Comments on Hit Self-Destruct: Everything Old Is New Again

Perhaps this is one of the problems with games bei...

2008-10-14T09:58:00.000+13:00

Perhaps this is one of the problems with games being a medium so dependent on new technology. Literature hasn't had a content/technology upgrade in, well, ever (just changes in distribution). Music toyed with incorporating new technologies in the 70s and 80s with synthesizers, but that didn't last long and certainly didn't change music to the point where unsynthesized music is considered antiquated.

Movies have certainly had their changes, from silent films to talkies, black and white to color. Special effects have gotten better but I'd say we're at the point now where a director doesn't need to feel limited in their ability to tell a story by what effects they can pull off on screen - if anything they're limited more by ratings considerations.

With games, though, there's always technological limits to what you can and can't do, and an awareness of how quickly gamers tire of the old and want the new. It's hard to make a Citizen Kane of games because no one would want to go back and play a game that was 60 years old (or to make it more relative to games let's say 18 years old). If developers know their game isn't going to have much longevity beyond a couple years why would they want to invest their creative energy into something artful and moving? Maybe the reason so few people that would consider themselves "artists" are attracted to game development is because as artists they are searching for something lasting, an opus that stands the tests of time. Currently, with the exception of nostalgia, games can't do that.

Roher may have hit upon something, consciously or inadvertently given the tools at his disposal. By making games that are, for lack of a better word, minimalist as far as graphics and controls go then they already future proof themselves at least among the set of gamers who would be willing to play them to begin with. There's little chance of being turned off by Passage 20 years from now because you go back and play it and think the graphics haven't held up. . .

How about these then:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL30lU26egw

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

What I find ironic about Mega Man 9 is that a seri...

2008-09-26T21:12:00.000+12:00

What I find ironic about Mega Man 9 is that a series which long ago fell out of the public consciousness can only get press now by being even more deliberately regressive. I do not remember the last time I saw anyone discuss a Mega Man game.

It's odd then to look at a game like Mega Man 9. I...

2008-09-26T09:28:00.000+12:00

It's odd then to look at a game like Mega Man 9. It's almost completely without precedent. A new game, generations removed from the last in the series, with a look and design that is completely in tune with the first (well, second) of the series, which was generations before that. There's something to be said about that but I'm not sure what as I'm without a console at the moment and can't play it.

There will always be exceptions to rules and the f...

2008-09-26T08:33:00.000+12:00

There will always be exceptions to rules and the formula never repeats: Counterstrike is still played by thousands (if not more) and the game hasn't received a major update in quite some time. The difference between CS 1.6 and CS:S are limited to an improved physics engine (which only marginally improved granades and flashbangs).

Valve has also found a way to renew TF2 in a gamer-focused fashion: keep giving them what they want. With a cost-effective content distribution platform, the updates, the achievements, the free weekends result in a healthy purchase rythm by the targeted market niche.

Crysis was the summer's blockbuster and was treated accordingly. No matter the graphics/production values, if the story/script don't entice the audience/gamer, you will be quickly forgotten/pirated.

I played ICO for the first time this year, after 7...

2008-09-26T03:36:00.000+12:00

I played ICO for the first time this year, after 7 years of its original release and I found it more next gen than current gen:) Even the graphics!

I think if a game stays in its well defined circle (even with the minimal radius) but does everything perfect there, it can stand the test of time.

Others, that play strongly in only one direction - like Crysis - will quickly turn to ashes.