28 replies to this topic

[townparkradio]

Apologies, the new systems are also wonderful at Sandbox games. Mind you we had great sandboxes in the past, Utopia and the like, but the new ones are admittedly better.

[jaybird3rd]

 townparkradio, on Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:17 PM, said:

What's sad about it is the modern systems usually don't even give as much gaming pleasure as the old ones. The new systems are better at epic RPG style experiences, but that's IT. No other genre are they even equal. And yes I include FPS. What have they done worth a damn since doom 2, really? And Doom ran just fine on a 24 watt drawing SNES.

I agree. My friends who own modern systems sometimes wonder how I can be happy with "all those old games", but in fact, I think I've been spoiled by the vintage systems that I own.

Classic consoles and computers have given me so much "bang for the buck" over the years that the amounts of money people regularly spend on modern games is astonishing to me. I am not used to spending such huge amounts of money on technology which I won't enjoy as much as I should and which will be either broken or obsolete within a few years, not to mention paying monthly fees or paying per game on top of all that.

Vintage systems are much cheaper to buy, especially if you buy used hardware and software (as many of us do out of necessity), and once you own them, you know you'll be able to enjoy them for very many years: the classic games are timeless and retain their play value, the old hardware is usually very solid and reliable (and easy to repair, if you know anything about electronics), and there are no worries about DRM or game servers going offline. The energy efficiency of these vintage systems is a whole different angle, but again, it gives them a significant advantage over the modern ones.

[jaybird3rd]

 townparkradio, on Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:39 PM, said:

Apologies, the new systems are also wonderful at Sandbox games. Mind you we had great sandboxes in the past, Utopia and the like, but the new ones are admittedly better.

The one thing I can say for modern systems is that they're much better at simulations. If you want a realistic experience of driving a car, or flying an airplane, a new system will have the graphical horsepower to give you that experience in ways that the old ones could not. Flight simulators on classic systems are one genre that I have a hard time enjoying, for example, but old driving games (like GACCRR) still have their own charm.

However, one "simulation" genre where I don't necessarily want more realism is sports games. Football, baseball, and basketball are interesting to me as games, but the "ultra-realistic" versions of these games on modern consoles only make me think of the reasons I don't like sports: spoiled thug athletes, overpriced stadium seats, corrupt professional leagues, drunken boorish fans, etc. The Intellivision versions are just right: they're sophisticated enough to implement all the rules of the games, while still being simple enough to allow me to enjoy them on a more abstract level.

[townparkradio]

My wife goes out of town tomorrow, so I'll be able to take pictures of the awesome swag and post here. when she was home she was too shy about the mess, lol. Me? I'm a guy and don't care!