What has modern gaming done right?

[BoringSupreez]

Being able to download game demos. That's really the only thing I really appreciate this gen.

You mean on consoles? PCs have been able to do that for 20 years.

[rlrunyon]

What has modern gaming done right? I used to be an avid gamer, but I'm slowly getting bored and bored with games. Those few gems that come out (Skyrim, Skyward Sword just to name a few) I've deeply enjoyed. I just can't find that feeling anymore saying "OMFG! I can't wait for this to freaking get here!" These companies can't tickle me that way anymore. I guess I just can't get away from the old school games that I played in the nineties, but I can't play my favorites over and over again. Hell, I've bled the games dry and resort to playing mods and ROM hacks to find something new. It doesn't help when I go to video game websites (this one I like) all I hear are fanboys going crazy cause they get disappointed and start cussing each other out and trolling each other until they run out of witty comments. I love this website. It brought me back to the gaming universe I once loved. I have only posted a few times in this forum, but I visit it and the website regularly. Though I think my times with video games are passing. Maybe I'll get tickled like that again one day and I'll reunite with a long lost love, but I don't see it happening. I'm sorry for sounding depressing, just venting. Enjoy what you love! =D

BTW... I don't know what modern gaming is doing, but I know what modern game developers are doing. MAKING AN ASS LOAD OF MONEY! Makes me wish I would have followed my childhood dream of being a game developer. =)

[Nintendork666]

I already posted in this thread, but last night I realized just how spoiled I've become by modern consoles' abilities to be turned on or off with the controller, rather than having to get up and use the console power button, itself.

As my eyelids grew heavy at 5am last night, I couldn't even begin to explain how difficult it was for me to get out of bed to turn off my PS2.

[Hobie-wan]

I already posted in this thread, but last night I realized just how spoiled I've become by modern consoles' abilities to be turned on or off with the controller, rather than having to get up and use the console power button, itself.

I dunno, that leads to people leaving discs in the system. Sure you might be playing a downloaded title, but if you're going to be putting a game away you're getting up anyway.

[Xeogred]

I can say although they are really different games, going from Xenoblade where I can save anywhere... to Xenosaga that has extremely limited save points, is pretty annoying. lol

I don't think I'll ever really complain about that in old JRPG's, but Xenosaga is pretty bad about it, there are seriously barely any save points and this game has a lot of "step here or talk to this guy and bam, suddenly a boss fight" and lots of other stuff that can mess you up and if you die, gotta run around a lot again doing what you just did.

[KillerJuan77]

I can say although they are really different games, going from Xenoblade where I can save anywhere... to Xenosaga that has extremely limited save points, is pretty annoying. lol

I don't think I'll ever really complain about that in old JRPG's, but Xenosaga is pretty bad about it, there are seriously barely any save points and this game has a lot of "step here or talk to this guy and bam, suddenly a boss fight" and lots of other stuff that can mess you up and if you die, gotta run around a lot again doing what you just did.

Sounds like Final Fantasy III. It's an extremely difficult game that also happens to be very stingy with the save points.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

One thing I really like about PC games especially is the amount of them that allow quick-saving. Not a new thing by any means, but since we're talking about saving, I thought I'd bring it up.

Also, saving in general! I love being able to save. Sure old games may be short, but I rarely complete them if they don't have a save or level select system. I don't like to game in bursts more than 40-60 minutes.

[Gamerforlife]

I'm actually starting to really appreciate digital download games, even though there is a part of me that still likes to see games in physical form. Three of my favorite games this year are XBLA or PSN titles. I've also been finding some fun titles from Microsoft's Indie game section of the Xbox Live marketplace

In fact, as a beat 'em up fan I appreciate digital download services like these even more. In the past couple years PSN and XBLA have given us Castle Crashers, the Shank games, The Dishwasher games, Scott Pilgrim (which I'm finally starting to warm up to), The Simpsons Arcade, Final Fight Double Impact, X-Men Arcade, the TMNT games, Double Dragon Neon, ports of Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe, and even more beat 'em up games coming in late 2012 or some time next year like Orc Attack. Now to mention Microsoft indie titles like Streets of Fury. This is mostly where old school beat 'em ups live on now, in the digital space.

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/21/disho ... ues-hints/

Even with all the dumbing down and CODifying of games recently, I want to experience what Dishonored has to offer. I hope it is the swan song of this generation.

[Ivo]

I skimmed through the entire thread. I think a lot of people are focusing on the hardware (which is ok) and also focusing on the "current generation".

I would like to chime in with the following, some of which have been already mentioned at least partly... Many of which were pioneered in the PC.

Better production values, even for low budget games. I'm not sure that the increasing costs of AAA titles are good long-term, but games with what many will consider "poor graphics" can look much better than what would be the AAA titles several years ago. We reached the point where non-cutting edge graphics and sound are decent, affordable and relatively easy to make, and the extremely low-end graphics and sound used are often used artistically.

Better online connectivity. This includes patches, online scores/leaderboards, online multiplayer, and even whole games being delivered digitally (I like this when it is done right, and by that I usually think of cutting the middle men and having lower price for customer and better margin for the creator - sorry brick and mortar stores).

Better understanding of game design. One example, although some people here may disagree with me: I actually like that games have drifted considerably away from the "arcade" roots of credit munchers. This is even though I like well designed challenging games a lot, but they should be difficult in the right ways and for the right reasons.

Better understanding that players may need to stop playing and do not want to lose progress. Do not confuse this with the above point - you can implement this type of thing without affecting the game balance, with "saves" that can only be loaded once. There are still too many games not getting this right, but they are fewer, and very rare in handheld games in particular.

More innovation in controls. I think different gameplay experiences enabled namely by the DS and the Wii deserve a lot of praise. I know it wasn't always well implemented, but there are also well implemented touch screen and motion controls that give us new good ways to play games, and different games as well.

I also like the resurgence of Indie games, but I think it is a resurgence. Back in the home computing days (C64, Amiga) we used to have this sort of innovation. I'm really glad it is popular again.

Ivo.