8-bit games appreciation
 

I assume that, this being the 8BT forums, we all have some appreciation for NES style games. I personally remember these games most fondly. These games were the most fun. The sound and look of the games often had a certain charm to it that you don't find in our current, more modern games. The games were also harder because they weren't near as long as modern games. And they needed to last the player. So for this to happen, they make it so that the player had to practice for some time before they'd even stand a chance at beating it.

Nowadays games get hell if they have a misplaced pixel. What happened? Where did our drive to just have fun in games go? I know Megaman 9 set us forward a bit, but from the looks of things it didn't do anywhere near enough. I'm not saying games can't have good graphics or sound, but I am sort of wondering why it should matter? I mean if good graphics and sound are what makes a game fun, then why purchase a game. You can get far better graphics and sound by sittingaround and looking at and listening to your surroundings.

Although on the plus side, nintendo did manage to do with Wiimote what they failed to do with the Powerglove all those years ago. I still can't help but think we'd be best off if we never brought games out of the 8-Bit era.

What do yall think?

I think 16-bit > 8-bit.

I will assume from previous threads that this is the consensus in this forum.


Serious answer: While I love old-school games (both 8-bit and 16-bit (no dinosaurs for me, fuckers!)) and do agree games in general have got easier, I have more of a problem with variety. These days it looks like almost every single high-budget is either an FPS or a WRPG, Mirror's Edge and LittleBigPlanet nonwithstanding. I also have become disenfranchised with many series (particularly Metal Gear) due to their focus on cinematics instead of actual gameplay. It doesn't help that the stories told are nowhere near "Oscar-quality".

This is the reason why handhelds rule this gen. <3 DS 4evar! PSP is cool too.

The problem I have with this sentence you typed isn't the fact that you dislike a franchise I truly adore, despite my fanboyistic tendencies I am fully aware that not everyone can appreciate Metal Gear as its style is very specialized to a smaller subset of gamers, particularly those who don't mind the long-ass cinematics. (I happen to love the long-ass cinematics, but this is largely because I enjoy watching movies every bit as much as I enjoy playing video games, and Metal Gear just seems to blend the two mediums perfectly.)

The problem I have with this sentence you typed is; when exactly did Metal Gear ever not have an emphasis on cinematics instead of actual gameplay? I mean unless you were a huge MG fan back in the NES days (I don't meet that many) who immediately grew disenfranchised back in 1998, you really don't have a viable excuse for thinking that Metal Gear Solid was ever not all about its long cinematic breaks. All these people I know tell me they loved the series back in the days of MGS and/or MGS2 but didn't care so much for MGS3 or MGS4 because of the "longer cutscenes" and I keep thinking back to the ratio in the original MGS and thinking: there was a lot more gameplay in MGS4 than MGS; I can rush through MGS in less then three and a half hours if I skip everything I can!

Also, I strangely tend to react with dismay when other games try to copy MGS' formula, but I don't mind the fact that the Metal Gear games themselves contain ungodly ratios of cinematics. I've justified this personally by a maxim that, since Kojima started the movement, his series was new, unique and fresh when it attempted to invigorate the gaming industry with a strong ratio of cinematic cutscenes. But then all the copycats decided "Hey, MGS worked because it takes all this time telling a story," but they didn't realize that MGS hooked gamers because their stories were actually good stories worth watching, so all these copycats tried to "up the cinematics" but ended up just boring me to tears.

Solidsnake did address this by saying that the NES Metal Gear games were niche and not particularly well liked.

Personally, I don't mind much particularly either way. 8 bit and 16 bit games are generally more suited to me because usually I like to sit down and just play a game and these games tended to be simpler with 2 or 1 button and straightforward gameplay.
Another useful bit of this era was that it was simpler to create games so you seemingly have a lot more indepedent companies trying new things (I don't know if this actually true but it makes sense to me).
But if I have more time to play a game I like a more complex game as games of today tend to be. Also story-telling in videogames while still generally bad has improved and I like having an engaging story.
So yeah, all eras have thier worth.

