Games just don't feel worth what they used to.

[The Reclaimer]

I just finished a few games, and while the production values were high, gameplay was solid, and I had a pretty good experience with each title, they just don't feel as worth the money as they used to.

One game I just finished was the new Prince of Persia for 360, got it for $15 on clearance at Target, and while it was worth that, I'm not sure I would have been happy paying $60 for it.

I did play Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Dark Sector, and Gun as well. I got all three titles for $26 (yay 3 for 2 at gamestop) and MUA was the only one I felt might have been worth $60, while the others I would have felt gipped at more that $20/25

I suppose it's just the fact that the game market is so full now-a-day, you get a real quick "been there done that" with a lot of games, but the last game I felt I really got it's retail value out of was Halo 3, and that was because I played the multiplayer with my buddy so much.

I just feel like games are lacking that old time flair they used to have. I don't know if it's me growing up and having my tastes change, or just a general lack of that special something in games.

What do you think DaD?

[Crimson Fox]

I think I understand how you feel. I like a lot of the newer games, but time and time again I'll return to my collection of games from the 8 and 16 bit days. Childhood nostalgia plays a huge part in this I believe. I'm sure most of us here have a few games they love to go back and play again even though they've beaten them inside and out.

I also know how you feel about games not feeling worth the price we pay for them. For example, one of my last full price purchases, Gears of War 2, was fun, but it hasn't been touched after the second or so play through on Insane. The multiplayer options are nice and everything, and chainsaw duels are great, but still, nothing beats some Goldeneye Deathmatch.

Sure, there are a lot of games that rely on the same old formulas to try and cash in, but there are still plenty of original ideas out there. Okami was a truly wonderful title that offered a unique art style, a folk tale kind of story, and was a fairly epic and fun platformer. Also, anything made by Tim Schafer is worth looking at. He made the hilarious first two Monkey Islands games, and his more recent game Psychonauts was well worth the price of admission. Eh, anyways I guess what I'm saying is, if you sift through the crap, there are gems to be found.

On a unrelated side note, I've played Marvel Ultimate Alliance too. It was alright, I think I preferred it when it was called X-Men Legends.

[Kurtz]

Half the games today use the same playing style anyway, so the real "been there done that" appears a lot when looking over games today. Though, since I've had limited access (lack of funds) to pay for such games, I've been waiting for them. I have an epic backlog of games still to play, but the only real game I can say is worth it's money in whole was Mana Khemia. Oh, and Crisis Core. Ha-ha, addicted in moments to the DMW.

But I do occassionally find myself speeding through Sonic 3&K, or revisiting childhood games to beat them for fun. Mega Turrican I have vowed to defeat on the hardest difficulty and I will do it. Haha.

[DragonMasterX]

I always go back to play most of my SNES games. Any Super Bomberman or Super Metroid. I always seek out and play title series that have made an impact in my gaming life. Bomberman games, I've played them on the NES, SNES, Sega, PS, GBA and DS, and I've enjoyed them all, and I still go back to play them in no particular order or preference. Same with any MegaMan game, or Metroid game. Gets kinda tough though, without having any budget for a new gen.

Now, my two most recent acquisitions have been Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. Got both at around 10 pesos each ('round 3 bucks or so), and I absolutely loved them. But then again, newer games have what I'm a sucker to: Good special effects, great voice acting, catchy and addictive music, and (if RPG) a fast-paced battle system, that's also fun and not hindering (like Wild Arms 5's). This happened to me with Valkyrie Profile 2, I keep going back to it because I really liked how it played out, and so far I've not any complaint on my games.

I consider myself a stingy gamer. I don't pick up a game just because: "HEY EVERYBODY'S PLAYIN' IT, GAMEFAQS HAS IT ON THE TAWP! OMG" or because: "Rated M." (<- Kidding). I usually wait until my interest is really piqued on, or else I don't really enjoy it to its fullest.

[Harie Krauzer]

I'm a bit mixed about it. I feel like no game is worth 60 dollars. It wasn't too different for the SNES. If I'm not mistaken a good amount of those games started that high, but not all of them. I never really looked since I wasn't able to afford them. These days it seems like all the games for the three consoles are being released full price.

As for Nostalgia: I believe it is 50:50. The games you do go back to aren't terrible games right? The current consoles prove, with the some of the games being downloadable, that they are still good games today. And there were bad games back then.

As for quality: to me, I think, they feel different mostly because of age. Is there something wrong with that? No. I still think there are good games being released. Most of games are, more or less, similar, but at least they do use a formula that can work. It's not like all the games back in the day were great.

Tastes, rather I should just say interests, change (or improve if your'e lucky) as people get older. How are If all games these days are the same? I really can't say. My best answer would be mostly FPS with a few RPGs; however, I also believe I could say most games back in the day were mostly platformers with a few RPGs.

I think gaming is also alot more commercialized now then it was. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but there is a stronger push to buy them then there was. As the metaphor "pushing" can imply that it will get some people buy, to quell the impulse while turning others a bit off. Hell, electronics, in general, these days, are even greater. Most people back then probably considered the standard to be a TV, a phone, and a VCR. These days, you got computers of all sorts of variety and functionality. Cell phones are constantly being upgraded. The iphone feels like it is being updated as periodically and as similar to a pokemon game (very little difference but just a little more content/capabilities). Still, I think I'll stop there before I rant too far.

