• bloup@lemmy.sdf.org
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    3 months ago

    It turns out that, just like fancy graphics, not constantly trying to empty your customers pockets actually represents some kind of economic value. The ironic thing is so many of these old games were literally designed to steal your quarters.

    • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Well, only the arcade versions of games were designed to steal your quarters. The home console versions were much better about not harassing your wallet.

      For instance, Gauntlet Legends on its arcade cabinet hardware drained your health at a consistent time based rate. Add more quarters to gain more health. All home console versions abolished this health drain mechanic.

      • any1there@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        That’s mostly true, except for games made specifically harder so that you’d have to rent them multiple times (eg: ActRaiser 2 NTSC-U/C / SNES is much harder than its NTSC-J / SFC counterpart).

        • teft@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          games made specifically harder so that you’d have to rent them multiple times

          Fucking BattleToads

  • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    They made gaming a chore.

    Games used to be a simple concept, and fun to play. I still play Tetris more than anything else by a huge margin. Imma go play a round right now.

    • kratoz29@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      They made gaming a chore.

      I couldn’t agree more, every damn game looks exactly the same to each other, a huge ass RPG like with tons of sidequests which can be or not good and with cosmetic upgrades or paid DLCs.

      The last four games that I have played follow this formula:

      The Witcher 3

      Batman Arkham Knight

      Breath of The Wild

      Nier Automata

      Currently I have only finished The Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight, and got “tired” with the last two, currently playing SIFU and god it feels very fresh… Although I’m stuck at the “git gud” phase.

      • Laticauda@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        “every game looks exactly the same” proceeds to list 4 games that could not be more different from each other lmfao. You have to be trolling.

  • Computerchairgeneral@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Because the games are good? Does their need to be a deeper reason then that? I mean, I guess a boom in retro games among Gen Z and younger says something about the state of the modern industry, but younger generations have always liked older things despite entertainment industries trying to push them towards the shiny and new. Still definitely nice to see though.

    • stallmer@sopuli.xyz
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, agreed. They play retro games for the same reason people watch classic movies, read literature, or listen to older music: because it’s enjoyable regardless of how old it is.

  • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Genz here, there’s this sweet spot from about 1985 to 2010 where games and even movies just peaked for me. (Yes I’m aware most of that is before I was born). For movies special effects were finally good enough to still hold up today if used well but not so insanely cheap as to get the modern michael bay problem where writing has actually become secondary to often pointless spectacle. With games its a similar story, the end of that time range is pretty much the point of highest technical capability before online updates allowed a ‘fix it later’ philosiphy to creep in as well as all the cool secrets (Red levels + star world + extra second secret star world is still unmatched in sheer childhood wonder) becomming paid DLC.

    TLDR: Retro stuff doesn’t nickle and dime you and survivorship bias means we can pick from the best of it.