Is this gen boring?

All general 3DO chat here please.

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13BEAST
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Post by 13BEAST » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:48 am

:cry: I wanted that....

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mattyg
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Post by mattyg » Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:44 pm

Firstly - to clear up the ghostbuster thing - Ghostbusters was originally a 1970's tv series starring the guys from F-Troop. There were three main chharacters and one of them was a gorilla. The running joke was that the guys were named Spencer and Kong and the Gorilla was Tracey.This easily predated the movies by more than ten years and the characters used similar apparatus to catch and store the ghosts.Both spawned animated series and to cash in on the movies success the series was reborn.To differentiate they used the term "real Ghostbusters"

Okay now to why this gen is boring ;

In the beginning the 2600 gave us arcade games at home and we loved it for it - space invaders , frogger , pac -man - we bought the 2600 in massive numbers . Then an interesting thing happened - we started to get introduced to an ever increasing amount of original titles including Star Wars Empire Strikes Back - we could be Luke Skywalker at home - we were being wooed in the same way we were at the arcade by the wire frame XWing game ( thanks for the screen shots by the way).
Then the rot set in
They gave us ET
We didn't want ET it was naff
We voted with our wallets ( and our brains) and we caused the crash of '83 because we were not going to buy excessive amounts of excrement.
The arcades continued to thrive The Japanese were showing us how , Raiden , Galaga , Commando , 1942 all classics - we wanted them at home
we had to have them
we had game & watch Donkey Kong - we wanted it in our TV screen
Sega & Nintendo listened to us
We got the NES and the Master System we were playing to escape reality
Ever walked down the street and had a gorilla throw a firey barrel at you while you were rescuing a princess ........ ever jumped as high as Alex Kidd mmmmmmmmm.....They gave us what we wanted - fantasy.
The SNES and Mega drive followed - we got Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter we got what the arcades had and we were happy
PC owners were happy too .....flight simulators and point & click ruled - Sam & Max were born (Leisure Suit Larry anyone?) more mature games for an older demographic.
Then everything changed
The CD and sega's arcade boards did that
We bought PC's to marvel at Myst;s beauty (yep .....I kid you not!)
We ooooed and AAAAAAhed at Daytona & Virtua Fighter
We were loving CGI dinosaurs and spaceships at the cinema
We wanted them at home
Sega should have won
Sony gave us more - Ridge Racer & Toshinden - and they were exclusive!
Saturn dissappointed
The arcade still ruled
Then came PS2 & Xbox - suddenly home was better than arcade
The arcades died
The rot started again - what did we want now?
The developers told us we wanted REAL so they gave us real.Does Hollywood use CGI for vases and flowers and toilets ...NO because we dont want realistic real.
Do we want Mario to look like a real person ? Do we want him with real person mechanics?Would that improve the gameplay?NO NO NO!
Do we want to jump in a realistic Tie Fighter and play Wing III style ? YES
Do we want to see the GTAIV engine tweaked into a murder mystery where we follow and gather clues ? YES
So what do we get now?
FPS.......boring
FPS........boring
FPS........boring
We have created this ourselves - somewhere along the lines we bought the excrement
We follow like cattle and the developers know it - WE NO LONGER DICTATE WHAT WE GET!
and that my friends is why this gen is boring and Nintendo are winning.
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

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3DOKid
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Post by 3DOKid » Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:33 pm

I wholeheartedly agree. People are stupid - and sure they don;t know what they want. However, the industry is just as much to blame.

We are drenched with Survival Horrors, Western style RPGS, online gaming and car games. (Ignoring casual - which is closer to the 2600 than anything and will probably mean in 20 years the FPS will have a resurgence) and rather than bucking the trend and trying to lead the market they all chase after the same FPS/RPG dollar.

What I'm disappointed at is that the scale hasn't met my expectations.

Take Elite on the 48k spectrum. I was a super geek at the time, and I marvelled at the number of solar systems in the game, the scope of the game and the scale. I don't think we've had that scale awe in this generation. I think the wonderment and the magic has gone from the industry.

