Have classic games changed the way you play?
Gotta love the classic games, eh?
(Credit: Id Software)Video game developer Capcom announced on Tuesday that it will be bringing some of its classics to the PlayStation 3 and the Sony PSP. According to the company, it will be releasing Mega Man Powered Up, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and more.
Capcom is following a long list of companies that have brought classic titles back to gamers. And for the most part, they can be found on the major consoles.
Xbox 360 owners can download several classic titles, including Doom, Sonic the Hedgehog, Worms, Duke Nukem 3D, Banjo-Kazooie, and many others (full list).
Sony offers Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot, Twisted Metal 2, Wild Arms, Tekken 2, Metal Gear Solid, and Destruction Derby, to name a few (full list).
Nintendo boasts a variety of classic titles, including Wave Race 64, Punch-Out, Donkey Kong, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Super Mario Bros. (full list)
Today's gaming landscape is (naturally) home to the most advanced video games we have ever played. But this generation of consoles is also ideal, if you're into classic gaming.
I, for one, get more excited when the "big three" announce additions to their classic-game lineups than when they announce new games. At least half of my time gaming includes trips down memory lane. I'm fighting my way through Final Fantasy VII, I'm crashing against the water in Wave Race 64, or I'm taking opponents out in Punch-Out. It's fantastic.
Recent moves by developers and hardware makers to bring classic games to current consoles are ideal for someone like me. I'm often bored with derivative first-person shooters. The same basic stories pitting good against evil get old. I need to get away and immerse myself in a world that was created years ago, when the industry was different.
Developers in previous gaming generations didn't rely so heavily on graphics to impress crowds--they relied on innovation. That focus on innovation comes through in so many of the classic games I play. Final Fantasy VII's story is better than most current-gen titles. Sonic the Hedgehog's use of speed to build excitement is unparalleled. I still have more fun playing Super Mario Bros. than any other game that has been released in the past few years. None of those titles might be able to match up graphically, but they offer something unique that makes them far more compelling than many newly released titles.
So as I consider how my gaming has changed since I've started immersing myself in classic gaming, I'm shocked to see the impact it has had on how I play games. Years ago, I played nothing but current-gen games. Today, I'm splitting my time between the old classics and new titles. It's fun.
What about you? Are you playing old games, or are you sticking to the new stuff? Let us know in the comments below.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
The old-school games are awesome, don't get me wrong. From the zillions of hours and quarters wasted on the original Galaxian and Defender arcade games, to the crude but exhilarating 3D graphics of the earliest Doom and Duke Nuke'Ems, they represent a small but thrilling chunk of years gone by. Sometimes I'll shake 'em out and play 'em on an emulator or on a VM (or once in awhile, I'll dust off an old console and fire it up).
OTOH, the past is past. Trying to resurrect that only cheapens the whole experience, and shows an utter lack of creativity on the developers' part.
Come up with something new, FFS. Stop trying to milk the past for all it's worth.
What was nice about the old consoles is that developers had no need to put a whole lot of focus into graphics, because they didn't have much to work with in the first place. Now, graphics are a huge focus. Not only do the graphics get more complex, but the gameplay itself gets more complex. Some of the most simple games are the best games.
In truth, great creative works are fairly independent of technology. In fact, need for a big team and expensive equipment detracts from individual talent. By insisting on artificial obsolescence game industry is just pushing a large segment of the market - people with money, life, work, kids and taste for games they played when growing up - into abandon-ware sites or simply giving up on the concepts.
Also, did you watch E3? Are you telling me Mega Man 9 had you more excited than Splinter Cell: Conviction or Assassin's Creed 2? You're old.
it has nothing to do with age dude. i'm 28 years old so i wasn't quite old enough to be around for the 1st generation of gaming consoles (atari, commodore 64, etc) but i sure do still appreciate the games from that era. it's extremely interesting to see the evolution of games and genres.
niko you won't be a true gamer until you mature a bit and you broaden your horizons and check out as many back catalogs of the original games as you can.
The older games are fun and based on gameplay rather than graphics.
In terms of enjoyment, a $5 purchase for the Wii Virtual Console can often provide more simple enjoyment than a $50 PC game. While the graphics and gameplay can be simpler, that is great for casual gaming.
I'd rather play games that are fun to play, even if they have poor graphics, lack "realistic" physics and lack sophisticated controls.
It's really whatever you enjoy. Not everyone enjoys complex gameplay.
