Obviously over time, many aspects of the gaming industry have changed.

But for me at the end of the day, it is about how much I enjoy a game.

The technology has come on in leaps and bounds, as well as some of the expertise and understanding. And we have file sizes and prices to match, as well as the time spent making some games. Hardware requirements are always increasing as well.

Of course, we also now have a quite mature Indie Games sector, which competes in various ways, even some of which are almost opposite to what big developers of AAA games are doing.

I find myself thinking about all the advances and extra expense, and question how much more I enjoy a game today than say 10 years ago or 20 years ago or even 30 years ago. I'm not sure that I am enjoying all that much more now, though it would be very subjective depending on the game.

For sure, the eye candy in many games now is amazing. But sometimes that seems to override any sense of the need for a great story. Great visuals of course, often add greatly to a sense of realism. But then I ask myself, how real does a game need or seem to be to enjoy it?

Many games have great replay value, but we also now have games that have so much to them, that you get hundreds of hours of game play in many cases. How often does quantity amount to quality?

There is certainly a lot of money tied up in developing games now, along with the time involved and number of staff.

And then there is some (maybe many) folk who get quite addicted to gaming. I have to admit that I am a bit.

Gaming certainly is a great escape, especially from the pressures of life assaulting us. But I do also question though, whether some levels of realism are truly giving us a true escape, really letting us de-stress etc.

Be interesting to read what others think.

Hello Timboli!

My taste, preferences and factors of/for enjoyment of videogames has changed multiple times throughout my experience.
And meanwhile it seems to revolve around waves or some form of re-ocurring loops.
Nonetheless, one thing has not changed: I am still switching frequently between at least two or three very different games in the same timeframe!

I started with those games on dedicated hendheld devices with a crystal black & white display (like those of the early digital watch). I think they were called something like 'game & watch' in the English speaking regions, while in my home country we called them simply 'Telespiele' [Spiele=games].
Later, I played on the Nintendo Entertainment System, ZxSpectrum and other vintage home computer systems.
Every new game was a revelation of possibilities and wonders, new genres were born at every corner, but you had to invest quite some effort and imagination into each one of them. Luckily, me and my brothers shared (for a significant amount of time) our new hobby. Hence, video games, playing side by side, taking turns individually or even watching the other one playing (now it is called 'Let's Play') next to you was always a huge part of the experience for me!

Well, with the leaps of technologies, new game systems, more available memory (both storage and RAM) the focus shifted from arcade, pure gameplay away to more story, to more scripted sequences, shinier graphics and increasing game worlds.
Then there came the huge shift with the dawn of realtime 3D (not those textureless vector 3D meshes, or those pseudo 3D dungeons in false isometric style, or the pseudo 3D first person dungeons).
For a time every game development project had to move 'forward' to the new hype, despite the initial iterations being kind of lackluster and so much less detailed than the imensly increased 2D representations of the former generation.

There was also the beginning of the shift of interests and preferences. I bought the Playstation 1 while my brothers got the Nintendo 64. We continued to share our games and gaming systems. However, our preferences started to drift away from each other. One was more interested in engaging stories, the other in strategies and min-maxing, or in challenging puzzles, and another one could not let go of the more focused, gameplay-centered ones.

I began 'retro'-gaming way before it got mainstream. While my brothers were captivated by the new(er) system(s), I already kept going back to the older ones, searching in the videothek (kind of Blockbuster Video) or on the second hand faires for games that I had missed out on, when they were new.

Of course, with each new possibility, I followed some or many trends (of my brothers), mouth to mouth propaganda and some rare magazines were the majority of our sources for new games. For a while I even engaged in smaller and bigger multiplayer sessions and 'LAN parties' with them. Though, every now and then I was bringing an oddball of a game back home... a couple of times even getting my brothers interested in them--and when, then they sticked to those, as well, just like me. (One of those contagious experiences was the original "Myst": a slide show of still images, no characters moving around, absolutely no guidance... but the intriguing worlds of Cyan, creators of Myst and Riven, left a mark on some of us.)

Well, when the video game scene was shattered once more by the introduction of unseen before special effects, later called 'shaders', the leap to 3D era was gone in a heartbeat and seemingly every production wanted to include shader effects for even more foto-realistic graphics (that were not actual fotos integrated into the imagery).

And the gaming landscape began to become very bland and samy for me... It appeared to me that the joy of experimentation was gone.

