While my compatriot, Zachary, and I were discussing the newest entry into the God of War franchise I tripped over the apparent elephant in the room: Games are losing replay value. I remember as a child playing and replaying my SNES games as if it were my occupation. How many times did I beat Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, or Secret of Mana, or any number of the other games I had? The most replayed genre by far had to have been the side scrolling, co-op, brawler. On a hot summer day my friends and I were known to make our way through TMNT: Turtles in Time four or five times, each time setting up a different stipulation that we tried our hardest to abide to. (As Zach said, "The original 'challeng room'.")
Games these days just don't provide me with that calibur of entertainment. Not to say that I enjoy current video games any less, but I seldom find myself able to enjoy a game multiple times in a row (Mass Effect and Marvel Ultimate Alliance are the few exceptions from the past few years.) Maybe it's the epic scope of today's games? I just couldn't possibly handle saving the world twice in a row? Or maybe it's the length?
I might be coming at this situation from the entirely wrong angle. Maybe the length of today's games provides me with a valid amount of entertainment, making it so that I don't feel the need to constantly replay them? (Though I replayed the games on SNES because they were flawless masterpieces.) Even after beating GTA IV I found myself popping it in once in awhile simply to drive down the street with reckless abandon. The same goes for Fallout 3 and Prototype (which I'll review soon, I promise.)
But what about the first person shooters and the action adventure games? Can you replay a Prince of Persia or a God of War? How about Devil May Cry? Maybe the problem lies in the genre. Or maybe I just discriminate when it comes to the games I'm going to consistantly play. In the end I still believe designers need to keep replay value in mind. Yes DLC is providing a magnificent fix for the gamer who needs something to do, but is it the real answer?
....In retrospect, I do believe I've found my answer. I'm just much harder to keep amused in my older age.
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the replay value conundrum comes up in my own mind from time to time!
ReplyDeleteit is then that i thank the developer gods for snes/nes emulators.
i thought it was just because i was getting older and im not as into video games as i once was, but fuck that - i can STILL play through TMNT - Turtles in Motherfuckin Time with my buds if the occasion arose.
games these days just leave TOO LITTLE to the imagination...
in more words and after way more beers, cory and i discussed the topic of declining video game quality. we came to the conclusion that games are transforming and more and more developers/companies strive to create a cinematic experience, which seems to have left us all jaded.
You know, I do enjoy a good emulator, but I just find it so tedious to have to sit in front of the computer to play. I wish my SNES worked.
ReplyDeleteBut you make a good point about leaving nothing to the imagination. Maybe the vagueness of the games is what was so compelling.
i think it was the vagueness...or just how hard(?) but easy it was at the same time. the story lines were never THAT intense to where they got boring...everytime the princess was captured and you had to save her and beat monsters on the way to it...and it was always a puzzle and it was always fun! but i'm COMPLETELY biased on this opinion because i've always liked single player adventure games compared to the newer combat ones. also i don't have an extensive knowledge ON the newer ones...haha so i'm just basically being a cheerleader for the old school games!! ^.^
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