Modern graphics a turn off for anyone else?

[jvalentine98]

I'm 31, so I spent my elementary years with NES and Genesis and my teen years with PS1 and N64 and just a tad bit dreamcast. Then I hit college and fell off the video gaming wagon until with the past few years I slowly got back to my roots.

I tried to like the newer games and systems. But I just can't. They're almost too realistic. Let me explain: The charm of say Resident Evil 1 (PSX not gamecube) or other games from that era is that we knew they were games and they didn't look like movies. The characters, while realistic, were obviously game characters, not looking like something from a movie. They also didn't have tutorials and on screen directions. No, they just said here's the first zombie, Chris Redfield, and you have nothing but a combat knife! Some people figured out it was smarter NOT to fight, and the gung ho just died while slapping a zombie with a knife.

The new graphics and the overwhelming things that a game system is expected to do is just too much for me to even bother with. It's TOO much and it turns me off from it. Something nice about have a game system that just plays games.

At some point it went from here's a good looking video game, to we have these new HDTVs and all this technology and the best games have to look the best. A game without super realistic graphics, online multiplayer and shooting each other can't be a good game. I feel that's the attitude of gamers and developers now. Somehow we have gone from a massive amount of different game types to a narrow selection in about 15 years. Look at the PS1 and PS2 libraries, they're filled with so many niche genres for people to try and not just one or two games, but like 50 for each niche. How did gaming get more restrictive in terms of gameplay variety?

We used to get odd games like Echo Night and it didn't matter if it sold or not, it wasn't even greatest hits. But it got sequels. The next generation killed all that.

So call me old if you like, young whipper snappers, but I have news for you, one day you will be old, too.

[Xeogred]

31 doesn't sound that old around here. lol

[Exhuminator]

There is an appeal to be found with artwork that is approximated rather than literalized. Or simply artwork that is abstract rather than photo realistic. I don't think this preference is a byproduct of age necessarily, just one of personal predisposition. It's possible you biased an acclimation for this taste due to youthful exposure, but there are plenty of older gamers who prefer modern graphics. Also I think many of us around here are older than 31. I'm 35 for example.

[Stark]

35 here and I would say that it has nothing to do with your age. To me it sounds like you don't know where to look for stuff you'd like. Game genres are as diverse as they've ever been. You want a game that ridiculously complicated, they have that (eg. Europa Universalis 4). You want game systems that barely exist and is mostly a walking simulator, they have that (eg. Gone Home). You want old-school 8-bit, 16-bit, type graphics, yep you guessed it, they have that (eg. Shovel Knight).

[jvalentine98]

Well my fiance looked at some new games and she was basically like: that's too much there. there's too much going on, I don't care about those characters or learning a battle system, I want something I'm familiar with. I was going to get her some kind of game for Christmas last year, and she could have had a 360 or whatever. She just said the idea of chatting with unknown people while blowing their heads off and customizing characters for hours on end didn't appeal to her. And I understood that.

She ended up getting a GBA with Tetris and Pacman games. Yep, that simple, and she hasn't put it down much since.

[jvalentine98]

There is an appeal to be found with artwork that is approximated rather than literalized. Or simply artwork that is abstract rather than photo realistic. I don't think this preference is a byproduct of age necessarily, just one of personal predisposition. It's possible you biased an acclimation for this taste due to youthful exposure, but there are plenty of older gamers who prefer modern graphics. Also I think many of us around here are older than 31. I'm 35 for example.

Well yeah I mean I want something left to the imagination, at least somewhat. Putting it all out there and making 1080I with characters that look like real people, and someone walks in the room and says "What movie is that?" and you have to explain it's a game. I don't care for that at all.

[3DSStrider]

I'm 16. I just want to say that I definitely agree. It's one of the many things that turns me off of a lot of modern games.
Take Doom for example. The environments look like nothing that would exist in real life. This gives the game an awesome and creepy atmosphere. The other great thing about it is that it means that the levels are designed around the gameplay and not vice versa, which is one of the aspects that (in my opinion) puts Doom above most FPSs since.

[TSTR]

All game devs/publishers hope their games sell. But when you consider the astronomical cost of AAA development, you get the unrealistic sales expectations and endless iterations of franchises proven to move units.

Systems becoming more than just consoles is not a new thing. It really took off with the PS2 and its DVD playback, which sold a lot of units based on that feature. You could even argue that audio CD playback on older consoles than the PS2 played a factor in their sales.

Complicated system mechanics are also not a new thing. Certain genres of games have displayed extremely deep and technical systems dating back for decades.

There are tons of games out there that aren't brown and gray online MP focused shooters. Look harder.

And obnoxious chat? Just mute it. Problem solved.

[Gamerforlife]

Well my fiance looked at some new games and she was basically like: that's too much there. there's too much going on, I don't care about those characters or learning a battle system, I want something I'm familiar with. I was going to get her some kind of game for Christmas last year, and she could have had a 360 or whatever. She just said the idea of chatting with unknown people while blowing their heads off and customizing characters for hours on end didn't appeal to her. And I understood that.

She ended up getting a GBA with Tetris and Pacman games. Yep, that simple, and she hasn't put it down much since.

Your fiance is awesome

I'd kill for a woman who is more interested in retro stuff than a lot of the crap that passes for modern gaming.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I'd kill for a woman who is more interested in retro stuff than a lot of the crap that passes for modern gaming.

Watch your back, jvalentine98!