I had a lot more fun playing SNES games than playing more recent games, but i think it's because I was a lot younger when I played games on the SNES. I think a lot of this idea of the early 90's being the Golden Age of video Games is really just nostalgia.
Originally Posted by Ricky Garces I had a lot more fun playing SNES games than playing more recent games, but i think it's because I was a lot younger when I played games on the SNES. I think a lot of this idea of the early 90's being the Golden Age of video Games is really just nostalgia.
Nostalgia is the key word. Video games were something that made me go, "WHOA!" Especially since I didn't own any. You know how that is, things are always cooler when they aren't yours.
Obviously people are just missing times they can't ever get back and they don't care about new games cause they think weren't as good as the other games. It gets boring playing the hundreds of new FPS and they liked Doom or wolfenstein cause the idea was new and now its just old and repetetive. So really the only thing to do is not buy new games and get back the old ones you remember.
Lol, the SNES-Sega Genesis era was the most money-focused era of all! Anyone remember all those games starring soft drink mascots? There were just too many damn platformers which sold out. At least these days, what you get are billboards in games advertising real life products. There were only a handful of actual good games.
Heck, these days, Nintendo is as money focused as Microsoft. Maybe even worse when you consider the fact that Microsoft actually spends a lot of money on charity and Nintendo neglects environmental effects of its products completely. Of course, if you do want originality, you could pick up most Nintendo games.
I think the real problem today is that a lot of people loved the old games so much that new companies decided to give them what they liked, but did it wrong. Most of the time, a top game is all about getting lucky enough to get the parts right (like with Diablo 1, Starcraft, The Sims, Halo, Sonic). When they try to go back and use the old formula, it just goes to heck.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Originally Posted by Fish20 Obviously people are just missing times they can't ever get back and they don't care about new games cause they think weren't as good as the other games. It gets boring playing the hundreds of new FPS and they liked Doom or wolfenstein cause the idea was new and now its just old and repetetive. So really the only thing to do is not buy new games and get back the old ones you remember.
Its a myth. No games have expired under copyright law, it takes at least 75 years before stuff falls into public domain. So in the year 2060 or so NES games will start becoming "legal". The difference is that you have a 0.000000001% chance of being sued for downloading a game, so who cares?
Anyway, the real issue of why game quality has gone down is fairly complex. Back in the "Golden Age" of video game design; the SNES era, video game programmers were virtually OWNED as slaves by their parent companies. For instance, both Sega & Nintendo would make you sign ridiculous contracts that would essentially prevent you from ever getting a job again if you quit, etc. The companies were jealously protective of their workers. This is because the vast majority of quality games were done by a minority of the workers; the super elite programmers. You'd see people like Koji Kondo work only for nintendo, only on AAA titles, etc. However, being owned by these superpower companies, there was essentially no pressure on the worker to RUSH the titles. Deadlines became abstract. You were owned by the company, and you could make your brainchild, exactly in your style, without fear of losing your job or your company going bankrupt. The problem of course, is that being owned like a slave made the market AWFUL for programmers. Video game designers were forced to work absurd hours, like 12 a day 7 days a week (not really exaggerating here, which is scary). However, through a series of unions & labor laws, the market started becoming softer. As 1st party companies started getting shaken (sony joined in, sega crashed, nintendo faltered), development switched over the 3rd party companies. Now adays, all big name games are done by small-name studios. Bungie? Bioware? Epic? these 3rd party companies feel ENORMOUS pressure. If you follow the news, these companies pretty much make 1-2 games, and then fold, and all the programmers are shuffled into new jobs. Even successful companies like Blizzard North get destroyed, after their blockbuster titles (notice how Diablo 3 is being made by completely different crew than Diablo 1/2). Megagiants like Vivendi & EA go around absorbing the 3rd parties that make a blockbuster hit, force them to whore out 1 or 2 games, then fire them / dissolve them. The net result is that the majority of games become produced by 3rd party developers, who feel immense pressure by their parent company overseers to rush their title, get it out in time for christmas, and essentially do everything FOR PROFIT as opposed to FOR QUALITY. In the SNES days, it was all about making the 99% game instead of 95% game. Now adays, its about rushing a 60% game out in time for the holidays, and relying on consumer manipulation to sell it. Its 100x as profitable, and the more profitable companies choke out the lesser ones like weeds. Once EA consumes your startup company and forces your crew to make "Madden 2011" or something, your pet projects, your brainchild creations, are dead and gone. Video games are a victim of corporate culture, and if you plan on going into a job in the field, you should be mighty aware of the instability in the past, future, and present.
