Re: When Is A Game Old?

On 4/7/2024 9:40 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 Where would you put this division between 'new' and old? Do you find
PS3/XBox360/2010 PC games still eminently playable? Do you draw the
line at anything older than 10th generation? Do you turn your nose up
at anything not released this year? Where does 'old' begin for you?
 

I think it is an indication that electronic games and the hardware to run them have reached a certain maturity.  The hardware has reached the point where it can run any game that humans can create that can be reasonably played by humans and do so with effectively any level of graphics you want.  As in I'm sure someone could write a "game" that was so complex and resource demanding that current hardware could not run it but it would also be so complex that a human couldn't actually "play" it.
Part of that is with the hardware and associated readily available semi-standardized software to build a game with have greatly expanded the pool of game makers.  You can have individuals make pet project games that sell (Stardew Valley is an example, I'm sure there are plenty of others).  The emergence of on-line game suppliers like Steam and GOG are also major factors in that as games don't have to be acquired thru limited supply chains that restrict how many games are available.
The "good" games of the past used to have to push the limits of the hardware while also having good gameplay to be "good".  Now, it just has to have good gameplay and trying to push the hardware limits is actually a detriment.  Note how many games are "bug ridden" upon release, in part because they try to do too much.
In short, do I really care if the graphics are hyper-photo-realistic beyond reality to a degree that only 1% of the population can see the difference or do I really care about the _game_ being enjoyable?
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I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky dirty old man.