happydolphin said:
Your post seems kind of abrasive, it was really just to stimulate talk... Like winston000smith said, games nowadays can seem a little formulaic, and even revivals such as NSMB and DKCR aren't exempt from that. What I was trying to describe in OP was the idea that, since tech was not as advanced back then, there was this need to express the most with little. Apart from that, the different time in history and civilisation gave a different expression (imho), which can even be seen in games. What that gave us were more whimsical songs, more open exploration. There was also this sense of challenge and fear of the final or mini-boss. The smokey colors of Mario in SMB, the artwork in Metroid I and LoZ led to some of the most loved protagonists in gaming, all from the same era. I understand that the Wii imitated the NES from a merchandising point of view, but I was asking it in light of new creations (IPs), revivals, and new installments of older franchises, from a game-making PoV. Making a game 2D does not address the questions I posed in OP. In OP, I made it clear what I was asking, about the themes, the colors, the music. Yes, I do want more 8-bit games like MM9, I enjoy them. But I was mostly talking about Nintendo's 1st party offerings, be they 2D or 3D. @dj2one. I wasn't talking about the crappy games, and I understand there are good games in every generation. I was specifically talking about what Nintendo mostly and 3rd parties gave us during the NES days, and what were the qualities of those games that I wish could be seen again. I'm not saying yesterday is all that's good and today is all bad, but I'm talking about a value that existed yesterday that in my eyes is extinct and I wish would return, to a certain degree. At least, for franchises like Zelda, Castlevanie 3D or Ninja Gaiden for example. |
Yes, your right. I was reading from work, couldn't listen to any of the music and didn't really digest the context. Guess I've seen too many whiny fanboys wanting Nintendo to make games as good as they remember in their childhood - which weren't as good as they remember - they were just too young to know the difference. But your observations here are correct.
Personally, I never owned a NES. Grew up with Atari 2600 & Colecovision and then never owed another console until Wii. My kids had consoles, but aside from playing with them, I never paid them any attention. Wii was both retro in it's simple gamplay and revolutionary in physically bringing you into the game in games like Godfather.
On point- It was a simplier time. While there was a lot of crap made for a buck, there were also a lot of gems being made by people who loved what they were doing and were largely free to follow their vision unencombered by buracracy or budgets. Now you have publishers and shareholders and marketing staff all making demands - not to mention the exceedingly high demands the fanboys and game media put on now. Back then, 2 guys in a garage could pump out a game in a month that would sell millions - or not. If it flopped. Oh well. There were few if any reviews. Games sold by (the usually awful) cover, theme and most importantly: word of mouth. Wii Sports continued that philisophy. Most games now cost millions to make and failure is not an option. So it becomes a much more regimented approach - do what's already proven to work. Personally I care little for games on HD consoles - progressively becoming more interactive movie than game.
However, on services like WW, XBL, PSN and iOS/Android you do see that same free creative ribe if more matured and seasoned than in the 70-80's. You also see lots of games crapped out for a buck. Some things never change.
