HHave we passed the golden age of PC gaming?

[LurkerPrime]

I agree. Games from that era were epic, before they had to cater to the casual demographic to get any sort of funding.

I can't imagine your average gamer today looking at this

and having anything other than mental implosion happen.

Ahh alpha centauri. One of the best civ games there is. I lost those CDs probably a decade ago. I doubt you could even find a torrent for it.

 

[KaOTiK]

Ahh alpha centauri. One of the best civ games there is. I lost those CDs probably a decade ago. I doubt you could even find a torrent for it.

It's on GOG

 

[Coltaine]

I was afraid of the same thing after DirectX and the demise of MicroProse... Games just got a lot cheaper and easier to write, so we were flooded by nice looking 3d POSs and the Sid Meiers got harder to find amid a flood of games...

Now its just so much cheaper and easier to produce clones of whats proven successful before, but the technology and the possibilities are still growing, so theres bound to be a lot of really cool new ideas in the next decade or so. For the same reasons we have low risk re-skins of games, we'll see some company put out something really interesting and make $$$... capitalism ftw.

 

[Cerb]

I was afraid of the same thing after DirectX and the demise of MicroProse... Games just got a lot cheaper and easier to write, so we were flooded by nice looking 3d POSs and the Sid Meiers got harder to find amid a flood of games...

Now its just so much cheaper and easier to produce clones of whats proven successful before, but the technology and the possibilities are still growing, so theres bound to be a lot of really cool new ideas in the next decade or so. For the same reasons we have low risk re-skins of games, we'll see some company put out something really interesting and make $$$... capitalism ftw.

The irony is that it isn't cheaper. Making new high-res content and stuffing it into a fancy new dull rehash of a war shooter costs big bucks.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

As I look back at pc gaming (I bought my first PC game in either late 1994 or early 1995), I can think of a couple of times when something revolutionary happened.

Command and Conquer gold and Red Alert
Doom
Warcraft II
Diablo
Quake
Team Fortress
Half-Life
Counter-Strike
Then there were the various call of duty clones, and various role playing games

It seems that the quality of the gaming community has been hit and miss. Its like looking for a diamond in the rough. For every 10 bad games, there is 1 good game.

The last time I saw something that was a complete game changer was Left 4 Dead. Skyrim looks like a great game, my son really enjoyed it. Skyrim is one of those diamonds in the rough.

Has the golden age of pc gaming passed, yes I think it has. That is not to say no more good games are being released, its that we are in a new era then we were during the 1990s.

you really think doom was revolutionary over wolfenstein 3d?

warcraft 2 over warcraft? same argument for C&C.... personally id say all of them were evolutions of dune 2. just how todays RTS are evolutions of the games you list.

my guess is you didnt play any of the predecessors...

you feel some sort of attachment to these old games due to the nostalgia factor. there is no arguing you have listed some great games FOR THEIR TIME, but by all measurements they are inferior to the games they have since inspired. the only difference is todays games werent part of your formative years as a gamer, so you dont have the same emotional attachment.

im not saying the games you love werent good, or arent still good, im just pointing out that you are looking through rose-colored glasses.

for a movie analogy, when i saw star wars for the first time (long after release), i enjoyed it but felt no overwhelming reaction like the previous generation did. since its release it changed the sci fi genre and inspired countless films. since ive seen THOSE, the original did not carry the same weight.

on the other hand, when i first say the matrix i was absolutely blown away. when my kid sees it, he will probably enjoy it, but it wont have the same meaning. but this doesnt mean the golden age of sci-fi has ended....

also, ill still stand by my statement that video game stories are pitiful and cant compare to even a decent novel or movie. if thats what people are looking for in a GAME, im not surprised they are disappointed.

 

[turn_pike]

I think we ARE experiencing a gaming golden age right here right now.

- Totally new genre like Minecraft followed by Terraria

- Roguelike making a comeback with TOME4 and Dungeons of Dredmor. A sequel to ADOM is in full swing development.

- Educational Games that are actually fun like SpaceChem and Universe Sandbox.

- The rise of grand strategy games thanks to Paradox : Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, Victoria, Europa Universalis. I must have wasted over 300 hours on these games. Theres also Creative Assembly and its Total War series for those wanting less complexity in strategy and more control over tactics (they look awesome to boot).

- Old school RPG with mods support and awesome graphics. Fallout and Elder Scrolls series are better than ever. Witcher 2 is awesome. Dragon Age Origins is spectacular and paved way for future Bioware rpgs if they learned from DA2 mistakes.

- Innovative storytelling. The narrator in Bastion. The branching storyline in Witcher 2. The Cinematic of ME3. Atmosphere of Amnesia and Metro 2033.

