Siliconera Speaks Up: Was Gaming Better in The Good Ol’ Days?

By Louise . February 1, 2009 . 9:54am

When most of us were growing up, there wasn’t much in terms of games and consoles. Usually it’s either Nintendo or Sega Genesis. And there certainly weren’t as many must-have games back then. Even so, we still played the heck out of them. Who do you think has it better? The kids of yesteryear with their smaller game library, or the kids of today who have hundreds of games to choose from on a given system?

Jenni: As wonderful as the newer systems are, I can’t help but think that the kids of yesteryear had it better when I think back to my own childhood and my time spent playing the Intellivision, NES, Sega Genesis and even SNES. Some amazing and groundbreaking games were released for those systems – games that still manage to attract and inspire devotion today.

Sure, there weren’t as many games, but I think the ones that came out and you were lucky enough to get made more of an impression and were treasured more than the games we’re seeing now. If you got a game, you would definitely finish it. The idea of a backlog of games you haven’t played or finished was ludicrous. The idea of selling a game back, one you’d spent hours mastering and enjoying, was also a laughable idea – you treasured what few games you had.

Louise: Back in December, when we were flooded with games, I thought back longingly of the days of the NES. I didn’t actually have an NES, but I would go over to my cousin’s house to play everyday during summer vacation. They only had one game: Super Mario Brothers, but man, did I play the heck out of it. It sounds silly to complain about so many good games out now, but there are so many things I want to play that I feel guilty when I spend too long on any one game. I never had that problem back in the NES days.

As to who has it better? Definitely the kids of today. Not only do they have access to the games we enjoyed as a kid thanks to the virtual console, but they also have current-gen games. Unfortunately, I think that a lot of new gamers don’t appreciate how far we’ve come with games. They look at games like Final Fantasy I on the NES and say it’s too dated to play. It makes me sad to see them missing out on the early years of gaming.

Spencer: Variety is the spice of life! More games mean more opportunities for finding something you like. However, I think we had plenty of games to choose from in yesteryear. There were 700+ NES games alone and I certainly didn’t have them all. Sure, that number pales in comparison to the PlayStation 2 which has over double that. Choice is nice, but it’s a daunting task to play all of the games on any given console.

Looking back, I actually think I enjoyed games more when I had less of them available to me. When you only have a handful of games you play them over and over, learn every little detail, and really dig deep into the core to master a game. Now, will a multitude cheap of digital downloads coming every week and games being longer than ever before I don’t think we’re enjoying games as much. It’s like going to a grand buffet where you take a bite out of everything, but don’t savor a single dish. We move on to the next game so quickly that some of us, myself included, have a backlog of shelved titles. Sometimes having less means more enjoyment.

Ishaan: Definitely the kids of yesteryear (aka us I guess?). We got to experience games for the first time while the entire medium was still very new and fresh. There was plenty of room for growth and innovation. Playing a Final Fantasy or a Sierra adventure game for the first time when the concept of games with such touching and well-developed stories wasn’t the norm was a true joy. Technological limitations never seemed to get in the way back then. The possibilities seemed limitless, partly because developers made a real effort to work with what they had.

By comparison, even though there is still a lot of innovation happening in the games industry at present, it doesn’t feel as new and fresh as it did so many years ago. Maybe it’s because we’re all older now and we’ve witnessed the industry growing and maturing alongside us. Maybe it’s because production costs are higher now and there isn’t as much innovation as we’d like to see. Despite this, I think we’re very, very lucky to have grown up with 8 and 16-bit games and watched the medium progress to 3D as we got older. That gives you a true sense of appreciation for the industry which most of the new kids probably won’t possess.

TAGS: Highlight, Siliconera Speaks Up

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Pichi

I do miss how faster games used to be. No loading and all that, getting me right to the point and right to title screen. 2D games felt faster to me and I liked to VA the voiceless scenes with my brother.

But, I think times are better now in the long run. Back then, I didn't know much of what was coming out or info on many games. I missed many gems and now I can replay them or play remakes that have came out.

mjs

"When most of us were growing up, there wasn’t much in terms of games and consoles. Usually it’s either Nintendo or Sega Genesis. And there certainly weren’t as many must-have games back then."

