The 64-bit Golden Era
I miss the times of the Nintendo 64. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not some some cynical old geezer that believes all past times were better than today. The current videogame industry is full of awesome games, and they are coming out much more frequently than some ten years ago.
But… obviously, they’re different games than those we used to play back in the late 90’s. And while no era is better than the other, I personally really miss those games of the 64 and PSX era.
Games from those times were simpler and had a much more cult feel to them. The general experience had a lot of charm. Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII – IX. Somehow, these games were deep and complex, yet were simple in design and gameplay. The characters in these games were unique and memorable; and the gameplay managed to strike a perfect balance between classical, simple 2D mechanics and 3D graphics and physics.
Today, however games are highly complicated, with über-budgets and a much more mainstream feel. Again, this is not a bad thing by any means. We have games such as Call of Duty, Gears of War, Mass Effect, and even Rock Band and Guitar Hero. They are all great games… they just don’t have that old charm.
While things change with time, and upgrades replace the old, I see no reason to leave behind these semi-old school design patterns. I think they can coexist with the new patterns and focuses of the industry. We have a great recent example of the old not necessarily being outdated in Mega Man 9. It is built as a fully 8-bit game, and still feels absolutely fresh.
The main disadvantage of current-day, mainstream, über-budget design patterns is that they make the industry exclusive: it makes developers and designers rely on whatever is popular at the moment, to make sure a multi-million game investment is not left to waste away on store shelves. The industry excludes most things that don’t fit within typical mainstream tastes. It would be nice, though, to incorporate different design patterns along with the mainstream ones, so as to appeal to a wider variety of tastes.
Ah, to hear Peppy’s “Do a barrell roll!” once again… Wishful thinking, perhaps…
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Maybe you’re just high off nostalgia. xD I never had a 64 or a PSX (I’ve played it both however. The PSX more than the N64 because the only times I played it was when an old friend had one and a Ford dealer had one in the back room. I remember playing some racing game on my friend’s 64 and maybe a Pokemon game, Pokemon Snap possibly, at the Ford dealer.)
Maybe it’s because the Wii is my only console (of this generation, I have a GameCube too!), but I’m not a huge fan of games like Gears of War and Call of Duty. Doesn’t it get old after a while, just shooting things? Don’t you want to take an intergalactic platforming trip with Super Mario Galaxy? Or play a simplistic round of golf on Wii Sports?