I have found games recently becoming increasingly disappointing, annoying and difficult. Emphasis on disappointing at the moment. It seems like games of this generation are making less of an effort on the fun factor than they are on, lets say, the graphics. Okay, I'm impressed, the graphics are wonderful. But as a result to your pussy footing about gameplay, all we have at the moment are beautiful games with amazing bloom effects, textures and models. But no fun. (Don't say Little Big Planet, it wasn't fun)

For Example, FarCry 2, COD: WaW and Left4Dead.

Don't get me wrong, all good games. But not *great*. FarCry is repetitive and boring. COD's single player was incredibl(ly short) and the online is unbalanced and oh so very annoying. Left4Dead is an unfinished game that is fun, but has some ridiculously annoying aspects to it. These are all games that have been getting a lot of praise that I see as somewhat undeserving in comparison to games previous to them.

So, I've been running back a few years to see whether it is just my mind fucking me about or whether it's actually the games. I started playing Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions. Oh Dear Christ, this is a good game. I had so much fun with the single player (no one playes the multiplayer). So I went back a little further and played Max Payne 1, looks like that was really fun as well. So I went back ever further and dusted off a copy of Heart of Darkness on the PS1. A cartoon styled platformer. This is incredible. (Forgot to mention ShadowRun, oh well)

It's looking as if the further I go back the more fun I am having, I am thinking about selling a lot of my games to build up some cash for something worth while. But I don't want to be a Retro Gamer. I like looking forward to new games rather than dreading their existence. Slowly I am loosing faith in my hobby, and want help. Am I the only one who thinks this? Can you give me something to look forward to? Or should I give up and play some IRL?

I think nostalgia plays a big part in enjoying older games, but you have a point. It may be that older games didn't have as much to work with (graphics, game engine, etc...) and so the games HAD to be "better" to be a value. Maybe at some point someone will make a game that doesn't max out the capabilities of its platform and instead makes up for it with stories, characters and the like.

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. It is a real shame that you can't appreciate games the same way you used to. I on the other hand, still enjoy most of the games I purchase.

CoD was great, I haven't played Far Cry, and I find L4D to be great fun in short bursts. I play Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, and many others. you seem to be stuck with FPS. Perhaps you can try some other genres? That may be getting stale to you, but maybe an RPG would switch everything up? Who knows, I imagine that losing interest in games is the least of someones worries, but thats just me.

Ok I hated Lost Planet, should have just called it Mechassault but Not on Earth. Fallout 3 is a fun game, until you reach the end. I cannot agree with the rest of your statements, there's only 3 games I ever play that were previous gen games, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Banjo-Tooie.

Don't play a game if you're not having fun. What the hell is the point?

Mr.Pandah:
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. It is a real shame that you can't appreciate games the same way you used to. I on the other hand, still enjoy most of the games I purchase.

CoD was great, I haven't played Far Cry, and I find L4D to be great fun in short bursts. I play Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, and many others. you seem to be stuck with FPS. Perhaps you can try some other genres? That may be getting stale to you, but maybe an RPG would switch everything up? Who knows, I imagine that losing interest in games is the least of someones worries, but thats just me.

I generally have quite a varied taste in games. But never enjoyed RPG's. Maybe it's time to give them another Go.

Little Big Planet + 3 friends

/problem

sirdapfrey:
I think nostalgia plays a big part in enjoying older games, but you have a point. It may be that older games didn't have as much to work with (graphics, game engine, etc...) and so the games HAD to be "better" to be a value. Maybe at some point someone will make a game that doesn't max out the capabilities of its platform and instead makes up for it with stories, characters and the like.

I hope so. Getting bored of everythnig looking "real" (Brown).

Saints Row 2 is purely senseless fun, as the great Yahtzee said.
And Left 4 Dead is very good fun when playing with a couple of friends.

Maybe you're just growing out of video games.

General Crespin:
Don't play a game if you're not having fun. What the hell is the point?

Really? That is your contribution? Did you even read it?

Crap_haT:

Mr.Pandah:
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. It is a real shame that you can't appreciate games the same way you used to. I on the other hand, still enjoy most of the games I purchase.

CoD was great, I haven't played Far Cry, and I find L4D to be great fun in short bursts. I play Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, and many others. you seem to be stuck with FPS. Perhaps you can try some other genres? That may be getting stale to you, but maybe an RPG would switch everything up? Who knows, I imagine that losing interest in games is the least of someones worries, but thats just me.

I generally have quite a varied taste in games. But never enjoyed RPG's. Maybe it's time to give them another Go.

All I have to say to you then is:

Fallout 3, my friend. Fallout 3.

EDIT: Crap, I didn't see your "brown" comment. Fallout 3 is quite brown, and quite similar to an FPS too, but still a blast.

kukuku ^^:
Saints Row 2 is purely senseless fun, as the great Yahtzee said.
And Left 4 Dead is very good fun when playing with a couple of friends.

