How come things have to be so advanced nowadays?

[Hicky]

I like technology, but I think it's kinda reached the stage where your console doesn't play games anymore, it keeps track of what time your large shipment of teabags are supposed to be delivered so you can make tea for your upper class friends if you live in Britain, and do we really want this? If I want to keep a calendar, diary or memo, I would use conventional paper - nothing is more frustrating than using a keyboard and having to delete every letter you get wrong, rather than using your own hand. Watches too, calculators, mobile phones, TVs - they don't do their mandatory jobs and functions anymore, they sort of coincide with each others operations to the point where a watch is also a calculator and a mobile, a mobile is also a calculator and a watch, and a calculator is also a watch.

So, my question is this - we have come along way in technology over 20 years, from developing primitive arcade games to developing high tech gaming consoles with amazing 3D resolution, and over the past eight or so years what really has happened in the world of gaming - sure, graphics have improved, but what else? If technology is only improving by doing more functions and not improving generally, then have we just reached the end for now?

But, however, the reason for technological development is war, so do we need another major war to motivate us to move forward again? Or do you not agree - do you think we're still going forward, or perhaps just more gradually?

[Mario The Black Knight]

We are going forward, and yet backward as far as gaming technology. Original ideas are becoming less and less common. These days developers are using the Graphics and Gameplay as the most important part of a game, not the story or the imagination, since less and less is left to the imagination. The difference between the gameplay oriented games of 20 years ago and the Gameplay oriented games of today is there was imagination back then, something was left to the mind of the player. Now things are spoonfed to the player, no thinking involved.

Although in a way, the technology is sort of responsible for this I think. Back when Pac-man was developed, it's budget was about $500,000. Now, the budget for the average PS3 game is about 20-30 million dollars. So now Developers are falling back onto safer bets, like Sports games and period piece FPS's. They don't become best sellers, and generally aren't great, but they at least break even. In addition to that, back in the 80's, game development was a much smaller business, and only a select few were even involved in the business. Now any dumbass kid who got good at playing Halo in their mothers basement thinks they know something about game development. These morons couldn't tell the difference between a Famicom and an NES, think any game made before a few months ago sucks, and would give Grand Theft Auto San Andreas a 10/10 just because it's got "good graphics", you get to kill people, and it said so online. So now the market is so flooded with so-called game designers that it's becoming more and more difficult to get a job. So you have thousands of these lame ass high resolution, low quality games, and the few good games that do come out don't always get a chance to see the light of day. In addition, the only good games that get seen are done by the classic designers, with franchises that can only be streched so far, like Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid. Nothing good and original is making it through anymore.

What I hope will happen is eventually the technology will hit a plateu and the reletive idea of "Good graphics" will become the industry standard, then creativity will once again become an issue in the design of a game, and another Tetsuya Nomura or Satoshi Taijiri will come along and create another true classic, and that will become the new goal to achieve for other developers, and another period like the Mid to late 90's will happen again.

[pichubro]

Well put Mario.

[Mario The Black Knight]

:nigga:

I know what's goin down.

[Solly]

Sony and Microsoft don't make money from their consoles, they loose money. They only make money off the games themselves.

[Pokegun!!!]

That's exactly what I think about these dumb ass new graphic fags. I'm going to get mega man X3 this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcL0uJPdVmU

Oh you forgot to include the fall of music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FAff...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoVY7nvcel0

[Mario The Black Knight]

Somehow looking at those videos I eventually found myself watching classic Sonic commericals and looking at other classic sega titles like Vector man. Almost half an hour doing so.

You might actually like Vector man if you liked Megaman. I remember playing it like once back in the day, it was incredible. One of Sega's late era unsung heros.

[Pokegun!!!]

I played before it was cool.

[Echolalia]

aren't you like 12?