What I feel is the golden age of gaming.

[DaltonM]

I feel like that back in the N64/PS1 days that games were the best.

 

I think that the could power just enough detail to immerse you, but yet still let your imagine fill in the details. The limitations of the hardware was really what made great games like Silent Hill, Final Fantasy and other true art.

 

Weather it was pre-rendered backgrounds like Resident Evil, or real time graphics with fog or darkness like Silent Hill, the developers really made the most of the hardware at the time.

 

Nowadays, games are so photo realistic, you're constantly aware that what you're looking at isn't real, its so close, but off far enough you don't consider Marcus Fenix or Nathan Drake to be real people. The true lack of detail present in early console games help you believe the characters were actually people because they didn't try so hard to convince you. You just accepted they were humans, instead of looking for flaws that made them look like graphics. 

 

But the main point I want to make is how much your imagination fills in the gaps the graphics couldn't. Even today, you can play Silent Hill 1 in the dark, alone with out getting scared. You can walk down the halls of the abandoned police station of Resident Evil 2 without feeling the suspense, or like somethings watching you. 

 

I honestly feel there's a place for games with 'lo-fi' polygonal graphics in today's game space. I would but a Megaman Legends or Resident Evil style game in a heartbeat. Not only would this be asthetically pleasing on modern hardware (no camera clipping, slow downs etc) but financially viable for smaller developers. 

 

Does anyone else agree? Do you miss PS1 graphics and gameplay? I would still play the Witcher 3 if it had PS1 graphics. 

[RollinLower]

personal prefference man, most of your reasons are just pure nostalgia.

 

don't get me wrong tough, there was something special about that age of gaming.

i would just never go back to it. the only reason it was so good is because back then, it was the best. nowadays tough, gaming has evolved. and imo, it has evolved for the better.

[DaltonM]

personal prefference man, most of your reasons are just pure nostalgia.

 

don't get me wrong tough, there was something special about that gae of gaming.

i would just never go back to it. the only reason it was so good was because back then, it was the best. nowadays tough, gaming has evolved. and imo, it has evolved for the better.

The games industry is eating itself alive. Games cost SO MUCH to make, and if they don't sell a million billion units they loose money. 

And when they do sell those units, Gamestop buys them back and steals all the profits. 

And if your game doesn't have amazing graphics, people on Steam think it looks crap (like most of the games on steam lol) and don't buy it. 

[Volbet]

Sure I feel the same way, but only becasue the argument you are making is just a rewording of the classic "Graphics aren't everything"

 

Honestly, I think the reason you feel this way is becuase of nostalgia. When you are a young child your imagination is usually way more vivid than when you are an adult. 

Therefor, you could fill in the blanks when you were younger. 

The same is still true today. Children today are still filling in the blanks. My daughter has made up her own stories based on the game Journey, and they are as lively as my fantasies about the universe in which Doom took place. 

 

The statement "Graphics aren't everything" still rings true, however. 

I would play The Witcher 3 if it was released back in the PS1 days, but only becuase the gameplay would still be great.

[Mikjul]

1995-2006

[Chasem121]

This is just nostalgia filter, I imagine this is because this is the era that you started playing as a kid.

Kids enjoy video games much more than adults, because that is really the first time that they are experiencing something like them.

If you ask this question ten years from now, kids that were born in the ps3 and xbox360 days will say that they were the golden age of gaming, simply because thats when they had the most fun with the games.

[SteveGrabowski0]

N64 and PS1 games have aged horribly. I can't think of a single one I enjoy playing anymore. SNES and Genesis games aged really well, they still look great in 2D. Same with NES. And PS2/XBox games look great. I think the only major console that aged worse than the N64/PS1 was the Atari 2600.

[Mikjul]

This is just nostalgia filter, I imagine this is because this is the era that you started playing as a kid.

Kids enjoy video games much more than adults, because that is really the first time that they are experiencing something like them.

If you ask this question ten years from now, kids that were porn in the ps3 and xbox360 days will say that they were the golden age of gaming, simply because thats when they had the most fun with the games.

Ummm ........ Kids that were porn?????!!!!!###%%2##%??

[Mikjul]

Alot of PS1 stuff holds up fine, next step up is Dreamcast which is far superior bur had PS ports.

N64 is just PS1 really.. Bad framerates and smeared screen was the norm for it... I still have my N64 and PS1 collection.

N64 and PS1 games have aged horribly. I can't think of a single one I enjoy playing anymore. SNES and Genesis games aged really well, they still look great in 2D. Same with NES. And PS2/XBox games look great. I think the only major console that aged worse than the N64/PS1 was the Atari 2600.

[Chasem121]

Ummm ........ Kids that were porn?????!!!!!###%%2##%??

By most rules of grammar you are only supposed to use one type of punctuation mark after a sentence fyi. And it was a typo.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Kids enjoy video games much more than adults, because that is really the first time that they are experiencing something like them.

 

I don't agree with that at all. I loved the NES and arcade games like Double Dragon growing up, but the XBox360 era has been my favorite.

[Mikjul]

By most rules of grammar you are only supposed to use one type of punctuation mark after a sentence fyi. And it was a typo.

I was not serious... Found it funny.

[Chasem121]

I don't agree with that at all. I loved the NES and arcade games like Double Dragon growing up, but the XBox360 era has been my favorite.

That's the exception, not the rule. I remember running to my bedroom everyday after Elementary to go splurg out on PS2 DBZ games, and I would sit there and play until it was time for me to go to bed. And I wasn't exactly rich back then, so I didn't have a wide variety to play, so I would play the game constantly and never get tired out by it. I can't do that anymore, because I get bored by games much quicker.

