Is it me or are console games not as good as they used to be?

[Scott Malbranque]

This is why I bust out my C64 on occasion and play Creatures, Creatures 2, Rick Dangerous, Hudson Hawk and if I can’t handle the 106 minute loading time, my Flimbo’s Quest, Navy Seals, Last Ninja Remix or Robocop cartridges.

I still play the PS2 regularly because I sold my Xbox 360 with all the trimmings and games to contribute towards a cable crossover machine, and I find the games better.

Or, I’ve taught myself to believe that anyway.

[Kookoocachu]

Apart from GTA5 I play more old games than newer ones. They're not the same at all and I think another reason for this is that the majority of consumers have a ridiculously high expectation of games now and spec instead of just enjoying the game play. PCs have definitely taken over the game play war now and have a much wider spectrum of games. 

[Chest Rockwell]

I'm definitely in the "don't have enough time for them" boat - I got an Xbox One at the end of October with only Shardow of Mordor and I still haven't finished it.

 

I fucking love it though, am not bored of it yet and am still playing it when I get the chance here and there. Can't bloody wait for a new Elder Scrolls game, because then I can just buy that and play it forever, at the rate I'm gaming now.

 

When I was gaming more but found myself tired of playing the big titles and sinking loads of time into expansive but mediocre games I turned to Xbox Live Arcade. Not sure if there's still a lot of good games coming out there, but there were at the time (a few years ago, on the 360).

 

But it's just another way of using today's gaming platforms. Neither playing the big expensive titles or the access to the plethora of Xbox Arcade games was possible back in the day so even if those little titles don't make use of the full processing power, they are still taking advantage of the medium in a way that wouldn't have been possible before.

 

So for those reasons I can't say that modern console gaming sucks. It's a huge business these days, but I do still think there is something for every type of gamer out there.

 

A great example that demonstrates this principle on a narrower scale is Call of Duty - The first Modern Warfare game was tremendous. Excellent story mode, and the online was really slick and well balanced. You could easily get good team games in online and people would actually talk to each other and work together.

 

Then the series got massively popular and everyone on there is a cunt now. But you still have games like Destiny that slide in and fill the hole by being a bit more niche - the game relies on strangers being able to get on there and amazingly you can go on there and complete raids without other people cursing out your mother and fucking it all up for everyone. Or so I understand - I have a couple mates who are addicted to the game.

[John Matrix]

I'm not sure i was ever a gamer to be honest, as with so many things, my tastes were very specific, i'd play endless hours of SFII, Mortal Kombat and Madden and that was about it. 

 

I think the most significant trigger for my ceasing to play, as ridiculous as it may sound, was the move to the six button controller.  I just dont have the co-ordination.  SFII wasnt so bad, because although you had six buttons, it was three punch, three kick, i could just about grasp that, but Madden, that's a whole other ball game - by the time i'd glanced down to find out which one was the fucking square button, i'd been sacked.  Hitting what i thought was tackle only for my defender to leap up in the area for no reason at all was the final straw.

 

Given the hours, i'm sure it'd be less of a problem, i've just lacked the time or inclination to get up to speed with modern gaming.  The last game i put any time into was this little gem on the PS2.

 

 

Coincidentally, and crucially it had a great little control system where you just knocked the directional stick in the direction of an oncoming attacker, so it wasnt button heavy and very easy to take on 5 or 6 assailants at any one time as occurs quite frequently.

 

I fucking loved the original Syphon Filter an'all now i come to think of it.  But yeah, apart from that..

[Sphinx]

Micro Machines is a winner when friends are over.

[King Coconut]

Micro Machines is a winner when friends are over.

 

The School Rules track has been responsible for many a black eye over the years.

[tiger_rick]

 

 

Micro Machines is a winner when friends are over.

The School Rules track has been responsible for many a black eye over the years.

Getting pushed off the ruler was the most frustrating thing in the history of gaming.

[Big Benny HG]

To my absolute delight I've just found out that Codemasters have made a new (non-licenced) version of Micro Machines, called Toy Box Racers, available on XBox Live Arcade. Has the option to choose between the 3D PlayStation view or a top-down Megadrive view. It isn't shit.

[Scott Malbranque]

So I went onto the Isozone and got a C64 emulator for the PS2 with 1000 roms.

I wound up playing Mayhem In Monsterland when everyone went to bed until 2am. B-i-olloxed today.

[Onyx2]

PCs have definitely taken over the game play war now...

 

The finances do not agree with you.

 

 

 

...and have a much wider spectrum of games. 

 

But that's spot on.

 

Console gaming has become a homogenised experience and an extremely profitable one for this reason. As with all commercial art though, there is room for the blockbuster and the indie title, but like a cool black and white French flick, it's a little harder to find.

 

Games now routinely trounce large chunks of the annual box office takings bar the very top earners, and you only achieve that penetration by being critically received by a culturally homogenous reviewing panel.

 

The big struggle for consoles is the march of Metacritic. It's not the paltform's fault but developers are incentivized to create games that get, say 80%+ on Metacritic. Don't hit the target, don't get a bonus. Therefore they are driven towards things that are safer wins, like first-person-open-worldy-slightly-adult-themed-but-not-really-collect-em-ups. Ubisoft has practically built it's last 5 years on this. While this reward system exists why wouldn't a large studio play it nice and safe?

 

I greatly applaud Joystiq's and Eurogamer's decision, among others, to remove scoring and step out of the Metacritic war. It won't create indie hits overnight, but a step in the right direction.

[Rey_Piste]

Joystiq and Eurogamer have only really done it so they can give indifferent scores to big triple A titles without pissing off the big publishers too much.

[Onyx2]

Joystiq and Eurogamer have only really done it so they can give indifferent scores to big triple A titles without pissing off the big publishers too much.

 

That's completely unfair. Eurogamer have distanced themselves from the publicity machine for years, and were very clear about this final change.

[quote the raven]

AAA games are all the same these days like you've already pointed out, Ubisoft are the worst as all their big games follow the exact same formula of being huge open worlds with a bazillion collectibles and towers to climb.

 

Get a Nintendo console, 3DS or Wii U.

 

I have to agree, I love the Wii u, sure there are hardly any" hardcore " games but Mario 3d world was the most fun ive had playing games in a long time.

 

The current Gen is just releasing MEH titles all the time nothing is getting rave reviews. Other than the remake titles, this might change when they ditch the last gen and only make for the current one. Im really hoping witcher and batman live up to the hype

[Rey_Piste]

 

 

Joystiq and Eurogamer have only really done it so they can give indifferent scores to big triple A titles without pissing off the big publishers too much.

That's completely unfair. Eurogamer have distanced themselves from the publicity machine for years, and were very clear about this final change.

Funny how you mentioned the fact that they've distanced themselves from publicity when reading that lnk on my phone came up a massive ad for Monster Hunter 4. Never mind the fact that Eurogamer Expo is basically full of publicity for various games companies.

[LaGoosh]

PCs have definitely taken over the game play war now and have a much wider spectrum of games. 

 

How so? I pay no attention to the PC market. What good stuff do they have out that you can't get on the consoles? I might have to look into this if there's a load of shit hot stuff I'm missing.