I disagree with premise of this article. There were plenty of systems and must-have games back in the "old days." (for starters, you left out Atari, NEC and SNK) You see it differently because you were a child at the time, so you were limited to what your parents would agree to buy for you.

It's the same for today's kids, unless they're lucky enough to have hardcore gamer parents. My nephew has a Wii and DS only.

Also bear in mind that there was no Internet at the time, so there was no massive hype machine telling us what to buy, no messages boards telling us we were losers if we didn't spring for game X, no preorders, etc. You just went to the store, looked for a game that seemed cool, and bought it. (unless it was an absolutely huge release like Street Fighter II)

Frankly there were more must-have titles for me in the past, because there was a lot more variety. You can only play so many generic first person shooters before you burn out on them; and now the FPS rot is spreading to other genres like the RPG.

matty

NES and Genesis were a powerhouse, though, and the stakes were upped with each new console released years after in place of them. As awesome as NEO-GEO was, any hype or general interest was a dingle-berry compared to anything else. Atari was just out of it when Jaguar came out.
Also, I'd agree that kids today use the internet to their complete advantage and benefit for gaming. Even before now, there was hype, jerks were in your face at the arcades and game shops ("Nintendroids", etc.), and you have to pre-order certain games today if you want a chance to play them and not wait to buy them used at nearly the same price - if you found the game at all.
Even with so much going on, I'd say there's a balance that we have today in and around the community than we had generations ago.

NickyD

I have nothing to add, because Spencer took the words right out of my mouth.

Actually, I do. I've often wondered why most of my "favorite games" are all... well... old. Maybe it was because I didn't have a stack of 20+ games waiting to be given their time in the console, or maybe because they were just more original back then. Whatever the case, I hope something comes along to change my mind. Just not too soon... I'm still trying to play some PS-One games. *sigh*

Ar Tonelico comes close, though. Just because it is different. Not to spam the comments with a shameless plug, but I've given AT2 a thorough review over the weekend =)
http://www.infinite-bits.com/index.php?option=c...

Nika

I've never been part of the 'Old Days'. I might be just old enough to have seen some of it, but I didn't get into gaming untill the Playstation, and even then it was already released for a few years.

My gaming started with the playstation, and a few platform games and after that the GBA, although at the time I played a lot less than I do now. Hell, I even think my playstation has spent about a year and a half (if not longer) in the dust simply because I was outside climbing trees or playing tag. I have played some NES games, and I really enjoyed them, but in the end I think I will have to side with today, simply because I don't know how it used to be.

MelodyKitn

Gaming felt better in the good old days, though the variety of it has amped in the present.

Back then, it felt like the consoles were sturdier and it took a pretty good knock to mess up an NES compared to now with constant worries of red rings and whatnot. A scratched disc can't be fixed like a good old cartridge and some blowing!

But back to the games.. back then, there was a lot left to the imagination. Everything about games is spoiled now through countless magazines, gaming blogs, and other mediums. It's not necessarily a completely bad thing to know what's coming ahead, but it certainly seems like it pushes the developers more to perform to growing standards that sometimes is certainly hard to reach. So when the game comes out and there's bugs here and there from a rush to try to get things out within certain buying seasons, the small details of games are gone. No longer do you have to wait a month to know what to look forward to, every second is counted down on some site or article.

And a lot of the weight of gaming boils down to making it prettier and sticking it on live. Nevermind if there's something broken on the game, we can just patch it a week or two after launch, maybe the gamers won't notice. Back then, a game had to be good and ready or be a bust, and ironically, if there was something broken, it made it more of a collector's piece than today, where if it's bugged, it's trash unless a developer fixes it asap.

I do love the DS though. It has enough of old and new to keep me addicted and it's never completely about making it hi-res, but just enjoying the games wherever I go.

Lajcik

I would say yes and no. As previous commenters have stated - developers back then often work in small groups and didn't need such a huge budget to produce a title with quality audio-visual setting. Also, since it didn't cost so much money developers and companies were more willing to produce something with unique gameplay/graphics/humour etc, to try and experiment more. This also happens nowadays but on a much smaller scale since its more risky.

