Only if you look back at the humble beginnings of videogaming do you appreciate how it has developed into what it is today. At the Atari release of Pong during 1972, nobody could have possibly predicted where the interactive entertainment industry would be taken in the impending years; huge open worlds and motion capture would have been a mere pipe dream for even the most daring developer. 39 years ago Pong was the pinnacle of videogaming, and whilst you may look back at it in distain whilst clutching your Dualshock 3 and copy of Deus Ex, it was incredibly accessible and amazingly fun to play without needing any fancy technologies to enhance the experience.
[drop2]Although the original PlayStation games that populate my hard drive have detracted from my rose tinted memories, there is still something exhilarating about taking a break from the complexity of today and diving back into the simplicity of yesterday when mandatory installs, virtual trophies, and downloadable content were purely things of the future.Take Medieval, for example, a game that I only ventured back to after downloading it through PlayStation Plus. Whilst no PlayStation game is going to graphically challenge the titles gracing our consoles today, Sir Daniel Fortesque and his world of Gallowmere conveys a charm that has debatably disintegrated as development teams have become larger and more technologically advanced. Whilst it’s hard to shake off the feeling that you could be playing something like Uncharted or L.A Noire when you’re stabbing zombies with a single button press, it’s a fascinating experience that forces you to seriously think about where the industry is headed.
L.A. Noire was critically acclaimed upon its release and is a massive contender for Game of the Year, but was most commonly criticised for the rinse and repeat nature of its cases. Did Team Bondi become so wrapped up in motion capture and creating an open world that the element of fun took a back seat for part of the development process? Although their work resulted in a great game, there is no doubt that the next generation of consoles will harbour an even greater emphasis on technology. Advancement is generally positive, but the lines become blurred when it begins to be prioritised over the very reason why videogaming was conceived; for fun.
[drop] A developer that couldn’t be clearer about its intention to create a fun game is Volition, the team currently working on the upcoming Saints Row: The Third. With no regard to reality, the third iteration allows you to dress up as a pirate and then cruise around the city in a jet, all whilst you’re burning the population with a giant laser beam. Whether it’s simply a novelty or something that you’d continue to enjoy doing remains to be seen, but it’s truly refreshing to see a developer that publicises how fun their game is, rather than about their revamped game engine or frame rate.Videogaming isn’t about graphical prowess, or how many polygons you can fit onto a screen at any one time, and neither is it about the different story paths you can take, or where you can go in a huge open world. If these features are built around the premise of enjoyment (as in Saints Row: The Third) then I’m all for them, but the day that they are implemented solely to impress rather than to entertain is the day that I fall a little bit out of love with videogaming.
Deathbrin
Well, for me i guess realism -> immersion. Like, say, Crysis 2 is a fun game but with toy-like visual design despite being close technologically to what Metro 2033 offers, i’d say i overall prefer the grim dark and realistic latter. Not that i have to choose, thank God, but i think that’s where it lies. Immersion.
RadicalMave07
games have allways needed to impress,as humans in general need something bigger and better then the last.i think that all games are aimed to impress but the time period in wich the games were made limited the amount that developers could impress with.if in 1972 they had the technology we have now and they created pong for that they would be laughed at,in terms of L.A Noire,i dont believe they were putting the wow factor before fun,i think it was great that rockstar,who in general have stuck with the same game dynamic for so long to actually go out of there comfort zone and create a game like this is truly great.at the end of the day reviews are what count and it is great that reviews in general are not based upon graphics but how fun and enjoyable the game is.
Crocadillian
‘as humans in general need something bigger and better then the last.’
Thats totally subjective dude, I can easily play old games with the many ‘recycled’ games at the moment.
Deathbrin
Yeah, but they’re bigger for you than the others.
RadicalMave07
i see your point,but those games are all classics that have meaningful significance to you or others that justify playing them again.
Awayze
Hence why COD is awesome and BF isn’t.
COD concentrate more on gameplay rather than graphics but like everyone else I want to see upgraded visuals and audio.
yogdog
In your opinion dude. Personally I much prefer the team based gameplay of Battlefield, I enjoy CoD but only in short bursts, whereas with Battlefield I can play it for hours at a time.
Bad company 2 was awesome and despite being very buggy, I’m really enjoying BF3 so far in the beta. Gameplay is perfect for me.
Grabacr
LOL You’re joking right!? XD CoD is one of, if not the most generic game series and is completely undeveloped and unimproved from each previous version before it.
Whereas BF3 looks like a complete overhaul from Bad Company 2.
Grabacr
On the whole, games are getting more boring and generic (especially since the 360s limitations are holding back many games that are multiformat). But there are still fun games being released, sometimes you have to look at some less-known games like Blood Drive, Monster Jam and Singularity. Not forgetting there are still well known games that actually are fun from this gen like Fallout 3/NV, Saints row 2/3, Burnout Paradise, Resistance FOM/3, LBP, RDR etc
Grabacr
The main reason why games are getting generic and dull is because the 360s (huge) userbase is mostly 10 year olds that play nothing but boring CoD, Halo, L4D, gears of war etc over xbox live. and if this is what sells then that’s what they’re gonna keep making.
Haseo
Great article and raises a good point. Medieval was my first game for the Playstation and was great back then, average story but with lots of funny moments. Today we’re given more options because of progress, which is only natural but every generation has their moment, I’ll never forget Sonic for the Mega Drive for example, and so on :)
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