The lamest generation?

[Baroque]

The Dreamcast kicked off the current generation with a bang, but lately to me at least it feels like this generation is going to go out with a whimper.

Western Developers are out there hocking the same tired garbage and the Japanese appear to be either miss-firing with some of their big titles, or are in a complete state of internal turmoil which threatens the very existence of the companies themselves.

I'm looking at the release dates for the rest of the year and personally I find it rather lacking when it comes to quality. There are a handful of games I want, but the crap ratio looks to be orders of magnitude bigger.

So, how about you. Is all rosy in video game land or do you think we're sitting through a dip point in the games industry?

Is this the lamest generation?

[Afterbirth]

My view...
The true feeling of the Videogame is gone.
This generation of people grow up with games as standard.
To them, it's new, but always there.
To us, it was the anticiption of a revolution.
That feeling is all but nostalgia now.
No one these days feels the same about games like the old schoolers did back then.
There is nothing to looking forward too.

The old skool's mindset has matured and is but a memory, played back through the likes of Mame, but only played back.
We have witnessed a revolution, some felt it, but we will witness no more.

[Sidez]

No, I could't be happier with it. 2D classics Rygar, Shinobi, Contra, Ninja Gaiden and Maximo have been given 3D updates that do the originals justice. Iif you love Japanese action games then this generation is perfect. We also have Devil May Cry, Gungrave and Gunvalkyrie as original quality games. First person shooter genre is really healthy with Doom, Halo and Half-Life sequels. Survival horror the awesome Silent Hill and Biohazard games. Shooter wise we have the rebirth of the horizontal shooter with R-Type Final and Gradius V. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is the best fighter ever.

I mean seriously, there's plenty.

[Afterbirth]

I'd debate Shinobi. Shinobi is an example of Sega at its worst (relatively speaking of course)
- the levels are bland and samey and it feels cheap. Its got some semi-decent play methods but Sega have got to get their act together.

Maximo is very nice, and true to Capcom, and the great arcade game.

Rygar is nice, Gradius V and R-type F. are looking okay, but whilst i'll enjoy them, i won't enjoy them like the orignals.

I've not seen Ninja Gaiden, but you forgot Outrunners, which SHOULD be good.

[NeilMcRae]

I think its too early to tell but it does appear to me that some of the developers are finding it harder and harder to do something completely off the wall "new". But there are still alot of good games out there. E3 this year was the weakest for a long time esp if Sony had not announced PSP. I think most of the big 3 are looking to next gen already, which is a shame as I think the current gen of hardware really hasn't had a chance to shine. What is clear is that the Japanese have completely lost it in terms of the influence they once had on the market more and more games developed in Japan are no longer that special.

Regards,
Neil.

[Sidez]

I'd debate Shinobi. Shinobe is an example of Sega at its worst - the levels are bland and samey and it feels cheap. Its got some semi-decent play methods but Sega have got to get their act together.
Maximo is very nice, and true to Capcom, and the great arcade game.

Rygar is nice, Gradius and R-type F. are looking okay, but whilst i'll enjoy them, i won't enjoy them like the orignals.

Don't let nostalgia blind you.

[Afterbirth]

I think its too early to tell but it does appear to me that some of the developers are finding it harder and harder to do something completely off the wall "new". But there are still alot of good games out there. E3 this year was the weakest for a long time esp if Sony had not announced PSP. I think most of the big 3 are looking to next gen already, which is a shame as I think the current gen of hardware really hasn't had a chance to shine.

You can't keep innovation up without improving tech.
When Atari did it during the eighties, every arcade had its own unique method of interactivity. All we get are Pads and wheels.
Sony's Eye-toy and Konami's Mats are taking it forward, but its not being done enough. Theres no catch, but the graphics.

[NeilMcRae]

thats not really true. Technology does not make good games! It may make things more possible but that doesn't lead to innovation. Foe me innovation in games means that the developer has a new angle on how a game is played - Mario 64 or Doom are good examples of this.

[Max M]

I'm not too happy with this generation either. It also seems like it will be one of the shortest yet, with the next consoles coming as soon as 2005.

I really hope all three are closer to each other next generation. During the Snes/Mega Drive battle, you got the feeling that they were working seriously hard to beat each other out with tons of mindblowing games, but now I really get the feeling Microsoft and Nintendo have given up on reaching Sony and just aren't giving it their all anymore.

