Finally someone defending the old guard against all this un-creative new stuff

Ha. Love the instruction manual argument. I forgot about how cool those were. I actually remember the Metroid one where they explained where metroids come from. Actually freightened me

Look, it's Thor. Loki will destroy you wretched demi god.

After trying out the FireNes addon for Firefox, I can quite happily say that I hope the 'good old days' of gaming stay firmly stuck in the olden days.

Little Big planet Will Revolutionize Next Gen Gaming

With the manuals part.

I remember back in the n64, and intellivision, and ps2 days, that you could get part of the story right out of the manual.

Anyone remember Donkey Kong 64?

I remember when I was like...6..wait when was Donkey Kong 64 released? anyway I remember the manual itself gave sooo much background info of the characters and the story.

I can't keep playing the old games. Contra, Castlevania. Name any new game that comes close to those two

I just can't bring myself to enjoy older games as much as I used to. Maybe I'm just a newer, bigger, better kind of person, but I really can't share the author's views (for the most part). I know, however, that I did enjoy these older, or 'retro', games more at one point in time.

What's Little Big planet all about?

seems like im on a site with a whole group of different people lol.
maybe you guys just finally read the article you've been waiting for and all decided to comment at the same time or somethin

but yea i agree with the article as far as story lines and character depth goes. sometimes i wonder if metal gear solid 4 will be the last game of its kind with its engaging story and deep character envolvement.

I agree with about half the list and disagree with the other half. It is sad that everything is about being real and being violent. One of the reasons I loved Okami so much is because they made something that had never been seen before and was extreamly creative. Imagine what they could do with current hardware when they were able to make Okami for PS2. The possibilities are endless.

The thing about to many sequels is a odd thing for me. Sure there are probably to many sequels however most of the games that have sequels deserve them and in most cases are better then the first. However there are games that are getting to old and need to move on but the devs behind them refuse to do so. I mean honestly how long can they keep GTA going. I haven't enjoyed the series since GTA III.

what about mega man 9. 16 bit games are still being made but now developers have more ways to bring their ideas to life.

Their forgetting good story lines though.

Yes I agree that the 80s and early 90s were the golden age of gaming.However I think the Genesis had better games than the SNES for my retro fix.I didn't like Final Fantasy that much.I prefered Phantasy Star.

what about legend of zelda link to the past vs twilight princess? what game's got a better storyline?

It even has a min-comic!

Just saying. :)

The only thing that bothered me is his reasoning for manuals.

Manuals in that era had to be in depth because the games technical limitations prevented them from being too story driven. The Mario example he gives is a perfect example of this.

Of course the manual is going to tell you about the enemies and where they came from. The game itself is about getting from point A to B in the quickest way possible and, every eighth level you had to hit a switch to drop a clone of the main bad guy into lava. Not much story there.

10. True. Instruction books used to be interesting, Hell, Zool and Lemmings on the Amiga had a comic in the instructions to fill in the basic plot. I haven't seen a truly creative designed instruction book except that awesome book packaging for the PC version of San Andreas.

9. Lame fans, yes. The 'upgrade' scenario. Mainly down to the online section of FPS games.

8. No. Some great storylines have shined through, its just the fact not all the supposedly 'AAA games' get them. You have to look for them, Shadow of Memories has a great plot. Branching too.

7. Indeed. This is one reason I found playing Gears of War a chore, Marcus Fenix is the worst game protagonist, ever. I just can't emotionally connect with him at any level.

6. Yes. Especially. I do like escaping from reality. That's why I like my 3D platformers (especially Jak and Ratchet series) and action/adventures.

5. This is why console DL'able games are perfect.

4. No.

3. Fate of many games. I don't like it either.

2. Not really. Past game series had more sequels.

1. I honestly think this is more applicable with Gears of War. That game's audience runs off its insisted chainsaw branded camera splatted gore.
Doing devilish things have always been in games, but GTA has matured too much in GTAIV and needs to lighten up comically a bit more. Be less Godfather, more Tarantino and Guy Ritchie.
Being crude with pretend franchises didn't do it for me this time.

Thats why valve is so good at what they do... if you look at their games it has it all, or most i should say. I think thats why Left 4 Dead is going to be awesome, so simple, it kinda brings back the GoldenEye age of run and gun lol

You know what, this might sound strange, but I believe the biggest difference between games then and games now is the internet.

Now, before you hit that disagree button do me ONE favor...sit back, take a breath and think about that for 30 seconds.

Well it's complicated.

