Are Video Games About Having Fun Anymore?

Neodogg

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Are we gonna complain about how long it takes Raz to update unibios too?
 

famicommander

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Are we gonna complain about how long it takes Raz to update unibios too?

I'm gonna complain that the Unibios doesn't make my Neo Geo spit out money and cocaine.

The fuck is up with that anyway?
 

wyo

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Modern games are OK. You're just getting old and faggety like me.
 

Neo Alec

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I still buy a handful of modern games each year. But I agree with the sentiment of the thread. I'm constantly encountering players online who seem to have unlocked everything in the first day or two. As if it's a race and after the initial release it's no longer cool anymore. I really don't understand who these people are or where their priorities lie. They're all unemployed kids?
 

famicommander

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I didn't even know about the Famicom audio expansion mod.

I guess I'll just throw my RGB NES w/Blinking Light Win in the garbage.

EDIT:
responding to the video in neo alec's sig above
 

Lastblade

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I still buy a handful of modern games each year. But I agree with the sentiment of the thread. I'm constantly encountering players online who seem to have unlocked everything in the first day or two. As if it's a race and after the initial release it's no longer cool anymore. I really don't understand who these people are or where their priorities lie. They're all unemployed kids?

Professional youtubers/twitchers who make less than minimum wage. But they sure love what they are doing.
 

ChuChu Flamingo

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Modern games are OK. You're just getting old and faggety like me.

Too much hand holding generally. Older games would often let people figure stuff out on their own and generally respected the intelligence of people.

As with anything when stuff gets more popular it becomes a zero sum game. It is why a lot of games are more movie-esque. It is why fighting games have been dumbed down with come back mechanics and easier inputs (which really doesn't matter cause that isn't the reason casuals get destroyed at them). The list goes on.

That is not to say there wasn't cryptic shit or games being hard for the wrong reasons with old games, quite the contrary. Sometimes they went too far and would kick your ass then kick you on the ground and laugh about it.

With this in mind there are certainly still good modern games, but I feel like there is a lot less for someone who wants a decent challenge and doesn't want to be told where to go and figure shit out. Instead open up a loot box crate and level up your character to appeal to your cardinal senses of kaizen progress.

Anyone miss local split screen co-op?
 
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StevenK

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One big difference I see with modern games is the online leagues are a constant reminder that no matter how good you get at something there are always a million people that will shit all over you. When you played in a bubble either arcade mode or 1v1 against your bunch of local friends you could almost forget that for once.

I'm having a blast with the switch though, haven't had this much fun gaming since the gamecube so I'm not going to bitch too much.

Actually - as smokes said - there's nothing worse in a video game than pay to win, what a fucking joke.
 

Taiso

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This is a great question. A college thesis could be produced by someone intense enough to take the subject on.

For me, games are not fun anymore because the industry is not fun anymore. Having worked in the games press, I've become privy to the observations about the industry that shatter the hobby's mystique and make it as dirty, grimy and self serving as all other industries. Additionally, the conversations behind closed doors about what should be discussed and what should be avoided corrupted my ability to view video games through the lens of my youth.

I think that for 'fun', the indie scene is the place to go (although even that arena is growing increasingly cynical between manufacturer regulations, industry divisions and backbiting). Shovel Knight is practically a perfect game of its type, well tested and with enough variety and replayability to take me back to the days when I could just lose myself in the thing without thinking about all of that stuff.

Because of the information we have available to us these days, I find myself more willing to embrace games like Yakuza, Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry and Dark Souls, where there is a specific concept and goes after that to the exclusion of outside influences. Hideki Kamiya is an angry artist, but he is concerned with bringing his vision to life. There's no proselytizing in Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. Just that elusive and irreverent 'fun' which the industry seems so incapable of committing to.

I also think that the industry (at least in the West) is geared more towards shared experiences-multiplayer, Twitch, etc. In Japan, theme is still king.

My thoughts are, admittedly, scattered on this subject. It's a pretty massive issue and the more I think about it, the more depressed I get and the more old I feel.
 

K_K

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I play borderlands. A lot of borderlands. Mostly single player. Sometimes online. Farming, grinding, getting killed. all that shit.
 

oliverclaude

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Actually - as smokes said - there's nothing worse in a video game than pay to win, what a fucking joke.

I'd alter it: there's nothing worse in a current video game than pay to win. Back in the days we did it, too. We bought magazines for hints, guides for walkthroughts and cheating cartridges for anything else. Sometimes it was even justified, like when you wanted to squeeze everything out of your hard earned rental on a weekend or simply ease out your frustration on certain games.

