Are the memories of videogames best left in the past?

I'll be honest with you - I've fallen out of love with videogames. Truth be told, I've been falling out of love with them for years. I can't pinpoint the exact moment when it happened, but when I stop and think about it I'd estimate my enjoyment of gaming probably peaked around the age of 10. My interest has been waning, slowly but surely, ever since.

Recently I did an odd thing - I saw an Xbox 360 at what was an irritatingly tempting bargain price. On impulse, I bought it. Objectively it's an impressive piece of kit - graphically it is beyond what we could even have imagined in the days of my childhood. In terms of interesting features that I will never use it almost rivals my mobile phone, and it has what looks like a worthy catalogue of games that can now be picked up cheaply. Previous experience leads me to expect less reliability from a 360 than a used Land Rover, but still, I'm sure I would have loved it as a kid.

Now technically a grown up, however, I find myself rather ambivalent to the black box taking up space on our study desk. I am not convinced games have moved on all that significantly since the N64 devoured hour after hour of my homework time. Certainly there has been a marked shift in the way games are presented, but the actual playing experience seems to just offer more of the same. I remember now why I got rid of my first Xbox - the feeling that I'd seen it all before, that there was little new to enchant me. It was as disappointing as finding yourself back in the same Live session as the gobby yank who wouldn't shut up.

Something else that doesn't sit comfortably with me is the increased commercialisation of gaming. As little as 10 years ago this was a hobby for nerds and outsiders, an activity yet to shake its anti-social image. Not so much anymore. But there is something depressing about pensioners wielding Wii remotes, and people who have never played games before raving about how wonderfully accessible it all is. Worse still are the hordes of casuals who will play nothing other than the latest FIFA or Call of Duty - the type for whom 'RPG' has only one meaning - 'rocket-propelled grenade'.

But perhaps my insular view comes from a fondness for gaming, a fondness which still exists somewhere within me. Somewhere inside lurks the 10-year-old me, the me that explored Hyrule with awe and wonder, the same awe and wonder which as an adult I now feel staring into the abyss rather than at a screen. Playing Zelda again today is a mildly underwhelming experience, mostly because the virtual reality of the cartridge never matches up to the fantasy world in my mind. Ocarina of Time got right into my head as an introverted child and fuelled the fires of my imagination, and in doing so became more than just a game. It became another world to gladly escape into.

Nowadays I'm left with the faint sadness that I can't get this kind of thrill from games anymore, try as I might. But I'm grateful for the memories nonetheless, if nothing else for the realisation that the 10-year-old me hasn't gone completely. My games may stay with me until they become collector's pieces, but until then the discs and cartridges will likely remain on the shelf, and the happy times I spent with them will be stowed away, safe in my head.

JB, the site looks great by the way 

( Edited 28.07.2013 17:21 by WonkeyKong )

Wow Ross, good to see you again!

I think it's difficult to regain some of these memories especially if you've grown up with video games - some of the sequels/successors just don't feel quite the same. I think gaming as a whole is becoming less surprising - that said these indie gems and some unique major-studio games stand out more so, but not with the general public alas.

the type for whom 'RPG' has only one meaning - 'rocket-propelled grenade'.

Lol, very true.

I'll echo what  JB said: there are some really neat ideas coming from indie developers. Braid, To the Moon, Machinarium, and Bastion come to mind.

But to me, it sounds like the thing you loved most in games was when a game had created an interesting world with characters you wanted to learn more about. I've thought about this recently because those are the game that always seem to feel special to me. You mentioned RPGs and Zelda, both of which usually have an engaging world. The games I remember most fondly are Harvest Moon 64, the original Pokemon games, and the RPGs I have played. The thing that seems to suck me in are the worlds, The combat in RPGs is usually a minus for me, but a good RPG has a world I want to be a part of.

I think on the Xbox 360, the best experience I've had has been with the first Mass Effect. You're still shooting some stuff up, but the characters and the universe are interesting. The plot unfolds well (in my opinion, much better than the plot of the second game, and I never played the third). Portal has a been a breath of fresh air, too. The gameplay was new, but also the small world you're exposed to is suprisingly fleshed out and the villain, GLaDOS, is a wonderful character (which is good, because it's the only character besides you, and you're a silent protagonist).

( Edited 29.07.2013 23:10 by TAG )

I was thinking of bringing up Mass Effect as well.

