/vr/ - Retro Games

go back to /v/

I get what you're saying and you have a point. Video games have felt pretty stale for me this whole gen but there are a few I've enjoyed. In fact Dark Souls is the only game I've played in years that made me love video games again. It's pretty much my favourite video game of all time. That first playthrough in particular reminded me of why I used to love video games so much... what an experience. It's right up there with the first time I played through Zelda Link's Awakening (eight years old) or Ocarina of Time (12 years old). Might even surpass them... can't believe that happened at 25.

So yeah... it may be that we're older but video games have stagnated. Dark/Demon's Souls offered something new and unique and were executed very well and were decently challenging on top of it... that's why they were so good. The older generations of games were more challenging and owing to the spec jumps between generations (e.g. SNES (2D) --> PSX/N64 (3D), games showed clear advancement and innovation. Now they all remain the same and cater to the lowest common denominator to maximize profits.

No, games nowadays are casualized, have shit graphics and are rehashed.

>We need to move on with our lives already.

Yeah, you're probably right.

Though the truth is just that we're adults now, and as adults we have different desires and hopes.

It was fun though.

Remember cheat books? I actually saw one the other day and was surprised they were still made.

Sucks to be you. I've been playing video games for 25 years and I'm enjoying stuff now just as much as when I was a kid.

>>390836
No, I still want to be an intergalactic bounty hunter.
I just do regular bounty hunting while I'm stuck here.

... I'm never getting off this planet.

>>390847
I remember scouring magazines for Mortal Kombat codes and fatalities. I was so goddamn happy when I got my hands on that one issue that had all of them.

I still remember the MKII Genesis menu cheat. Left Down Left Right Down Right Left Left Right Right. That gave you so much shit, good code.

UMK3 or MK3 had something like Up Up Down Down Left Right A B A (for SNES).

Turok 2: bewareoblivionisathand

I didn't like games that gave a cheat menu for entering codes. That sucks. Felt better when you could do it all secret like at a menu so that when you'd go to your friend's house you could blow their minds by being 1337 as fuck.

>>390849
Are you autistic?

>>390879

I don't think so. I was diagnosed with depression and ADD back in high school though.

>>390824
>graphics
I agree with the rest of what you've said but graphics? Is this a troll? You telling me with a straight face that older gens look better than this gen?

As a kid, you could enjoy everything because ignorance is bliss.

As for nostalgia, your brain can only remember so much, so it chooses to remember mostly the good things.

>>390886
>I was diagnosed with depression
Me, too, anon.
Hope you've gotten better since.
Bless you.

>>390886
Well who fucking wasn't?

>>390847
Remember game hotlines? I always laughed when I saw those on the back of a game box. Like who honestly ever called one of those?

For that money I'd rather call up a sex chat line.

>>390924

Depends on what you consider to be good looking. GRITTY UGLY REALISM, to me, looks like shit. I love colorful, expressive sprite art, and games that don't try to emulate real life.

The graphics are indeed billions of miles ahead of previous gens, that's true, but just because they're technologically advanced doesn't mean they are pretty. Most games are simply ugly these days.

>>390941
I did once, for Diddy Kong Racing
I was 15

I'm really sad about the WiiU. I have the feeling that very few games other than first-party Nintendo affairs like NintendoLand will take advantage of the unique hardware all available in one package. There will be a lot of shoddy ports with a single token minigame to acknowledge that they're on the most robust system ever created. Imagine all the augmented reality shit you could do with the controller alone.

>>390949
What exactly do that for? I could see something like a point and click or something, but I don't really see what you could gain with DKR.

>>390735

I agree completely with OP.

I'm just not having fun anymore, but i have a wonderful girlfriend now who keeps me happy.

There's nothing wrong with gaming imo, just don't let it become your top priority

>>390974

WhatisthisIdon'teven

>>390964
I couldn't find the last balloon
I was desperate

>>390949
*ring ring*

You: Halp me I keep getting beat by Tiptup the turtle!
Hotline guy: Then you should suck less and drive better
You: ok thanks here take my $26

>>390957
You say that like that hasn't happened to every Nintendo console since the N64

>>390982
Hello. My name is Falconhoof. I'll be your guide on your quest.

