How many people still love the old games?

[Maxford]

I think, the old games were more fun, now the new games might have good graphics and all, but old games were more fun to play? Do you agree?

 

[Lanie_Jene]

I still play suduko in my android phone xd

 

[Zloth]

I think, the old games were more fun, now the new games might have good graphics and all, but old games were more fun to play? Do you agree?

Most definitely not!! I pick up games on GOG sometimes for nostalgia, but it's rare for me to play any of them for more than a few hours. Even the deepest of games was simplistic by today's standards - there's only so much you can cram into 48K of memory.

 

[Brian Boru]

While I used to enjoy the Solitaire pack bouncing out of my screen, I have to agree with @Zloth in general.

♣ Having to write BAT files to start a game with special parameters so it would work on your hardware—not fun!

♦ Uneven difficulty from level to level, due to poor design and difficulty with testing adequately—not fun!

♥ Generally harder, probably due to video games first becoming popular in arcades, where the devs incentive was to keep you feeding money into the machine—not fun!

♠ Bad controls. Your dexterity didn't matter if your gaming device wasn't translating it properly on screen. Perfect jump? Nah, not on my watch!—not fun!

♣ Pixel hunting, those things were SOO frustrating, if you didn't click the exact pixel to release the object… Grr—not fun!

♦ No saves. Yep, so many games with no freakin' saves—not fun!

All that said: thank you old game devs, you birthed a beautiful industry!

 

[Colif]

A lot less DLC and Pay to win in old games (Provided we aren't talking about arcade games)

Games broken at launch in the past? tough luck, it is still broken after release. Made you get it right before release. The only games we remember got it right. Made people try.

Compared to now... release broken game at launch and maybe fix it if your social media team can't tell everyone to go away because they are bad people...

We still get broken games but now people think it might get fixed after release unless its one of the yearly franchises and it will be replaced in a year by another broken game. Rinse repeat.

games were better when they were less about being pretty and more about things to do.

 

[mjs warlord]

Grim Fandango , first pc game i ever got and i still use it at least once a year .... bring it on ..

Escape from monkey island .. my first real challenge with AI , know WHAT to do ( walkthroughs ) is not enough the AI needs to log you have done it , example , i knew where the bronze hat was but unless i aske 1 person the same question over and over he would not TELL me where to dig , then i found it.

The Thing , i grabbed it as it was being removed from the shelves , way back then spitting heads open , in the aircraft hanger , was not acceptable.

Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 , the map for both are massive.

The problem i find with a few old games are that todays pc's are too good and even though they work you can jump onto a cliff and fall through it .... the answer is compatability mode to match the windows version when they were made.

Spectrum .... i changed 128k version of football director data to team names of my own , it was quiet funny to see my local under 12's team beat Brazil in the world cup final

 

[Pifanjr]

There's a couple of older games I return to every so often, mostly when playing them with friends. Company of Heroes is the latest example, which I played only two days ago and which I think holds up very well to modern RTS games.

 

[Johnway]

I still play old games a lot. I've got a raspberry pi with a whole load of emulators installed on it. Currently going through front mission 3. after that i'll probably complete a whole load of Nes / famicom games.

I still play doom 2 a lot, though its the constant community wads that get released by a very active modding community. Currently i'm playing mapping at warp speed. it uses skillsaws ancient aliens texture set and according to the dev notes, each map was created with only 10 hours and map 29 was a "hot potato" map where everyone was handed the map and spent 1 hour to add to it.

So far not bad, its surprisingly difficult compared to some of the wads i played.

 

[neogunhero]

♦ No saves. Yep, so many games with no freakin' saves—not fun!

This is my main gripe with older games. As much as I love older games for the foundations they’ve built for modern games to advance, some of them are just not fun to play. The worst thing for me is no autosave or games with no saves at all. Nothing frustrates me and makes me want to quit a game more than losing 30+ minutes of progress because of this

 

[Zloth]

♣ Pixel hunting, those things were SOO frustrating, if you didn't click the exact pixel to release the object… Grr—not fun!

Hey, want to walk along a wall and press the spacebar over and over to see if there's a secret door ANYWHERE on this entire level?