Currently gaming has become a very commercial area and this shows on every step. Every movie now gets a (usually bad) game. Some games that made names for themselves in the past are getting (often countless, and boring) sequels which don't bring anything new to the title itself. But what bugs me the most - we're being overflooded with a few genres while some others have all but disappeared. We're being served countless rpg, fpp, rts, tpp, racing (and generally action games) which mostly lack originality and are often just plain boring to play for someone who is gaming for 15 or more years now. Other genres have receeded (like puzzle games which became mostly what we now call casual games and rarely we now see original and creative games of this type. I mean come on - wheres incredible machine, or pushover :/) Others just became less popular, and its getting harder and harder to find a good (or any) game of that type, ex. point and click adventures... I could go on like tihs ;)

Having said all that - I still enjoy playing new games, and its not hard to find something for yourself amongst all the titles. There are many new games i spent countless hours playing and enjoy the hell out of them :) Also - there's still creativity floating around. Great unique games do pop up, and companies are trying to introduce new elements to gaming (such as nintendo ds/wii). Innovation can be seen, and it rocks.

To sum it up - like everyone else i really enjoyed games back in the old days, have many great memories of them and love to play them from time to time. But i would never want to completely go back there. Current games have much more to offer, have evolved often beyond what their 'forefathers' have defined and are as much fun to play (and sometimes more given the current audio/visual standards). All of you skeptical people would have wet your pants over a game like little big planet 10 years ago, i know i would ;) And theres plenty more where that came from. What i hate about today is that everything is so commercionalized and so mass-produced that digging through tons of shit to find the good stuff can get tiring and irking.

If i get sentimental, theres always MAME <3

QBasic

Yesteryear.

Only in those oldie days could you have crappy games made after celebrities like Shaq-Fu, or Michael Jackson: Moonwalker.

Ok...the latter game. Not so crappy. And when you think on it...taking that concept with today's celebs...it's just sort of creepy. "Zack Effron's: Pro Polo, on the PS3 and Wii." or an FPS game titled "Don't Hassle The Hoff."

...Actually, that one MIGHT be sort of badass...

Ishaan

Sounds like a prime candidate for an Uwe Boll game. Quick, patent it!

vicviper forty-two

It's hard to say if gaming is any worse or better now than it was 10-20 years ago. There were good games then and there are still good games now. I started gaming near the end of the 16 bit era, so I have a great respect for games of that age and before it. That said, I do like my current consoles (especially my DS) a lot. But I certainly think there was something different about the way games were made back then that than today. Back then developers didn't need huge budgets or teams to produce a quality product. Developers had limited resources, but this forced them to be more creative in every aspect of the game. Now huge budgets and staff are needed to produce a single game, which has led to publishers trying fewer new ideas and avoiding any sort of risk. It also bugs me that people think games need to be more "immersive" and "realistic". I don't need a vast virtual world to have fun. I think the reason I like a lot of DS games is that it is one of the last few consoles with limitations in terms of processing power and cartridge space. Developers have to focus less on pushing polygons or crafting immersive virtual worlds and more on just making a proper game without so many amenities.

Ishaan

Completely agree. I love the DS because it doesn't require an absurdly large budget to develop for, and several of my favourite games on the system are, in fact, the more niche, low-budget ones.

Don't get me wrong...I love it when I see a developer like Square Enix or Renegade Kid try to push the hardware of a weaker system like the DS. But I'm also very glad the DS can cater to such a wide variety of games because it's given a lot of the smaller Japanese developers a chance to remain relevant in today's game market.

vicviper forty-two

I also like it when developers try to push weaker hardware. I'm always more impressed by how Treasure managed to get so many sprites on screen with only a little slowdown in Bangai-O Spirits (not to mention all the stuff they were doing in the 16-bit era) than all of this absurdly detailed stuff people do today. I don't care if I can see all the sweat on my character's face, that is such a pointless detail and I can't imagine people really caring about that. When you don't have unlimited processing power you have to be more conservative with what you put resources into.