For me, that feeling of Nostalgia with video games was always about discovering a new world with amazing people. A lot of older games are better at creating that feeling of discovery, because in order to reach the user it genuinely had to be great. They couldn't fall back on photorealistic textures and advanced lighting to convince the user the world was worth investing in.

It kind of seems in a lot of ways like how the horror movie genre has changed with the advent of new technology. True fear comes from mastering the unknown - from what's unseen, tension. That's why older horror movies are (in my opinion) generally better at creating a lasting impression - they didn't have advanced CGI or effects. They had to infiltrate the mind in other ways.

Now adays, however, with the advancements in CGI, it's far easier for a studio to make a horror movie where they just show you something creepy. They can show you a bogey and have him kill things in gruesome ways much easier than bothering to develop a coherent story with believable characters and real tension.

In the same way, video games these days in some ways become more about what you're seeing verses the actual experience. It becomes easier to just dedicate time and effort to a proven template with updated graphics than to come up with something that actually goes to the heart of why people play games in the first place: to escape to a new world and experience something truly unique.

It's not all bad though, and with your 360, there's a lot there that provides a satisfying fusion of new technology and that old feeling of discovery. Going back to Mass Effect, it's a wonderful gem that introduces a fascinating new world. Similarly, Bioshock 1 and Bioshock Infinite have also for me captured that sense of wonderment that comes with experiencing a new world. There are other examples too that can be brought up, but I won't continue here at the risk of digressing into silly lists that people seem to think "prove things" these days.

In summary, there's a lot wrong with gaming these days. But when current technology meets real creativity, you can see that great things are still being made, and that there's still hope out there. Just gotta find the good stuff and support it. Those indies TAG mentions are great too; they provide a constant reminder to the industry at large about the need for creativity.

( Edited 30.07.2013 13:55 by Jacob4000 )

I'll offer my perspective as someone who didn't really get into games before the age of 10, which was around the start of the GC/PS2/Xbox era. Being rather late to the party, my first experiences with cherished childhood franchises such as Mario or Zelda were on the Gamecube with their respective instalments on it and not the NES, SNES or N64. From what I gathered, that was already during the time when most people would say many games lost their magic. Yet, I never once felt that while playing those games and I'm sure many kids of today still experience that sense of wonder too, given that they're playing the right games. In that sense, Super Mario Galaxy might be that magical experience for a younger generation that Super Mario World or Super Mario 64 were for the older crowd.

I think it really just comes down to the fact that there'll only ever be one first time and one childhood. I simply cherish those memories of the past and don't expect developers to surpass them as long as the games are well made and fun to play. The games that are just that will get my support and appreciation as long as my love for videogames is still going strong, which should be for a long time to come as my inner child is still there in full force. Heck, being older and more experienced actually makes me appreciate many aspects of games more than I ever did back then. While people like me seem to be in the vast minority, I can still see why a lot of gamers have fallen out of love with videogames. It's something I often have to ask myself about when reading posts about gaming on the internet...

Good replies - interestingly, Mass Effect and Portal 2 were some of the games on my 'possibles' list. I also had the original Bioshock the first time around, and I agree it was an interesting and unique game, although I found the combat too repetitive and one-dimensional. It's one of those games where they seemed to pack it full of content to offer 'value for money', but really they just needed to let the concept shine for itself, for it was an impressive one.

Perhaps the 360 won't be going on eBay just yet...

I go through similar feeling about games every so often. I think sometimes it's just a case of needing a break from games for a few months because so many games end up feeling like rehashes of what's gone before. Which is bound to happen when you've played so many. When you're a kid you're experiencing lots of genres for the first time & have little to no knowledge of the games.

I've always been one to get excited over new technology & what it can bring to games (both graphically & practically) but I have to admit I've become a bit disillusioned over the past generation (mainly with the PS3 & Xbow360) over their focus on graphical tricks & need to make everything online multiplayer. I own a PS3 & have ultimately felt let down by nearly all of the games I've got excited about & purchased. The Wii really proved that processing power isn't everything in the last gen & had more games that I found pushed creativity & play styles. 

I think that's a big part of the problem now I'm older. I'm more discerning & I'm looking for new experiences (which is getting very hard now I've been playing for about 35 years). When I look back over each generation I see games from them all that I'm glad I played though & that keeps me going on playing. 

One thing that did make the last generation enjoyable was the resurgence of older game styles (like side scrolling platform games & shoot-em-ups). 

( Edited 04.08.2013 16:38 by Trepe )

i still remember playing super mario bro's back in 90's when i was a kind.