I guess I should have worded it better. I became disenfranchised with Metal Gear after Guns of the Patriots, solely because the so called "ungodly ratios of cinematic versus gameplay" went through the roof in the latest installment. I never bothered to finish my replay of Sons of Liberty because of this. Snake Eater, while enjoyable and one of my most delightful experiences from the last generation, did not manage to pull me again for more than one playthrough either.

My problem isn't really with big cinematics as much as with really-big-longarse-Atlas' wang-sized cinematics. This is especially jarring to me because I disagree that Kojima is a master of marrying cutscenes and gameplay. He's had his moments (The Boss' death being the most poignant), but for whatever reason, in MGS4, he seemed to throw aside everything he had previously learned. You stop playing for really long spans, bordering in half-hours at times, solely because Kojima felt a goddamn need to explain every single loose end, no matter their importance. The only time he seemed to have a grasp on this in the was during the button-mashing sequence (you know the one). I felt that one captured the sense of tension, tiredness, and despair perfectly.

Yeah, "becoming disenfranchised with the series" was a bad choice of words. I should have said "becoming disenfranchised with Metal Gear Solid 4". What I'm trying to attest is that the previous games in the Solid saga at least tried to veil the fact that cutscenes and gameplay where on complete different spectrums by giving each their own weight and not bothering with the balance between the two. This also explains my love for Final Fantasy XII and my hatred for Final Fantasy X.

I missed that, my apologies.

I'll add that I didn't even bother to pick up MGS 4. I don't believe Kojima has even a hint of competence. He demonstrates that perfectly by killing Solid Snake off. I mean he finally fixed the Foxdie problem, but for what? He just created somethingequally bad w/ Snake's accelerated aging. I really wish they fanboys hadn't threatened to kill him and just let him leave it to the more competent employees at Konami instead.

Regulus Tera: I was going to say something, but then you said you loved FFXII and hated FFX. And then I realized; we just have the exact opposite preferences when it comes to videogames. Because, of course, I loved FFX and thought FFXII was comparatively mediocre. (I wouldn't go so far as to say I hated FFXII, I'd save such language for FFX-2.)

It's cool. I really disagree with everyone who argues that there's some objective way to "rate how great videogames are." Everyone has their own preferences, and the greatest games (in my opinion, at least) really aren't the ones that "everyone likes" (these tend to just be casual titles that can't possibly offend anyone,) but rather, they're the games that inspire the most passion from vehement fans who get it. For example, I'm not an FFVI fan at all, but I've learned to at least respect the fact that others really appreciate it...so I'll live with people saying it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Technically speaking, FFVI isn't "flawed," it just didn't work its magic on me. I reserve the same explanation for people who dislike MGS4.

...

...This just screams of "please play the game before you criticize it," so that's exactly what I'm going to say to you. =)

I meant that he killed him off with the accelerated aging thing. I've seen the ending online and no, he's not cured of it at the end. I'm sure the gameplay is great and all, but if the game designers anger me, I won't buy the game when I have other choices from game designers who did not anger me, which I can spend my money on instead.

It's not like I'd have a reason to buy a PS3 besides MGS4 anyway. Some people may like the other games, but they just didn't capture my interest. So if I were to buy MGS4 it would mean paying $400 for a PS3, $40-50 for a game that would piss me off with its story involving Snake NOT being cured of his accelerated aging. I'd rather just keep my $440-$450. I can tell you disagree and that is perfectly okay, but the game is just not something I want.

I like them thar 8-bit games because they're hard and sometimes unfair. However, I like multiplayer, and 4-player only became mainstream in home consoles with the N64. Add in that now I can find games that are difficult, unfair, and both of those pertaining to my experience fighting other humans who have to deal with the same difficulty and unfairness as opposed to my battle against the computer, and I can find enough to enjoy these days, too.

So, uh, I play my old games and my new games, like I've said before, though this time I'll emphasize the whole "I like games of various eras" bit and downplay the "kids these days play through God of War then sell it to GameStop" deal from the last time I sang this song. Also, I don't currently own an 8-bit system. My bad.