Modern or classic gaming

[Pixelcade1]

No brainer here for me it's classic. SNES and before. I just can't get into the 3d revolution that happened and continues.

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Both are great...however I'd be lying if I didn't say that I prefer to play the classics more often than not.  

I have a few big gripes with modern gaming that keeps me from enjoying it as much as I should.  First is the average time to finish a game is far too long.  The games keep getting bigger and longer.  Another thing that bothers me is that most AAA try to achieve as much realism as possible...usually at the expense of fun.  You see less games with far fetched ideas and more games about a dude with a gun in a sandbox world.  Yawn.

Another thing that modern games do is hold your hand incessantly.  It takes FOREVER just to get to anything exciting because the first hour or so is mainly boring walkthroughs and tutorials.  By the time anything interesting happens you're ready to quit.  Go play Twilight Princess and then play A Link to the Past...the difference is jarring.  By the time you get to a real dungeon in TP you'll have already completed a couple in the SNES game.  

Along with the hand holding, modern games offer almost zero challenge.  In an effort to get you through whatever half baked story the designers came up with they make the game super easy.  There is no penalty for dying and all in all you are barely rewarded for playing well.  This would all be fine if the game was less than 10 hours, but after 15-20 hours playing a game that isn't all that difficult just becomes a major bore.

None of these issue would be relevant if I never played classic games though.  You wouldn't even be aware of these design flaws because EVERY game is riddled with them.  They are practically part of the modern game DNA.  When you break out an old arcade game or old NES title you become fully aware of all the problems with newer games.  It's not the end of the world, but each year I become more aware of this and it makes it harder to get excited for newer releases.

[Josh]

Like JLH said, the lack of difficulty really bothers me.

I've liked Nintendo since the NES days but daggum - their games have gotten so easy that it's sickening. There's a reason that the "hardcore" see Nintendo as kiddy. It's not so much the themes as the difficulty.

I know that Capcom has done some crappy stuff lately but at least they still remember how to make a fun yet challenging game.

[DrCruse1]

I'll admit, the major failing of modern games is the difficulty. It's much harder for a game to be addictive if it's too easy. That's one reason Super Mario Galaxy bores me so much. There's just no challenge.

[snakeboy1]

I definitely prefer classic games for a couple reasons:  1) They are much simpler and easier to learn, and 2) They are much, much better suited for short play sessions.

And regarding the idea that modern games are too easy--eh, I don't know.  Honestly, most of these longer, more "epic" games would drive me nuts if their difficulty was anywhere near the level of many classic games.  And when you add in the inherent frustrations that come with 3D games like awkward camera angles and depth perception issues, it would all be too much for me to take.

[Michael Prymula]

I don't think modern games are easier, Gears Of War was insanely hard even on Casual difficulty, and don't even get me started on Perfect Dark Zero, and I think people are exaggering the "hand-holding" thing, most of the games i've played don't use extended tutorials, they just list the controls on screen once and that's it. 

[MoonMetropolis]

Retro gaming has made a huge comeback recently, with the advent of downloadable titles.  Nowadays, more and more people are producing games that look, sound, and play just like games from the bygone era.  In fact, many people are actually SICK of "retro-style games", lol.

[James McCloud]

[QUOTE=Josh]Like JLH said, the lack of difficulty really bothers me.

I've liked Nintendo since the NES days but daggum - their games have gotten so easy that it's sickening. There's a reason that the "hardcore" see Nintendo as kiddy. It's not so much the themes as the difficulty.

I know that Capcom has done some crappy stuff lately but at least they still remember how to make a fun yet challenging game.
[/QUOTE]

What games are you playing?

I played some Wii at my nephews and all's I can say is obviously you have never played DK Country Returns, Wii Sports Resort, or Excitebots. Even the Mario games they have get pretty hard on the later levels. I never beat Bowser, but I watched them do it, they laughed their butts off when I fell into the lava again and again.

Are those casual games or what are casual games? 

[Josh]

@ James McCloud

DKR and Excitebots weren't developed by Nintendo - just published.

I give props to DKR but it was released alongside Kirby's Epic Yarn - a game that my 8 year thought sucked because it was too easy (and he likes easy games like Lego Star Wars). I thought ExciteTruck was great but the Bots game had too many wonky motion control gimmickery. It's hard to judge difficutly when that stuff is present.

I am more critical of stuff like Kirby's Epic Yarn and the recent Zelda games. You had to try to get killed in Windwaker and TP. The only difficulty was found in the puzzles.

[JustLikeHeaven1]

To clarify my earlier statement - Most modern games DO have challenge and diffuculty to them.  My main problem is that you don't encounter that challenge until a very long time into the game.  If i've been playing a game for 6 hours and I've yet to die once...there is something wrong.  I'm not that good of a gamer lol! 

Honestly, how often do you play a modern game and die within the first 5 minutes of playing?  On top of that...if you die there is zero penalty for doing so.  You just respawn 5 paces back from where you expired.  It just inspires reckless gameplay and really doesn't force you to become good at the game.