>>390982
>$.60 per minute

>>390781
>In fact Dark Souls is the only game I've played in years that made me love video games again.
Same. Also, Hotline Miami very impressed me.

>>390987
The worst part is it was automated.

>>391004
>Hotline Miami
The game has been described by Eurogamer as "a top-down fuck-'em-up"

Iamveryokwiththis.png

>>390984
top lel

>>390984
So did they help you or what? Please tell me the exact conversation in the phone call, thank you.

>>391004
>Hotline Miami
Hmmm haven't heard of it. What is it and why'd you like it? Will have to check it out.

>>391028
If I recall, it was in one of the racetracks, and you needed to drive up the wall to get it in a small hole above the tunnel.
I think planes were disallowed on the level or something, so you couldn't just fly up there.

>>390941
I did once, for Full Throttle.

>>391041
I'm not asking where the farking balloon was bro. I want to know the conversation that occurred when you called up the 'gaming hotline'.

>>391041
I'm pretty sure you're thinking of the key in the fourth area. I don't remember any balloons appearing in levels.

>>390949
I always wondered if anyone actually called those things. The call-rates were criminal.

I remember going with my mother to the store and veering off immediately to the magazine section, soaking up whatever Tips and Tricks I needed that month. Gamers these days have an near-infinite amount of resources and such (Longplays, reviews, GameFaqs, Youtube, downloadable pdfs, etc.,), so that special "thrill" is gone :(

>>391058
Press the number of the corresponding letter your game starts with, then press the pound sign.
If your game starts with D, press 1. If your BEEP
For help with Diddy Kong Racing, press 1. For help witBEEP

Have you ever called your bank?

>>391062
Actually that's most likely it. Fuck that key.

>>391078
Okay. But when you finally spoke to some faggot, did he actually give you the answer? Or was he just like "errrr... herp."

Holy creepynostalgia, Batman.

>>391028
Nintendo Hotline basically had large binders for every game on the system, and in them there would be detailed info for maps/screenshots, guides for specific parts, everything they needed to help you whether they had played the game or not.

It was basically GamesFAQ on paper.

>>391083
I didn't speak to anyone. There was no one to talk to, iirc. You just dialed in and it gave you hints for money.

My mom was so pissed about that 3 minute phone call, but I paid her back.

>>391107

Wow. I wonder if anyone has ever scanned those.

>>390735

It was impressive then because gaming as we know it now was still brand new and every month there were new ideas, new genres, and creativity was everywhere.


Now it's all "HEY LOOK A NEW FPS MADE OUT OF THE SAME RECYCLED EVERYTHING EVERY OTHER FPS IS MADE FROM WITH DAY-1 DLC1 YAY LET'S GET EXCITED!"

>>391107

damn I remember calling those guys with a few questions, and then having to do some chores around the house to pay off the calls

I wanted to be a Nintendo Game Counselor when I grew up. I mean fuck, these guys got paid to sit around and talk to other people about video games all day. How could there possibly be anything cooler to do as a job when you're a grownup?

Not everyone who plays old games is nostalgic, OP. I hate that view. I started playing games in 2002 and I'm currently emulating tons of 90s stuff I've never heard of as a kid. I never even had a Nintendo console.

I actually have a 12 year old brother who refuses to play any COD game because all the games are too similar to each other, among other reasons.

How much was the Nintendo hotline per minute anyway?

>getting a new demo disc every month

>flicking through magazines for cheat codes and easter eggs since almost no one had internet back then

>never shortage of new games, console never collected dust

>games were 100% complete and devs were always striving ways to fit in more and more into them

>people were willing to try new game that wasn't a sequel and was a new genre with new ideas

tis truely the golden age of gaming, and now it's lost.............

>tips&tricks magazine
>pencil puzzles

That was my shit.

There's something we're really missing now that websites have largely replaced niche magazines. You had to have a real finesse and professionalism to contribute to magazines. What we get now on the internet is basically angry retards pounding on a keyboard.

>>390847
What do they even put in a modern cheat book? Is it just a list of DLC or something?

>>391726
>print
>professionalism

Choose only one.