 

[Colif]

Man, no saves in Galaga, how will I ever see the end. (trick question, there isn't a proper end). Get good or use the no shoot glitch.
At least most new pc games don't run out of resources before they end. Unlike Pacman

Zloth reminds me of Wizardry. I don't miss needing to map dungeons with graph paper.

 

[Sarafan]

I think, the old games were more fun, now the new games might have good graphics and all, but old games were more fun to play? Do you agree?

Basically it all depends on how old titles we're talking about, but I love these games. They're often more entertaining and engaging than modern AAA titles. I even made a thread one day about very good old games that never made into digital distribution: https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/old-games-that-never-made-into-digital-distribution.137803/.

I also like when old games get some graphical upgrade. I'm an advocate of Ray Tracing in general and think that even old titles can benefit greatly from it. There's something charming in a combination of pixelated graphics and modern lighting provided by the technology. I'm waiting impatiently for NVIDIA RTX Remix which will allow to add quite easily Ray Tracing features to old games. Right now you can use mods for Quake 1, Serious Sam, Doom 1993 and Half-Life to add this technology and it looks great!

I also buy old titles regularly on GOG. Probably I won't be able to play once again most of them because of time limitations, but I like to have them in my library. It's a form of nostalgic trips to times when things were easier (or at least we perceive them this way). I also try to buy from time to time boxed versions of games that never made into digital distribution and probably never will, but this can be costly unfortunately.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Hey, want to walk along a wall and press the spacebar over and over to see if there's a secret door ANYWHERE on this entire level?

Not just old games!

This 50-hit Elden Ring illusory wall is probably a bug

I wouldn't go smacking every wall a million times just yet.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[dityDiana]

i like sneak game ,for me it s not old and not will be

 

[aguilasatlas]

Oh, I still enjoy very much playing retro games like Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Asteroids, Galaxian, Centipede, & more!

 

[Soloreo]

I don't know, with some of the old games, it seems like nostalgia is speaking. However, there were certainly some good games back then, just as there are now.

 

[WilhelmScream]

I have no particular preference when it comes to age or era although i do very much appreciate good quality 2D (not an expert on terminology*) art. I find that it is far more likely to age well and achieve a kind of perfection on it's own terms.
My current PC is old and beaten and my time spent gaming in any "serious" way has diminished over time so when i buy a new PC i'll probably go for a iGPU setup to save money and i'm absolutely certain that there's loads of fun to be had going back and exploring the history of PC gaming on it

 

[BeardyHat]

These days, I regard all games as just that, Games. It's similar to Movies for me; if it exists, it's just part of the lexicon and there is no "Old Games" or "New Games" really for me. If I look at it and it seems interesting, I'll pick it up and play it.

This past month, I spent probably about 10-15 hours playing Dragon Warrior 3 on Gameboy, because I felt like playing a Dragon Quest game. After growing a little tired of the gameplay, I picked-up Persona 3 Portable, a game I've been playing for something like 8 years now off and on. I was also playing Battletech (2018) recently and am now just starting to pick-up OpenTTD (Transport Tycoon Deluxe from 1994).

All this said, there's definitely preferred ways to play some games. For instance, with Dragon Warrior 3, I've been using my handheld emulators, because it's such a slow game, fast forward really helps with many of the battles, as well as being able to use save states to save anywhere and put the game down for a bit. Much as I love my original Gameboy hardware, it's just not worth it to use because it doesn't offer all the amenities of the new age.

 

[Smellincoffee]

Depends on the game. I still play Civ 3 on a regular basis because it's much simpler than Civ 5 & 6. I have the original Mafia and Mafia DE, but which game do I boot up when I want to run around 1930s Chicago? The original. Same goes for Pokemon. I grew up with gen 1 & 2, so gen 3 looks ideal to me and the new ones are just "weird".

 

[WilhelmScream]

Depends on the game. I still play Civ 3 on a regular basis because it's much simpler than Civ 5 & 6. I have the original Mafia and Mafia DE, but which game do I boot up when I want to run around 1930s Chicago? The original. Same goes for Pokemon. I grew up with gen 1 & 2, so gen 3 looks ideal to me and the new ones are just "weird".

Have to second the Pokemon thing. The last purely 2D generation is where my heart's at. It's just such a lovely place to be.