- All around production quality of Batman Arkham series and Assassins Creed series.

- So many high quality indie games, some are even available for free. Digital : A love story. Dont take it personally babe. Magicka. Avadon.

- Content mods for Fallout or Skyrim. Fanmade sequel to Wing Commander.

These are just the genre I like the most. If you like MMO or FPS theres a ton of great stuff out there. Guild Wars was great and the sequel looks very very promising. Battlefield 3 is innovative, great fun and beautiful. Bioshock and Stalker were groundbreaking and have intriguing storyline.

The point is, if you look then you will find gaming gems scattered all over the internet. I just think some people are blinded by nostalgic memories.

 

[Via]

I think we ARE experiencing a gaming golden age right here right now.

- Totally new genre like Minecraft followed by Terraria

- Roguelike making a comeback with TOME4 and Dungeons of Dredmor. A sequel to ADOM is in full swing development.

- Educational Games that are actually fun like SpaceChem and Universe Sandbox.

- The rise of grand strategy games thanks to Paradox : Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, Victoria, Europa Universalis. I must have wasted over 300 hours on these games. Theres also Creative Assembly and its Total War series for those wanting less complexity in strategy and more control over tactics (they look awesome to boot).

- Old school RPG with mods support and awesome graphics. Fallout and Elder Scrolls series are better than ever. Witcher 2 is awesome. Dragon Age Origins is spectacular and paved way for future Bioware rpgs if they learned from DA2 mistakes.

- Innovative storytelling. The narrator in Bastion. The branching storyline in Witcher 2. The Cinematic of ME3. Atmosphere of Amnesia and Metro 2033.

- All around production quality of Batman Arkham series and Assassins Creed series.

- So many high quality indie games, some are even available for free. Digital : A love story. Dont take it personally babe. Magicka. Avadon.

- Content mods for Fallout or Skyrim. Fanmade sequel to Wing Commander.

These are just the genre I like the most. If you like MMO or FPS theres a ton of great stuff out there. Guild Wars was great and the sequel looks very very promising. Battlefield 3 is innovative, great fun and beautiful. Bioshock and Stalker were groundbreaking and have intriguing storyline.

The point is, if you look then you will find gaming gems scattered all over the internet. I just think some people are blinded by nostalgic memories.

Many things you mentioned have strong console influences running through them; I thought we were talking about PC gaming specifically.

 

[Texashiker]

you really think doom was revolutionary over wolfenstein 3d?

warcraft 2 over warcraft? same argument for C&C.... personally id say all of them were evolutions of dune 2. just how todays RTS are evolutions of the games you list.

my guess is you didnt play any of the predecessors...

I played Dune and I played wolfenstein 3d, both seemed a little boring. Dune was fun, but got a little old rather fast.

What made Doom great was the story line, the demonic visuals and the "idea" of fighting demons from hell.

I never played warcraft. I jumped on the warcraft bandwagon when warcraft II came out.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

We're at a minimum 11 years past the golden age for computers... We might even be on the cusp of a video game crash (not likely though)

 

[darkewaffle]

Many things you mentioned have strong console influences running through them; I thought we were talking about PC gaming specifically.

And almost every PC game ever created has been strongly influenced by books, TVs, and movies. Does that invalidate their worth somehow? But aside from that, what exactly is console influenced (as though that even means anything) beyond some titles being released on multiple platforms?

I actually thought turn_pike's post was a solid contemporary overview of some of the highlights of the last couple years.

We might even be on the cusp of a video game crash (not likely though)

 

[AFurryReptile]

The "Golden Age" of PC gaming was based on ideas that had already existed for decades in movies and literature. Honestly, there are only so many original things you can come up with before you have to start reusing themes.

As long as there are gamers, there will be games. I think most of the quality is coming from indie titles, but I don't see that as a bad thing. I think this whole Kickstarter craze is really going to help the industry as well.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It looked a lot more likely a couple of years ago, or do you just think it could never happen again? Flooding the market with shit games to make short term profits... uh that seems to have resulted in something once before.

 

[Via]

And almost every PC game ever created has been strongly influenced by books, TVs, and movies. Does that invalidate their worth somehow?

PC gaming has been stunted by console limitations. PC gaming was never stunted by the limitations of books, TV, or movies.

Big difference.

And behind curtain #1, I give you.....

FEAR 2.

 

[StinkyPinky]

It's hard to say though as many of us look through Rose Tinted Glass.

Yeah games like Baldur's Gate 2, Half Life, Planescape Torment, Deus Ex, Fallout, Starcraft, Diablo were outstanding games and all from the same era. These games are rightly considered to be some of the "Best ever".

