Nostalgia in video-games.
 

So does anybody here consider the video-games of their youth to be superior to today's games or do you feel that it's simply because you had less on your mind back then?

I've come to the conclusion that some of my childhood favs are still great games but enhanced a thousand-fold by nostalgia and that even with all the shovelware we are subjected to as consumers, the games that shine today are far superior to my old favorites.

Basically the same conclusion.

Some games from back then are better though.

I find it strange that some old games from my childhood are absolute classics to me and I always enjoy replaying them, but if I try someone else's oldies I can't appreciate them as much.

When I was little we only had about five games, so I have a sense of forced affection about them.

Moonstone. nostalgia and a surprisingly complicated gameplay with a vast array of different and interesting deaths. i consider it better than some of today's games simply because it isn't trying to be something that it is not or cant cope with.

When I was younger, the only game I could play without losing terribly, was 3D Ultra Pinball. The other games I had were two educational games, Descent and a Disney Mahojing game. Descent gave me a headache when everything went upside down. So I would always be smashing the flipper keys in hope of getting a highscore.

This is why Mario games don't appeal to me.

When I was an adolescent in the '80s, I used to go to the arcades with my friends and play Donkey Kong and things like that. As a result, I fucking love the original Donkey Kong. I'm awful at it, though.

I disagree with the OP. Technically yes games are far superior today but the content leaves a lot to be desired.
It's not all because of nostalgia though. Dated graphics and audio leave a lot to the imagination.
I still get scared when monsters sneak up on me in Dungeon Master. I've never played any other RPG that could do that. I guess it's because everything nowadays is realtime and ultra realistic. We hear everything surrounding us, we can see everything from greater distances. There's always pompous background music playing to make you aware of what's happening. Time in a game is pretty much on par with Time in the real world.
Older games couldn't support that so the games had to be designed around those limitations, it was okay to break the laws of physics (by a great deal) because the games weren't aiming to be realistic. It was based around intuition rather than realism, kind of like your thought processes in a dream. Meaning a mummy could just pop out of nowhere and scare the bejeezus out of you, and it would still be believable.
If that happened today people would think it was a bug, not that the Mummy simply sneaked up behind you.

I think it's really dumb to completely ignore those ideas simply because we have better hardware. Look at Abe, they innovated in 2D when everyone was too busy going 3D. Why is that?
How much raw power the game can run on shouldn't matter. As long as the game is believable, it works, and believability is a very different thing from realism.

Even without nostalgia, older RPG's, which is my genre of choice, kick modern RPG's in the dick. While playing Dragon Age I kept thinking about Baldur's Gate. While playing Oblivion, I couldn't enjoy it because of Morrowind. Fallout 3 was handicapped by my memories of Fallout 1 and 2. Deus Ex. Planescape Torment. Other shit like that are still my favorite games ever and I replay them every few years.

Old games for some reason always seem better.

Goldeneye 64 is still deemed, or was deemed for a damn long time, to be THE console shooter. Looking back it was basic but it was oh so fun.

I think a lot of the nostalgia is because there was more depth in games back then. The teams working on them were more dedicated. Today there is competition everywhere. Everyone is racing each other to bring out the best shooter for christmas and in the process they cut a lot of corners that make a game special. If it's deemed to be just a gimmick with no addition to the gameplay, it's cut.

List of nostalgic games:

Donkey Kong games
Mario games
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Command & Conquer

Whatchoo doing forgetting Majora's Mask? It would be better to say 'Zelda games'.

I don't get why people love the 360 and PS3 so much. I have plenty of fun with my Wii.

I've got a confession to make... I've never played a zelda game in my entire life, I don't know what all the fuss is about. I played tetris, and mario and DK and all that back in the day but I've never tried Zelda. The whole idea seems stupid to me

What idea?

Sonic 2 was the first game I played. I was about 5ish. It is the best Sonic game ever made.

by that I mean the look of the universe and the protagonist Link... but that's probably because I've looked at the game recently and didn't play it "back in the day" then most people did and would therefore consider it a classic

Well feel free to miss out on at least four of the best games ever just because you don't like the 'idea'.

Fine then. Since I dont wanna be a close-minded prick, name one Zelda game that I HAVE to play, then I will and I'll make my judegement afterwards.

Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, A Link To The Past, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Link's Awakening, The Minish Cap.

