Because I don't see game development as a "stick my head in the ground and keep hacking away at whatever idea I have" type activity.

Portal - Super Meat Boy - MineCraft - Goo Grid ... just to name a few games that did not conform to the "norms" and became huge hits.

From your post, I get the impression you like to clone other's work, instead of coming out with original content. Since cover based FPS ( with tacked on multiplayer ) is the most common game released today, do you believe that's going to be the "future" of gaming ?

Just this weekend I bought copies of Dodgeball and Final Fantasy I (with player guide and world map / beastiary!) for my NES, and Knuckles' Chaotix for my 32x. Progress is great and all, but there's a lot to be said for many old games.

I prefer to just keep the fond memories. Almost every time I go play and play "classics" I'm disappointed.

It certainly depends on the game, and to a lesser extent, the system. SNES and Genesis games, on average, have aged far, far better than PS1 or Saturn games. But still, I maintain that the only true way to play NiGHTS is on the Saturn with the Saturn 3d control pad. I'm usually more disappointed by modern remakes -- reboots are okay sometimes -- but so far I think the only "shot-for-shot" remake of a modern game that I've liked was XBLA's Prince of Persia. Emulating old games on modern systems is mostly fine though -- I prefer the real deal, but appreciate the accessibility that the approach provides.

In general, the ones that are worthwhile and still hold up to memories (e.g. the ones I usually buy) are the ones you would expect -- The Super Mario Brothers, The Metroids, The Castlevanias -- The original Ninja Gaiden trilogy are my favorite, but of course for every one of those there were 20 games that were lackluster even in their heyday and really aren't worth subjecting yourself to today. Still lots of unknown or little-known gems are to be had -- Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, Zombies Ate My Neighbors. I, myself, have a soft spot for 8-16bit jRPGs, so I've got a healthy collection of popular, obscure, and rare ones.

Portal - Super Meat Boy - MineCraft - Goo Grid ... just to name a few games that did not conform to the "norms" and became huge hits.

From your post, I get the impression you like to clone other's work, instead of coming out with original content. Since cover based FPS ( with tacked on multiplayer ) is the most common game released today, do you believe that's going to be the "future" of gaming ?

Then you haven't understood a word I've said.

From your post, I get the impression you like to clone other's work, instead of coming out with original content. Since cover based FPS ( with tacked on multiplayer ) is the most common game released today, do you believe that's going to be the "future" of gaming ?

I didn't get the sense that Promit was out to be derivitive, he was just stating the obvious fact that to be a good widget-maker, you should have a professional awareness of all the interesting widgets that have been created -- past, present, and to the extent possible, future. You think an engineer at Ford isn't aware of the work that Ferrari is doing? Of course they are!

On some level, there are no truly original ideas, and what we've consumed informs even the best, most-different things that we will create. Minecraft didn't pop out from a vacuum, Notch was inspired by Infiniminer and Dwarf Fortress, and probably influenced on some level of thinking by countless others. Nearly every platform game in existence sits on a branch of the family tree whose trunk is Super Mario, and who's main root is Pitfall. We all stand on the shoulders of giants. That's progress.

Nope, you're not the only one who does this (as others have also pointed out )!

I just recently bought a PS2 with 4 controllers, 20+ games and a couple of memory cards off of a friend for just $100, so I feel it was a good value. It's two generations behind, but there are some fun games on it for sure! I bought it mainly for Final Fantasy and fighting games like Soul Caliber 2.

My brother and I also received the GameCube back somewhere in 2008, when it was fairly outdated. Animal Crossing was a game we both played until we found virtually every item in the game. Goodness, that was an interestingly addictive game. Thinking back on it, it's an incredibly simplistic game that just gets you hooked from day one. I might look into New Leaf for my 3DS...

Alpha_ProgDes, on 20 Jun 2013 - 5:55 PM, said:
You mentioning the PS3, just reminded me. The reason why I go for older nowadays is because I can't stand the PC-ization of the consoles. The constant updating of the OS and waiting minutes if not hours for the damn thing to finish. Why can't I just pop in my game and play?

My son felt that distinctly when trying to play Little Big Planet 2. 17 game updates, one of them a full GB, before he could play. Combined with the slow PSN download speed, it was over an hour from insert disc to playing the game.

Yeah, I definitely hate the constant updates too... they're annoying, and can prevent playing games in a timely fashion. I guess that's what we get for living in the future, though! At least we know game-breaking bugs can be fixed with updates these days.

EDIT: Although, 17 updates is a bit extreme for that game! Ouch!

From your post, I get the impression you like to clone other's work, instead of coming out with original content. Since cover based FPS ( with tacked on multiplayer ) is the most common game released today, do you believe that's going to be the "future" of gaming ?

I didn't get the sense that Promit was out to be derivitive, he was just stating the obvious fact that to be a good widget-maker, you should have a professional awareness of all the interesting widgets that have been created -- past, present, and to the extent possible, future. You think an engineer at Ford isn't aware of the work that Ferrari is doing? Of course they are!

On some level, there are no truly original ideas, and what we've consumed informs even the best, most-different things that we will create. Minecraft didn't pop out from a vacuum, Notch was inspired by Infiniminer and Dwarf Fortress, and probably influenced on some level of thinking by countless others. Nearly every platform game in existence sits on a branch of the family tree whose trunk is Super Mario, and who's main root is Pitfall. We all stand on the shoulders of giants. That's progress.

This is a good elaboration of what I was getting at. Thanks.

Most of my friends buy legacy stuff, even the professionals, and so do I. The fun factor in game development kept those games timelessly fun.

Clinton