Monday, July 30, 2007
The Lack of Historical Perspective In Game Media
Is it just me, or do game reviewers and most journalist these days seem to think that videogames were invented with the Playstation 2?
One feature I simultaneously loathed and loved in the old Computer Gaming World magazine (now "Games For Windows") was the retrospective they'd run on the issues from 5, 10, and 15 years earlier. On the one hand, it was a great retrospective into the games of yesteryear. As a long-time fan of the magazine, I was also pleased to see articles mentioned that I still remembered sometimes a decade later. However, the tone of this sidebar column was often very mocking. The comments were often along the lines of, "How could we," (we meaning their predecessors, usually) "ever have enjoyed this crap?"
They made exceptions for the classics, of course. Any game that the majority of old-school gamers hold in reverence got at least a nod of cordiality. But with that exceptions, they heap little but ridicule upon the older games.
Why All The Hatin'?
I see this attitude all the time, in other magazines and gaming websites. Some of it I can chalk up to the fact that this is a young industry, with young writers willing to write reviews for the price of a pizza plus a free game. They might have a dim recollection of the days when Sega was producing consoles, but they all too often don't know or care what came before the time when they fell in love with video games.
Could it be because they are playing to the crowd? The crowd in this case consists of young men who are happily buying into it (literally) when the marketing machine that tells them anything but the latest model is beneath them. That, and of course as a teenager it's embarassing to admit to liking anything the generation before you might have liked.
Or maybe it's as Brian Green suggests, and that it is because we haven't achieved cultural legitimacy yet. This might suggest that even those who write about the medium still feel a subconscious shame about it. They may be attempting to build up the games they are now hyping by pushing everything that came before them down.
Maybe it is part of the arrogance of a young industry that is still growing by leaps and bounds. Maybe it will take a downturn in the industry for people to start looking back on the "glory days" of gaming. In fact, some of the nostalgia we 30-somethings have for the "good ol' days" comes from the innovation that came out of earlier periods. Not that it was all roses - cloning was even worse and more blatent back then than it is now. But at least for every "me, too" product that hit the shelves, you had something innovative and fresh and new to try out. Of course, the new ideas were new because it was a new medium, and most of the time the innovative games sucked worse than the clones. But at least they were trying.
Undoubtably, part of it is technology. The most ridicule-worthy movies of the past were the technology-driven ones, full of special effects that were probably cringe-worthy even back in the day. Top-tier video games and computer games have been chasing technology since the beginning. (It's interesting to note that one of the most uniformly successful game developers - Blizzard - has a reputation for staying far away from the bleeding edge of technology, but instead focusing on refined presentation and gameplay.) And that's not even mentioning the difficulty of trying to get older games running on modern hardware.
Why Bother?
Whatever the causes, I think we're shooting ourselves in the foot if we disregard our history. And I'm not just talking about the classic games that modern genres are based upon. I'm talking even the whole spectrum of the medium, from the really atrocious missteps to the clever ideas poorly presented to the flashes-in-the-pan to the cult classics to the gems that nobody knew about even back then. There are tons of lessons to be mined from these old games, as well as some really phenominal ideas.
Does it help to understand the genealogy of games and the evolution of genres? When talking about the toolset included in Neverwinter Nights 2, does it help to be familiar with not only the prequel, but also the similar tools in Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures, the Bard's Tale Construction Set, and Stuart Smith's Adventure Construction Set? I am not really a games journalist (I am just a poor game developer who writes about games), but I do think that having that broader historical perspective would provide writers with a stronger foundation, a wider games vocabulary, and a greater immunity to the misinformation spewed out by the hype machine that makes up the marketing arm of the game industry. Even as an old-school gamer, I'm constantly being reminded by the community here of historical precedents that even *I* was unaware of.
And as a game developer - sheesh. I keep seeing bad ideas repeated, and I see a gold-mine of clever ideas in older games that could probably be polished up and incorporated into modern games. There are entire sub-genres that could be revived and exploited (as those of us who played a bunch of what would now be called "casual games" on the Commodore 64 or Apple II can attest).
What do you think? Is understanding of the historical perspective of value? Why do you think there's such a derisive attitude towards gaming's past? Or am I totally wrong and it is just a minority of writers that like to rip on the past?
(Vaguely) related words of highly questionable historical value
* Fallout Over th Fallout 3 Trailer
* Innovation in RPGs?
* The History of CRPGs: Should We Go Back to Go Forward?
* A Couple of Classic RPGs
* Jet Moto Memories
* Scorpia's New Tale: An Interview With One of Gaming's Most Popular Columnists
* How the Neverwinter Nights 2 Review Happened
Click Here For the Secret Forum Discussions Where We Actually Plot to Take Over the World! In Code, Of Course...
Labels: retro
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:22 AM (Permalink)
Comments:
Links to this post:
<< Home
I agree with you that a historical perspective is very valid. It's the same with movies -- a lot of what we love about a movie like Star Wars is how different it was from anything we had seen before. Purely on its own merits, it doesn't hold up as well (it still does okay, but it's not as glitzy as some more recent science fiction).