I miss the old simple beat-em-ups like Streets of Rage, Battletoads and Power Rangers. I also miss the not-so-old games life Half-Life, Starcraft, FF7 and Fallout.

But I love MGS4 (and all the other ones too), Resident Evil 4, SotC, Okami and many others.

My only problems are those god damned ''Jack vs the terrorists'', Movies-to-games or WW2 games. They're boring, mindless, unoriginal and they give us a bad name. Enough Call of Duty's, Medal of Honor's, Shreks, Spiderman's. Make some original stuff. If you make shooters, make them like Unreal Tournament, Quake, Half-Life 2, Perfect Dark, Crysis or Doom. Make them either futuristic, colorful, dark, original, scary... anything except LAME BROWN CITIES!!!

IMO, this guy needs to get out of the SNES days, all his complaints are about how games aren't like Super Metroid. If he wants to be stuck in the 90's and 80's, thats fine by me

has this guy played sotc or ico?

If this guy thinks that Modern games are too Easy....well I think that a lot of NES and SNES games were too freakin' difficult. In Modern Games there are usually tons of checkpoints within one level, but I remember back in the NES and SNES games, the levels didn't have anywhere as many checkpoints and that made things somewhat frustrating at times, especially if you were doing a really tough level.

I wouldn't say that most Modern games are too easy because all you have to do is bump up the difficulty level a bit, but I think that a lot of old school games were already hard even without increasing the difficulty. If this guy is looking for a challenge, he should try Uncharted on Crushing Difficulity or God of War 2 on Titan Mode.

I really don't think it made much sense when they said that Modern games have loss simplicity because as video game technology progressed, it only made sense that the games would get more complex and would require more complex controllers to carry out even MORE actions in a game.

But I do agree that there aren't as many Modern games with a really good story line though... Uncharted, MGS4, and Heavenly Sword had really good storylines and characters to me and I do wish more developers would put as much attention into the story as they put into the Online/ Multiplayer.

This is a nice article and i enjoyed reading it.. However, mentioning bad/no instructions manuals and GTA in the same article just doesn't work...

i strongly agree with 10- the MGS4 and GTA4 manuals are the only next-gen manuals that impressed me... especially MGS4, i have always enjoyed reading the MGS4 manuals... it even has a freaking comic inside for god's sake

i disagree with 5 though- there is plenty of simplicity around on the XBLA/PSN/WiiWare service... games like PJMonsters, Eden, Elefunk etc all sport simplistic yet addictive gameplay styles

OF COURSE modern games suck...if you're playing them on the BS3, that is. The terrible hardware makes it impossible to immerse yourself in the game world, what with the 20fps stuttering and washed out colors.

Jump In !

10: I agree. Although bigger manuals would increase prod. costs, and wouldn't be very environmental friendly.

9: Alot of lame fans out there yes. But you cant blame people for moving on when they're done with a game.

8: Alot of modern games with excellent storylines. Alot of retro games with crap storylines. (and vica versa)

7: Again.. Alot of modern games with excellent character depth. Alot of retro games with crap character depth. (and vica versa)

6: Not sure i see the point here. I dont think GTA4 would be more fun if it was less realistic. And alot of modern games aren't realistic at all.

5: Less simplicity is a step forward for gaming i think. If you want simplicity, get a DS or download some casual PSN/XBLA games or whatever.

4: Some games are, some are too hard. Alot of them have adjustable difficulties setting anyway. I dont think modern games have a problem with being too easy.

3: I've never played a game thinking, this game has too good graphics.

2: Well i do wish it was a bigger focus on new franchises than sequels. But good games with good sequels are always welcome.

1: When did violence stop being entertaining?! Seriously, did we have a meeting?

I grew up playing NES, Genesis and SNES games that were sometimes very friggin difficult.

But with the newer games, some of them can be difficult, but they are never really difficult like before.

Furthermore, I think the lack of difficulty in the modern games is starting to kill my skill. It was obvious to me when I bought Mega Man 9 on PSN last week and I can't even beat a level. I mean, they threw it back to old school Mega Man style (and difficulty), and I am getting my arse handed to me. I remember when I could beat Mega Man 2 with my eyes closed. I'm sure the skill will come back to me with time, but it just seems like the lax difficulty of today's games have dulled my game playing skills.

My complaints...
If you don't like the violence, there are plenty of games without it. Unfortunately, if you look, you will find it.

The modern era has more sequals because there have been a lot more games worthy to make sequels of. Over the years devs have made so many new IPs compared to the old days so it's not really a fair comparison. A game that sells millions would have had a sequel in any era...