Maybe you're just growing out of video games.

Don't say that. This can not happen.

ThaBenMan:

Crap_haT:

Mr.Pandah:
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. It is a real shame that you can't appreciate games the same way you used to. I on the other hand, still enjoy most of the games I purchase.

CoD was great, I haven't played Far Cry, and I find L4D to be great fun in short bursts. I play Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2, Prince of Persia, Mirror's Edge, and many others. you seem to be stuck with FPS. Perhaps you can try some other genres? That may be getting stale to you, but maybe an RPG would switch everything up? Who knows, I imagine that losing interest in games is the least of someones worries, but thats just me.

I generally have quite a varied taste in games. But never enjoyed RPG's. Maybe it's time to give them another Go.

All I have to say to you then is:

Fallout 3, my friend. Fallout 3.

Hmm, I'll purchase it asap.

Perhaps you are trying to compair how much fun you had with games as a kid with how much fun you are having with games now. That is a loosing proposition if you ask me. When we were kids we could be entertained for hours by throwing rocks into water. Of course an interactive TV would be made of awsome.

There's a difference between how much fun a game is, and how disappointed you were by it. Just because you're disappointed doesn't mean that the game isn't fun; it's just not everything you hoped it to be, which is true of any game I can think of (except Portal, IMO).

I've been feeling the same myself, as of late. It's not so much that I don't enjoy the games I play, it's more that very few -if any- have any lasting impact on me. Say I'll get my hands on a recent FPS, I'll have fun for 2-3 hours and then I'll be complaining inside my head because it's still got more and doesn't just end there.

It sort of occurred to me, after my wallet forced me to consider it, that the industry is at its peak and gaming is growing out of being the occasional hobby and becoming more of a less stressful , unpaid job. And while it's certainly not the sole reason, I can personally see myself not enjoying the titles I could really enjoy, because I'm being bombarded with tons of games, most of which are decent, but lack originality and are pretty much copies of one another. A double edged knife, to be sure.

On the other hand, I've also realized that gamer standards have grown far from my own. Reviews all over praised RE4 and I couldn't understand why for the life of me. GTAIV was getting perfect scores all around and I'm currently having ten times more fun playing Sains' Row 2. And the problem here is that with all these titles, when you can only pick one or two to focus on, not being able to trust the general consensus of reviewers is a problem.

I don't know if any of these apply to you, but I've been feeling like that for a while and these are the most valid reasons I could come up with to explain it.

Crap_haT:

General Crespin:
Don't play a game if you're not having fun. What the hell is the point?

Really? That is your contribution? Did you even read it?

You want us to tell you why you should enjoy games? We're not you. Just because others put more words in their post doesn't mean they're not saying the same thing. =P

I tend to switch between reading a lot for a couple days or a couple weeks, and then gaming a lot for a couple days or a couple weeks. Otherwise I burn out. That's me.

hamster mk 4:
Perhaps you are trying to compair how much fun you had with games as a kid with how much fun you are having with games now. That is a loosing proposition if you ask me. When we were kids we could be entertained for hours by throwing rocks into water. Of course an interactive TV would be made of awsome.

I never played LostPlanet or ShadowRun before now. And yet I find them to be more fun than more recent games. I never played Max Payne 1 either, only 2.

General Crespin:

Crap_haT:

General Crespin:
Don't play a game if you're not having fun. What the hell is the point?

Really? That is your contribution? Did you even read it?

You want us to tell you why you should enjoy games? We're not you. Just because others put more words in their post doesn't mean they're not saying the same thing. =P

I tend to switch between reading a lot for a couple days or a couple weeks, and then gaming a lot for a couple days or a couple weeks. Otherwise I burn out. That's me.

I recognise and respect what you are saying. But I think you missed the point of what I was saying.

Crap_haT:
It's looking as if the further I go back the more fun I am having, I am thinking about selling a lot of my games to build up some cash for something worth while. But I don't want to be a Retro Gamer. I like looking forward to new games rather than dreading their existence. Slowly I am loosing faith in my hobby, and want help. Am I the only one who thinks this? Can you give me something to look forward to? Or should I give up and play some IRL?

Crap_haT:
I recognise and respect what you are saying. But I think you missed the point of what I was saying.

What am I missing here? You're not having fun playing new games. So what's the point of playing them? What's so horrible about playing old games you didn't play yet? You can do both, and if you're playing old games you don't have as much time to spend reading about upcoming games so then you might enjoy them more because you haven't overwhelmed yourself with info about them. ;-)

I guess reviews are one part of this problem. Sice the goal of the companies is to sell stufff and not make everyone happy they have to focus on stuff that
1. gets a solid review score.
2. is very intense so when you only see a smal part of it you think its great and buy it; only when you try to play it for longer it gets stressful and funless.
3. beat the competition: This one is tricky since they don't know what their main rival might put in his game so consumers will buy it. Only better graphics is a save way to ensure that a game will shine next to another game of the same genere even if the story is crap.

