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Gaming related experiences that are gone and never coming back?
- Thread starter Uncle at Nintendo
- Start date
Seemingly, the intentionally OP post-game rewards and built-in cheat codes of yore are never to be seen again. And also the dev rooms where the game staff put themselves into the game in a hidden bonus area and you can talk to them and learn cool shit about the game's development.
The in-person social aspect of gaming. Online made it irrelevant. This includes:
Arcades - Going out Saturday night to the local Arcade to play Primal Rage and other games where the place was packed typically with Jr High thru College kids.
Midnight Launches - Replaced now with querying on Amazon versus waiting hours in line with like minded people.
Lan Parties - Once XBL went, these disappeared, but the Halo Lan parties will be a thing of legend and talked about for years to come. PC always took way too much effort, while Xbox had it just right. Get 4 TVs and 4 systems for 20 guys.
Going to stores - Becoming friends with the people who worked at Funcoland, EB Games, Gamecrazy, and other places.
The slow wait and draw to a launch. Now, everything is instant thanks to online. Companies have to provide near weekly updates vs the once a month article you'd read when you head over to Barnes and Nobles.
The wild west of online and game design. You're not going to get that, "Throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks" mentality again with large budget titles like you got from the late 90s, finishing up in the late 00s.
Arcades - Going out Saturday night to the local Arcade to play Primal Rage and other games where the place was packed typically with Jr High thru College kids.
Midnight Launches - Replaced now with querying on Amazon versus waiting hours in line with like minded people.
Lan Parties - Once XBL went, these disappeared, but the Halo Lan parties will be a thing of legend and talked about for years to come. PC always took way too much effort, while Xbox had it just right. Get 4 TVs and 4 systems for 20 guys.
Going to stores - Becoming friends with the people who worked at Funcoland, EB Games, Gamecrazy, and other places.
The slow wait and draw to a launch. Now, everything is instant thanks to online. Companies have to provide near weekly updates vs the once a month article you'd read when you head over to Barnes and Nobles.
The wild west of online and game design. You're not going to get that, "Throw shit at the wall and hope it sticks" mentality again with large budget titles like you got from the late 90s, finishing up in the late 00s.
Gears party chat talking shit between rounds.
mainly things like ffxi. There were no direction markers or "go speak to this NPC". The community came together and helped populate sites like alakhazam and ffxiah. It was a great time with a great game. Today were guided through everything.
mainly things like ffxi. There were no direction markers or "go speak to this NPC". The community came together and helped populate sites like alakhazam and ffxiah. It was a great time with a great game. Today were guided through everything.
Agreed. I also want to add blowing in the cartridge (even if it's not actually good to do so, as you might introduce droplets onto the cartridge).
Also, going to your local video rental store and choosing a game to rent.
I genuinely don't know if I'll ever get mega hyped for competitive multiplayer ever again. I remember the sheer excitement for Halo 2 as a high schooler and then Modern Warfare 2 as a college student.
Multiplayer just feels like I'm drifting from samey thing to samey thing nowadays. For both of the aforementioned things, I felt like there was tons of possibility and that's what was exciting. I have a hard time imagining feeling that way ever again in the lead up to any more multiplayer games.
Maybe if Overwatch got like a 12v12 Battlefield esque mode or something, I dunno.
Multiplayer just feels like I'm drifting from samey thing to samey thing nowadays. For both of the aforementioned things, I felt like there was tons of possibility and that's what was exciting. I have a hard time imagining feeling that way ever again in the lead up to any more multiplayer games.
Maybe if Overwatch got like a 12v12 Battlefield esque mode or something, I dunno.
Having the time and willpower (through necessity mostly) to play the living fuck out of one game. And To have friends over on the daily for weeks on end playing street fighter or NBA Jam or Mario 64. Sleep overs playing GTA 3 with cheats on and laughing like crazy.
Basically being a kid and playing games like I hear my students doing. It makes me very wistful for the good ol days.