Any of those will do you fine.

calm down, kiddo.

I'm calm MA. That wasn't an angry post even if it seems like it. I just wanted to know what Zelda game I should try first, to get a taste for the universe and gameplay. Who knows, I might be wrong and I might enjoy the game/s

Ocarina of Time is the best gateway game, Majora's Mask IS my favourite but it's more of an acquired taste.

Why do you include those disgusting anime styled Zelda games? They are the biggest crap to have ever come out of a developers studio and an abomination to the epicness that is Zelda. :fuzmad:

I've still got a Mega Drive that I play regularly. And I also completely love Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc for no apparent reason. It just hit all the right buttons with me. Also, Morrowind.

You aren't referring to Wind Waker, are you? Because that is one of the best games I have ever played. It's also my favorite Zelda game by far.

What?

Just...what?

I've been playing Crash Bandicoot a couple of times lately. It's so fun but oh so annoying when you die and have to go back a few levels because you haven't saved in a while.

Majora's Mask > Wind Waker > Ocarina
Yes.

The MM theme song still gives me chills.

I recently bought Star Wars KOTOR off steam. While it isn't exactly retro it certainly has aged and I am most certain I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it if I hadn't played it while I was younger.

KOTOR is an excellent RPG. I didn't even know it was on steam.. does it have DLC?

I've never finished Warped because my disk was scratched and would freeze on that last motorcycle stage, in the last section of levels. Such a fun game though!

No, shut the fuck up. Ocarina of time is a retarded choice for first time players: I fucking hated it when I was a kid and even today it confuses me why people throw such a snit over it. I acknowledge how it pulled the industry onto its feet for console adventure type games, but it's still pretty meh. Why don't you go fall in a hole for even considering offering that as a recommendation. Shame, shame shame.

I do like MM though, oddly.

Taco, I recommend Wind Waker. It was the first Zelda game I decided to give two tugs of a dead dogs dick about and it was a bundle of fun. It's also a whole new shebang for the pile of story corpses that is the Zelda timeline.
Also give the Minish Cap a try, though I think I'm the only person who liked that.


Anyway, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is probably my favorite all time 'nostalgia rush' sort of game, with Earthworm Jim/2 and any of the SNES Megaman X's coming in a close second or third. Fuck I love all of those games.

Wind Waker is the best Zelda game to date and it's so pretty. I played OOT when it was about a year old and already considered the best game ever, the hype ruined it for me. I did beat it though, twice.

Earthworm Jim was a good series lol, I even like the N64 game and have been playing it a lot these days.

I recently downloaded Spyro the Dragon on psn and it is awesome, it hasn't aged at all and it is SO much better than ANY of the Spyro games that came out after PS1. Very colorful, satisfying to play, and none of the stupid gimmicks that platformers suffer from these days *coughs* Sonic...

I guess that's like the fact that I don't like and never really got Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time is still great though, so you shut the fuck up.

I also liked Minish Cap, a lot.

Linear games can get boring though, I love the old-school sandbox games.

My favorite games:

1. Jade Cocoon 2, for it's monster raising. It's a pity the final forms of all maus are so gay. ESPESSIALLY MR. BALLOON-FAGGOT TAMATOTCH, WHO WAS COOL UNTIL FORM 4, although he's still my favorite. My origional tamatoch is still my best Devine Beast

2. Kingdom Hearts, for it's battle system. I've only recently started to appreciate it fully.

3. Duke 3D

4. Quake 3

5. Quake 2

None of these games are particularly old, but are old enough.

Excactly the same as me, I played it round a friend's house and got a Megadrive with sonic 2 shortly afterwards.

Other nostalgic games for me include:
Captain planet and the planeteers (Amiga)
Streets of rage 1&2 (Sega)
Eternal Champions (Sega)
The Revenge of Shinobi (Sega)
Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Pokemon Snap (N64)
The list goes on...

Sega= Megadrive

Pokemon Snap is a massively underrated masterpiece.

I'm actually really jealous at people for growing up with/having an N64. I missed out on a lot. Oh well, when I get the money I will buy one.

No, no they are not.

Although depending in how late in my childhood you are own about because late 90s early 2000s had some amazing games. Planescape: Torment, Giants Citizen Kabuto, Dungeon Keeper 2 etc etc