Age and gaming preferences

[Kebo]

This probably is still a bit too early, but I didn't feel like waiting another ten years.

For those of you that are younger, say, under 20, or even under 18, which games did you grow up with, and how do you view games that preceded you? I'm 25 and grew up with NES and experienced the changes in the industry, and I wonder how kids that grow up with PS3 as their first console will view older, more simple games. Or what it will be like for those that don't go from NES graphics to PS3 in over multiple decades, and instead simply go from 3D, realistic PS3 games to 3D, photorealistic games.

For anyone that grew up with PS1/N64 as their first system, how do you view NES, SNES, Genesis, etc games? Are they just curiosities, or are any of them on par with the newer games for you? Do you actually prefer any older systems to newer ones? Many of us have nostalgia that affects our judgment, the fact we played them long ago, and the fact they were, at one time, the latest and greatest, may change how we appreciate them. I just hope kids 20 years from now don't simply pass over what came before.

[Anayo]

I was born in 1990, but I got started out on the NES cause my family didn't want to/couldn't spend a lot of money on a gaming system.

In '95 or '96 or so, I wanted a Sega Saturn, which was $400. Instead they got me a $60 Sega Genesis. I was too young to really tell the difference and got exposed to awesomeness like Sonic 3 and Vectorman. I have a strong fascination for the look and sound of old Sega games because of this.

To answer the question, "How to I view games before my day", I'm pretty open minded to anything so long as it's fun and has aged well. For example, I didn't play old Atari arcade games until 2005 or so, and now I love them to pieces. I didn't play the original Contra until 2007 and it's probably my #1 favorite NES game. By the same token, if a game hasn't aged well I'm just really not impressed.

[bacteria]

I'm on the older scale, I was around when Pong came out on home systems, had Intellivision and Atari 2600 when they first came out (my father was into gadgets fortunately), I got a Vectrex when it first came out; and played a lot in the arcades in the mid-'80's - then that was it until about 3-4 years ago after playing Super Mario 64 on emulation - that changed me forever onto console gaming. Before that I was avidly playing Doom, Dune 2 and Psycho Pinball on the PC.

So I kinda started off at the early stages, then had a gap for about 20 years; and then "discovered" the many other consoles out there having bought a lot of retro console hardware and original games.

Now I can buy any console I like, I really am not bothered about the new generation of consoles (or the last one either), little replay value in them, graphics not gameplay; the retro games are so much better. I hope youngsters today play old games, I am sure they will appreviate their sheer fun value.

I recently quickly thought about a system like the N64, for some reason I thought it only had a few good titles, then I looked through my large game collection and realised actually how awesome the N64 was, and still is. (lucky as i'm making a handheld N64 portable at the moment!). There are some outstanding games on that platform that not only stand the test of time, but are really quality too.

[alienjesus]

As a 21 year old gamer who primarily played Mega Drive in his earlier years (although I owned a SNES, i only had 1 game i liked- Donkey Kong Country 3, and i had previously owned a master system but only had 3 games for it, and it broke before i was old enough to enjoy them properly), I find that going back to 8 bit games can be really hit and miss.

Some of the games feel like they havent aged a bit, and I love them. Wonder Boy III on SMS, Chip n dale rescue rangers, megaman2, mario bros 3, fantasy zone, alex kidd in miracle world - all these are good games that make me forget I'm playing them on a console older than I am.

Equally, some games feel old, but don't tarnish the experience for me. Examples include Kid Icarus and Mario Bros. For me, these games are good games, but prehaps mildly coloured by nostalgia goggles for other people that I just don't possess.

Then there are some games which frankly just feel horrendously dated to me, some of which provoke the ire of some older gamers I'm sure. Metroid and Zelda, for example, may have been good games in their time, but for me now they just feel rough around the edges. Without the rose tinted lenses, I find it much harder to overlook certain aspects of the gameplay which i don't like.

Going back one generation further, to the likes of the Atari and Intellivision, I just can;t do it. Some of these games keep me playing for 10 minutes or so, out of novelty value, but the experience just feels empty to me. I wonder if any of the younger generation feel this way about 8 and 16 bit games?

Anyhow, whilst I actually owned consoles during the later generations, going back and playing the consoles i missed offers an interesting experience too. For example, picking up on my SNES back catalogue was brilliant, and I'm glad to experience the gems i missed, (again, not all of which necessarily hold up any more), and the same goes for consoles besides the N64, Gamecube and Game boy which i also owned.

[Quiet Flight]

25

grew up with genesis/nes

i pretty much skipped the entire n64/psx years. i did play occasionally at a friends house/system. i was always amazed at the 3d graphics but wasn't interested in getting my own for whatever reason (i think i had a 3d gaming disability, i was horrible at 3d platformers ect.). i got back into gaming my second year in college and began collection older systems. it wasn't until about 2 years ago that i got a ps2.

[Xonticus]

I know I'm on the high end of the spectrum, but I'm 23 and I grew up with Atari 7800/Master system and then Genesis. I also did major PC gaming back then in DOS as well. (Dad was a computer nerd and exposed me to all that pre-internet good stuff)

Most of those games have aged very well to me and I still play them. As far as games older than that, like colecovision and intellivision, I am interested in them because I missed most of the 80's... but being brought up on a combo DOS/atari, I feel very comfortable when playing the older titles. Vectrex has been an elusive unicorn for me...

Anyways, some of the later systems like n64, Saturn and PSX that I missed (not having enough money and being too far into PC gaming in the 90's) I've gone back and really collected all of those titles from that generation that I really wanted... and the Saturn has been my fav by far from that generation.

[Luke]

I also did major PC gaming back then in DOS as well. (Dad was a computer nerd and exposed me to all that pre-internet good stuff)

My Dad has also always been a PC nut. We were online in, I think, 1991 using prodigy on our IBM PS/1. I specifically remember the first time my Father purchased airline tickets online. We both thought it was one of the most amazing things ever.

[Xonticus]

Yeah I remember going down to the local computer store and picking up a BBS phone number list for my area... oh man.

Then again, I could be wrong as to where we got the list from, idk.

That and going to computer shows and getting shareware diskettes of the latest Apogee games... Buying our first TV tuner that was native to windows 3.1 :-F

[fastbilly1]

Ironically I just chucked a 95 box with a tv tuner in it. Thanks to Compaq locking its bios...

[CRTGAMER]

My Dad has also always been a PC nut. We were online in, I think, 1991 using prodigy on our IBM PS/1. I specifically remember the first time my Father purchased airline tickets online. We both thought it was one of the most amazing things ever.

Yeah I remember going down to the local computer store and picking up a BBS phone number list for my area... oh man.

First on line experience was those BBS sites. Before the Internet. I hooked up a Commodore 64 with a Westridge (don't laugh) 300 baud modem. Took a half hour to download a 100k file. Still at the time was pretty big deal to get stuff from a phone line.