[MagusKnight]

Games aren't what they used to be, and quite frankly that's to be expected, we ARE second generation (where all the real games came out) after all, so it's truly to be expected. I'm just going to break down all the types and how they've changed...
RPG's- To be honest they're basically movies with gameplay now, the epic stories of olde have been traded budget-wise for better graphics and more epic cutscenes. Stories in these new-type games pretty much suck, but I'd be jizzing my pants if I saw one of the battle cutscenes from Starocean: Till The End of Time back when games were 2D, intricate, and story-based.

FPS- They've pretty much improved in every way compared to the oldies, the only difference is in the oldies, they gave you more options to kill with. Nowadays it's "should we bomb them, or shoot them?"

Puzzle Games- Actually... they have changed, they've started trying to add half-assed stories and give them some kind of meaning. GUYS, WE DON'T PLAY PUZZLE GAMES FOR STORY, AND RPGers DON'T PLAY RPGs FOR PUZZLES, STOP INTERTWINING THEM!

RTS- RTS games have honestly improved, I can say full heartedly that RTS games have made a turn for the better, oh aside from the lack of any REAL strategy anymore ;(

Army Games- I didn't include these "play as a soldier" games in FPS because not all of them ARE FPS. Play as a soldier and shoot things up, or play as a samurai and fight 'till you can't breath. These are a hybrid between FPS and Hack 'n Slashes. What's changed nowadays here is the creation, there was NO old school games were you were just another soldier in a GIANT army.

Hack 'n Slash- No real change here... Aside from graphics.

One of a Kinds: Imagination has plummeted, we don't get nearly as many one of kind epicness like Snake and Tetris anymore. I know some people argue Tetris is a puzzle game, but IMO it's not because it requires reflexes later on.

[ParkerXD]

RTS- RTS games have honestly improved, I can say full heartedly that RTS games have made a turn for the better, oh aside from the lack of any REAL strategy anymore ;(

This I agree with you on every level (No Pun indented) the old C&C consisted of a base and soldiers, throw the soldiers at the enemy base while keeping some behind to guard base. Not much has changed you still don't need wits, just a big amount of money, and a large area labelled "Kill zone" normally containing the enemy base and an army that could conquer Britain by raising an eyebrow.

Less Foolish, ever expanding A.I - just expand outward until they bump into your base by accident. I like more cunning A.I that set up Traps, lures, and things that aren't completely obvious and actually challenge you.

[Wisemon]

I've been feeling the same thing lately. I actually have a bunch of new games that I haven't even played yet, favoring the old ones or just not playing at all. I think it's because past a certain point, even guys like us mature past where we find satisfaction in gaming. Personally, I've been focusing on online dating a lot lately. Although I'm a lot better at gaming, a lot better in general at things I can completely control, the next frontier, the only accomplishment that won't feel a little hollow... it isn't on a console.

Also, I loved X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends 2, but trying to get all the powers super boosted gets old fast.

[UnknownH]

When we were kids, we may not have been good at games so we may have gotten a lot of of them. I know I got a lot out of the Sonic games. As well as some others. But maybe you're just too good now so you beat games faster.
I think the ones I get are.

[Guilmon and a shotgun]

You might even suggest this is down to commericalisation on the game front. I mean, theres so many titles, consoles and console specific games on the market, you can't play them all. In the 90's you either had your computer, Sega or Nintendo to play with and even then they had a ton of games for it.

On the RTS matter, it's variating on who you buy from. Command and Conquer nowadays is a raped series so theres really nothing you want to buy there except the box set of the older titles (First Decade). AOE3 was a fun but somewhat weak game in terms of strategic positioning; you could only get 7 towers, cannon was hard to train and people of a higher home city just floundered you with troops they've had shipped in at the start. Also, WHY DON'T THEY SPEAK ENGLISH?! God, they make the effort of making the germans and russians sound as per usual, but then you turn to the british/american settlers who just say "Hiah?" "risht." "fourster" "fockusterre" "ewol" "Tilyerre". It makes no sense.

FPS, again varies. I recommend Call of duty, but only those from COD4 onwards, because they use the game engine from Call of Duty 4 which, it has to be said, is amazing. Another one for if you're a fan of FPS and RPG is S.T.A.L.K.E.R which is a hybrid of the two (See my Stalker thread for more details).

Sidescrollers: Fucking rock. thats all i can say. I actually loved sonic as a sidescroller so much, i gave up on the series after it became the 3D pile of fanfictionist mush that it is today. I mean honestly, who didn't love watching a cobalt blue hedgehog dashing accross grass, beating up robots and televisions in search for rings, emeralds and a fat man?

Puzzle games are sort of addictive, especially ZUMA. And if that isn't a one of a kinder, then i don't know what is; a frog that shoots coloured marbles to stop a skull from eating the marbles that are moving along a groove towards him.

So yeah...i'm sort of infected with this gamer depression too, but i find if i play some of the older titles it makes it more bearable to play the newer titles. Gives my gamer appitite some more variety then plain ol' bread and butter Call of Duty.