Basically being a kid and playing games like I hear my students doing. It makes me very wistful for the good ol days.
The excitement of what possibilities new hardware, arcade or console, can bring. Arcade is not really a thing any more unless you are in Japan and new console hardware just brings the same games but in a higher resolution. There was so much wonder and so many options when things went 32bit/3d for home, everything felt new, going into the DC-GC-PS2 there was still so much experimentation with things like Seaman and new game types or expansions like the Shenmues or GTAs.
It was great that games were still games and had varying objectives and they were trying different gameplay systems like in Rise to Honor/Blade 2, not like now where everything is a shooter that's a wannabe movie but 80 hours long that def stars a regular human.
I miss when a beta was an actual beta and not just a glorified demo, when you were playing something that was barley a work in progress. The excitement of 3d graphics def wont come back. Seeing Mario and Tomb Raider was mind blowing.
I miss when games wanted to be games and not every game wanted to be the next Hollywood blockbuster. When the games systems were fun enough on their own that they made you want have just one more try, without relying on trophies/achievements.
Also unlockables are never coming back in the way they were before, too many people were fine with paying for them that now thats the standard. When stuff like Dead or Alive had tons of costumes or extras in general. Actually, the way dlc/add-ons used to work in general, where it may be like "we had an idea for an island/levels/whatever so here you go, please look forward to our next release", something like Christmas Nights.
It was great that games were still games and had varying objectives and they were trying different gameplay systems like in Rise to Honor/Blade 2, not like now where everything is a shooter that's a wannabe movie but 80 hours long that def stars a regular human.
I miss when a beta was an actual beta and not just a glorified demo, when you were playing something that was barley a work in progress. The excitement of 3d graphics def wont come back. Seeing Mario and Tomb Raider was mind blowing.
I miss when games wanted to be games and not every game wanted to be the next Hollywood blockbuster. When the games systems were fun enough on their own that they made you want have just one more try, without relying on trophies/achievements.
Also unlockables are never coming back in the way they were before, too many people were fine with paying for them that now thats the standard. When stuff like Dead or Alive had tons of costumes or extras in general. Actually, the way dlc/add-ons used to work in general, where it may be like "we had an idea for an island/levels/whatever so here you go, please look forward to our next release", something like Christmas Nights.
Sleepovers and all-nighters with friends. People have commitments and lives now but I really wouldn't be opposed to spending a night again with a few of my friends over pizza and junk food and just reliving some memories.
same friend group FLIPPED OUR LID when ZP2KX came out, we all bought it in a heartbeat. I really miss how XBLA curated their new releases and gave them special distinction over retail outings. It made those summers where they would do stuff like the Marvel vs Capcom 2 rerelease or Hydro Thunder's reimagining into really big deals, and it made me check out a bunch of other smaller games like 'Splosion Man. All and all i think i had over a hundred XBLA and Indie games by the end of the 360
fucking this so hard. I remember me and my friends would get into voice chat and try to share answers and pray one of us got to be The One. I'd hoped live/scheduled game show styled affairs would be more of a common occurrence going forward, even just as promotional stunts, but obviously that never really materialized.
same friend group FLIPPED OUR LID when ZP2KX came out, we all bought it in a heartbeat. I really miss how XBLA curated their new releases and gave them special distinction over retail outings. It made those summers where they would do stuff like the Marvel vs Capcom 2 rerelease or Hydro Thunder's reimagining into really big deals, and it made me check out a bunch of other smaller games like 'Splosion Man. All and all i think i had over a hundred XBLA and Indie games by the end of the 360
Then: beat the game to unlock new characters, stages, costumes, weapons. Now: connect to the game store from the main menu to purchase new characters, stages, costumes, weapons. Cha-ching.