I think the pendulum has swung back away from over-reverence for those nostalgic days to hyper-criticality of the same. It's not just CGW/GfW, but also EGM (with its occasional articles where they throw young kids at old favorites, and write down all the snarky things they have to say about something like Atari's Adventure, for example, or Pong). If it were possible, I'd rather take kids who weren't already exposed to things like Halo and GTA and see what they would say about some of these old games.
I can't comment on any one specific cause, but I think you've touched on a lot of them. I also think we are more and more a cynical culture, and this takes its toll.
As to your other point, I tend to agree that there are lots of mechanics and interesting bits that could stand revisiting. Jonathan Blow commented on this very issue a year and a half ago at the Game Developer's Conference, when he suggested that someone go and take a fresh look at Ultima IV's system of virtues.
I think the pendulum has swung back away from over-reverence for those nostalgic days to hyper-criticality of the same. It's not just CGW/GfW, but also EGM (with its occasional articles where they throw young kids at old favorites, and write down all the snarky things they have to say about something like Atari's Adventure, for example, or Pong). If it were possible, I'd rather take kids who weren't already exposed to things like Halo and GTA and see what they would say about some of these old games.
I can't comment on any one specific cause, but I think you've touched on a lot of them. I also think we are more and more a cynical culture, and this takes its toll.
As to your other point, I tend to agree that there are lots of mechanics and interesting bits that could stand revisiting. Jonathan Blow commented on this very issue a year and a half ago at the Game Developer's Conference, when he suggested that someone go and take a fresh look at Ultima IV's system of virtues.
To comment further on what Brett said, I recall quite a lot of people talking about the good old days, only to have a few articles written about rose-colored glasses.
On a different topic, people were upset when Nickelodeon Studios shutdown. YouTube is full of tribute videos about "classic Nick" which somehow included shows that were only released in the last five years but neglected You Can't Do That On Television. The current audience is young, and they have no memory of what was considered good.
Who doesn't laugh at the hair styles of the 60s and 70s? People who grew up in the 60s and 70s. And even they laugh.
I think it was 1up.com, but there is already an article written about exposing today's game players to games from yesterday. When playing Donkey Kong and jumping up to get the hammer, one of them recognized the music from Super Smash Bros. It was kind of like reading about those people who said, "Oh, Pirates of the Caribbean was great! I heard they made a ride, too!"
I've said it before to my friends, but when I have children, I'm teaching them the classics. B-)
On a different topic, people were upset when Nickelodeon Studios shutdown. YouTube is full of tribute videos about "classic Nick" which somehow included shows that were only released in the last five years but neglected You Can't Do That On Television. The current audience is young, and they have no memory of what was considered good.
Who doesn't laugh at the hair styles of the 60s and 70s? People who grew up in the 60s and 70s. And even they laugh.
I think it was 1up.com, but there is already an article written about exposing today's game players to games from yesterday. When playing Donkey Kong and jumping up to get the hammer, one of them recognized the music from Super Smash Bros. It was kind of like reading about those people who said, "Oh, Pirates of the Caribbean was great! I heard they made a ride, too!"
I've said it before to my friends, but when I have children, I'm teaching them the classics. B-)
The guy who recommended me for my current job was actually the same guy who introduced me to the world of classic, older movies. Movies that came out before I was born, or back when I just a young kid, who thought the latest regurgitated Disney live-action adventure was pure awesomeness. (Which I think shows how the problem gets started...)
Since then, I've gone back and started watching a bunch of old classics. And enjoying them. A LOT. Yes, they deal with a different era that I might not understand. Yes, they humor might seem quaint to me. Yes, they may only be in black & white. And *YES* they are not representative of the movies of that era... they are the gems in a world of crap, same as the best movies today. But they are great and very enjoyable.
But it took me getting tired of the modern movie offerings to get around to them. Going to Blockbuster (in the days before Netflix) and looking through the new releases and wondering, "Is there anything here that is any GOOD?!?!"
As a matter of fact, there was. But if it's not current, it tends to get buried.
I think the same applies to games. Except that with games, it's even more difficult to find a platform (usually an emulator, these days) on which to enjoy it. Though we are getting that resolved through some things like XBox Live Arcade, Nintendo's emulation, and services like Gametap.
Since then, I've gone back and started watching a bunch of old classics. And enjoying them. A LOT. Yes, they deal with a different era that I might not understand. Yes, they humor might seem quaint to me. Yes, they may only be in black & white. And *YES* they are not representative of the movies of that era... they are the gems in a world of crap, same as the best movies today. But they are great and very enjoyable.
But it took me getting tired of the modern movie offerings to get around to them. Going to Blockbuster (in the days before Netflix) and looking through the new releases and wondering, "Is there anything here that is any GOOD?!?!"
As a matter of fact, there was. But if it's not current, it tends to get buried.
I think the same applies to games. Except that with games, it's even more difficult to find a platform (usually an emulator, these days) on which to enjoy it. Though we are getting that resolved through some things like XBox Live Arcade, Nintendo's emulation, and services like Gametap.