Most friends of mine feel similar.

[Master Disaster]

Snes/megadrive era for me.

[Th3 Mans1ay3r]

For me it felt like the Xbox and early Xbox 360 days.

[SteveGrabowski0]

That's the exception, not the rule. I remember running to my bedroom everyday after Elementary to go splurg out on PS2 DBZ games, and I would sit there and play until it was time for me to go to bed. And I wasn't exactly rich back then, so I didn't have a wide variety to play, so I would play the game constantly and never get tired out by it. I can't do that anymore, because I get bored by games much quicker.

Most friends of mine feel similar.

 

I think you're making too much of a blanket statement. My favorite games are RPGs, and the XBox360 and SNES eras were the two best for them, and hence my favorite eras for gaming (though I find this era very good too). For someone who likes fighting games the 90s were the golden age. If you're into platformers the NES era was probably the best. For MMOs the last 10 years have been strong. 

[DaltonM]

I think you're making too much of a blanket statement. My favorite games are RPGs, and the XBox360 and SNES eras were the two best for them, and hence my favorite eras for gaming (though I find this era very good too). For someone who likes fighting games the 90s were the golden age. If you're into platformers the NES era was probably the best. For MMOs the last 10 years have been strong. 

Your favorite was RPGs? But you didn't mention PS1/2 which literally has all the best RPGs lol 

 

I also grew up playing SNES as my first console,  I got them all as they came out. 

[SteveGrabowski0]

Your favorite was RPGs? But you didn't mention PS1/2 which literally has all the best RPGs lol 

 

I also grew up playing SNES as my first console,  I got them all as they came out. 

 

My favorites are Elder Scrolls, Fallout series, Chrono Trigger, and FF III.

[eLucid]

The games industry is eating itself alive. Games cost SO MUCH to make, and if they don't sell a million billion units they loose money. 

And when they do sell those units, Gamestop buys them back and steals all the profits. 

And if your game doesn't have amazing graphics, people on Steam think it looks crap (like most of the games on steam lol) and don't buy it. 

 

One word: microtransactions.

[LinusTech]

N64 and PS1 games have aged horribly. I can't think of a single one I enjoy playing anymore. SNES and Genesis games aged really well, they still look great in 2D. Same with NES. And PS2/XBox games look great. I think the only major console that aged worse than the N64/PS1 was the Atari 2600.

Play Final Fantasy Tactics. Holds up amazingly well today.

Completely horse shit generic anime story but the game play is sublime.

[DaltonM]

Play Final Fantasy Tactics. Holds up amazingly well today.

Completely horse shit generic anime story but the game play is sublime.

I would say it hits the sublime level if you play it at double speed! That game spent hours just being slowly animated !!

[SteveGrabowski0]

Play Final Fantasy Tactics. Holds up amazingly well today.

Completely horse shit generic anime story but the game play is sublime.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to take a look at it, as I love old school isometric RPGs (Fallout 2 and Shadowrun on the SNES are two of my favorite games ever written). I loved FF in the SNES era, but kind of lost interest in it once it went 3D. So many PS1 and N64 games have that Virtua Fighter look to me, especially now when I go back and play them. Even Ocarina of Time doesn't seem to hold up as well as I thought it would, and Link to the Past has replaced it as my favorite Zelda game.

[Guest trucker2]

Having played the game lander on a teletype as a kid and now just playing the star wars beta on my a10 7850k it is amazing how far we have come. Remember the whole family in the living room waiting to take my turn at pong on my older brothers console he just got for christmas. Not until much later sis I understand my dads look, thinking back to how amazed as a kid he was when his dad brought home a new AM radio in the 1920's, turn the page. Favorite gaming moment was my wife laughing when I shot the scientist in the butt in Half Life and when my daughter laughing when I shot a chicken in CS GO.

[Riccardo]

I actually think we haven't reach the 'golden age' yet. Subjectively, I could say the early 2000s because I used to have the most fun back then, but, as an adult, I can say that we have come a long way. Sure, micro-transactions and DLCs are a plague, but this industry still needs to mature a lot. Bioshock Infinite, Shadow of Mordor, Witcher 3 are just examples of how gaming industry is still going in the right direction and I think us, as the consumer, really do play a huge role in how this industry will go in terms of making the right purchases. 

[typographie]

The games industry is eating itself alive. Games cost SO MUCH to make, and if they don't sell a million billion units they loose money.

That's true in some, very well publicized cases. Not necessarily in every case. Honestly, if triple-A gaming hit a financial wall and had to scale back on their expenditures, I would not be terribly upset about it.

 

And when they do sell those units, Gamestop buys them back and steals all the profits.

That's not new. The used game market was just as big, arguably bigger, during the "golden age" you're talking about.

 

And if your game doesn't have amazing graphics, people on Steam think it looks crap (like most of the games on steam lol) and don't buy it.

Just like how nobody bought Shovel Knight or Super Meat Boy or FTL or Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP or Terraria or The Binding of Isaac? There have been a lot of examples of incredibly popular, successful games with art styles older than the ones you're aggrandizing made with relatively low budgets that have been absolutely loved by the community.

Personally I think those games from the N64/PS1 era, when developers were just starting to experiment with 3D, aged the worst of all.* Skilled artists working on a 2D plane with even greater technical limitations created things that ended up being timeless, in my opinion. And that's coming from someone whose gaming habits took a drastic spike upwards in the late-90's.

 

*That's not to say that some aren't still fantastic games. I just mean the visuals.