, ZX81 (with a 16k expansion) infact the list goes on up to this day/ Back then it was great just to see a few pixels move, just look Space Invaders or Centipede and you will see what I mean.

Games now are just being a part of movie and they're improving all the time. Also take a look at the hand helds, a Game Boy when it first game out were just above basic graphics, now we have great 3D games and sooner or later these will be the standard for ordianry consoles.

The whole gaming world graphically,sound and playability is the best its ever been.

[CraeSC111]

Fallout was one of the nicer games. I'd say it was because it was made by bethesda which always makes amazing games. But some games just don't seem to make the cut. The newer Call of Duty's for example. They just keep recycling old material. It just gets flashier and better looking but doesn't really improve much. I'd say that the single player campaigns are some of the worst of the series (with the exception of World at War which had an amazing campaign.)

[Mizel]

Some people might say that video games have gotten worse because they are getting friendlier and less engaging. For example a checkpoint system every 2 minutes, or the fact that you can save in the middle of a boss fight (Deus Ex: HR). And because of video games getting easier, they are less challenging and becoming ''worse''.

Personally, I think this is spot on. Overall my answer was "IDK" because I think games have changed in both positive and negative ways.

The negative aspect obviously being that challenging games are now all but obsolete. I can think of *very* few games in the past 10+ years that I considered 'hard'... and the ones that I can think of are mostly sequels of games that have been around for years (like FF). It's so bad in fact that I'm legitimately surprised if I even die. Gaming companies are at the peak of technology, which is soley where their concentration is. It's now all about presentation and story telling, instead of content. Don't get me wrong- the technology is the positive side of gaming today. It's phenomenal what they've accomplished with graphics, but they've lost sight of the whole picture.

I'm hoping that as time goes on, and technology dwindles down and isnt so new and exciting anymore, that focus will start falling back to content. I laugh when I think back to when I would play games like Chrono Trigger, DK and Super Mario because they would kick my ass! I'd spend weeks or even months beating a single game. Im lucky now to find a game that lasts more then few days.... I also miss 'secret' game stuff... games still occaisionally have secret levels and things but not like they used to.... like the secret levels/worlds in Mario. Do you know how happy I'd be if I was... ohhh, playing Bioshock for instance, and I stumbled upon a key that I also needed to find the lock to because if I did it would open up some new area? Would be sweet! xD

The one thing I wont complain about though is save options. Don't get me wrong, Im bitter as hell that kids nowadays can just hit "save" at any given point in time and I had to play for hours to be able to do that lol But it sure beats playing for ages without a save point and having the power go out suddenly or have something come up and need to leave.... gets frustating :P

So, to sum it up: Games today are so much more versatile in every way. They now both look and play wonderfully, but have a severe lack of challenge. Once... I mean *if*.... the gaming companies figure that out and attempt to correct it, I think gaming will be perfect.

[leonehe]

Well there are a lot of games that get better and worse then old ones. Of course graphic now looks great! But some games has a very stupid or boring story. Also I hate a little bugs that I can find in some of them. But anyway a very popular games like Call of Duty, Battlefield that are about to be released are a lot better then old ones. Why? 1st. Graphic looks great! It's a pleasure to play games that look so good. 2nd. Story in Call of Duty are interesting and good. At least for me. Those are only an examples. There is a lot of other games that are worth out attention too.


Anyway still answering a main question is not too easy. It depends on game that we are playing and also on a gamer.

[Bertrum]

This topic is a sore one for me, I really don't know what to say, whether they have improved over all or not, sure certain aspects of games have improved over the years, but certain aspects of games have not improved, or worsened.

Case 1

Here's something that bothers me, compare a SNES Mario game to a N64 Mario game, the difference, blew my mind back in the day, I really was like WOW THIS IS INCREDIBLE. Compare a N64 Mario game to a GameCube/DS/Wii Mario game, and I'm like hmm. 10 years later, and there isn't anything different, the gameplay isn't better, the story isn't longer, the graphics aren't that much sharper, what is the difference?

In this case, I believe that from the 80's to the 90's, gaming improved 100fold, it changed so drastically, it was hard to conceive at the time. From the 90's to the 00's, I don't really see much of an improvement, sure there may be more glitter on the video game case, and the shiny case of the Wii or DS is a nice touch, but generally, there's no difference.

