In all due honesty, I'm neutral on the debate of modern vs. retro gaming, but I understand why both camps feel the way they do. Yeah, games deliver more from a technical standpoint, and as a result, more can be done with them, so what may not have been possible in the past, may be doable now thanks to better hardware. However, whether games are better now is another thing entirely, and is purely subjective. Like it or not, games are designed differently now than they were in the past. For some, that may be different good, but for others, that may be different bad.
Games, like any other medium, aren't exempt from market trends. With the 7th gen, the emphasis on online multiplayer, and fps, and motion control, and a million and one other things, sat well with some people, but not others. Single player games emphasized violence, sometimes at the expense of other elements. In general, there has been a shift towards making games that sell really well, and it didn't always feel like devs put their heart into what they made, like they used to in past gens. Because bugs could now be fixed with patches, some devs like Bethesda either skimmed through the bug testing phase, or skipped it entirely. So, some people, myself included, started to feel more nostalgic than usual towards past gens. I think the recent rise of the indie scene has really turned things around, but that is debatable.
Retro gaming has risen considerably in possibility, possibly due to having easier access to retro games, but I think there's more to it than that. Yet, the notion that games were better in the past is also subjective. Every gen felt different from those that came before it, at least to some extent. No gen has been unaffected by market trends. If you weren't a fan of 3d platformers in the 5th gen, you were probably in the same boat those who aren't a fan of modern fps have been in throughout this past gen. Each gen has its own flavour, and some people who grew up with a certain flavour may wish it never went away, so there's no law that states that the current gen has to be everyone's favourite. There's sufficient reason for someone to prefer certain gens over others, regardless of whether they're current or not.
It also seems like every other gen, or every odd numbered gen to be more specific, shakes things up radically, while every even numbered gen builds on the previous gen with improved technology. I wasn't around for the 1st and 2nd gens, mind you. The 5th gen's shift towards 3d was quite radical though, and not everyone was on board. Ok, I realize 3d was experimented with before the 5th gen, but the 5th gen largely revolved around 3d games, while people who preferred 2d games sometimes felt like they were left behind. I didn't understand them at the time, but I do now. I'm sure a few of the the Atari 2600's fans weren't so quick to jump on the NES bandwagon either, but I'm not from that time, so I don't really know.
The point is, when big changes occur, not everyone is going to embrace them right away, and some people don't embrace them at all. It's not surprising that not everyone is fond of the 7th gen. Sure, changes occurred with the even numbered gens too, but they weren't quite as radical, so we can extrapolate that the 8th gen will feel enough like the 7th gen, that those who are fond of the here and now will adapt just fine to it. Regardless though, if you ask someone what their favourite gen is, a lot will say the current gen, while others will have a different response, and you can't fault either for feeling the way they do.
29 Jul 2013, 4:53 am