I was not imune to the 'hype' of 'newer and shiny', but you can play only so many similar games before you get bored. The tutorialising and catering to the biggest denominator among the potential customers almost drove me away from computer games, even more so, for I did not agree to cintinue to frequently upgrade to a newer gaming system.

Around that time I learned of my first indiegame, that rekindled my enjoyment of simpler, quicker and more focused experiences; mixing 'pure' gameplay with various modern elements such as a pseudo open world, story and even character arcs, all in a nostalgic package-- "VVVVVV" (or "The Letter V Six Times") by Terry Cavanagh!
A friend had to do the online transaction for me, since I neither had any experience with it, nor a credit card on my own. (Thank you dear friend, it--both this indiegame, as well as, the possibilities of the internet--really became an eye opener for me!)

"VVVVVV" was a bright spark, that ignited for me again the wonder of creativity in videogames, which later got carried on by the still ongoing retrowave and different fragmentation of the developer scene with individuals and smaller groups or small companies.

What made it so special to me?

Not because it 'was' like those old games in my fond memories, but it 'felt' like them, it felt like experiencing the wonder all anew for the first time!

Maybe you know the feeling, when you have played some games plenty of times until you had memorized them step by step, explored and discovered every nook and cranny. It can be nice to revisit them in order to feel a bit like 'coming home'.
However, there is nothing left to surprise you. You might continue to play for a while, but in the end, it the experience turns into routine...

All samey graphics, higher polygon count, and higher definition or refresh rates can not match the astonishment of someone or something that turned your perception of conventions upside down--asking the question of why has no one done this before? Or this ingenious moment when every piece of a puzzle falls into place and it just made 'click' (or 'aha') in your brain.


Maybe, real life responsibilities and stress had an impact, too. Afterall, I was longing for the quick in and out experience of the more gameplay focused arcadey games, since I did not wanted nor could invest that much amount of hours at a time, as we were used to at a younger age.

Nowadays, there are very few exceptions of games, which do not seem to overwhelm and stirr me away by their huge (I mean gigantic) download, install or memory footprint! DO I really want to exchange a neat selection of more conveniently accessible (not easy difficulty mind you, more like switching on and being actually playing in a matter of seconds!) games for this ONE game, I might get bored of too soon?

That is why I like to jump or switch between a few games--to keep the experience fresh!!!


Oh, another obstacle for my enjoyment of a game is a huge flood of chunk-formatted additional content (even purely cosmetic ones) in form of DLC (downloadable content) or (ingame) microtransactions!
Even worse, if the propaganda is blatantly shoved into your face while playing the game...
I prefer to get the sense of a complete package, a complete experience, instead of missing out on something. Those neverending development stories and unknown quantities of (future or present) additional content updates are off-putting for me.


What is for me the best form of escape from stressful reality?
=> When it stimulates my imaginations and creativity! When it leads to something or at least a 'story' or rather experience I can tell or share with others nearby.

(Sorry, for this long rambling... I just reflected on it while reading your initial post.)

Kind regards,
foxgog

There's the star wars effect. We grow old and jaded (individually and collectively), and it's getting difficult to re-capture the sense of marvel and excitement of novelty. Just like star wars was really a thing as the first large scale, believable, visual "lived-in" space opera, and became just scifi movies among scifi movies, videogames became just videogames, and no photorealistic grand scale emergent gameplay prowess can compete with the magical aspect of an Amiga's screen opening on a pixel universe. The feeling just isn't there. It's now incrementally polished routine.

Fun, but routine. Star wars and the Amiga were... unexpected ?

Thanks @foxgog, an interesting but very long read, and certainly some of your views or feelings etc echo mine.

When I think about how much I enjoyed Quake etc back in the day and still enjoy them, or some games I enjoyed a lot on the N64, like Goldeneye and Diddy Kong Racing etc, and then ask myself do I enjoy newer games more, I find I cannot definitely say so, not in an overall context. Sure I marvel at the amazing graphics now and other benefits of technology, and perhaps they make it easier to get invested in a game, but at the end of the day it is about the end result of how much you enjoyed each game overall.

For sure, and much can be put down to naivety and the limits of an era.

There is certainly a difference between liking something as a young person and then as an older adult. And what used to look or seem amazing no longer does so compared to modern products. I guess you call that the disconnect of time.

I mentioned Quake earlier, and can well remember my feelings when I first played that game, and it was revolutionary for me, basically turned me into a Gamer. But roughly 25 years ago, I was an adult of 38 years, and so I don't feel the same level of disconnect if I had been 18 instead, and pretty much still feel the same way about the game, once I got in far enough to master it.

