You guys who have been gaming since the 3rd/4th generations (or even before them)...

[NiKKoM]

Dodece said:
Nostalgia has a horrible habit of erasing the truth. That being that in some way those days were better then these days. Rest assured that is not the truth. In fact modern games have a higher level of quality, and we as gamers would not tolerate the crap that was pulled on us back then. We would not tolerate bad controls, or the old trial and error gauntlet we were forced to endure. The games were not engaging as much as they were mind numbingly repetitive. Do not confuse being induced into a zen like state as the same as having fun. Yes they are both relaxing, but one is about sincere joy. The other is about having a sense of nothingness.

Game design was all about the cheap. How can they make a player run through a level a dozen or more times. Not necessarily, because it was fun to do so, but because they set it up so the player had to die a dozen times to get through. Also let us not forget the glories of the pitfall. Another classic technique to have you wasting valuable time, and growing more frustrated by the minute. Remember this fun. You had to sit on the edge of a platform exactly right to make that jump. Just a little off, and you plummet to your death. How about blindsiding. Forcing you to play from the end of a screen only let things come from that side, and smack you with no notice. Oh well now you know where that will come from next game.

Think about that when your playing a modern game. Would you not be irate. You probably couldn't conceive that it was intentional. You would toss your controller down in disgust. Foam at the mouth. Curse at that cheating game, and the bullshit it is pulling on you. You might rip the game out, and snap it in two, or toss it to the side, and be upset. Probably pissed at yourself for being stuck with a game that is the spawn of Satan.

Yes I bet you guys forgot all about that. The broken controllers, the hit console, that cart you smashed into a million pieces. I bet you all forgot about the frustrations, and how obscenely pissed you were at the time. I also would wager that it doesn't seem like that anymore either. Here is a hint as to why. Your family was wrong yes you were actually being cheated on. The developers really were screwing with you, because they knew if you beat their game in four hours you would realize it wasn't worth fifty dollars.

Today they do not get away with that shit. That is why your not seven flavors of frustrated. They pull that kind of shit, and they will be crucified. No your not allowed to blindside players anymore. Your not allowed to tweak evil jumps. No your not allowed to have a eight hour game with no save points. No to all the shitty tricks that made you blow fifty hours of time on a game that is five hours long.

That is what is missing from your nostalgia. Your just remembering the feeling of accomplishment, or the awe you felt. You have completely forgotten that the damned game play was cheap, and you spent half your time frustrated rerunning the same shit all over again, because a coder ambushed you with something you could do nothing about. It is easy not to be pissed when it is your fault. God what I did was pretty stupid. However if it isn't your fault then yeah you have a right to feel violated. It was not hard you just got hit by a cheap.

So... I guess you didn't beat BattleToads? :P