Originally Posted by Johnny Look Just to clear up something: Emulations is legal, downloading and playing roms is legal too, as long as their rights expired.
Actually no, some systems have copyrights on their respective BIOS still. Some let you rip your own (Amiga) and use that, some don't let you emulate it at all.
And how long do media copyrights last for, 75 years after the death of the artist? That applies to music and video at least, and games are likely lumped in there too unless they've been made free by the copyright owner.
Heck, these days, Nintendo is as money focused as Microsoft. Maybe even worse when you consider the fact that Microsoft actually spends a lot of money on charity and Nintendo neglects environmental effects of its products completely. Of course, if you do want originality, you could pick up most Nintendo games.
Partially correct. They're recycling program isn't as stringent as the others, but on the other hand the Wii uses a peak of 18 watts compared to 186/199 for the 360/PS3. Therefore not having much of one of dem carbonk footprints.
Nintendo also refuse to open another Wii production factory. Factory=baaaad for environment.
Also in the UK all Wii accessories and systems ship in cardboard boxes compared to plastic for everything else but I hear its different in the US.
Originally Posted by -Mistah Bodgah- ... shame i can't change the title of the thread now.:/
Lol, that's what happens when you talk about the olde days with people older than you.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Originally Posted by Pixelthiefnyway, the real issue of why game quality has gone down is fairly complex. Back in the "Golden Age" of video game design; the SNES era, video game programmers were virtually OWNED as slaves by their parent companies. For instance, both Sega & Nintendo would make you sign ridiculous contracts that would essentially prevent you from ever getting a job again if you quit, etc. The companies were jealously protective of their workers. This is because the vast majority of quality games were done by a minority of the workers; the super elite programmers. You'd see people like Koji Kondo work only for nintendo, only on AAA titles, etc. However, being owned by these superpower companies, there was essentially no pressure on the worker to RUSH the titles. Deadlines became abstract. You were owned by the company, and you could make your brainchild, exactly in your style, without fear of losing your job or your company going bankrupt. The problem of course, is that being owned like a slave made the market AWFUL for programmers. Video game designers were forced to work absurd hours, like 12 a day 7 days a week (not really exaggerating here, which is scary). However, through a series of unions & labor laws, the market started becoming softer. As 1st party companies started getting shaken (sony joined in, sega crashed, nintendo faltered), development switched over the 3rd party companies. Now adays, all big name games are done by small-name studios. Bungie? Bioware? Epic? these 3rd party companies feel ENORMOUS pressure. If you follow the news, these companies pretty much make 1-2 games, and then fold, and all the programmers are shuffled into new jobs. Even successful companies like Blizzard North get destroyed, after their blockbuster titles (notice how Diablo 3 is being made by completely different crew than Diablo 1/2). Megagiants like Vivendi & EA go around absorbing the 3rd parties that make a blockbuster hit, force them to whore out 1 or 2 games, then fire them / dissolve them. The net result is that the majority of games become produced by 3rd party developers, who feel immense pressure by their parent company overseers to rush their title, get it out in time for christmas, and essentially do everything FOR PROFIT as opposed to FOR QUALITY. In the SNES days, it was all about making the 99% game instead of 95% game. Now adays, its about rushing a 60% game out in time for the holidays, and relying on consumer manipulation to sell it. Its 100x as profitable, and the more profitable companies choke out the lesser ones like weeds. Once EA consumes your startup company and forces your crew to make "Madden 2011" or something, your pet projects, your brainchild creations, are dead and gone. Video games are a victim of corporate culture, and if you plan on going into a job in the field, you should be mighty aware of the instability in the past, future, and present.
Edited by the Author.
I actually bothered to read that, and I guess you're right. That's what indie gaming is supposed to be against. I'm sure a lot of good indie sites would love to re-post that.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
well, i've always planned to go into video game design as a career, and I'm majoring in computer science, so I figured I'd do a lot of research on the field to see what the careers are like. And yeah its pretty ugly. But then again, what jobs aren't? I've got a friend in hollywood living on day old bagels while his movie is being edited
I didn't read that long post... sorry. I just wanted to say that no, emulating is not legal yet. ROM's, no matter how old, are still under copyright for now. By the time it's legal nobody will remember what an NES is. Typically, if you emulate games, you don't care if it's legal though.
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Video games were something that made me go, "WHOA!" 
Especially since I didn't own any. You know how that is, things are always cooler when they aren't yours.
Edited by the Author.
but I hear its different in the US.
I just wanted to say that no, emulating is not legal yet. ROM's, no matter how old, are still under copyright for now. By the time it's legal nobody will remember what an NES is. 
Typically, if you emulate games, you don't care if it's legal though.