Old Games Versus New Games

Old Games Versus New Games by Honorabili

Games are like movies

A trend with games is that they behaves a lot in the sense how people watch movies. People will usually rush and go nuts over wanting to watch whatever the latest hit is, as it’s a very popular thing to do or if you’re like me you’ve seen almost everything else, so you might as well. However, there are people that wait until a movie is out on DVD or some even that download the pirated film. Pretty much the same thing happens with gaming (except that usually most games are available quickly within the launch as a pirated version).

New doesn’t necessarily mean good and old doesn’t necessarily mean that a game is a “classic”. A lot of innovations in gaming have happened throughout the years but there are games that were the first to implement such functions, and for that reason, they sometimes became classics. For example, check out Dune 2 as pretty much the first or one of the first real-time strategy (RTS) games that uses the RTS model that we’re used to. However, not all games do become a classic just because they are the first to implement a new technology or functionality. Just look at early CD-ROM full motion video games and you will see an example on how NOT to do a game. People wanted games, not interactive videos, basically.

Like movies, sometimes games get remade. Most movie remakes SUCK or are unnecessary. Some however are necessary or even better, especially when it comes to some sci-fi movies (for me, John Carpenter’s The Thing). The same happens to games but it’s even more necessary. The problem with most gamers is that they are like fans of action movies. Unless a movie has the latest and greatest CGI and shit blowing up and unless it’s relatively new, the typical action movie goer will quickly dismiss it. The same kind of reaction happens to games except that people do this with games unless they are hot that month and have good graphics and ridiculous reviews or every other person is playing it. This is why remakes are needed (and often why they get made).

Game remakes and sequels

The problem comes with remakes of old games is that they don’t just update the graphics. Rarely have I seen simply a graphic revamp of the game. What goes wrong is that they sometimes alter the gameplay that made the original game so great and they simply release something that is so different from the original game in gameplay that the original fans of the game will stay away from the new version and keep playing the old one (and think only noobs would play the new one).

I think a problem that game remakes have is that they decided to ignore the things that made the first one great and they made a new game with stuff that might look like the first game but that’s not really the same. Many studios ignore the innovations that fans made for the original games through mods that sometimes create a better game. I have a feeling that many of these companies don’t make these remakes get tested by loyal and actual fans to the original games.

Apart from remakes sometimes we run into sequels of some old classics. A problem for game companies with sequels is that will they target to make the game more for attracting new players to that franchise or will they decide to make it more for the old fan/purists? The game already is a sequel and some people will prefer to play the previous games first before tackling on the newest game in a series. However, some people will simply just not care. I’m pretty sure that most of the people who play Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare (1) might have not played the first Call of Duty games, especially with how many players for that game might be console gamers.

Comparisons

New games:

New games generally have better graphics. You will usually need the latest generation console or good enough PC parts/OS to be able to enjoy many new games running at the highest settings and with no hardware lag. The cost of new games is much higher than old games. If it’s an MMO that’s new expect to shell out full retail price for the game and then the inflated subscription fee since most MMO companies think their game is a godsend and everybody will pay up.

New games are usually what’s popular at the time. It’s like fashion, almost. The typical gamer will usually be ranting, raving, and bragging about how good the newest game is. Newer games usually have better multiplayer components, some with built in voice chat, friends lists, etc. New games are becoming more inmersive, taking away some of the imagination needed to play some older games.

Old games:
You will need an old gaming console (if you want to play a non-emulated version), an okay computer (to play an emulated version), or almost any old gaming PC to play an old computer game. The price for old games is either really low or free. As games get older, unless it’s a classic you might find yourself as one of the few active players out of the people you know who is playing that game right now. It’s harder to get multiplayer games going because the typical person will think that game is obsolete and will just brush it aside.

Depending on the game some people might find older games more indepth as far as hours you can get out of such a game, whether in the amount of content they have, or simply that they are actually much more replayable than the fast food generation content of new games.

Old games sometimes feel like you’re interacting with a piece of art, a piece of history.

Conclusion: so what’s my point?

Overall, I don’t really care what you play, so long as what you play is FUN, it makes you feel better about your life, it changes your life for the better, it hopefully teaches you something, and sometimes makes you better as a gamer (trains you to think better, react better, interact better with people).

We all play games for our own reasons. So long as you’re doing it for a good one and not making it feel like it’s a job for you (as some MMOs and grinding games make me feel) then it will be a worthwhile experience for you to have. There’s are so many games to play out there that if you start to feel like you’re just a cog in the machine, it’s usually a good idea for you to start playing something different. Stagnation is never a good thing. This can also go along with people who just play the same old games and will not grow as a gamer.

What will you prefer to play often? Old or new games? Leave your comments below or on our social sites as well! Let’s get some feedback!

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