BUT... in most cases it was just part of the learning process, because you'd always come back to your game, because it had a predictable ending and, most important, a reasonable length. What began as paying for a win, ended with setting yourself that ultimate goal: to beat it on your own. Just because you could.

Nowadays it's backwards and paying to win is your ultimate goal -- just because you can't otherwise. As if the ethos of the american dream, with its "set of ideals like democracy, rights, libert and equality, in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success" has ultimately met its capitalistic final solution within the abstract premises of virtual life. Fuck that, indeed.
 

Mr Bakaboy

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I'd alter it: there's nothing worse in a current video game than pay to win. Back in the days we did it, too. We bought magazines for hints, guides for walkthroughts and cheating cartridges for anything else. Sometimes it was even justified, like when you wanted to squeeze everything out of your hard earned rental on a weekend or simply ease out your frustration on certain games.

BUT... in most cases it was just part of the learning process, because you'd always come back to your game, because it had a predictable ending and, most important, a reasonable length. What began as paying for a win, ended with setting yourself that ultimate goal: to beat it on your own. Just because you could.

Nowadays it's backwards and paying to win is your ultimate goal -- just because you can't otherwise. As if the ethos of the american dream, with its "set of ideals like democracy, rights, libert and equality, in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success" has ultimately met its capitalistic final solution within the abstract premises of virtual life. Fuck that, indeed.

Well the old school play to win still exists. It was just replaced by the internet videos and streams. Those still need to be funded by people. It's just possible to not fund them at all compared to buying magazines (though you could just read the codes or walk through at the store).
 

NeoSneth

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Modern games do a great job of making you think you're having fun.
this is true for both AAA titles and mobile games.

The reality is the game handles itself, you just click a button when prompted.
 

Damulta

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Black ops 2 zombies still can't put it down.....i know it's getting old
 

Heinz

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There's something about Battlefield 1 that just hooks me in, in fact it's the entire battlefield series of games since 1942 that's had me hooked. Massive maps, 64 players, huge firefights in all sorts of situations ranging from beach to mountains to towns. It's simple and I can blow hours on it blowing shit up with a beer.
 

Lukejaywalker23

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There's something about Battlefield 1 that just hooks me in, in fact it's the entire battlefield series of games since 1942 that's had me hooked. Massive maps, 64 players, huge firefights in all sorts of situations ranging from beach to mountains to towns. It's simple and I can blow hours on it blowing shit up with a beer.

Yeah battlefields have always been my favorite multiplayer game. I think 2 and 3 were my favs but 1 is also great.

On another note. This thread sounds like the same old argument that happened when we were young. It's always gonna be better in our generation.

Anyone a fan of shadowrun on SNES? I know people say the Sega version is better but I'm loving this game.
 

NeoSneth

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Anyone a fan of shadowrun on SNES? I know people say the Sega version is better but I'm loving this game.

Genny version All fucking day. SNES was great as a linear story mode, but Genesis is better in every other way.
Replay is so high on the genny. I've played through it dozens of times.
 

Lukejaywalker23

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Genny version All fucking day. SNES was great as a linear story mode, but Genesis is better in every other way.
Replay is so high on the genny. I've played through it dozens of times.

That's what everyone says.
 

smokehouse

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Yeah battlefields have always been my favorite multiplayer game. I think 2 and 3 were my favs but 1 is also great.

On another note. This thread sounds like the same old argument that happened when we were young. It's always gonna be better in our generation.

Anyone a fan of shadowrun on SNES? I know people say the Sega version is better but I'm loving this game.

I love SNES Shadowrun...I think it's a highly overlooked classic.

I need to get deeper into the Gen version, I've never played it through.
 

aku

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its still all about fun - what ever this is for everyone. imho the problem is that there are too many games overall, too many games for nearly every genre, too many updates every year (all EA, Activision, Ubisoft games...?!), etc. - personally there are only a few games per year i want to play through ("fun") and very very very few games i want to "master".

i still want some games as fast as possible, i still want to unlock all secrets in some games, i still want to learn everything if the game is good enough, i still love old games i played through or even "mastered" (aka played on a low sub-semi-amateur-level) - but yeah..there are a lot of games i dont/wont play again...
 

Pope Sazae

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I have kids and grandkids so getting to find local multiplayer games are what gives me the most fun and the Switch has been wonderful for this. Snipperclips, Overcooked, Mario Kart, Bomberman, 1-2 Switch, and many others have been a delight in that we just have fun while playing them. Nothing very serious but rather an enjoyable time that we all get to enjoy. If I want something I find fun for just me I can always put on Mario + Rabbids, Fire Emblem, or Bayonetta.
 
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