My PC is great for most older games, and if my new laptop can't run it then my older desktop system can. I'm starting to shift away from console games again, for the simple fact that the 360 doesn't have a good mouse/keyboard support system.
And I agree with TechforTat, SMBros3 for the Wii arcade is AWESOME on a big-screen.
I had the chance to play Zelda: Ocarina of Time, all Super Mario Bros. and some Genesis games again, actually I'm playing more classic games on my Wii than new games! hehe!
With that said, virtual console games are fun, but I wouldn't tell the developers to forget about new games. Especially with FPS, the newer games are far superior to the old ones. Some games are just great games (SMB 3, Zelda, etc.) and will always been fun to play and others I think are more nostalgia rather than being a "great" game. For me those would include Tecmo Super Bowl (which needs to come to Wii..why is there Tecmo Bowl but no Super Bowl?) and games like RC Pro Am or RBI Baseball. I love them, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily great. Also, I think more developers are realizing that fun and simple aren't mutually exclusive. Trash Scatter on PSN is an example. Really simple concept, but its pretty addicting...plus its only $5.
As a non-"gamer", I'm interested in creativity, something different, and fun. Even if the classics are familiar, my memory of the creativity they represented when they were released brings me back. The creativity is getting harder and harder to find as the focus in gaming continuously shifts towards milking the GPU for all it's got.
The game industry isn't the only entertainment industry to rely on graphics to sell, by the way. Anyone seen the Transformers, G.I.Joe, Spider-Man movies? Crappy movies with great effects. And they make millions. So maybe I'm the crazy one and everyone else is the growth-potential...but that doesn't mean that the Idiocracy isn't just around the corner...
So, what is the point? Did the CNET author just realize this? Then where have you been? Ever heard of the Namco Museums for PlayStation? Capcom Generations for Saturn/PlayStation? Arcade's Greatest Hits from Midway/Atari? Emulation? Yeesh.
The fact that Mozart's Jupiter Symphony is still enjoyed 221 years after it was written says something about the quality of the work.
Ahh, Jupiter Symphony does sound nice.
I've played so many great games that weren't even looked at because of the first glance at the graphics; just check out "Blood Will Tell" that game rocked. Killing demons to get 48 different body parts back and every time you did you get a new ability. That's 48 bosses, 48 different things to look forward to. I'd dear say that game was even funner than Ninja Gaiden.
then there are the ones that get worse with time like Halo, Bionic Commando, Resident Evil, FF, Rainbow Six, and about 60-70% of most remakes or sequels that are just terrible the "newer" they try to make it.
Games I play:
Startropics (anyone remember the submarine code on the original game? Yeah, I threw it away lol)
FF7,8,10,X-2, Megaman series and X series, Breath of Fire 3 and 5, Saga frontier, FF12 (not quite old school but past-gen system), Tekken Tag Tournament, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Onimusha (dawn of dreams?), Legend of Legaia 2, Grandia 3, Star Ocean 2 and 3, and more I'm sure.
Games I want to be out on virtual console.
Secret of mana and evermore, Illusion of Gaia, Panzer Dragon Saga, Startropics 2, Uniracers, Adventure Island (all of them), Donkey Kong 64, Pilotwings, Dragon Warrior (all), Battletoads, and Soulblazer.
Some of these games are actually really, really good, while others are indeed for nostaligia effect.
Parasite Eve (PS)
Wing Commander 4 (PS)
Nuclear Dawn (PS)
Stunt Racer FX (SNES)
Fire power 2000 (SNES)
Jackal (NES)
Nightmare Creatures (PS)
Abomination (PC)
Killer Instinct (SNES)
A real sequel to Kingdom under Fire as it was RTS / Hack and slash (XBOX)
Solders of Fortune (NES)
Cameo (360)
I have to admit I am a lot like the author in respect to playing new vs. classic titles. I split my time about 50/50 between them. Although I have to say the gap is narrowing more towards the classics. That shift is all about pure replay value, I just don't get the same effect from most of the newer stuff.
- by AlnilamE August 26, 2009 11:23 AM PDT
- Yeah, I have an X-Box 360 and I've been dividing my time between Wolfenstein 3D, Morrowind and Puzzle Quest. I will get back to the 360 games after that, but it is really neat to be able to download older games.
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(29 Comments)After arguing with people on the PS3 slim threads about BC, I decided that when I get back from vacation, I'm going to get an original 60GB PS3 on eBay so I can retire the PS2, but still play my PS2 games.