I could have sworn there were graphical improvements since the days of Tron on the Atari. Devs did then what they do today--try to make the most out of the technology they have.

Games today are too easy? I could have sword I'd beaten several NES games in less than a half hour. I beat Super Mario Bros. in around six minutes... There are easy games in any era. Want a harder game? Play it on its hardest difficulty.

Simplicity can still be found in today's gaming era. Check Xbox's or PSN's downloadable titles. Braid and SSHD are both shining examples of simplicity done right. Much like the violence complaint, it depends on where you look.

The character depth and storyline complaints are an outright joke. Are you kidding me? I still love playing the original Zelda for the NES but I don't have the audacity to say that game had more character and/or plot developement than Resistance or Bioshock. Get real. Games in that era had little to no plot/character developement. What was the point of Star Soldier? What about Rampage? Super Mario? Zelda? River City Ranson? For the most part, all of the info on those games could be written on a single sheet of paper...

As for passion, fanboys > retro gamer. I think I put around 270 hours into FFX. That's passion. I don't ever recall doing that with a retro title.

The problem with modern games is the best selling doesn't mean the best quality game and corporate America has impacted how video games are made. Very few games are really that good and are usually cranked out for a quick buck. Those that are good use millions of dollars so it's rare for people to use great graphics and take a chance on a game that may not sell. Games like Okami and Shadow of Colossus are going to soon dwindle away. Games like Halo that make very little improvements are praised while titles like Half-Life struggle to put up those numbers. It's the same thing with movies and music.

"Lack of good story lines"
"Characters lack depth"
"Focused on being too realistic"

Then a picture of GTA4 appears.

Are these people retarded? GTA4 had a completely unexpected storyline, a protagonist that you could feel for, and while it focused on being realistic, it also provided an enjoyable game.

Sure the online was not so great and it may not have been as good as the predecessors (I wouldn't know, because 4 was my first and only, but I've heard that it wasn't as good), but it sure as hell did not fall under any of those 3 problems.

No game can compare to Super Metroid. Case closed.

RPG's nowadays are waaaaaaaaaay too easy I agree. Same with GTA IV (the easiest GTA game by about 100 times).

But seiously, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has to be the hardest game I have ever played. Getting gold on those challenges is just ridiculous sometimes.

The author makes some decent points about modern games lacking attention to a good storyline vs more realistic graphics. However, nostalgia is one thing, it seems this guy isn't ready to let go of his childhood memories of games which realistically is too hard to live up to. What the author fails to mention is how many TERRIBLE games we're released along the 'Metroid' and 'Super Mario' era.. It's best to respect the past, support the current gen, and move on..

Some solid reasons.
I have to agree with the writer on some terms.

"This sense of suspense the game created made for the gamer in yearning to find a save spot is lost in what seems like infinite ways not to die in a video game like any modern game like Twilight Princess (a great game by the way) for example."

This may be the worst sentence I have ever read.

It's true that "there is no new thing under the sun", and this is not just in the world of games. Film suffers from recycled characters and plots, remakes and sequels, and the most groundbreaking thing being done in Hollywood today is special effects. King Kong has been done three times, twice winning the Oscar for special effects. That said, games have made huge leaps in storytelling and continue to push the envelope as to what is acceptable as "art" in ways that no other medium can. I loved the original "Civilization", and Mario was cool, but I'll take Bioshock over them any day.

I never actually played any of the "old skool" consoles but I'm pretty happy with the way games are now. Although, I do agree with the manuals being somewhat lacklustre.

I see the no.1 problem with games is the games player. 90% of gamers expect too much from dvelopers.

Games are doing far more in game quality and experiences than they ever did in the respective years for previous generations. As this gen progresses we're in for some mind blowing stuff if early 1&2gen games are any indication.

Some People seem to conveniently forget that generations last beyond 5 years and in previous gens it wasn't 'till years 3,4 &5 before they got those hot memorable experiences that they pine over; but this gen we're getting them within the first 2yrs with 4 more to go.

I for one am gaming way more than I've ever had cause everything seems soooo good and this has been the best generation of gaming I've ever had. Don't confuse nostalgia for ultimate greatness.

Finally. WOW! A great well done article. This is a fantastic list of things wrong with todays gaming. Damn I cant believe this. I agree with EVERYTHING this person has brought up. These in fact HAVE everything to do with the problems in games and there content today. NICELY F**KING DONE! Couldnt agree more.

I completely disagree with most of the article. I remember quite well remember the NES/SNES days of my youth.

