Please tell me I am not the only one here...

[pankakes123]

Alright I'll stop now. Seems I've made enough people mad. My opinion will stay the same, but I realize I'm kinda getting out of control.

[o.pwuaioc]

For me the evolution of gaming maybe reach its peak in the 128 bits era. Now they all try to be realistic and allmost no developer wants to do something diferent because they know it won't sell. Gaming it's still evolving but in a diferent way.

The same is true for most generations of video games. The NES and Master System offered a very different type of gaming than the Atari 2600, and the Genesis and SNES were also very different from the NES/MS, and the Saturn yet differed from the Genesis, the N64 from the SNES, etc... While it's clearly a continuum, and bits and pieces of nearly all generations can be found in nearly all other generations, as pancakes pointed out, there is still an overall feeling that is quite different.

For me the very peak of gaming ended with the N64. From there on out graphics dominated the discussion, and 3D changed the way games were played. No longer was it about making great games look great, but rather catering to the demands of popularity. The Saturn was the swan song of 2D consoles, and even then the writing was on the wall.

It's not at all "invalid" to say that since I prefer 2D games of the arcade to the mid-90s eras that I no longer am excited about the latest in 3D games. That's not to say that everything was better "back then" or that there is absolutely nothing of worth today, but nothing that gets me as excited as it did back then, and that was true then as well! While everyone was super excited about Mario 64, I still spent many more days (literally, as in scores of hours) playing the SNES and Genesis, and I was 11 when I got an N64, so you can't chalk it up to some "nostalgia" as many are wont to do without justification. My friends would play GoldenEye for hours, and I would battle Zeromus, the Mana Beast, and Gannon. While I owned and beat several N64 and Playstation games, Ogre Battle 64 -- a 2D game on the N64 -- got the most love and I spent way too much time on retro collections. I still have my original PS1 Namco Collection Vol. 4.

So yes, there is a quality difference. That's not a matter of "good" or "bad", but "what type" (quality comes from the Latin qualitas, itself from qualis which is a question word meaning "of what kind, of what type".

[MrPopo]

Look, we're confusing video games with music. We all know that music attained perfection in the late 70s, but video games are still evolving in ways both good and bad.

[Breetai]

The same is true for most generations of video games. The NES and Master System offered a very different type of gaming than the Atari 2600...

I know people who think that the NES ruined the golden age of gaming.

In a way, they are right. Super Mario changed everything.

[marlowe221]

I think this is why I enjoy handheld systems so much - there are new games, but often in an older style. You can still get some great sprite-based games on the DS/3DS.

[Damm64]

The same is true for most generations of video games. The NES and Master System offered a very different type of gaming than the Atari 2600, and the Genesis and SNES were also very different from the NES/MS, and the Saturn yet differed from the Genesis, the N64 from the SNES, etc... While it's clearly a continuum, and bits and pieces of nearly all generations can be found in nearly all other generations, as pancakes pointed out, there is still an overall feeling that is quite different...

True, also i'm not played that much of new releases (RE 5, Fallout 3, CoD, just to mention a few) so my thoughts about this gen could drastically change now that i'm looking for PS3 games. So far i found a good bunch of FPS but i rapidly lose the attention on this genre, excep for Doom, Duke Nukem, Black, CoD 2 and Half Life.

[Breetai]

True, also i'm not played that much of new releases (RE 5, Fallout 3, CoD, just to mention a few) so my thoughts about this gen could drastically change now that i'm looking for PS3 games. So far i found a good bunch of FPS but i rapidly lose the attention on this genre, excep for Doom, Duke Nukem, Black, CoD 2 and Half Life.

I like Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Oblivion and Skyrim. I even bought Oblivion and Skyrim new. Skyrim might, in fact, be the only new game I've bought in the past three years aside from a few Wii games (SMG, NSMW, Wii-series game for the significant other, etc.).

[BoneSnapDeez]

Now, could be totally wrong, but here's the way I see it. Let's say I'm a smoker, which I'm not but I'm making a point, and I have smoked all my life pretty much. I love to smoke, but here's the catch: I only smoke cigarettes from the 80s. To me, that's the same as saying you like retro games but have no interest at all in modern games. It just can't be possible, and it's ridiculous to try and make yourself believe. Again, I could be entirely misguided, but that's the way I see it. No one who loves to smoke would only smoke cigarettes from the 80s, and no one who loves to game would only show interest in games from the 80s.

This is a pretty poor analogy. A more accurate one would be something like:

"I loved Slayer's first few albums, but can't get excited about their upcoming CD as they haven't released anything worthwhile in 20 years."

That's the way some of us feel about gaming, myself included. I only have a passing interest in some current gen stuff, but a fiery passion for retro games (hence the reason I'm on this site).

[Damm64]

[
I like Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Oblivion and Skyrim. I even bought Oblivion and Skyrim new. Skyrim might, in fact, be the only new game I've bought in the past three years aside from a few Wii games (SMG, NSMW, Wii-series game for the significant other, etc.).

I really want to play Fallout 3, for the nuclear holocaust and the 50's thing on the game
There was a disc release with all the DLC content of the game?

[brunoafh]

"I loved Slayer's first few albums, but can't get excited about their upcoming CD as they haven't released anything worthwhile in 20 years."

Not sure if serious, but really hope not.