Least Favorite Era in Videogaming?

[Aswald]

Video gaming has been around now for over a quarter of a century. From the simple Pong games to the most modern ones, many, many, changes have occurred over the years; some good, some bad. Of course, it's all subjective, but...

Which era did you like the least, for whatever reason? I don't list specific eras, because there are too many possibilities. It's up to you.

[Aswald]

I would choose the very late 1980s right through to the later 1990s. The entire arcade scene was largely dominated by games that were all cosmetics, there was very little innovation, and the 1990s arcade scene was almost entirely fighting games, gun games, and second-person driving games (exceptions were just that). The 16-Bit era was especially dull; I gave away the Sega Genesis I'd fixed. Bleah.

Looking through some videogaming magazines of the mid-1990s, there weren't more than one or two games that remotely interested me.

[digitalpress]

Hey Aswald, I've added a poll to your question to correspond with the "Greatest Era" poll we have in the Polls forum.

My answer to the question by the way, is the NES/SMS era. Actually right around this time I was playing Commodore 64 and in fact LEARNING about computers. Though I was gaming heavily, the two console systems weren't doing it for me at the time.

[Ascending Wordsmith]

I picked the early 00's. For some reason, I appreciate sprites on 2D platforms more than polygons in 3D environments. After growing up on 2D games, to see a series (Mario and Sonic) placed into a 3D atmosphere is severely detrimental to my nostalgia.

[Captain Wrong]

Right now. Why? Well I am unabashedly biased against 3d. Not that I'm not without hope, really I'd love to see more games such as Maximo that I feel capture that "thing" that made 2d great. I just don't see any right now.

I feel that because designers aren't limited by technology that much anymore, we're getting more eye candy, longer games for the sake of being longer, more complicated games, etc., etc, but at the cost of gameplay. Also I feel there's a tendancy towards "everybody is a winner" gameplay where all you have to do is put in time and you can beat the game. Back in the day, it was skill. There were some games you were good at, some you weren't and that was that.

Part of this I think is due to the marketing campaign of the PSX which sold cutscenes and graphics over gameplay. A whole generation of gamers have come to expect those things from games when really they are a small part of the whole expirence.

I also feel that the amount of money flowing has hurt things. Really creative people who didn't have resources could make a game and have a shot at it being sucessful. Not so anymore. Plus, with all the money dev houses are throwing into games, I think there's a pressure to develop franchices vs. being new and creative. No one is taking the risks like they used to because the stakes are just too high.

And I hate the thing of games mimicking movies. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch a damn movie. Too many games are trying to blur the line and create these "interactive storybook" kind of things. That's all well and good, but it's not a video game.

In short, I'm a dinosaur. I can accept that. I don't get mad because the industry no longer produces the kind of games I like to play. That's fine, there's plenty of old stuff for me to pick up. Sure, I'll perk my ears up when I hear someone is reviving an old series from the 2d days, but I've learned to expect nothing good from it. I was lucky enough to be at the right age to have lived through the golden age, so I'm ok with it.

[gamingguy]

I liked all those eras. My vote would go for the mid-70's when there were lame games like "Lunar Lander" "Night Driver" and "Air-Sea Battle".

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I've got to go with the current era, though the early 90s SNES/Genesis era runs a very close second. The difference is that there were at least computer games that interested me at that time. Little interests me of the recent crop outside of retro compilations and games that just have an old-school "feel" (i.e. Gubble, South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, etc.). In packing up my belongings and my collection lately and getting ready to move, I discovered two things:

1. My Odyssey2 collection still outnumbers my PSX and GBC collections.
2. I go back to the Odyssey2 games more often.

I see lots of ads on TV for new PS2, Xbox and (to a much lesser degree) Gamecube titles, and nothing reaches out and grabs me and makes me think "Hey, this'll be fun." Part of this is lousy marketing that concentrates more on cutscene animation than in-game action, but part of it is also just the current FPS/RPG/sports game mindset. It's just not what I like to play.

And let me just repeat for the record another convincing argument that's already been put forward...

And I hate the thing of games mimicking movies. If I wanted to watch a movie, I'd watch a damn movie. Too many games are trying to blur the line and create these "interactive storybook" kind of things. That's all well and good, but it's not a video game.

Preach on, brother!

[nesman85]

"pre-crash" stuff is just not for me.

[kainemaxwell]

PSX and Saturn era did produce some good games and a few new francises, but in general it was alot of "me too" clones, rehashes of sports titles and some bad 3D updates that left a bad taste in our mouths. Plus it seemed like the PSX turned everyone into a "gamer" at that point too.

[Buyatari]

Right when NES stopped making games and before PSX took over as #1.

The period with a whole bunch of systems which never did anything for me. Right around when everyone started to issue games on CDs.

3DO
Amiga CD32
CDTV
Memorex VIZ
Atari Jaguar
Sega Saturn
CDI
Sega CD

I think it cented around 1993-1994

I think the lack of any good game systems is why many people started collecting classic games around this time.

Yeah the SNES was good but what did it have to compete with? You'll notice that was the last time Nintendo was on top.

I love the classic games and I think the video game market now has never had more serious competetion. Its just everything in between that sucked.

[scooterb23]

For me it was a mix of the late 80's and the mid 90's.

I loved the Genesis...hated the SNES though. It still only has about 5 games I really like to play a lot...

And I like my Playstation and Saturn a bunch, but my 3DO gets almost no play at all...

So overall, I very much enjoy every era of video gaming, those two moments stuck out to me.