Relevent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCwQf9_V4dk

>>393728
In order to unlock level 3 you must beat level 2.
In order to unlock level 4 you must beat level 3.
ACHIEVEMENTS
In order to unlock the 5000 bullets fired achievement, buy the Unlimited Ammo DLC and hold down the fire button. After about 4 minutes you should get it. Automatic weapons work best for this.

I remember when the internet was still relatively young, my brothers were able to snag cheats pretty easily, and I'd learn from them some of the classic cheats and such.

Of course, where cheating is concerned, our house rule with cheating in games is "Wait until you've at least ebaten the game once, then cheat all you like" (Nowadays, if DLC is involved, you must finish them as well before considering cheating). It did make some games last loger and feel more satisfying to play through, and nowadays, if I want to cheat in a game (especially one I beat eons ago), I still have some interest in some of the games when I dissect them with something like Cheat Engine, and essentially dick around with the games.

Never though I could make it rain goombas in SMW by summoning them like emergency equipment (feather, flower, mushroom). I'm surprised no mods I have seen messed with those values for puzzles and such.

>>390735
>Being a kid in the '90s without internet

i was born in 94. do I count as a 90s kid

>>393961
no. get out, underage b&.

>>394023
You realize he'd be 19, right?

>>393961
90's kid, not 90's baby.

Here's a simple thing to consider, you were a kid of an era if you were able to truly enjoy a grand majority of it. A good way to put it is, if you were born in the mid-80's, then you were a 90's kid, because you were still a kid, but old enough to embrace the era.

>>394059
89' is cutoff... and even that is pushing it.

>>390735
>Let's face it /vr/. Perhaps we've simply become too old for gaming and yet we cling to the past because it serves as a vestibule to nostalgic memories of days we full-heartedly enjoyed our only hobby. Gaming doesn’t feel as good anymore because it’s about time we grew up already and inside we know this. We should be getting laid, not fiddling about idly with our thumbs for things designed for children in a pitiful attempt at escapism. We need to move on with our lives already.

Nah, I still enjoy video games.

two things:

cynicism, both from yourself and from magazines and other people agreeing with you. Games have never been better. Threre's a lot more junk, yes, but there's a lot more choice too.

Novelty, when you were younger you hadn't already internalized a lot of the game designs, they were a lot more novel and new. Being this old you've simply learned 80% of the gamging systems and you're craving for more.

Luckily it's possible to change your attitude towards all this, you simply have to stop listening to that voice in your head that keeps telling you "this sucks".

>>393762
You're a dope.

>>394091
Agreed. '89 is definitely the cutoff mark. You're okay if you're born in '89. '90sbabby though... you're fucked. The 90s point is absolutely crucial.

Even if you were a baby born at 11:59 pm December 31st, 1989, you're okay (but damn... still can't be entirely trusted). But if you were born 12:00 am January 1st, 1990, it's all fucking over and you are a fucking nimrod, no exceptions.

>>394174
You're wrong.

I just want legitimate challenge, tight gameplay and a first playthrough experience that can last over twenty hours. These things have become a rarity in this day and age.

Also, video games in the past seemed to have a lot more 'soul' and 'character' in how they were designed. That feeling feels lost now.

I know you'll reply to this but I'm fucking exhausted now and am going to bed. Will explain in more detail tomorrow and reply as required.

gnight /vr/.

The problem with today's games is that they try too hard to imitate movies and fall short on what really matters gameplay.

>>394091
if you were born in the Clinton years you're a 2000s kid

>>394023
>>394091
>>394205

>Us 90's kids posts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pa6SGYWADU

Don't be that guy, /vr/. And before I get some typical "2000's kid detected" response, I'm probably much older than many of the people in this thread.

>>390735
I don't really know that feeling. There are less games I like nowadays but this is due 99% to
A: No one making games in any of the genres I like
B: Me not liking JRPGs anymore (better to say I only ever liked a select few)

I remember feeling hype over Tokyo Jungle when I heard of it, and when it came out, it was everything I had dreamed and more. I was hype over The Last Guardian before it became vaporware, same with SC Ghost. I'm still interested in Watch Dogs or whatever that upcoming cyberpunk game is. Nowadays I don't use magazines anymore, but watching E3 or looking up previews of doujin games for Comiket still makes me anticipate them. I think people who don't like games anymore are just jaded and cynical.

