How 2600 reaches 90s when better consoles fail

[Jinks]

 

I know that's the standard belief.. but how do you know you're not getting shellacked by another 45 minute per day busy working dad?

Usually the voice gives it away.

[Cynicaster]

 

I know that's the standard belief.. but how do you know you're not getting shellacked by another 45 minute per day busy working dad?

 

Well, I guess I don't know; I'm just playing the probabilities. I know I've got solidly average gaming skills, at the very least. If a player is able to cut me down every few seconds over and over and over again then either a) they are a player who has had similar amounts of practice to what I've had, but their super human, jedi-like skill is making the difference, or b) they've played for enough hours to know every nook and cranny of every map, every trick, every spawn point, every loot box, etc. and is using that advantage to play me like a fiddle. I'm sure there are some a's out there, but come on--most of them are probably b's.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I get my ass handed to me in fighting games usually. I think I played maybe 50 matches of Ultra SFII on the Switch before I finally came across someone equally yoked to me whom I could beat just once.

[+GoldLeader]

The "problem" i have with some of the modern games is not, that the gaming-session to finish such a game is so long (cause you can often save the gamestate or use a password to go on from a certain point), it`s more the fact, that some of these games are so complicated, that you first must read big manuals and try around for some days to just know, how the game really works and whats about. And this often kills my fun before i even start with such a game, especially when it comes to roleplaying-games or strategic-games.

 

It´s normal, that training is necessary for being good in a game, this is the same in retro games, but in the most older games, it`s clear from the beginning on, what goes on and what`s the aim. Getting better in steering and remembering the ways that the enemy-sprites walk then is not a problem at all for me and makes fun. But when i first must read a 100-side manual-book, just to know what a new game is about and how to play it, then my motivation goes down. Playing should be fun and not "working", cause when i come home from my work, i want to play to zone out.

 

Don`t understand me wrong, there are some really superb modern games around, which i like alot. For example, i could not stop playing "Resident Evil 4" (cause this game was mentioned before in the thread) on my Gamecube when i started playing, cause this game fascinates me so much, that i played for about 2 hours every day for some weeks, until i completely finished it (without any cheats and so on). Great game and it`s easy to come in. Not easy to play it good, but this then comes by it`s own when you play longer. Important is, that it`s easy to come into the game and for this "Resident Evil 4" is a rolemodel how it should be done in modern games. Sadly this can not be said from all modern games, but there are also some around which i like alot. "Forza 7" on the PC is another modern one that i really like. Graphic in this game is extremely realistic and superb to play on a big screen with a quality-steering-wheel. And here it`s the same like in RE4, for playing it good it needs experience and training, but it makes fun from the beginning on.

 

But i think, when i had to choose to give up playing modern or retro gaming, i would choose giving up modern gaming. I just like my favourites on Atari2600, Amiga, C64, SNES, Mega-Drive to much. Maybe also because i played them since childhood on. But i can understand that the most children, which starts playing now, are more fascinated by modern games with all those fotorealistic graphics and so on. Depends with which you grown up i suppose.

 

Just my thoughts on the whole thing.

 

Although there's exceptions to every rule,...A lot of what you wrote, I agree with.

[Video]

Well, I guess I don't know; I'm just playing the probabilities. I know I've got solidly average gaming skills, at the very least. If a player is able to cut me down every few seconds over and over and over again then either a) they are a player who has had similar amounts of practice to what I've had, but their super human, jedi-like skill is making the difference, or b) they've played for enough hours to know every nook and cranny of every map, every trick, every spawn point, every loot box, etc. and is using that advantage to play me like a fiddle. I'm sure there are some a's out there, but come on--most of them are probably b's.

 

This. Very little actual 'skill' is really needed to be good at most modern games. With an equivalent amount of play time, I'm typically on order of magnitude better than most people I know, but, most people I know dedicated HUGE amounts of time to a game, probably putting in more hours per day than I do per week, and I quickly get left behind.

 

Its pretty obvious when a game, or even just a new map comes out. Working adults don't, or can't dedicate that kind of time to a game. And like jinks said, that second grader cussing gives it away.

[lingyi]

Reading the threads about possibility of upgrading the graphics of the 2600 made me realize something. As has been touched on in previous posts, the simplicity of the graphics is a major factor in it's longevity.

 

For the same reasons people still read books, there's an element of imagination and fantasy that we sometimes crave.The simplicity of the 2600's graphics allows us to mentally create stories and worlds unique to each of us. I don't think I'm unique in mentally (and sometimes verbally) issuing a little 'ugh' as I put a little 'spin' on a tennis ball that's visually just a white square, hit by a white rectangle.. And I don't need 3D rendering or a backstory to Pacman to enjoy a few minutes or sometimes hours of gameplay.

 

One of my greatest memories of the 2600 is playing Maze Craze after my brother and I watched Alien.We played into the early morning imagining the chasers being the Alien following us through the corridors of the Nostromo. I'll always cherish my brother repeatedly saying "Why the hell are we playing this game?", before hitting the reset button one more time.

 

Some speak about the wonders of modern "open world" gaming and don't know about the "open world' (as limited as it was) of 2600 Adventure and it's predecessors, text Adventure and the storyteller, "Adventure",

 

Sometimes simpler is better. I've played a version of Missile Command with updated graphics and found it too jarring to see photorealistic buildings being destroyed. I prefer the control of the trackball and multiple buttons of the arcade Missile Command, but am sometimes drawn to the 2600 version as it's graphics simplicity takes me further away from what is in reality a horrifying premise.

Edited January 3, 2018 by lingyi