But there are also some great games still coming out. Action-RPG's in particular (new Fallouts, Skyrim, Witcher 2, etc) are still producing some excellent games.

I think the genre that has really suffererd the most is the traditional "Hardcore" RPG's. There aint many of them coming out these days. Dragon Age was perhaps one, but it's a rarity.

 

[georgec84]

All I know is that everywhere on the net people whine incessantly when they can't activate a game on Steam.

The game experience is the same either way...

If managing your games across more than one client is difficult, I can't imagine what you might have done when you had to load executables from DOS.

I dislike the Steam fanboy obsession. It's just as annoying as Apple fanboy obsession. The fact that the majority of gamers childishly refuse to play a game, no matter how great it is or how cheap it is on sale, all because they can't activate it on Steam and get their little achievements tells me that the modern era of gaming has problems.

 

[turn_pike]

Many things you mentioned have strong console influences running through them; I thought we were talking about PC gaming specifically.

Sorry but what the f*** are you talking about ?

Minecraft, Amnesia, Roguelike genre, Grand Strategy genre, MMO genre, old school RPG, indie games and mods. How are they console ?
I mentioned games that I played and I have never owned a console.

In any case, what does it matter ? if they are available on PC and they are good games, I dont care if they are available on console.

 

[nyker96]

well we are in the golden era of EA and draconian DRM era. I hope some day we grew outta that. but honestly, it will be hard, after AAA titles, it's hard to go back to indie even if they got a great game concept. Still I love defense towers etc. great game just not sure if it can sell like 1 million copies like Myst does.

 

[thespyder]

And almost every PC game ever created has been strongly influenced by books, TVs, and movies. Does that invalidate their worth somehow? But aside from that, what exactly is console influenced (as though that even means anything) beyond some titles being released on multiple platforms?

I actually thought turn_pike's post was a solid contemporary overview of some of the highlights of the last couple years.

You have completely missed the point of the comment. Consolization in the context used by ‘Via’ is in reference to games which have been limited technically, graphically and content wise to fit into a console and appeal to a more casual ‘Console’ market. So a game that is ‘heavily console influenced’ means a game that was limited and dumbed down below what it could have been had it been a straight PC release.

Understand that PC hardware architecture today is significantly superior to any console currently on the market. So it has capabilities far beyond what a console can bring. This extends not only to CPU but also GPU. Additionally, a PC game has the capability to be several disks compressed that are then installed onto a hard drive. Generally this is not the case with Console games. So any game built with a console port in mind (or more often made for the console with a PC port in mind) can't make use of the extra horse power or graphics capabilities of the modern PC.

The makers of Console games know that the audience for consoles is broader (and thus shallower) than for PC games. That is where the money is, so the target market definition has to be shallower. Things that a strictly PC market might do would have to be simplified for both the input device (controllers) as well as the aptitude and interests of a more general audience. Basically they are playing to the lowest common denominator. It's the same argument against porting Baldur's Gate to the Ipad. The market of interested consumers is just plain different, broader and not as interested in hard core indepth games like that. That isn't (intended to be) a slight on that market, merely a difference.

I've said it before and will say it again. Try playing DA:O for the PC sometime. And then play it for the Xbox. You will find a significantly different gaming experience. Where DA:O was designed for the PC, the console version had to sacrifice a lot in order to fit in both the technical and the content departments into a console.

Another prime example is if you play Morrowind for the PC and then play Oblivion. Morrowind is a significantly deeper game than Oblivion. And you can see the heavy influence needed to bring Oblivion to the console (where it was designed to be) over what Morrowind is and was designed to be (a PC game).

And yes, you have made it clear in the past that you disagree with the term ‘Consolization’. Doesn’t invalidate it’s meaning.

PS: Most games "heavily influenced" by Movies and TV shows are pretty poor and limited thus invalidating their worth (IMHO).

 

[Via]

Sorry but what the f*** are you talking about ?

Minecraft, Amnesia, Roguelike genre, Grand Strategy genre, MMO genre, old school RPG, indie games and mods. How are they console ?
I mentioned games that I played and I have never owned a console.

In any case, what does it matter ? if they are available on PC and they are good games, I dont care if they are available on console.

If you think DA:O is a greater game because it's design had to allow for consoles then there's nothing left for me to say.

 

[n7]

Yes, it ended around 10 years ago (well, eight year ago, since UT2k4 was awesome).

Fortunately, in spite of the golden age being long over, there are still many great games to play.

