I like video games
Aug. 19th, 2004 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greybetaMy next self venture involves video games, which is another hobby of mine. I must admit I’m from the 8 bit Nintendo generation. You know, like the original Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt/Track and Field (the NES pad was the forerunner of Dance Dance Revolution). These were the days when companies worried about gameplay rather than graphics. My childhood involved playing classic games like Top Gun, the Super Mario Bros. Trilogy, Zelda, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tetris, Dr. Mario, and many others. I still have the Zapper gun, and the lesser known Hogan’s Alley and Operation Wolf for it. I even have one of those toploader Nintendos.
Compare this to the next system I got, the Playstation2. Let’s just say technology significantly advanced the graphics part of games since then. Yes, I played all the systems in between, but I didn’t own them. Games became more complicated, often relying on eye candy rather than good gameplay. The ratio of good games to bad games is probably the same as the old Nintendo days, but it seems like the feel of games has lost a certain touch. This is probably a less complex issue then I will make it, but let’s just take role playing games for example.
The creator of Final Fantasy named his RPG series so because it was going to be his last attempt at making games. As it turned out, it did so well that there would be many more fantasy games in the future. On console RPGs, you typically travel in parties that you would find in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. That is, you have a warrior, cleric, monk, wizard, etc. Furthermore, you would have elves, dwarves, and other conventions of fantasy. At first, the characters were pure in that people had to specialize, and not everyone could use magic. Pull up a new Final Fantasy (like X or X-2), and you can have anyone cast spells. Yes, while the new graphics are much better, there’s something to be said for the gameplay of the old games. Either that, or I’m feeling a wave of nostalgia.
Let’s not forget that video games themselves have evolved to include many genres. You have sports games, first person shooters, puzzle games, strategy games, and quite a few massive online interaction games. I’m a big fan of the NCAA football games right now, just because it’s kind of cool to see how they’ve tried to make it as close to the real thing as possible. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Tecmo Super Bowl (hutt hutt hutt hutt).
The video gaming industry is worth billions of dollars, yet its major players will change. Only ten years ago, I only thought of Nintendo versus Sega. Now Nintendo and Sega are working together in a three way fight against Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox. As long as they’re willing to entertain me at a decent price, I’ll be playing video games for a long time to come.
Compare this to the next system I got, the Playstation2. Let’s just say technology significantly advanced the graphics part of games since then. Yes, I played all the systems in between, but I didn’t own them. Games became more complicated, often relying on eye candy rather than good gameplay. The ratio of good games to bad games is probably the same as the old Nintendo days, but it seems like the feel of games has lost a certain touch. This is probably a less complex issue then I will make it, but let’s just take role playing games for example.
The creator of Final Fantasy named his RPG series so because it was going to be his last attempt at making games. As it turned out, it did so well that there would be many more fantasy games in the future. On console RPGs, you typically travel in parties that you would find in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. That is, you have a warrior, cleric, monk, wizard, etc. Furthermore, you would have elves, dwarves, and other conventions of fantasy. At first, the characters were pure in that people had to specialize, and not everyone could use magic. Pull up a new Final Fantasy (like X or X-2), and you can have anyone cast spells. Yes, while the new graphics are much better, there’s something to be said for the gameplay of the old games. Either that, or I’m feeling a wave of nostalgia.
Let’s not forget that video games themselves have evolved to include many genres. You have sports games, first person shooters, puzzle games, strategy games, and quite a few massive online interaction games. I’m a big fan of the NCAA football games right now, just because it’s kind of cool to see how they’ve tried to make it as close to the real thing as possible. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Tecmo Super Bowl (hutt hutt hutt hutt).
The video gaming industry is worth billions of dollars, yet its major players will change. Only ten years ago, I only thought of Nintendo versus Sega. Now Nintendo and Sega are working together in a three way fight against Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox. As long as they’re willing to entertain me at a decent price, I’ll be playing video games for a long time to come.