>let's say we were 12 years old in this day and age... would we see Blops 2 as just another COD reskin-rehash, or would we be blown away and lust after the list of perks and the new-for-COD, futuristic setting?

I would think it was a shit and rehash, just like all those Street Fighter 2 versions

>>394556
>I'm probably much older than many of the people in this thread

of course. you're 19 and everyone else here is 16

>>394267
Soul and character, like they were more exaggerated due to their lower definition? Or that hardcore appeal of "turn everything gray" like gears of war?

I'm more interested in what you mean by "tight gameplay" though. I can imagine that's lack of endless cutscenes and press X not to die but maybe you mean more.

In my experience games lasted over 20 hours because I was young, playing any medium to large game for the first time when you're 6 seems like forever.

>>390868

For me it was a b c b c a c a b while the game is paused when you get Ecco to face the screen in Ecco: The Tides of Time. I've always remembered that code for the last 18 years.

>>391726
Honestly, I wouldn't really call print media "professional" - just about every person who wrote for a gaming magazine during /vr/ times (and even up until about halfway through the sixth generation) was in it for shits and giggles.

Hell, I recall an ex writer for a semi-popular British Sega magazine telling me that their job boiled down to playing games, writing a few notes and bringing it all together. It resulted in a particularly laid back environment for everyone involved, even with the deadlines associated with a monthly or fortnightly publication.

Point is, it was a bunch of people who enjoyed games writing about things they enjoyed; and far from "professional" journalism. What we have now is more akin to the drudgery that is professional journalism - people who don't care with word counts and external factors determining exactly what they can and can't say about a subject. So, yeah, angry retards, doing a job they hate, pounding on a keyboard.

Funny thing is, there are still plenty of websites out there that are just like the niche magazines of old, they're just buried under the glut of Shitaku, IGN and Gamespot.

>>396891
>Funny thing is, there are still plenty of websites out there that are just like the niche magazines of old, they're just buried under the glut of Shitaku, IGN and Gamespot.

examples?

>>396891
>What we have now is more akin to the drudgery that is professional journalism
What we have now is more akin to marketing. They get press releases, they jazz them up with some "commentary", they spit them out.

>>390868
>>396613

>IDDQD
>IDKFA

>blabbermouth
>jointventure

>robin hood
>pepperoni pizza
>rock on
>how do you turn this on

>there is no cow level
>show me the money
>modify the phase variance
>power overwheling
>operation cwal

From the top of my head.

>>396891

>>399207

>>399204

>>399213

>>399218
>>396891
>shits and giggles

Fuck those fucking fuckers.

>>399224

>>399246
Best for last.

>>399239

>>399204
>>399207
>>399213
>>399218
>>399218
>>399224
>>399239
>>399246
>>399254

>>399254

>>394562
>would we be blown away and lust after the list of perks and the new-for-COD, futuristic setting?

We probably would. You're forgetting how stupid and easily impressed twelve year olds actually are. I for one, miss being totally boy-crazy and not realizing how pointless sex and relationships actually is.

>>399204
>>399207
>>399213
>>399218
>>399224
>>399239
>>399246
>>399254

Was that based on beta information?
That's absolutely disgusting.

Also, that Master Ball advice, there is no fucking excuse for that.

>sex and relationships
>pointless
>on a video game board
>videogames

walp

>>399296

Did you grow out of being homosexual?
Good for you.

I remember being super hyped for the SNES, N64, and Gamecube launches

Now I just feel jaded, and after the wii I drifted to the PC.

Tips and Tricks magazine was the best

I loved those pencil puzzles

>>399185

>>IDDQD
>>IDKFA

Well duh. Every faggot ever knows those... or at least, they should.

DNKROZ

>>399748
jediwannabe 1

>>399752
gunsgunsguns

suckmyrocket
buckfast
nineinarow

mademan

^All from the same game series

>>390735
Yeah, I do actually.

My first love when i came to gaming magazines was Tips n' Tricks. It was primarily a walkthrough magazine, covering tons of games per month. It also featured a MASSIVE code library and small upcoming games / editorial articles. I'll never forget one issue in particular. I think it was between 90 and 94 (issue number, not year) and the cover was Diddy Kong Racing.