 

[frozentundra123456]

i tried sw:tor which had a ton of praise for all the story and texture. what i found was that as the generic hyperbole skyrocketed so did the disconnect from my experience. during my 1 month rise to "power" from slave to dark council member (a carbon copy of age of conan and i'm sure many others) i would have thought i could make a meaningful decision or at least have someone pronounce my name.

Well, despite all the hype from Bioware, I dont really think it is possible to incorporate a great storyline in an MMO like you can in a single player game. An MMO just goes on and on and on with no real resolution, so I dont think a really great storyline can be constructed in that context. I would have much rather seen a single player KOTOR 3 to finish up that storyline, rather than, or in addition to, TOR. But considering Bioware's recent efforts in single player games (DAII, ME3) maybe it is just as well.

 

[RavenSEAL]

I think we passed the golden age for gaming in general. Ever since it has become truly mainstream it has been going down the shitter. Sure we get some good games still, but the amount of crap that comes out is crazy and the worst part, that crap sells really well so it just continues a self fulfilling cycle of shit.

I've said it for awhile and still believe it to be true, the gaming industry needs another crash.

Amen

 

[LurkerPrime]

It's on GOG

It's been awhile since I've checked them out. I'm afraid to go there, just b/c I might spend alot of money buying all these old games I used to play.

 

[darkewaffle]

Understand that PC hardware architecture today is significantly superior to any console currently on the market. So it has capabilities far beyond what a console can bring. This extends not only to CPU but also GPU. Additionally, a PC game has the capability to be several disks compressed that are then installed onto a hard drive. Generally this is not the case with Console games. So any game built with a console port in mind (or more often made for the console with a PC port in mind) can't make use of the extra horse power or graphics capabilities of the modern PC.

The makers of Console games know that the audience for consoles is broader (and thus shallower) than for PC games. That is where the money is, so the target market definition has to be shallower. Things that a strictly PC market might do would have to be simplified for both the input device (controllers) as well as the aptitude and interests of a more general audience. Basically they are playing to the lowest common denominator. It's the same argument against porting Baldur's Gate to the Ipad. The market of interested consumers is just plain different, broader and not as interested in hard core indepth games like that. That isn't (intended to be) a slight on that market, merely a difference.

And yes, you have made it clear in the past that you disagree with the term ‘Consolization’. Doesn’t invalidate it’s meaning.

It's a subjective label. What it means is relative to each person's own experiences. To someone who's played a lot of great console games and never played a good PC game they could argue that it sounds like a good thing.

Hell, there's even a lot of console exclusive games that are plain amazing games. That shouldn't be possible since a console exclusive should logically be the most consolized, right?

I'm of the opinion that what people term as "consolization" is merely a result of, and to an extent a contributing factor to, growth in the video game market. I think most of the complaints about it actually have very little to do with consoles themselves and are rather much more directly related to the explosion in gaming's demographic diversity. As the market expands, the "hardcore gamer" (lol) crowd is marginalized, meaning that the games they want represent a smaller slice of the market and the features they desire have less appeal.

Magically remove consoles from the equation and I think you're at a different point in the cycle, but the same cycle nonetheless. Except then the label is "phonization" or "tabletization" or "facebookization" or "handheldization" or "casualization" or whatever kind of shift the market would have underwent to compensate.

Still it does nothing to address what the other post was getting at. Supposedly too many of those games (almost all of them good ones) were 'compromised'. Even if that's the case, does that mean they're still not good or even great games? Does that mean the forward-thinking features of those games aren't valuable and progressive? I don't see why it would. The worst you could say is that they aren't reaching their 'full potential' I guess, but a game can't be in development forever either.

 

[thespyder]

Well, despite all the hype from Bioware, I dont really think it is possible to incorporate a great storyline in an MMO like you can in a single player game. An MMO just goes on and on and on with no real resolution, so I dont think a really great storyline can be constructed in that context. I would have much rather seen a single player KOTOR 3 to finish up that storyline, rather than, or in addition to, TOR. But considering Bioware's recent efforts in single player games (DAII, ME3) maybe it is just as well.

Not only is there no resolution in an MMO, but there is no meaningful decisions, no actual impact on the gaming world, no progression of any kind. You play some nameless generic adventurer who is one of tens of thousands and no more special or original than any of the rest. Where in single player you play the "Hero" of the story, in an MMO, you play mediocrity personified.

Agreed that a KoToR 3 or similar game would have been much more in the vein of what I would have preferred. My time in the Star Wars Universe (and I don't play TOR or any other MMO) can never be long enough. Pity there aren't really very many good Star Wars Universe games out there. KOTOR (I & II), Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Pretty much covers it. The Force Unleashed was an OK diversion but not worthy of the rest or the subject material.