And in my opinion, this doesn't just apply to Mario games, but to Zelda, Sonic, Donkey Kong.


Case 2

I bought Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for the PS2 when that game out, and I loved it, if I compare that to early PS1 & PS2 Dragonball Z games, then yes, it has improved drastically, in every way. I bought Raging Blast 2 for the XBOX360 a few months ago, which is the newest DBZ game(apart from the one released later this month). And to be honest, I prefer Budokai Tenkaichi 3, other than minor bugs, everything about BT3 is better, it has more characters, more side stories, and the graphics are pretty similar to RB2.

So from PS1 > PS2 - It improved a lot,
However, from PS2 > XBOX360/PS3 - It didn't improve.

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In these two examples, the problems have been the lack of improvement in the latest generation of consoles.

In my opinion, the golden age of gaming was the PS2 era. The step up from the PS1 was remarkable, in terms of graphics, game play, everything. It was just so much better. The step to PS3/XBOX360 was at the time, remarkable too, however the games really are only more pleasing on the eye, when you get down to the nitty gritty, and take away the glitter of the latest consoles, there's no real improvement. Compare a PS2 Fifa game, like Fifa 2005, to Fifa 2011 on the 360. Fifa 2005 didn't have great online capability like the latest game, but it had a lot more teams, players, everything. Of couse fifa 11 looks better, and there have been some minor gameplay tweaks, but really, over 6 years, there isn't that big a difference.

Other examples of gaming hitting a stand still. Halo 3 is one of my favourite games, of all time, however it took me something like 12 hours to complete it on my first play through, the same applies to Halo Reach. I loved the games, but for the story, not for the actual game play. Another game I equally love, which is a similar type of game, Medal of Honour rising sun, back on the PS2 took me a lot longer to complete. So if a next gen game takes less time to complete than one 5 or more years older, has gaming really improved that much?

Other example. GTA Vice City took me 25 hours to complete if I remember rightly, GTA San Andreas took me like, two weeks. GTA IV took me a week. San Andreas if my favourite out of the 3, purely because the 3 games are the same, only there is more to do in San Andreas, and it took longer to complete.

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So yes, gaming has improved, from Snes, to N64, to PS1, to PS2.. Gaming improved every step of the way.. From PS2 to 360/PS3, gaming hasn't improved.

Anyway I will stop ranting now :x

[Trunks]

I think in general it has improved. Graphics and Gameplay have drastically improved. There is way more freedom in games today then before. Take prototype or Assassins creed for example, both games you have the freedom to go almost anywhere. Very few to none let you do that in the past.

The stories really depend on the games you play. I mean you can't really compare ever modern games story to Zelda or Final Fantasy. Just because that one game from the past is better then all modern games doesn't mean games haven't improved.

In general it's pretty easy to say that everything improved in gaming. Better controls, hardware, online play and actual game play. If there is one thing that modern games today don't have it is nostalgic value.

[CraeSC111]

Hey bertrum I think San Andreas was the best one too. They took away a lot of the more in depth and some of the more fun things about San Andreas. But I do like a good deal of the newer features in 4.

[TheBryanFury16]

in my opinion todays games has good graphics but missing the old tasty storyline and resident evil is a big example =/

[paecmaker]

I think it gets better now with stories and gameplay. The market is full of easy games(with checkpoints every 2 minute) like cod but there is also coming a few harder games now.

Arma 2 sold way better than the developers anticipated.
Lost souls have also sold good.
and so on.

About the stories I think it is going to improve.
There are many games with ****ty stories but deep into the garbage cans you can find a treasure. Mass effect serie is just one example, then we got heavy rain, enslaved and Alan wake.

[TheBryanFury16]

I think it gets better now with stories and gameplay. The market is full of easy games(with checkpoints every 2 minute) like cod but there is also coming a few harder games now.

Arma 2 sold way better than the developers anticipated.
Lost souls have also sold good.
and so on.

About the stories I think it is going to improve.
There are many games with ****ty stories but deep into the garbage cans you can find a treasure. Mass effect serie is just one example, then we got heavy rain, enslaved and Alan wake.

i agreed