How about this; two movies I love:

Weekend at Bernies and 2001 Space Oddessy - they are both a lot of fun but only one is epic. This generation feels like there have been a lot of Weekend at Bernies released and not a single 2001. They are good but...

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Trev
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Post by Trev » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:22 pm

Weekend at Bernies and 2001 Space Oddessy - they are both a lot of fun but only one is epic. This generation feels like there have been a lot of Weekend at Bernies released and not a single 2001. They are good but...
Possibly the best analogy ever! :D

But I liked 2010 better myself.

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Post by 3DOKid » Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:06 pm

2001 is a bit of a slow burner. 2010 is pretty good too. Roy Scheider was always good value :)

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Post by 3DO Experience » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:39 pm

Ha Ha! ELITE!

Matty, good job, even for a Sega fanboy. NINTENDO ROCKS!!! but you left out our beloved 3DO and the orgasmic DreamCast. :(
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

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Post by 3DOKid » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:11 am

3DO Experience wrote:Ha Ha! ELITE!

Matty, good job, even for a Sega fanboy. NINTENDO ROCKS!!! but you left out our beloved 3DO and the orgasmic DreamCast. :(
My dream of Elite 4 was last gen. I wanted to sell drugs to other species and watch alien suns rise over unfamiliar moons. But most importantly, i wanted to shoot stuff. In space.

Just so we are all clear: The Dreamcast is not orgasmic. because if it was, we would have all seen the .avi by now ;)

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mattyg
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Post by mattyg » Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:38 pm

Matty, good job, even for a Sega fanboy. NINTENDO ROCKS!!! but you left out our beloved 3DO and the orgasmic DreamCast.
I've never owned anything Sega! - always played everyone elses!
as for our beloved 3do it shouldn't need mentioning - we all know its place

Nintendo only rule at the moment because they're thinking outside the box - by all accounts they're scared of Sony and MS releasing copycat peripherals and software.
"Women & children first!" seems to be working.....for now

and remember guys (& gal) I'm a GAMING fanboy and am in nobody's corner - I just want games that I'd play released

BEWARE the excrement!
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

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Post by UnholyTancred » Sat Jan 31, 2009 11:48 pm

I wholeheartedly agree with Mattyg on the excrement. It's pitiful.

But not only are modern games horrible but also other services. I don't like Xbox Live. I've never used it and I never will. I refuse to pay monthly fees just to play multiplayer or download a level or two.

I don't have any of the new consoles so I stick to PC gaming. But we have Steam which is junk. The only reason I got Steam was for Red Orchestra. What's going to happen to all the games once Steam service is discontinued? Huh? How are you going to activate your games then? How are you going to play them?

I haven't even bought a PC game in a while and if I do it's something old. I get the games through other means ;) Nowadays when you buy a PC game, it's not uncommon to be able to only install it 3-5 times. You're renting a game. EA is largely responsible for this and they have been responsible for promoting piracy not combatting it. Why would anyone shell out $50 on a game and only be able to install it 3 times?

I refuse to have StarForce protection on my PC. I hate SecuROM but it's been around for a while and become the norm.

Here is a hilarious article. People who pay for games suffer when it comes to DRM:
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009 ... -today.ars
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Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Feb 01, 2009 1:33 am

ELITE 4 !?! I was only aware of (what must be) the first one. Did they get to 4 or just 3?

Matty, I just couldn't help but pick. I used to be Nintendo all the way, 3DO changed that, and the Dreamcast made me get rid of my bias against SEGA. Turns out I'm really enjoying the Saturn.

Unholy, I don't think I've seen a decent PC game since DOOM 3. Gonna read that article after I sign outta here.
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Post by 3DOKid » Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:30 am

I want to drive this point home before people begin to suspect I am really just a grumpy old so-and-so who refuses to move with the times.

So - i am going to refer to Games(tm). A British gaming magazine a bit like Edge or NG Magazine but has no requirement for a PHd in English.