On the other side, Sony knows that they're so far ahead that they're making little effort in the software side too. Sure, ICO and Amplitude are nice (Although I feel the latter is fairly over-rated), but I'm still pissed off how they've just let the Wipeout, Ape Escape and Parappa the Rapper franchsies dwindle in favour of generic American games.

Also, there's too much realism this generation. Not enough imagination. But then I expected this to happy when graphics reached this level.

[Afterbirth]

Don't let nostalgia blind you.

I'm not. I play newer games for longer, but it takes innovation to keep things fresh.
Online will improve things, and create communities i suppose, and prehaps thats the natural course, the destiny of the Videochip if you will, but its hardly exciting.
You have to remember too, that its not notstaliga, but age, the blinds us.
We grow bored.

[Molloy]

I was getting a bad case of gaming boredom 6 months ago and have since repopulated my games collection with more immediate titles.

Rez, Ico, Virtua Fighter 4: Evo, Gitaroo Man, Frequency, Burnout 2.

Ikaruga, Daytona USA 2001, KotF 1999: Dream Match, Mars Matrix.

Next up is a Gamecube with Super Monkey Ball 1 or 2, Fzero, Viewtiful Joe, Unity.. ahh bliss.

I think this generation has been fantastic because I've finally started only buying arcadey games. All the story driven 60+ hour value for money **** was sapping all my enthusiasm. The games collection I've built now has plenty of potential for longevity but I could pick up any of those for half an hour and have lots of fun.

It's easy to look back through your collection of ROMs and think things were better once. The truth of the matter is the 16-bit generation was nice but I got deeply bored of it after mid-1993. There were so many liscenced platformers I couldn't find anything interesting in the shops.

[Max M]

I think its too early to tell but it does appear to me that some of the developers are finding it harder and harder to do something completely off the wall "new".

It's not that they're finding it hard, it's that people constantly ignore interesting games like Rez and JSR in favourite of generic first person shooters and racing games. ft:

The success of Monkey Ball and Animal Crossing has given me some faith though.

[Afterbirth]

thats not really true. Technology does not make good games! It may make things more possible but that doesn't lead to innovation. Foe me innovation in games means that the developer has a new angle on how a game is played - Mario 64 or Doom are good examples of this.

That was a important home based 2D to 3D jump. I enjoyed them years. It gave me zest in gaming. (i say home-based as 3D arcades have been around as long as 2D games - again, read Atari - 3D games were limited on the home formats - Rainbird produce aside).

As for realism, the thing is, NOT every aspect of the game has reached this level. Sure graphics are well on the way, as is sound but is irrelvent when the AI is bad or Physics are poor.
You disbelieve again and video games are supposed to draw you in.
Most games that feature cool realistic graphics (that partially draw you in), lose it on this Physics and AI front (and then its not real).
There are exceptions like the citied Doom (but there was also an excellent example of 3D tech).
Half life will do things on this front.

[Baroque]

I'm not. I play newer games for longer, but it takes innovation to keep things fresh.
Online will improve things, and create communities i suppose, and prehaps thats the natural course, the destiny of the Videochip if you will, but its hardly exciting.

I don't believe that for a second.
Online has proven to be nothing more than developers "fools gold". It was a feature talked up by people who were devoid of new ideas and thought that by slapping online on everything they could touch that it would solve all their woes.

It hasn't.

At this stage in the western world almost anyone who is interested on being on the internet in some fashion is there, and anyone who would like to go gaming online right now can pay a couple of quid for an XBox + XBL or throw down a wedge of cash for the latest PC + GPU, and get in Broadband. It doesn?t cost a fortune to do this anymore, but people still don?t feel compelled to get online and game.

The fact remains that people don't, and it's because for the bulk of people games haven't killed TV.

Have you ever missed a program on TV because you got caught up in a game? I sure have, and most of the time it doesn't bother me, but for the market they are hoping to scoop up with online, you have to question if they are willing to miss out on their soaps & or Big Brother updates just to beat their score at PDO? The fact of the matter is that the bulk of people don't care about games enough to invest that amount of time, effort or money to the venture.

Online is and remains the domain for FPS's, MMORPG's and other such genres. All of which don?t attract mainstream gamers, as they require a significant investment in time to become good at them.

The most popular online games right now, are still chess, draughts and card games.
I don?t think that is going to change for a while to come.

[wager]

but the crap ratio looks to be orders of magnitude bigger.

Not sure about that. I think its always been the case that crap games far outweigh the number of decent games.

I tend to agree with Sidez' comments, i certainly feel there are enough decent games being released.