Retro Gaming — Because New Games Suck
As much as I love to generalize, it’s probably wrong. So I probably shouldn’t point out that new games suck. It reminds me too much of people who constantly rant about how all new music is inferior to the classics. Well, of course the classics were great: they’re the tiny number of songs we still listen to. Most of the songs back then were crap too.
And yet, most of the new games are inferior to the classics. I’m taking another look at games I thought weren’t that good, games that I got bored with, didn’t bother finishing, and traded in. Because my standards were pretty high five years ago. Now, the games focus on looking pretty–because that’s all you need to sell. And looking pretty is expensive! So we have a crop of expensive games that really aren’t that fun to play.
Well, maybe the art of game creation will refine and evolve and game developers will find efficient ways to make high-resolution eye candy. Maybe, but I doubt it. Instead they’re looking for ways to slip advertising, micropayments, and downloadable (for money) content into the games. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
In the meantime, we have vintage games. I just purchased Arcanum for 5.99 on Good Old Games. This is yet another game that I never finished. Well, it seemed complicated in those days, but now it looks like a welcome break from the parade of dumbed-down console games. I guess I’ll see.
