One of many reasons old games are better...

[nusilver]

Hey guys. Got a new blog for you all:

http://www.invisiblegamer.net/2012/0...f-milk-crates/

A bit heavy handed, but hey...we're older gamers and damnit, it's our prerogative to be grumpy.

[Edmond Dantes]

I don't remember milk crates, but otherwise yeah, all true.

One myth I hear a lot from younger gamers is that gaming has always been about riding on big-name franchises, similar to the endless Maddens and Calls of Duty of today. I don't know where these people are coming from: the NES had Super Mario Bros, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Bionic Commando, Totally Rad... all brand new games, in some cases only loosely based on an arcade game that was released just a year previously. Same goes for the 16-Bit era. We had one new Zelda, one new Contra... and the invention of Sonic the Hedgehog, Aero the Acro-Bat, Lunar, Lufia, so on and so forth. The majority of titles were new things, not franchises.

Nowadays, it seems like all I ever see are sequels, and it gets depressing. Although, I know that's untrue and I can find an original game by looking elsewhere, but its just too costly.

[kedawa]

There are hundreds of original titles released every year. You don't have to buy MEGABLOCKBUSTERAAAGAME#28347.

[The 1 2 P]

There are hundreds of original titles released every year. You don't have to buy MEGABLOCKBUSTERAAAGAME#28347.

Very true. With 3 major consoles, atleast 2 major handhelds(and variations), pc and tons of OS games there are literally hundreds of new games that get released every single year. It's been that way for atleast the last 5 years and will continue for the foreseeable future.

[homerhomer]

So recently I've favored the older stuff like NES and Genesis but I also pick up other old games when I find them cheap, For instance when I got my wii I started buying a ton of gamecube games, they were super cheap and just as fun then the new games and like $5. I can hardly wait for the new Nintendo system to come out so I get some good cheap wii games ( there must be a couple ).

For more modem experience I like my PC. I've been pretty happy with Valve's Steam service for all the FPS games.

[Shriek of the Mutilated]

Not so sure if I agree in all regards. While I do believe that the formative years of console gaming (and video gaming in general) were necessarily more innovative and experimental, I absolutely don't believe that the reliance on pre-established franchises was ever any less severe than it is today. I mean, just look at that "Nintendon't" ad in the article. It advertises *nothing* but games based on preexisting intellectual property and celebrity-endorsed sports titles. The author even brings up the Madden series specifically in the list of reasons why current generation gaming is overly derivative and inferior, yet there were *eight* Madden Football titles released for the Genesis alone, one every year, just like today.
If you want to go back even further, just think of all the innumerable direct clones and ripoffs of pioneer titles like Galaga, Space Invaders, Pac Man and, of course, Pong.

Don't get me wrong, though. I do think the article is a decent attempt at an honest explanation for a preference for older games, but my personal impression of the gaming industry of yesteryear is just drastically different. I can't recall a time when mainstream gaming wasn't plagued by lazy imitations and franchise-milking.