I stil like some of the new games, L4d is one of them; just something completly new.
Other older games are not even close to be unthroned by newer ones like these:

-Diablo 2 (Battlenet is still running so go create a cchar and get addicted to all the fun)
-Operation Flashpoint (realistic battle simmulator and the only game that feels just right when you march over the battlefield)
-Gothic 1 & 2 (german rpg, i guess it was translated to english and its sparking with athmosphere to an extend you might get burned)
-Serious Sam 1 (timeless graphics and when it comes to shoting mindless hordes of stuff just go with the game that dosn't try to explain why all those monsters fight together but makes fun of it)
-Warcraft 2&3 (Strategy game with perfect mechanics, epic story and interesting missions)
-Day of the tentacle & Sam and Max (point and click adventures with so much humor your neighbours will come to check who won't stop laughing)
-Z (very old strategy game; runs with an emulator and is verry difficult but the mechanics are awsome)
-Soulreaver 1 (I don't know why, i just love the character)

So if you don't like the new games these games will ease your pain ;)
Of them the first three have another sequel in production but Operation Flashpoint, Gothic, Z and Serious Sam already had sequels that totaly faild to achive the greatnes of the originals (gothic 3 would have been some good without the bugs).

Final statemend: Much of the fun of old days is gone but there is an ancient prophecy that once every thousand Year the Choosen One will apear and lead all the lost programmers back into the land of promising games...There have been many false prophets but we have to keep the faith :)

The problem with games these days.

- HD
- Open worlds
- Online Multiplayer

Employing all the artists needed to paint the HD textures on all the street litter in Gears of War that you generally ignore because you have other things on your mind than stopping to read headlines on old newspapers in the middle of a fire-fight with the Locust costs money. It may have been better to have waited until the next next-gen before consoles went HD, but then stupid Sony had to reinvent the DVD and force Microsoft to compete on graphical fidelity - which, as the Wii has proven, doesn't guarantee market leadership. Assassin's Creed took Ubisoft 1000 man-years to develop, with the bulk of that manpower focusing on how it looked, not how it played. Oh dear...

Obviously, we have had Open worlds for some time, but it is having to couple them with HD that creates the problem. That is why Rockstar wouldn't let you go into many buildings in GTA IV. Many people like having this large city, but it is a largely exteriors only, like the backlot of some Movie studio. You are stuck telling all your stories in a handful of locations or the street. Many people now say they prefer San Andreas as it had more freedom. Oblivion was closer to getting it right by having plenty of places to go (and enter), people to talk to and quests to accept (which were refreshingly non-linear, yes, there's that freedom thing again). You see much as people yearn for an open city they will have more fun if they become a prisoner of their own choices - e.g. as boredom and psychopathy set in they should already find the world around them has changed towards them due to the Quests they have accepted, not some daft Wanted rating that diminishes with good behavior. Why is it that these Quests are scripted beforehand, waiting to be unlocked. How about Quests that aren't predetermined, but arise from the actions of often unseen AI agents with hidden agendas who may be more concerned with each other than with your avatar at the outset? Non-linearity doesn't mean being able to do anything all of the time, but giving you a rich collection of interesting choices which you will find that you will still want to follow in a pseudo-narratological way even when things become challenging because each Quest comprises multiple alternative paths.

Campaigns shrink, or are split into 'Episodes', as the costs of doing HD levels cuts into the development budget. The GTA IV city took so much effort to create, with traffic, pedestrians, weather, radio etc. that they weren't up to innovating the gameplay that overlaid it as well. Everyone was making suggestions on where they should set GTA V the other day and I think it would be prudent to reuse the same resources from GTA IV and just work a lot harder on building in some dynamic gang wars, legal system and mayoral election with candidates that were open to corruption and blackmail. Otherwise, with the way things are going we'll have a new Xbox before it gets released.

Now, clearly Online Multiplayer assumes it can fill the vacuum that the Campaign normally filled all by itself. However, if every game relies on this many good ones will not find players to populate their servers. Furthermore, to 'capture' a fickle gaming population and ensure that the game is not perceived to be 'quiet as the grave' whilst it is still on the shelves many games have brought in Ranking. This has you shooting newbs in COD4 as if you were 'grinding' in WOW. Is it fun to relentlessly prevail over weaker opponents? Halo 3's Multiplayer is balanced with the aid of Optimatch (so you not only face a team of equal ability, but are part of one of approximately equal ability), yet the over-abundance of game modes splits the shrinking population to such a degree that you waste time waiting for a game to start. This may explain the popularity of COD4 as the FPS crowd are somewhat impatient. So, too much choice. I suppose they could cycle through the special game modes on different days of the week whilst keeping the core ones present at all times.

Sometimes it's just best to draw your own fun from a game. I'm too tired to come up with any examples but just think about it.