Is it me?

[Ins]

New member
Is it me or is the gaming market getting a bit rubbish?

As I approach my 30th birthday, I sat in my study the other day looking at my ageing gaming collection and thought to myself that I've not actually bought a new PC game in quite a while. In fact the last game was a present and that was COD4 (great game btw!).

However, I seem to just play the same old games over and over again. I've got a PS3 with GTA 4, etc on it, but I still love to play a good PC game. So recently I've been playing in no particular order:

- Hitman Blood Money: Seeing how many ways I can kill people

- Max Payne: Just re-installed this and put on the Kung Foo mod which is pretty good fun as it feels as if you're playing Neo from the Matrix lol!

- Command and Conquer 3: Not a massively old game, but fun nonetheless.

However, I think back to the days when I'd really game heavily and play games like Carmageddon, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, the original Counterstrike, Red Alert, adventure games like Sam and Max, Monkey Island and The Day Of The Tentacle, etc.

I don't know if it's just me ageing now, but all the PC games seem to be these online multiplayer things like Warcraft, Starcraft, etc, or stupid things like The Sims. Where have all the decent games gone or am I just past it now lol?

I still remain hopeful that the next Hitman game is going to be good and in the meantime, I'll just keep digging out my classics and playing them :D
 
Big lack of imagination on the dev pov, lots of recycling of old ideas, lots of yearly versions of the same thing that arent up to much, lots of console dev movement (but tbh there`s not much for the console market that would push me to get a console just for games).

It is running dry.

Betaing some mmos atm, I`m no way inclined to play them on release as they`re nothing special - they`re `ok`, but cater for the masses similarly to how WoW does. So ur mom can play with the same ease as u can.

U can add to that the stagnant pc hardware and software/OS nature. Not an incredible amount of excitement for maybe 3 years or so.

It`s an interesting time now for me to venture into exploring linux, apples - not for anything game-wize, but just the adventure of exploring them with all the free time from not gaming.

(saying that, I do still game alot, but it`s not primarily new stuff)
 
Couldn't agree more!

I mean just thinking back to the sorts of games that really made me part with my hard earned and there is very little these days that I'd be happy buying. I've always been a heavy PC user and ventured into consoles here and there, but always felt the PC was superior. Looking back at the sorts of PC games that were great, very few of them are recent.

I started off playing adventure games like Monkey Island. I loved the humour and it had a very unique feel about it. I also enjoyed playing FPS games such as Doom, Unreal Tourney, etc. When Halflife came out, it just changed gaming for me. Not only was it a fantastic game, but it brought about so many new features not seen before. Obviously off the back of this CounterStrike came out and then I became massively involved in the online scene, playing cups, leagues, tournaments etc...all to begin with on a 56k modem lol, then ISDN haha! Those were the days!

Recently though, I just seem to play Hitman, C&C3 or things like Pro Evo because they never really lose their appeal. GTA 4 was good, but it doesn't count because it's not out on the PC yet. I constantly go to sites such as Play.com to look for new games, only to find yet another Sims expansion pack, or another MMPOG, or just some cheap third rate game that wouldn't have looked good 5 years ago!

Anyway, at least it's not me. I'll stick to playing my classics and hopefully the industry will pick itself up and get some decent PC titles out soon!
 
My playing habits were pretty smilar to yours INS although i do quite enjoy starcraft.

Speaking of classics and adventure games, have you heard of A Vampyre Story? The news blog hasn't been updated in a while, but when it comes out it should be pretty good. It's one the the main monkey island guys brain child, so i hopse he's still got some talent.

Blood money is a great game. Spent ages trying to kill everyone in everyway possible. There are some great and sneaky ways of getting the mission done.
 
Im only 20, but im the same way. Thinking back to the good games. Imo i think its becasue for PC gaming the bar of graphics is way to high now. You have people demanding better graphics but yet better story lines and more original games. And now you have PhysX to put in the picture too. Heres the problem though. Nobody wants to pay the price for a good PC to play all these high demanding games so its lose lose on the PC front. Now you head over to consoles. Games like Rock Band and GH are dominating so your really not getting much for games over there either. I think its just a phase honestly and will be broken soon. Once the Rockband/GH phase dies off better games will come out for both PC and Console.
 
I reckon Fallout 3 may be worth picking up, can't think of too many more in the near future though, not on the PC anyway
 
I have to agree that Alan Wake looks stunning and hopefully it'll live up to its expectations. Also Red Alert 3 will be out next year which could potentially be very good, plus Hitman 5.

I think the problem is though that I always thought games would just get better and better as time went on, but they simply haven't. Sure the graphics have improved massively. You only need to look at one of the older Hitman games and then compare it to Blood Money to see what a difference a couple of years can make!

However there has been nothing really fresh or new for quite some time. I have to admit that COD 4 was impressive, just in the way it immersed you in the game play, but there's not been something groundbreaking (like Halflife was in its day) for a long time.

I don't know about you lot, but when I was growing up, the future was always Virtual Reality and how it was going to change the gaming world. Well that's never happened and maybe it won't for years to come. However with the increasing technology the industry needs to ensure that it focuses on game play / fresh ideas rather than revamped old games with fancy graphics. Thinking back, I remember buying a game called Myst back in the early nineties which had the most stunning graphics at the time. However the game play was terrible and it was the first taste of a visually stunning game with no game play at all.

Anyway, we'll see what the Christmas season brings, but I can't see anything on the horizon yet. If I could have one wish though, I'd have a Hitman game that had great game play and realistic features. These could include using any object to kill someone which (e.g. pulling a piece of piping off of a wall and battering them with it). Plus it would be good to see much better zone programming on a character. For example, if you shoot them in the foot, they hobble. If you shoot them in the knee, they collapse and drag their body along. Shoot their arm holding a gun and they drop it and clutch the wound. Also I've noticed that Lucusarts have developed code that allows characters an element of self preservation. For example, if you throw or push someone over an edge, they'll try and cling onto something to save themselves.

In the meantime, it's on with the old games..... :)
 
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