 

[WilhelmScream]

Hey can anyone guesstimate on the following: if we take a modern price to performance mindful iGPU setup, what year of games can it run at 1080p (is the "p" correct in this context ?) and 60 frames at max settings ? Talking about the titles that in their year would've been taking advantage of the hardware of the time. Not like Crysis but y'know- the average fancy game at the time.

 

[jasonsmalls888]

I do

 

[Game34]

There are very important reasons why old games are still missed and played today. Actually, it's a really long topic.

This is a bit about the period. When we look at the 80s and 90s, we saw many different and innovative games. Every company was trying to find something new. Because there was serious excitement among the players. We didn't have platforms like Google or YouTube. We were reading magazines and trying to get information through articles. It was very important to research, follow up and find new information.

Yes, technology is a good thing. Now we can find anything and reach many things by typing a word or a sentence. However, unfortunately it took away some of our excitement. I remember waiting eagerly for months to see photos from a pc game.

When we look at the platforms of the period, we should definitely not forget Commodore 64 and Amiga. They are the computers on which I started playing many great games. Today, I still play various games on Commodore 64.

Afterwards, I had the chance to try platforms such as Pong and Atari 2600. And we were really having fun. Yes, it seems like very simple games today, but it was definitely fun. Because they were the real game.

Yes, graphics are important but what about fun? Scenario? Atmosphere?

I don't even remember a game that I sat down and played for hours in recent years. But it wasn't like that before.

When I go back to the 90s, I remember playing Silent Hil 1, Tomb Raider and Resident Evil for hours on the Play Station 1 platform. It was amazing.

I think after 2009, the games started to resemble each other and the competition decreased. Almost every game has started adding a Battle Royale mode.

Today, we see many remake or remaster games being made in the gaming industry. So I guess it's all back to square one. I think the reason why this is so is that they are trying to bring back the gaming spirit of the old years.

Best Regards.

 

[VillainousVelKoz]

I think I love both the old and the new games for different reasons. Old ones for the nostalgic feelings they stimulate, and well, yeah for the gameplay as well. On the other hand, I do appreciate the more recent ones for the graphics. I always marvel at how far computer power has developed!

 

[IwantPeak]

There are very important reasons why old games are still missed and played today. Actually, it's a really long topic.

This is a bit about the period. When we look at the 80s and 90s, we saw many different and innovative games. Every company was trying to find something new. Because there was serious excitement among the players. We didn't have platforms like Google or YouTube. We were reading magazines and trying to get information through articles. It was very important to research, follow up and find new information.

Yes, technology is a good thing. Now we can find anything and reach many things by typing a word or a sentence. However, unfortunately it took away some of our excitement. I remember waiting eagerly for months to see photos from a pc game.

When we look at the platforms of the period, we should definitely not forget Commodore 64 and Amiga. They are the computers on which I started playing many great games. Today, I still play various games on Commodore 64.

Afterwards, I had the chance to try platforms such as Pong and Atari 2600. And we were really having fun. Yes, it seems like very simple games today, but it was definitely fun. Because they were the real game.

Yes, graphics are important but what about fun? Scenario? Atmosphere?

I don't even remember a game that I sat down and played for hours in recent years. But it wasn't like that before.

When I go back to the 90s, I remember playing Silent Hil 1, Tomb Raider and Resident Evil for hours on the Play Station 1 platform. It was amazing.

I think after 2009, the games started to resemble each other and the competition decreased. Almost every game has started adding a Battle Royale mode.

Today, we see many remake or remaster games being made in the gaming industry. So I guess it's all back to square one. I think the reason why this is so is that they are trying to bring back the gaming spirit of the old years.

Best Regards.

Old games are still cherished today because they represent an era of innovation and excitement in the 80s and 90s. Back then, players relied on magazines for information and eagerly anticipated game releases. Today's technology may offer convenience, but it has somewhat diminished the thrill. Nostalgia for platforms like Commodore 64 and Amiga, along with simpler but highly enjoyable games like Pong and Atari 2600, highlights the enduring appeal of fun, engaging gameplay and memorable experiences. Recent years have seen games becoming more similar and focused on trends like Battle Royale modes. The prevalence of game remakes and remasters reflects a desire to recapture the gaming spirit of those earlier years.