Ha! I'm with you on the old movies. Old movies, independent movies, foreign movies... these are primarily what occupy my netflix queue these days in hopes of filling my film-viewing hours with quality entertainment. Go Netflix! Give me great dialog, high-quality acting, and intricate character development of a Bergman film over 5.1/6.1/7.1 audio, special effects, and the latest pretty face any day. :)
My experience getting there was much the same as yours. Back in prehistoric times (okay, I'm not really *that* old), I saw just about every movie that hit the cineplex. It is mind-numbing to me now to consider how many movies I saw -- there wasn't a lot else going on that I was interested in at the time, but I definitely loved movies. If I wasn't at the theater, I had rented something and was watching that instead. There was quite a lot of popcorn involved, both in the bowl, and onscreen. Ultimately, I grew tired of all that stuff and now very rarely see what mainstream Hollywood puts out -- except when dragged there by my sons, who of course, are still pretty early in their filmgoing careers. I may be one of the few people in the world who will go to see Underdog in the next few weeks, and then come home to watch a Fellini or Almodovar movie or something to scrub my brain.
I think the evolution of peoples' tastes in anything is probably similar, though I think once you've gone beyond a certain level of stuff in one creative field, that probably changes what you'll accept from another (e.g. you watch a ton of movies until you become more selective; after that, you take up reading, but you find yourself drawn to more "literary" fiction).
GBGames (can I call you G?), I'm pretty sure that would have been the same article -- 1UP and EGM are owned by the same media conglomerate, if I recall correctly. I'm pretty sure the magazine points to the site for trailers and blogs and such. That bit about the Super Smash Bros sound rings a bell.
My experience getting there was much the same as yours. Back in prehistoric times (okay, I'm not really *that* old), I saw just about every movie that hit the cineplex. It is mind-numbing to me now to consider how many movies I saw -- there wasn't a lot else going on that I was interested in at the time, but I definitely loved movies. If I wasn't at the theater, I had rented something and was watching that instead. There was quite a lot of popcorn involved, both in the bowl, and onscreen. Ultimately, I grew tired of all that stuff and now very rarely see what mainstream Hollywood puts out -- except when dragged there by my sons, who of course, are still pretty early in their filmgoing careers. I may be one of the few people in the world who will go to see Underdog in the next few weeks, and then come home to watch a Fellini or Almodovar movie or something to scrub my brain.
I think the evolution of peoples' tastes in anything is probably similar, though I think once you've gone beyond a certain level of stuff in one creative field, that probably changes what you'll accept from another (e.g. you watch a ton of movies until you become more selective; after that, you take up reading, but you find yourself drawn to more "literary" fiction).
GBGames (can I call you G?), I'm pretty sure that would have been the same article -- 1UP and EGM are owned by the same media conglomerate, if I recall correctly. I'm pretty sure the magazine points to the site for trailers and blogs and such. That bit about the Super Smash Bros sound rings a bell.
Definitely agree with you, was just reading an article with similar themes, here's a quote:
"Computer Science is a field that shows some danger signs of not evolving. Each and every Bright Idea is a revolution, and the primary purpose of a revolution is to throw away everything everybody had done up to some point in time. Revolutions sometimes do work, but their cost in human terms is /enormous/. Time and again we see that that which moves slowly from here to there win and that which tries to make it across the incompatibility abyss in one leap usually fall into it, instead.
The Novice has been the focus of an alarming amount of attention in the computer field. It is not just that the preferred user is unskilled, it is that the whole field in its application rewards novices and punishes experts. What you learn today will be useless a few years hence, so why bother to study and know /anything/ well? I think this is the main reason for the IT winter we are now experiencing."
"Computer Science is a field that shows some danger signs of not evolving. Each and every Bright Idea is a revolution, and the primary purpose of a revolution is to throw away everything everybody had done up to some point in time. Revolutions sometimes do work, but their cost in human terms is /enormous/. Time and again we see that that which moves slowly from here to there win and that which tries to make it across the incompatibility abyss in one leap usually fall into it, instead.
The Novice has been the focus of an alarming amount of attention in the computer field. It is not just that the preferred user is unskilled, it is that the whole field in its application rewards novices and punishes experts. What you learn today will be useless a few years hence, so why bother to study and know /anything/ well? I think this is the main reason for the IT winter we are now experiencing."
# posted by 
: July 31, 2007 10:34 AM
: July 31, 2007 10:34 AM
Brett - I think you are entirely correct. Hollywood caters to the younger audience not only because they have plenty of disposable income to spend on entertainment, but I think also because they can market the same thing to them over and over again. By the time they get sick of it... boom... they are no longer in the target demographic.
The younger generation provides a never-ending supply of naive consumers who will keep buying cotton candy, I guess.
The younger generation provides a never-ending supply of naive consumers who will keep buying cotton candy, I guess.
Anonymous - You know, I didn't think of this in terms of larger software development issues, but that does sound right. A lot of it is human nature, I guess. We tend to imagine our predecessors were just enormously ignorant.
I remember a joke about how, as I grew from age 16 to age 24, how much SMARTER my parents got in that time...
Post a Comment
I remember a joke about how, as I grew from age 16 to age 24, how much SMARTER my parents got in that time...
Links to this post:
<< Home