Then: this game cover looks cool, bought. Now: how many frames? What resolution? Brb, checking digital foundry. How many hours? Meh I'll wait till its $20 on PSN
Then: this game cover looks cool, bought. Now: how many frames? What resolution? Brb, checking digital foundry. How many hours? Meh I'll wait till its $20 on PSN
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I played DOOM on PS1. Had it lent from a friend. The booklet had pictures of the monsters. So cool. Left the game case with the manual on my floor. Our dog had a diarrhea. Ofc he shat on the game. I tried to salvage what was left from the manual. I cut the monsters that hadn't been hit. Idkfa what I was thinking. We had to buy the game from my friend.
I miss OP things in games. I loved how there used to be a super OP sword/item/etc. in most games that was incredibly difficult to get and took a lot of work and/or time, or was extremely well-hidden. It used to be the kind of thing you could figure out how to get and then just enjoy being stupidly OP for a while.
These days, I feel like items like this just aren't included anymore. Or if they are, they're "accidental" and will be patched out later for no good reason, even in single-player-only games. Sigh.
Arcades: no matter how good a future 'arcade' style game is, walking into an old-school arcade full of machines like Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Final Fight, The Simpsons, TMNT etc is never happening again. There are some throwback arcades now, that sell beer and have a collection of arcade machines for old dudes like myself, but it's never going to be the same.
Rentals: Paying AUD$4 to rent a Mega Drive game for the week during school holidays from the local video store, and getting absolutely absorbed for 7 days straight while you try to get your pocket money's worth. In an age of countless F2P options, that feeling is loooooooong gone.
Rentals: Paying AUD$4 to rent a Mega Drive game for the week during school holidays from the local video store, and getting absolutely absorbed for 7 days straight while you try to get your pocket money's worth. In an age of countless F2P options, that feeling is loooooooong gone.
The aura and mystique around games....we know everything about every game nowadays pretty much and it kinda sucks.
I miss going into a video store or Wal Mart or wherever and renting/buying games based off of friends' impressions, word of mouth, or just what looked cool.
Made me appreciate games a lot more too as I was more willing to give something a chance because quite frankly, it might have been what I was stuck with at the time.
I miss going into a video store or Wal Mart or wherever and renting/buying games based off of friends' impressions, word of mouth, or just what looked cool.
Made me appreciate games a lot more too as I was more willing to give something a chance because quite frankly, it might have been what I was stuck with at the time.
Yep only game that got my wife to ever sit down in front of a game machine with a controller in her hand.
We had fun
My local Blockbuster was THE social gaming hub for me and so many others, from childhood even through to early adulthood. I still get pangs of excitement passing by those locations even though they are now completely different businesses or derelict buildings. I hope physical gaming and brick and mortar stores have a renaissance similar to vinyl in the near future - I'd gladly pay a premium just to have that experience again.
Have you heard of the SInden Lightgun by any chance? Early impressions are very promising, and there's a good Discord community supporting the product too.
I'd apply this for consoles too...I remember things like getting my Wii and thinking I knew what I was getting but still not fully understanding it and that being part of the excitement.
Man I dare devs to make a game that gets people out doors the same way Pokemon Go did during its first two weeks
Game magazines, but specifically getting new informations solely from game magazines. When they previewed an anticipated game, you read that shit almost everyday until the next issue came. No trailers, no demos, you just read someone's account on the demos or trailers they saw, sprinkled with a few blurry screenshots.
Having to just deal with the current game balance because any "patch" was going to be a new full price game in the series.
For me it's the big graphical leaps. I mean, I'm still impressed but imagine growing up from NES to now and seeing actually 3D polygonal games for the first time. Mind blowing.
I was going to add this to my original post but I'll just post it as a new one...I agree with you, the age of just finding shit out for yourself is over and it sucks.
I remember sitting around with friends and trying to find all the Mortal Kombat secrets or rumored secrets and figuring out the Fatalities just for example...
I think that's one of the reasons I love BotW so much...it legit had so much to discover for yourself in it and the conversations surrounding it took me back to those old schoolyard convos back in the day.
