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It's a great time to be a gamer!

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It's a great time to be a gamer!

Old 08-31-03, 03:36 PM
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It's a great time to be a gamer!

I was just reflecting on what a fantastic time it is to be into video games. In fact, it may be the best time in history, even better than the glory days of 16 bit.

We have three major consoles on the market, each completely viable and capable of being the only system in your house. However, the real treat to today's gamer is owning all three consoles and being able to enjoy what they have to offer. This has not happened before. The 8 bit era was dominated by the NES. 16 bit was great, with the fantastic libraries of the SNES and the Genesis. 32 bit belonged to the PS1 (Saturn fizzled and N64 was plagued by a scant library and high cartridge prices). But now, each of the three major players is strong enough to bring something to the table.

Today, I can look at my collection of games and decide to play a flawless racing simulator on my PS2 in Gran Turismo 3. This game is simply a car-head's wet dream. When I get bored with that, I could play further through one of the PS2's RPG's: Final Fantasy X, Xenosaga, Kingdom Hearts. Suppose I was to be immersed in the AV aspects of gaming: I put on Halo or DOA3 and turn off the lights, becoming surrounded by Dolby Digital sound and widescreen visuals. If I have a bunch of friends over, we can play Super Monkey Ball 1 or 2, laughing at monkeys in balls and cursing them when they don't reach the platform in Monkey Target. My girlfriend and I can play off of each other in the unique Animal Crossing. I can play the titles that Nintendo creates, games you must agree are near-masterpieces: Zelda, Metroid, Pikmin, Mario. And for when I need to play a game somewhere else, I take my Game Boy Advance SP with Advance Wars, Pokemon Sapphire, or a Mario title with me.

I could go on forever about the wealth of games that are available today. The fact is, between the three systems, there are enough options to make everyone happy.

Today's gaming is also exciting due to the technical abilities of the systems. The standout here is obviously the XBOX. Someone with a widescreen TV and a Dolby Digital surround sound system is really in for a treat when it comes to the XBOX. In addition, the ability to create your own soundtracks with your music CDs is a remarkable achievement. Imagine the mere thought of doing that on your Super Nintendo! I don't believe online gaming has really taken off yet, but the foundation is being laid for the next generation, where I think it will be a huge factor.

The bottom line is: it's easy to get worn down by today's gaming. There *is* a lot of shovelware out there. There are a lot of mediocre platform games, or games that just aren't fun. But we've finally reached the point in these console's lifetimes where they have mature libraries, each with standout titles. Someone buying a system for the first time can choose from the Greatest/Platinum Hits line and get *excellent* games for $20: Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy X, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 & 4, DOA3. For $300, you can have a system and 5 good games.

There is a wealth of exciting games coming out. Mario Kart, Halo 2, MGS3, Fable, Mario & Luigi, Tony Hawk Underground, Grand Theft Auto 4. We should see some of the truly standout games come out over the next two years, adding to the already fine libraries that exist.

Why are you glad to be a gamer now? Or am I crazy? Why is today not as good as when you were a kid?
Old 08-31-03, 07:27 PM
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Sure it's a great time. I've been playing video games since I was about 7, And there's always been games out there for me. I can't wait to see where gaming goes after all this. The next console, new types of games, and new technology; it should all be pretty cool.
Old 08-31-03, 07:46 PM
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the only thing that brings it down a little is the fact that people are too crazy about WHICH console they own, and not about the quality of the games sometimes. there are people out there who won't ever know how good some games are because it is on a certain console and not on another. its sad really.

on topic again.

it is an excellent time to be a gamer. 3 amazing consoles, with more quality games to come. good times....
Old 08-31-03, 07:49 PM
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Don't forget the great gaming on the PC and the GBA folks.
Old 08-31-03, 09:10 PM
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Sorry, I disagree. Todays market is a world of copycats. Now there are a score or so kinds of games, and everyone is trying to make the best copy of a copy.

Strange, but It seems to me that 2 dimensional gamemakers were able to be more creative, despite having less options.
Old 08-31-03, 09:15 PM
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i think it's great... mainly b/c i can actually afford to get games! before the ps2, i couldn't afford getting the ps1 or sega genesis or whatever.

so, yes, it is the best of times.
Old 08-31-03, 09:37 PM
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I also have to disagree for todays gaming. I mean, it's alright and everything but the problem I have is that games are not as hard as they use to be. Developers care about graphics more then the actual gameplay now meaning why we have so many crappy games. They hardly make 2D fighting games now and IMOH, 2D fighters own 3D fighters. We hardly have any adventures like Police Quest, Hugo, Leisure Suit Larry etc where you have to type things, example, if you wanted to open the door, you'd type "open door" and ya, sure, its a very old style but the fact is, that its alot of fun. Most RTS games are going to 3D and IMHO, it kinda sucks.

I own a GC and PS2 and a PC. The problem I have with PC games now, is that they take more then 1gig to install. There pumping out video cards faster then ever which is every 6 months now.

As much as I enjoy gaming, I still have gripes about gaming and the quality of games is much lower now. Best console IMHO was the SNES days and then the NES days and then the PSX days.

Sorry for writing a book but I just want to write my opinion.
Old 08-31-03, 09:53 PM
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Originally posted by RoQuEr
Strange, but It seems to me that 2 dimensional gamemakers were able to be more creative, despite having less options.
It's not the 2-D or 3-D that causes this, it is the fact that much more $$$ is invested to make a decent game these days, and therefore commercial success depends on selling a lot of games. Therefore publishers don't want to sink money into something that doesn't look immediately viable. Because of this, developers don't develop games that are not familiar to consumers.

The biggest shame in this is the crap that gets turned out with big licenses attached, like the new Tomb Raider, Enter the Matrix, etc. Some games defy this such as the EA LOTR games, and a few others.

I own a GC and PS2 and a PC. The problem I have with PC games now, is that they take more then 1gig to install. There pumping out video cards faster then ever which is every 6 months now.
Which is why it is a great time to be a console gamer, which I have primarily been for years. The games work for the most part when shipped, and you don't have to patch them, upgrade drivers, and video cards, etc, and overall the cost of consoles is quite low now.


I think it's great... mainly b/c i can actually afford to get games! before the ps2, i couldn't afford getting the ps1 or sega genesis or whatever.
I agree with this also, game prices are quite low, especially if you can wait a little bit for a deal. The cartridge days were quite expensive. Competition and changing technology has made gaming very affordable these days.

I agree that it is a great time to be a gamer. You just have to be a little careful and do some research before laying out your $$$, but the vast amount of media coverage out there for gaming makes this very accessible as well these days.

Last edited by sniper308; 08-31-03 at 09:56 PM.
Old 08-31-03, 10:10 PM
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It's great to be a gamer for the simple fact of online play. Words can't describe how great this is.

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