It's essential 10 games of 2008

1. Gears of war 2. (I have no brain.)
2. GTA IV. (I have no brain or sense of taste.)
3. Fallout 3. (There is no game.)
4. Valkyria Chronicle (interesting)
5. Braid (Pretentious crap)
6. Left for Dead (online ONLINE!!!?)
7. Little Big Planet (Pretentious, online, no game crap)
8. MGS 4. (One for the fans, it's rubbish but really good if you are a fan)
9. Rock band 2 (Not interested)
10. Fable 2. (Really not interested)

These are all very mediocre. And sure, maybe I'm over critical, but there isn't one single defining moment amongst them. There is no Sonic on Genesis, or, for me, Ridge Racer, or Elite, or anything. Nothing here couldn't have been done on the original Xbox or maybe even the PS2 - so what's the point?

The imagination and the 'what if' has gone form the industry.

I, personally, am looking forward too:

Ghostbuster (like I said)
Killzone 2
Operation Flashpoint 2
Final Fantasy 13
Resident Evil 5

...but if I miss one, I'm not going to care too much. I certainly won't pre-order and will probably buy second hand.

This is the dullest I have ever known gaming. It's a massive difference from 1993.

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Post by mattyg » Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:39 am

So - i am going to refer to Games(tm). A British gaming magazine a bit like Edge or NG Magazine but has no requirement for a PHd in English.
Until I saw recent editions of Edge I thought that Game(tm) was actually that magazine rebirthed!
I hear what you're saying about them - but at least they're not thinly veiled advertisements and have some decent interviews.I'm impressed that the English are producing not one but two quality mags!
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

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Post by NikeX » Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:57 pm

When I see a sword or a gun, or a car driving in a city with barriers
left and right, I go away.
So, nearly every game is boring.

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Post by 3DOKid » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:03 pm

Edge Magazine February 2009 vs Edge Magazine January 1994

(For those that don't know, Edge is pretentious self obsessed UK games magazine that often needs a PhD in English to read.)

January 1994 was interesting time. The 3DO was out (in the U.S.) the Atari Jaguar wasn't, the CDi was getting a VCD add-on, The CD32 was out and the Saturn, PlayStation and Project Reality (N64) were merely twinkles in their manufacturers eye.

The arcade was still king.

The number one games were as follows:

- MegaDrive (Genesis) Mortal Kombat
- Amiga Frontier: Elite II
- PC Microsoft Flight Simulator
- SNES Mario All Stars.

Street Fighter II was popular on everything but the PC and the Amiga.

Edge Magazine was looking forward to:

Everything by Cryo (Mistake?)
AVP on the Atari Jaguar
R-Type III
Demolition man on the 3DO
Ridge Racer at the Arcade.

According to them the most wanted game of the month (as voted for by the public) was Total Eclipse on the 3DO.

Leap forward 15 years to 2009.

The arcade is dead. Sony have been and come and gone and Nintendo is back on top. Sega make games for everyone and MS have stolen 3DO, Atari, Philips and Sony's dream at the last minute.

Charts look like this:

Nintendo Wii - Wii Fit. (This isn't a game at all in my book - not really)
PS3: Call of Duty
Xbox 360: Call of Duty
PC: Football Manager.

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp? ... /index.jsp

Actually, looking through there is a good spread of games on all platforms. Street Fighter II is still in there too, with Edge looking forward to SF2 HD.

Looking at the games Edge is looking forward too, there is a pretty good spread too. My, perhaps, hasty belief that it was all FPS and racing in this gen-somewhat unfounded.

- Ghostbusters.
- Demigod on the PC
- GTA: Chinatown
- Siikoden tierkreis

There is variety. I've convinced myself. But there is no imagination.

There is a big feature on Fuel. A muddy racer.
GTA China Town is GTA Retro version. Think GTA 1 on the PC with swanky graphics.
Ghostbusters is a game of a 1984 movie FFS.
and Tom Clancy is making a Ace Combat clone (oooh)

It's all very safe, but nothing that really (except maybe Ghostbusters) that is new, or fresh or indeed exciting or tantalizing. It's gaming by the numbers.

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Post by 13BEAST » Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:59 pm

Well I had high hopes for Timesplitters 4, but Free Radical is gone now...For the love of God, I hope the Timesplitters franchise doesn't get sold like Fallout did. Bethesda did horrible horrible things to Fallout.

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