Sure I have fond memories of those times, but unlike the author of this article I don't consider that to be the golden age of video games.

Gaming to me didn't really show it's potential in till the onset of the late 90s where more developers started to focus more on storyline.

Pretty good list.

All i can say is the most memorable moment for me would be with Conkers Bad Fur Day, don't ask why but it's true! N64 Come back to me with goldeneye and CBFD!

i think that the problem is ... no more co-op, its soo annoying, they think gamers only like it online. Most gamers are too obsessed, since im on n4g ill proberbly get alot of abuse, they dont socialize or go out make friends to play with, i usually just buy co-op games but the lack of them is giving me a hard choice to buy stuff.

I agree with many of the points that the article makes. Games are too complicated. That's why the Wii is such a success. You have no idea how many people I talk to that say they bought the Wii because the other consoles are too complicated. Even friends I grew up playing games with say that. A long time ago, RPG's were the most time consuming genre and because they only came out 3 or 4 times a year it was great. You could balance that with other games. Now, every genre, even sports games, have become complicated.

I agree with roughly half the list, but not so much that I'd consider them "problems," just "differences," really.

Although I love games from the NES and SNES eras in which I grew up and I play them regularly, this article states very poor, flawed arguments and inaccurate facts.

Example #1: the article claims that Metroid was similar to Pac-Man in that it "didn’t even leave one screen" -- false.

Example #2: the claim that "Characters lack depth" today in comparison to in the NES era is obviously a faulty analysis. In the days of the original release of Super Mario Bros., Ninja Gaiden, and even Final Fantasy 1, the technology simply wasn't there for characters to be given depth, so clearly the opposite of what the article states is true: characters DO have more depth today than they did back then.

Example #3:

Quote: "How many Grand Theft Autos are there? How man Metal Gear Solids are out there? All these spy/crime “thrillers” are loaded to the brim with sequels that never come close to the originals."

Apparently, the author of this article believes that Metal Gear Solid 4 doesn't live up to the original Metal Gear.

Next.

The best game ever made is Baldur's Gate(1998)& Baldur's Gate 2(2001)
This game is better then anything ps3 or xbox360 has.

p.s if you have not played this game you are not a true rpg fan XD

I grew up on late Nes to now and I can say there were some games that were great and tons that fell flat boring.

I was more bored of the Snes generation because all the games were to similar love castlevania though. During that generation lot of my friends love going to the arcades.

Now with online gameplay people here don't want to go to the arcades anymore to play with other people. Online generation is the most fun and overlooked so far just because we are in it right now. Yes I put this generation above PS2's even though PS2's generation rocked.

Has anyone played the mega man demo on psn. I remember beating that game but I have gone soft playing these new games.

its true i started playing my games sinces the first console nes and its true that games do seem to like flash and not game play

in some ways i agree, and some not. i jumped in to gaming near the end of the SNES era. Last night I downloaded Mega Man 9. I frigin' loved everything until i started playing it. guys were jumping out without giving me more than a split-second chance to react, and sometimes knocking me into pits. lives? lives and continues are just stupid now. they need to make the game overall harder, or just add more penalty for dying is all. Ooh, you sent me to the title screen. what did you wanna make sure i wanted to load the game again? did you? did you, Onimusha Warlords? Lives are just lazy ways to add challenge. as for complexity, there's some times when games just have too much you have to do, yes. the rest of this can be summed up with "too many gangster/space shooters," which is true. this guy just needs to shut up and fight the right games.
Also, no good storylines? i find in a LOT of games, clever dialogue and charming characters will make me like a game way more than complex plots. Perfect examples are "Beyond Good & Evil" and "Disgaea"

Metroid Prime V Super Metroid? Is it not obvious which is better?

SUper Metroid V Metroid Prime. Is it not obvious which one is better?

terrible article

this list when the author notes that modern games have worse story lines. That's the most backwards pile of sh*t statement I've ever heard. This moron is clearly a retro tetris fan and that's all he knows.

mgs manuals. bioshock storyline.

I have fond memories of games I enjoyed years ago, but when I see them now they suck. I recently downloaded the old Intellevision games pack from Xbox Live, because I had an Atari 2600 at that time and had always wanted an Intellevision. I instantly regretted downloading the thing, it's looks terrible, it plays awkwardly and it lacks realism. The guy is right on the manuals though, the manuals today are so useless I don't know why they even bother printing them. PC games used to contain actual books that made the game box heavy(remember Gunship?). Anyways, I am an old fart that still likes video games and I think they are better now. There even better now that I can afford to buy them without mom's help.