Video game snobbery: do people still judge a game by its age or looks?

I remember when I was a young skipper-me-lad, in the days or Amstrad’s, commodore’s, Amiga’s, Nintendo “Entertainment Systems”, Sega’s early glory days. Then later the arrival of the PlayStation and more advanced consoles from Sony and Nintendo, not even to mention the ever-costly upgrading of the PC, just to play the latest games.

Back in those days, there was definitely a childish attitude towards games, where only the latest and best graphics were considered “cool”. You could go through games very quickly as the next talked-about game came out, with less and less pixelly images appeared on the screen.

But the question is, do gamers of today have the same mentality as the early days, or are things different? Have we even gone so far as full circle to a point where we now prefer simpler graphics and don’t mind purchasing games that are two or three, or even older games?

Well, I believe, to a degree, we have. And I believe this is down to a few reasons. Firstly, choice is now so much greater, with thousands of games to choose, from indie titles to A+ titles.

Which leads to the second reason, which is time. With so many games and multiple platforms for each abundance of games, how can we possibly have the time to play so many games as they keep coming out?

Which then leads to the third reason, of money. As games get older and choice increases, many games get cheaper and cheaper (especially in a Steam sale 🙂 ) and so a lot of folks (myself included) wait and buy games after they become older and cheaper (cue big paragraph about the economy).

All the above accumulates to a change in gaming culture, where so many people are almost forced to buy a lot of older games, so that they don’t feel they are missing out on any gems. You could also attribute retro gaming, which has had a rise in popularity, which actually creates a cool-to-play-older-games culture, making it even more acceptable to pay older games without feeling like you’re any lesser a gamer.

So in conclusion, yes. Change is afoot (and had been for some time, almost making this post old news, but as discussed, maybe it’s now better to read older posts than to try keeping up with just reading new ones).

Game of Thrones: Genesis

Well, after spending half my afternoon trying to get the game to run to an ok level (be very careful with graphics level, screen res, and frame rate in the games Options menu), I started the campaign to play through the first few levels. Suffice to say, I was not impressed. The game doesn’t feel very fluid and is more linear than you would expect from an RTS.

 Probably the most disappointing aspect of this game, being a big fan of the ‘A Song Of Ice and Fire’ series, is the sheer lack of depth involved with the game. When I first heard about its production, the concept sounded promising, with battles, sabotage, alliances, underhand methods, interesting characters, etc. but instead, all you get are ‘bastard son’ and ‘lord’ and what-not. You really don’t feel like you have your own kingdom, just a boring, basic castle that you have very little control over and alliances with villages (which means not a lot in this game, yet at the same time is the whole aim too).

 I even tried going straight to the versus mode, where you can have all the different Houses of Westeros battling it out. What an utter waste of time. You can only go to parts of Westeros where there is something to do (such as a village or a gold mine to form an alliance with (and how does someone actually form an Alliance with a gold mine or an abandoned tower anyway!)) and this really makes the game as Linear as can be. Not only that, but the game was all but over before I got to do anything interesting, making playing time much shorter than you would like. No epic story here, just dull generic things happening.  

 If you are considering buying this game, save your money and read the books again. Hopefully a decent RTS game for ‘A Song Of Ice and Fire’ will come out in another 15 years time.

Fifa 12: Just another update?

I’ve been looking at whether I can justify spending another £37 on another Fifa, when I have an awesome Fifa game (Fifa 11) already. I only traded in Fifa 10 a few weeks ago! Well, i’ve been checking out the new features, and this is what i’ve found out:

– Manager mode is looking pretty awesome. A lot more in-depth that previous versions and (almost) feels like a Football Manager from a few years ago. Whether this is the case, only time can tell, but does make you wanna buy the game to try it out!

– Collision mode, which is supposed-to see real-life collisions resulting in real-life injuries. Can’t say this is the most exciting addition to a Fifa game, but they have been working on the engine for this the past couple of years, so might be good. Have already watched an episode of Playr taking the mickey out of some serious fails with the Collision system, which is from the demo…

– Ah, the demo. I have tried the demo, which allows you to see some of the new additions to the controls. The fact I wanted to carry on playing the demo game after game definately helped make up my mind.

– Finally, a big draw (as always) with any new Fifa game, is the updated Team rosters (oh, I sound American). When you support teams like Portsmouth & Arsenal, having the most up-to-date players on the team can make a big impact on how you play the game. This is definately a draw.

So in conclusion, will I buy the new Fifa? Answer is, I am. Pre-ordered from Shopto.net (because I know the game will be delivered on the day of the release & best price I could find). Game on!

Game of Thrones: Genesis ?

This game sounds like it has the potential to be amazing, though you can tell that the gaming world has had it’s fair share of let-downs in the past, which I feel is heavily affecting this games popularity before anyone has even played it. Shame.

Although this game is released later this month, Amazon has already marked the price down to £17 (which I am taking full advantage of 😉 ). I even looked on some ‘ A Song Of Ice and Fire ‘ forums and the fans are grumbling about how the game looks rubbish and dated. I’ve seen the screenshots and the game looks rather good to myself. I also like the concept of the game, whereby not just war but politics and diplomacy play an equal role. A good twist on the RTS genre me thinks. We’ll have to wait and see how the game finally unfolds later in the month. Winter is coming! Wear a coat 🙂

Little Big Planet 2

 One game that me and the missus always go back to, irrespective of mood or time of the day, is the legendary Little Big Planet 2. If you do not own this game (and you own a Playstation 3) you should buy it. We found it for £15 preowned from Gamestation. Niiiice.

  Though I haven’t had the time to actually create my own level yet, I have enjoyed watching all 50+ Tutorial levels, narrated by the forever legendary Stephen Fry. Trying out some of the 100,000,000 or so user-created levels does give a lot of inspiration, so I will have to find the time between writing my new book, to try creating my own level. Perhaps I should create a Jedward -inspired level. Could you imagine how utterly insane that would turn out?!

 Yes, LBP2 isn’t a brand-new game, and yes it’s very similar to the first, but this game is brilliant to play with others. Just be wary of annoying people who drop into your game when you’re trying to collect items. Grrr.