First of all Happy New year to all of you guys, I wish this year all your wishes come true, except those waiting for console X, Y or Z to fail or THIS or THAT game will be a flop, come on guys just a moment of peace in this “war”.
This is going to be a long post, I hope you read through all of these lines and don’t get bored but I wanted to start this year trying to make a bridge between all of us, after all we have something in common, we love videogames J; I hope also to find support to many of the things I’ll post here and if you disagree please don’t insult just post why you disagree and we can get along I’m not imposing anything I’m just throwing my opinion in a friendly manner ;). Finally I hope I help many new franchise fanboys undrestand why for many people their favorites games aren't as great as they think and why you would get into a discussion without end.
The title for my post comes from a conversation I had with a friend, we were wondering why in such a time we have not found a game that amazes us as many games did years ago, we liked many games they were good games but wouldn’t “touch” our lives like many games did many years ago (that was of course before I got my Wii :P), were we getting old and tired of the games? No way!!! We grew playing videogames, We studied to become game programmers, We’re working for it then what was going on?. We then thought on the expression: we were becoming “dinosaurs”, we use that term to describe that old people that’ll always say that the old days were better days :P, or to make an example those who say that there won’t be a team like the ‘XX year but they’ll always love the sport and will be fans until death.
I can say I’m one of those proud gamers who ‘s played through most of the generations, and by telling you a short view of my gaming life I hope to make my point clear.
1988: I started playing Atari 2600 when I was 4 years old (it was a little late, but hey! I couldn’t choose) I still don’t know how I managed to play but my parents say that I beat them very bad J.
1990: I won a lottery and bought my Nintendo and then I could see a huge revolution, I mean from E.T (shame on me) to see how Mario could kick those bad koopas, or the Zapper I wanted to shoot the dog!!!, from pixilated figures that you had to say “if you use your imagination, that’s a person” to those soldiers in Contra shooting aliens in a colored jungle, or what about Mario 3 … I still think that’s the definition of a platform game.
1993-1995: Better graphics, some 3D effects, absolutely improved gameplay made this generation far better than the previous one.
I got into PC-gaming, Wolfenstein and Doom scared me (I could play them thanks to an older cousin), a complete different point of view, first person was the way to go … or so I thought until I bought my SNES :P and then came back to console gaming Super Mario World, donkey Kong Country, or what about the best 2D-fighting games ever? Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat 2, Killer Instinct!!!. Then I discovered the RPG genre and games like Super Mario RPG (damn I’m proud to say I’m a Mario man, but I grew up with the Italian guy what can I do?) , Final Fantasies, Chrono Trigger!!!! And do not forget of the best soccer game of all ;) International Superstar Soccer!!!!!
Unfortunately as many of you I was a fanboy back-then (and I was until many years later L ) so I naturally hated Sega so I missed many great games L, feel free to post those games that are part of history. And Playstation was knocking on the door :P.
1996-1998: For me the greatest moment in videogames history. 3D OMG!!!!!!!, but it wasn’t only that.
Quake I and II, first LAN parties … great nights, I can tell you :P a night with your best pals in the very same room is WAAAAY funnier than playing on Live ;) come on you can get up and hit your friend for winning the match ;).
Do I have to tell the games that made me choose my future career?????
Mario 64: Again Mario??? Yep, Know the fatty plumber we all love was more realistic, funnier, re-playable than ever … and you could stretch his face in the opening screen!!!!!!!!!!!
Goldeneye: The best Console FPS ever!!!!! Until our graduation on 2000 my friends and I came one evening each week to my place to play in the 4-split screen, simply priceless, a masterpiece.
Zelda OoT: … Can’t say much … simply the best game for me ever… you can expand this list.
FF VII: almost a tie with OoT, that open 3D world, My beloved Chocobos in 3D, a weird Sci-fi story bu still fantasy ;), changed the series completely. Set new standards for the industry, one of the best Villains … I can continue .
Half Life: Although I love Golden Eye this is the best FPS.
Metal Gear Solid: Why I cannot be like snake? I want to save the world ala James Bond but with dinosaur like warhead launcher robots!!!!!!!
Resident Evil: Zombie re-definition :S I got scared for the very first time in many years … damn Zombies appearing from nowhere … and I was always short of ammo L.
Starcraft: Actually the only RTS I play and for me the better one… blasphemy for many I know, but hey help me to grow this list by posting many more J.
Diablo: Take that lord of Terror… terror the one I’m going to give you :P.
Gran Turismo and on and on…
The years to come, I know there are many great games that I still think are some of the greatest, Soul Calibur, Shenmue (very very underrated) this was the game that made me buy a Sega console for the first time and I haven’t seen an open-world game as detailed as this one.
So as you can see in the years that came after 2001 the formula became, hey let’s have better graphics… that was great , but for me it was not a revolutionary as the steps the industry took each generation before, I can’t deny that many great games are from last-gen, but as “dinosaur” 96-99 I think will never happen again, the industry in a majority (there were some exceptions) copied and paste the formula that worked through these years and added prettier graphics and amazing sound … voiceacting maybe???
And seemed it was going to be the formula this gen, I know many great games were coming again, but once more they wanted to push the idea of HD as the future of gaming, that’s partially true but it wasn’t the only truth, it wouldn’t lead to a 84-like crisis because many new gamers that grew up with the late 90’s and of course many older gamers would buy and think that their new games are the best in history it’s a valid opinion but I hope I showed why you’ll find many people that will burn you for saying that given the background of the greatest moment of videogames so far. But what about those who felt the industry was in a flat phase, again wait for few new great ideas???… Wii is changing that, I was hoping for something like that, I wanted to feel inside the game without paying thousands of dollars for a VR-chamber, that is a revolution and now I think 2006-???? Would be another great time for gamers, and this gen I can get again to see those games that simply… change your life.
With that said I can say proudly I’m a “dinosaur” I’ve seen the rise and fall of many consoles, I’ve seen most (if not all) the steps of the next big entertainment business, I’ve seen the greatest game programmers of all time, and I’ve played the greatest games of all time and for me they won’t be replaced. I understand that many younger gamers will call me delusional and hell I wish they’re right and the next revolution is yet to come and then I will be proud to say that I’ve been in the greatest moments of videogames.
Already @ Seattle 