Also, I love games by smaller developers. They make up for their lack of huge budgets and staff with real creativity. I suppose you can have a lot more creative freedom if you won't be hugely hit if your game doesn't sell. If you aren't dependent on sales you don't have to try to make a game with mainstream appeal.

matty

I'm with all of you, especially Ishaan's point. Those of us who have been gaming 15-20+ years had the opportunity to see many jumps in our hobby that has slowed down a bit for us today. We see what it takes to woo us now. I know exactly what I'm looking for in today's market, know what I'm saying? That's probably why I'm not looking for the biggest budget, blockbuster game and instead looking myself at what games today out there makes them stand out.
In that sense, I got it pretty good now since I'm not limited to what was accessible as a kid. The industry had to move on to survive, but that just makes what was left behind (and occasionally brought back again) all more the fun to play.
Remember when arcade games first started appearing on home consoles? WOO-WOOOOO!!

Aj

I enjoyed gaming more before it was mainstream. Call me a snob if you like, but it seems like gaming was better before the painful mediocrity of mainstream culture seeped into games. I played video games to get away from all of the obnoxious things in the real world. But now you can't do that so easily, and I lament that.

Mr. Loner

yes, gaming was better back in days, imo. (arcades, famicom, super famicom, megadrive, n64) back in my day, gaming was all about having fun with your school friends or with your best friends (who you grew up with) in your room or in their rooms. it was so chill. nowadays, it only seems to be about pushing more polygons, online play, dlc, 720p/1080p, widescreen ratio this and hd tvs that or pushing the videogame medium (ala heavy rain, coming soon) as some people say today.

it's so boring now. but that's just my opinion.

daizyujin

As a person who grew up in yesteryear (my first system was a 2600) I certainly love a lot of older games. On the otherhand "the good old days" are bull$hit as Penn and Teller showed us. Nostalgia is good and all, but there was a lot of crap in those days as well. If one opens their eyes, they tend to see that some of today's games are just as classic in other ways.

This is not to say that I am happy with how the industry has turned, I'm not, I truly think it is going to hell. And I think it is doing it really fast. In no small part thanks to a handful of companies like Namco/Bandai, Square-Enix, and Nintendo. On the otherhand, it seems almost like an apples and oranges situation to me to compare them.

leafpanda

Even though I am really young and probably born during the time of the SNES I can remember when my cousin gave me his SNES and the days when I just played Contra and died a million times. Also, Duck Hunt BEST GAME EVER

kryptonics

I have to side with yesteryear. The old consoles didn't have boot up screens, load times, animated logos, and consumer warning legal garbage. When I wanted to play a game, it was almost instantaneous. I could quickly dive into a short session. Now... it's daunting. I feel like I have to make a commitment when I boot up a game.

Louise

Oh yeah, I forgot how fast it used to be to boot up a game. One logo and you were in the main menu of the game. Nowadays, it takes almost a minute just to get to the menu. Sometimes, I leave my consoles on just so I don't have to go through the demo screens when I play a few hours after.

Aoshi00

I would have to say it was better in the old days too for the same reasons mentioned above. I remember me and friends or cousins would hang out, do sleepovers, and take turns playing Super Mario Bros, TMNT, Contra and have a total blast. Today co-op is done anonymously online.. sometimes I think about those trash-talking damn kids.

Whatever game I got I finished, nowadays I have to say it feels a bit of a chore... again, maybe it's because I'm an adult now and don't have all the time available to wholeheartedly enjoy the hobby. I'm not sure how kids feel about video games these days, the culture has certainly changed, war games and shooters are the norm while the other games have become more niche.

I'm constantly amazed by the technological advancement of video games in the short 3 decades (my first console was the NES, not Atari). The simple Pac-man was tons of fun and today games have to be critiqued whether they achieve the "level of art"... Chrono Trigger was revolutionary at its time, I doubt kids today who play it on the DS for the first time would be blown by it.

I don't know, maybe too much of a thing makes people take it for granted. Back then w/ measly allowance, I would go to a local blockbuster to rent games and get as much out of each cart as possible. So I think for the fact we had the chance to witness the game industry from the beginning is kind of cool.. feel like an old geezer now :)