[Six Switch]

Late 80s to early 90s.But I still love ym Genesis and SNES to death.

[maxlords]

I didn't start gaming until the NES/SMS era, so I never got into the pre-crash gaming at all...and it doesn't do a thing for me now. The only pre-crash gaming I ever did was the C64, which I still have fond memories of

[Gunstarhero]

Thats easy for me. I can't stand the newest generation. The move to virtually 99% of games to 3-d has been the worst thing to happen to video games. I hate to sound like an old fart, but that's the way it is. Give me cartridges, or give me death!

[TVs Hasselhoff]

I grew up with the Atari and Intellivision, but my disappointment with the PSX/Saturn era isn't due to any misty-eyed rememberances of days gone by. What I don't like is the lack of game innovation that came out of that time, and the legacy we're stuck with now.

The Atari era had games similar to what you found in the arcades, simple scoring, easy controls, straight-forward objectives. The kind of gaming one would expect when you only have a quarter or two to play and don't have the ability to spend all day in front of the machine. (lets keep in mind that, yes, many of us spent all day in an arcade, but obsession for a game versus game design that means you HAVE to play all day are two different things).

With the NES era, we saw traditional gaming, plus more exploration into new types of gaming, like rpg's (zelda, final fantasy), mission based games (metal gear), plus graphical improvements on shooters, platformers, etc. Still a lot of great gaming, and the novelty of the new stuff only added to the mix. Plus, the new technology of the systems allowed for a greater degree of development of the game world you were participating in.

But as we moved into the 16-bit era, then into the 32-bit era, all we saw were less and less of the "just fun to play" games, more expansion of the adventure and rpg, and the juggernaught of fighting games. Plus, the industry becamed more obsessed with the money. Sure, the money was always a concern, but the youthfulness that seemed to occupy the leadership mindset in this country became a strictly business mentality. This is the mentality that led into the franchise thinking that the psx era was dominated by. We saw emphasis on rpg, fighting, and the noses were turned down on simple ideas. Look at how Mr. Driller was received. Despite some critical acclaim, did we get to see a sequel in this country? And what Madden are we on now? How many NBA games are out there? How many mutations of the Mortal Kombat franchise have we witnessed? Has Eidos realized yet that maybe ANOTHER Tomb Raider is NOT the way to go?

We see little in the way of original gaming today because of the big business that came out of the PSX era. Certainly Sony throwing in because of the cash potential should have been a harbinger of things to come. Now do the Japanese feel the same way? Hard to say. But look at all the goodies they seem to come up with. New ideas still seem to pour out of Japan. Over here, we saw the 4th release of Tony Hawk (5th if you count 2x for Xbox).

Maybe the new systems will lead to a new genre to break the monotony, or a backlash against franchises and exorbitant spending will make Sony rethink another platformer. But this all stems from the big business, big tech approach of the 32-bit era, and I want it to end.

Still love my Halo, though.

[Alex Kidd]

I had to say the current era.I was born in 81, so I kinda missed the pre-crash stuff, but I did grow up with a 1600, and so did most of my friends... so I did play quite of bit of it.

And you know what? 2600 games are freaks of nature, I swear if you look at your collection of games, you'll find at least 60% you have no clue where they came from. we all had games that we just "had".... where'd they come from? we don't know... barely had any games with manuals, a fe with out labels, but we didn't need em, we stuck em tin the 2600 and in 10 minutes we were on our way. simple, fun, addictive gameplay.

the 8 bit and 16 bit eras were more of the same, addictive gameplay, but adding some flash cause trhey could.. the start of the 32 bit era and onward... hmmm...

this thought began creeping into the minds of video game developers... and I don't like it...

In the 70s/80s/early 90s they were thinking... 'okay, what kinda gameplay is gonna hook kids and make them want to play these game endlessly'. that idea was abandoned and the new idea became, 'What can we do with this games opening cutscenes, or advertisments to make kids think it'll be fun...'

And you know how this chnage of thought came about? the fact that arcades are dying out...
In the old days, if you produced a bad game.. a kid would come, put in a few quarters, realize it sucked, and leave it.. it would make no money, BUT nowadays a kid (or his parent, or hell, even us adult gamers) pay 60-80 bucks for a game, and then if the game sucks, whether the buyer likes it/plays it or not, company's don't care, cause they've already made their sale.

Alex Kidd

[YoshiM]

I have to say the current crop of games doesn't do it for me. While I do have an XBox, iin the hopes that something new and interesting will come its way, there are not many games that are coming out that catch my attention. Sure they look wonderful, but there's hardly any substance with a lot of games these days. Maybe I've become jaded in my old age but it's becoming harder to find a fun title rather than an electronic time waster.

[ManekiNeko]

RIGHT NOW.

JR

[Kamisama]

right now... very true.

[le geek]

I almost went with right now. Particularly I felt silly for getting a PS2 when I did (although Ridge Racer V is still a blast). I was also upset that the Dreamcast died as it was such a great system (in terms of what games came out for it: Soul Calibur, Jet Grind Radio, Typing of the Dead, Shenmue, Rez).

Most of the early PS2 games were prettier versions of PSOne games, etc... This changed for me finally with ICO, and Suikoden III. Also, the Gamecube has more really nice stuff for it.

So it was a toss up between post crash 8-bit and 16-bit. As I was on the c64 and Amiga track at the time...

And the 16-bit era wins it for just seeming like a prettier version of 8-bit. Although in retrospect there are games I like for almost every system