Anyway, I'll never forget that one because the last page (inside back cover, actually) featured buttfuck insane gameshark codes for the original Resident Evil. Stuff like playing chris in jills game, using monster skins, accessing unused content. Shit was pretty cash.

It sucks, because it was during a time when I didn't have a sub and I missed out on buying it in news stands, and that issue in particular ran out of back issues almost immediately. My mom was actually pretty cool about the whole thing, she called the company later that year and told them I really wanted the cheats from that issue.

Christmas rolls around and I get a stack of printed out pages. Its the entire cheat section from that particular issue. Of course, in typical misguided parent fashion, she didn't remember it was the Resi Evil GS codes, so those weren't in the list... but it didn't matter. It was one of those aww moments. Good times.

Pic related, pretty sure that was the one... though it may have been the one with Blast Corps on the cover.

>>399957
also, please tell me someone remembers Versus Guides?

I fucking loved those guides, they're really fucking funny and amusing, they almost read like laid back gamefaqs walkthroughs from back in the day.

Only strategy guide I've ever seen to advocate eating Epona in OoT, if it ever came to it.

From what I understand it was a spin off publication of Gamefan, which has a really entertaining history itself. (THOSE LITTLE JAP BASTARDS LOVE TO FREAK!!!)

Sadly, the guides lost their humorous edge around the 9th or 10th outing. I want to say the last quality book they put out was from Majoras Mask.

I'd say the Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7, and Zelda OoT guides are worth reading / flipping through if you've ever the time and into this sort of thing.

Also, all that research in the MGS guide. Holy fuck, those guys would love /k/

>>399204
>>399207
>>399213
>>399218
>>399224
>>399239
>>399246
>>399254
all of my hate. oh well at least now I know there was an original purpose to that fucking truck.

>>399204
>>399207
>>399213
>>399218
>>399224
>>399239
>>399246
>>399254

>>399204
>>399207
>>399213
>>399218
>>399224
>>399239
>>399246
>>399254

But where are FUCKER_OAK_6, 7, and 9.jpg?

>>390735
>90s
I had Amiga Power before I had Nintendo Power, but only because my father and uncle were computer nuts and both pirated on their 14.4 modems (good old dial-in noise) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSRG0TqxLWc

That and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUT-gnwpLJ0 were sounds of my daily childhood life.

I agree with you fully OP, I also think it's another reason gaming is 'dying'. Games are made to easy, imo. Money/time spent on graphics and things like voice acting, not in making an enjoyable game.

When you were younger, if you got a game as a gift or bought one, chances are, no matter how 'bad' it really was, you played the shit out of it because you weren't going to let it get the best of you. When you saw an upcoming game mentioned somewhere you became excited as fuck and talked to your friends about it to get them hyped also.

Of course we're all nostalgia for those feelings, we'll never have them again.

One of my most enjoyable moments though were beating a game and then finding game genie codes or glitches in the game, then replying the game using them (I still love the fuck out of playing Crystalis starting with the Crystalis sword).

>>399204
>R/B/Y/G could use cut to mow grass
>secret in Viridian Forest was probably the hidden potion after the last trainer to the north
>Surf and Fly
Fuck you Oak, you lying asshole.

>>399246
>This should have been a thing

>>394556
What does make the 80s and 90s remarkable is the transition to the computer and Internet age. I was born in 1984, so I come from a very different place than someone born in 1994, let alone 2004. The difference between 2004 and 2014 is probably going to be minimal by comparison.

>>401009
disgustingketchup is not video games

>>401190
one reason for the counterculture movement was the huge gap between 60s youth and their parents due to the radical changes that happened to the Western world after 1945

the modern framework of society was established during the 50s. we've added more technology since then, but stuff has basically worked the same for the last six decades. the prewar world was an extremely different place.

>>401238
I'm only talking about the 1980s and onwards, and in a specific context.

>>401263
>I'm only talking about the 1980s and onwards
Of course. I was merely drawing a comparison since the 60s era was also a consequence of a radical social shift.
>and in a specific context
Which means...?

>>401286
>Which means...?
Video games, computers, the Internet, that sort of thing.

>>401307
That's not really the same thing as societal changes like I described

>>401324
I didn't say it was?

>>401324
>The internet
>Not the single most monumental change in society and culture ever

You're kidding right?