Games aging badly?

[Caius]

Early 3D games' controls can feel wonky or just plain bad compared to current day 3D games' controls. Standards have changed drastically, after all.

This is true, yeah. Any game that utilizes shoulder buttons for camera flexibility and control these days instantly gets me irritated.

The 6th Gen Grand Theft Auto games: GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas ;-;

I ended up buying the collection on PC so I could mod it and make the titles playable again. I continually wonder how I played all of them years ago.

 

[Acruoxil]

I still play Vice City and SA time to time. I've invested 2000+ hours in the latter. Its that good.

 

[Caius]

I still play Vice City and SA time to time. I've invested 2000+ hours in the latter. Its that good.

I do as well. I enjoy stealing a bus, grabbing 7 homies and taking them on Vacation up a mountain.. then flooring it off the side. Good times.

 

[-Apples-]

I could see why some if you don't think a few N64 games aged badly while saying the PS1 games did. Yes, the graphics don't match today's standard, but it's possibly because this is a Nintendo site, as I wouldn't be surprised to see pro-Nintendo bias, but it's true that the graphics and gameplay is outdated.

I think Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, and a few N64 classics aged pretty well. Even as we move on, the older games still had some charm.

This may not be on-topic, but I had some friends who thought that Mario Kart 64 was better than the newer versions because of how simple it was and less complicated.

 

[ChaosEmperor1988]

when i talk about how well a game has aged, i always compare how fun a game was when it come out or when you first played it and if it still provides that level of enjoyment as well as how earlier game in a series compare to newer entires and if changes made make the experience overall better or worse (for example comparing gen 1 of pokemon to gen 6 or comparing mario 64 to mario galaxy). i feel thats the fairest comparison; comparing for example mario to GTA is unfair as theyre 2 diffrent genres with 2 difrent gameplay styles aimed at 2 diffrent audiences. even comparing 2 franchises of the same genre (final fantasy and persona for example) doesnt seem right as they'll have some diffrence to set it apart from other games in a genre.

comparing graphics and saying thats why it hasnt aged well is a copout; of course a game made in 1985 or 1995 isnt gonna look as good as a game made in 2015, and games made now will look like rubbish compared to what we'll likely be playing in 2035. yes final fantasy 7 for example is blocky but that was squares first attempt at a 3D FF game so of course its not gonna look awesome. likewise with mario 64/ocarina of time/megaman legends and really any game that is a franchises first leap to 3D.

 

[Sansa]

I think it's really sad when I hear that a game has "aged badly."

There are some really wonderful games from the 90's that were immensely challenging, even by today's standards, yet don't entirely live on aside from a cult following because the graphics aren't up to the standards of today. Books and movies live on even if they're from another decade, but somehow games haven't quite found a "classic" genre (aside from big names which are still made today).

Myst and Riven are some of the most challenging and beautiful games I have ever played, and even though the graphics are a tad dated, they still bring me into another world like few other games have been able to do so. Both of these games are super cheap on GOG and Steam, so if anyone is looking for a great "vintage" game, they are definitely worth the small investment!

 

[lars708]

Honestly, Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 did not age "bad", i still have fun playing them to this date! The N64 game which i think has aged HORRIBLY is Mario Kart 64, it is just outdated, ugly, and the mechanics suck...

 

[LambdaDelta]

Not sure about other people's perceptions, but I base this strictly on the gameplay itself. How it controls, fluidity, level design, etc in relation to how gaming has changed since then.

And even me saying it hasn't aged well doesn't necessarily mean its bad, but just that it has clear problems to me looking back on it. Especially problems that people were far more lenient on at the time for one reason or another, but would be considered faults in this day and age.

Like I really don't think Mario 64 has aged well (though it hasn't aged terribly either), but I still consider it to be a solidly fun game despite that. Just not as solid as it's made out to be.

 

[Alienfish]

The first PSO game. Mostly because the horrible camera and the GCN controls were clunky asf.

It is a good game but I'd rather play it on like Dreamcast or the 2nd one.

 

[Tao]

I think it's really sad when I hear that a game has "aged badly."

There are some really wonderful games from the 90's that were immensely challenging, even by today's standards, yet don't entirely live on aside from a cult following because the graphics aren't up to the standards of today. Books and movies live on even if they're from another decade, but somehow games haven't quite found a "classic" genre (aside from big names which are still made today).

Graphics aren't the only thing that people are talking about on the subject of how well a game has aged. In fact, graphics are probably the least important thing, though some games have still aged worse than others visually.


There's also game mechanics that can be wonky, clunky, not work 100%, hard to understand/use or just plain bad. Or controls could be awful and dated, which can easily stop me wanting to play something since I'm going to have to deal with bad controls for the duration.

Some of this stuff we overlooked at the time for whatever reason, usually because at the time these things were still somewhat groundbreaking with nothing better to compare them to. In 2015 though when we've seen countless other games do those things so much better, it can be hard to go back to something like Goldeneye and enjoy the dated crappy FPS controls that were amazing at the time.

 

[Micah]

Play the original Dragon Age or Mass Effect, then play their later sequels. That's a good example of games aging poorly.

Or play Fallout 3 and look at the Fallout 4 gameplay videos. It's a night and day difference between graphics, movement, AI, and other things.

 

[Jawile]

I'm really getting sick of the idea that a game has to have the latest technology and graphics implemented in order to be good or relevant in the video game industry. If people enjoy a game, it's a good bloody game. Whether it's comparable to the graphics of Mario Kart 8 or not shouldn't matter at all.

Outdated graphics and technology doesnt define a game aging badly, however; games like Grim Fandango and Fallout 1/2 are games that have low quality graphics and do not use the newest technology yet they are hailed as some of the best games ever made.

 

[Ramza]

Next week when Mega Man Legends is released on PSN, everyone is going to realize how badly it aged.

 

[lars708]

Next week when Mega Man Legends is released on PSN, everyone is going to realize how badly it aged.

Lmao so true, i am going to laugh so hard when i see the reactions!