Some games certainly survive the test of time, at least on a personal level. Folk playing a game such as Quake now for the first time, would likely feel very different to how I felt, because they wouldn't have that connection that I have, which can transcend the improvements of technology. In other words, I don't feel the game is dated. In the end I suppose, it is all about perspective and mindset.

I suppose it is like being able to jump back to a time in your head, which is much easier if you have already been there, and likely makes it easier to relate and also forgive or overlook dated elements.

Anyway one cannot also discount contrasts. It can be hard to be objective, when so many elements can be subjective.

I always appreciate stumbling across a surprisingly relflective post like this. Every time it occurs to me to stop and think about my own attitudes I find myself questioning similarly questioning my approach. I try to go into anything looking for the upside or the fun, and that certainly applies to gaming. I look to gaming, as you said, for an escape and some relaxation and relief though I can sometimes forget that and get stressed by some of the games I'm trying to play. When I'm in my right mind though I like to just put on a game zone out with fun gameplay, fun story, fun graphics etc. I also have to acknowledge the role nostalgia plays in this. It's handy as a quick way to get some good memories but I sometimes use it as a crutch so it's important not to overrely on it and keep things looking forward.

So... what is your actual question / premise that I can respond to?

IMO gaming (generally) has evolved graphically while it has devolved both in gameplay and difficulty. And with that graphical evolution, there has been a strange homogeneity of art direction across the industry -- games of particular genres all look very similar.

In many cases I find myself drawn to games from earlier generations... when gameplay and atmosphere were paramount... and unique art direction wasn't an anomaly.

But this is what happens to many forms of entertainment -- they go through periods of mainstream experimentation and advancement followed by periods of consolidation and stagnation.

(TBH games with too much photorealism make me uncomfortable. They make me feel like I'm experiencing real life -- with all of its stresses -- when in reality I'm trying to escape real life by playing a game!)

Playing Skyrim and, in the intro, there's an execution scene where a character gets beheaded. Thing is, when that scene happened, I actually had to look away because it was so realistic looking.

There isn't any question, and no premise, except for perhaps the notion that a game can be plenty good enough even without all the benefits of modern technology and development.

But really this thread is just a light and easy discussion, somewhat reflective as Skyl1ne9 wrote in the post before yours. It can also be seen as a way to get to know a bit more about each other, if folk like to engage with that in mind.

I guess the thread also lends itself somewhat to a level of philosophy, which may not be everyone's cup of tea.

However, if you feel the need for a question, then maybe ask yourself whether you enjoy games more now than in prior years? Presuming of course, that you have some prior years of gaming to compare to. Thanks, and great that you have engaged with it that way. :)

I certainly like to reflect now and then over what has gone before and where I am going, and question my perceptions, especially over time. We live in a world that is very much a rat race that never seems to slow down, such that you can rarely catch your breath and do some house-keeping of your mind.

I can certainly relate to much of what you say, though some do buck the trends, trends driven by big business in the main. I certainly like much of what many Indie developers have now added to the mix.

The state of most media is I guess a reflection of the times, and what we could call maturity.

In some ways I liken it to the music of the late 60s and early 70s, which tends to be my favorite music, if not exclusively so, as I like plenty of music from other eras too, right up to the current one.

Of course, I don't like all the music from the 70s, which was a huge experimental period. It is fair to say, that I like more 70s music now than I did back then, some of that being due to my musical growth since that time, and some due to comparison with music from later eras. In brief I would say the experimentation of the 70s led to some amazing out-of-the-blue music from another dimension, and some of it was bloody atrocious. Music since then has become much more organized and formulaic, and less impulsive or inventive. Invention still occurs, but mostly in a different way, and often in a stepping stone manner, with a whole lot of depth or history to call upon. The 60s and 70s were much more revolutionary and naive and immature in regard to Rock music, and just the way many things were viewed at that time ... and of course impacted by drugs and sex in a very big way.

Games have certainly grown and matured in much the same manner as music has.

"House-keeping of your mind" is certainly an evocative phrase that succinctly sums up the appeal of prompts like this. I do think that it is important to setup checkpoints in your life to periodically stop and examine your mentality. I used to be a much angrier man and I used to take many endeavors a lot more seriously, especially so when it came to gaming and competing with my friends. Whether the anger drove that or my competitiveness made me angry is a question I've not been able to solve. It's an interesting case of causation versus correlation between attitude and stimulus. I can't say for certain which caused which but it is good, with some distance, to look back and appreciate growth.