Comments on: Defining the Dark Ages, or Why Your Childhood Favorites are Actually Horrible

By: "Augh! Why Can't I See?!" Behind Good Camera Design | The Game Prodigy

"Augh! Why Can't I See?!" Behind Good Camera Design | The Game Prodigy — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:23:20 +0000

[...] a horrible yet childhood favorite of mine from my Dark Ages, has one of the word 2D cameras I’ve ever seen. You can find the video at the very [...]

By: Investment and Birth of Levels: The NES Era | The Game Prodigy

Investment and Birth of Levels: The NES Era | The Game Prodigy — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 07:08:30 +0000

[...] Mario Bros. 3 are among some of my personal all time favorites that I fell in love with during my Dark Ages. So while only a small percentage of readers still play many of these games, there are some [...]

By: Brice

Brice — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:16:24 +0000

Keith, great points. Not all games need to be played when you are a child in order to be enjoyed. Of course there are some games that are interesting to adults as well, and those will be appreciated if the player is in that window. And as for going back to how games were, yes, times change, expectations change, and that influences what people will put up with.

By: Keith Weatherby II

Keith Weatherby II — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:47:56 +0000

I think this view is a little narrow. For one thing there are some adults who enjoy the old games that were adults when they first played certain games. It was their first exposure to games sure, which has something to do with it. You didn’t have all this extra internet stuff, and game rentals (although you started having game rentals on 16 bit machines). So basically it’s all you had so you either liked it or you didn’t. Secondly, the reason we can’t go back to some old games is now we’re so used to the new stuff, we’re lazier, we have more lax imaginations and so forth. I think people, back in the day, were so much more engaged, they used their mind more, manual dexterity was more difficult, etc. We’re just not now. We have everything handed to us. Photo-realistic graphics and easier gameplay, etc. There’s no more fun aspect because they’re trying to craft something realistic, and/or complex.

By: Caleb

Caleb — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:57:55 +0000

I can’t think of many games that I liked as a kid that don’t hold up today. Back then, even, I lamented how hard many NES games were, how much time the devs of Super C must have spent on levels that hardly anyone would ever see.

One game that might fit this is 4×4 Evo 2. I loved that one in 8th grade, but I could only handle one race when I reinstalled it a couple weeks ago. The physics and graphics felt terrible and I could no longer stomach the lack of analog control (and I was too lazy to hook up a gamepad). At the time, it was the first game I could play online. It was also the first game I modded and for which I interacted with a modding community online. It also used the Gran Turismo CarPG system during a time when I knew I liked that game design and I had no Playstation. I can definitely see a ton of examples of things that are done better today. I still think the game was great for its time and I’d love to see a third one today, or a similar title. F.U.E.L. is a similar, and awesome, recent title. Unfortunately, it has a few glaring faults that ruin it for a lot of people. I really think that game could be turned into something truly great with just three months of work by some people that are detached enough to understand how to make it play to its strengths and fix a few of the polish issues.

Honestly, I think more games should be “sequels,” but in terms of gameplay rather than story. Too many dev teams waste time coding their engines from the ground up instead of using better, existing ones. If someone wanted to make a good Zombieland game, I think they should try to work a deal with Valve to make a Left 4 Dead: Zombieland edition rather than making some terrible game. I think there could be a great City of Ember game as a Fallout 3 mod, too. The terrible game route is probably more profitable, though. Having to deal with two licenses and two approval processes would probably be practically impossible, too. I hope stuff like this can be worked out in the future somehow.

Heather said:

“I have actually been reading articles today about girls in gaming. It almost seems that one of the answers to broadening the games girls/women are open to might be to indroduce them to different types of games earlier (in the 4-11 window) when they are less likely to be frustrated or turned off by the experience.”

I’m not sure how much this will help. I keep hearing this research repeated that says girls and boys tend to like video games the same amount at the age of six and earlier, but then girls begin to be less interested in them after that time. Still probably a good idea though.

By: Raoul Duke

Raoul Duke — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:28:45 +0000

Paradroid always has and always will survive.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:52:04 +0000

The games i probably spent the most time wiht in my Dark Age were probably Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Silver and Age of Mythology. I still think all of these Games are greate and i still liked them when i played them recently.
But there is one game i didn’t actually loved but still spent a lot of time with it which gets affected by your theory. That was Empire Earth, probably the first Computer Game I ever owned. The game was really complex and difficult, at least too complex and too difficult for an 8 year old boy. But even though i only survived until the first attack of the enemy and never beat any of the campaign missions i kept playing it.

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:04:45 +0000

Hi there :)

Thats a very interested article. We have a four year old daughter and we are currently teacher her to play games on the wii, some hand held devices, and on websites (like our own and sesame street).

I hadn’t really thought about her behaviour before, but she often exhibits that sort of attitude towards the games. Playing Mario Cart for example, she loves to drive, but just drives into the water over and over again. She understands how to steer, but it doesn’t upset her that she falls in the water and needs to start again. Its just how it is.

Our drag and drop games are still quite difficult for her as well, but again, the fact it takes her several minutes to position each piece doesn’t really faze her.

I have actually been reading articles today about girls in gaming. It almost seems that one of the answers to broadening the games girls/women are open to might be to indroduce them to different types of games earlier (in the 4-11 window) when they are less likely to be frustrated or turned off by the experience.

Anyway, thanks for the article… some interesting thoughts :)

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:22:15 +0000

Good article, I too had noticed that many games I loved so much are indeed, now, unplayable; either from insane difficulty or terrible controls.
Some still shine, but my fond memories are damaged by playing them again; I try not to go back to them, to preserve this rose tinted view.

This applies to many platforms, Spectrum to Playstation and PC. I think it depends how well designed they were; Often, I cannot play simply because I cannot figure out what the controls are, whereas contemporary games are far more likely to have tutorials and pop up hints, making them accessible for much longer.

However we view them now they are part of our lives and should be remembered fondly.

I look forward to your next article.