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Games for older people


Diego

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I've been thinking these days.. there used to be a lot of great games! I loved Streets of Rage, Sonic, Duke Nukem, etc. And suddenly no cool games are made anymore. This, of course, is ridiculous. What happened is that I've become VERY demanding! any of this new games would be super awesome if I was 15 :rolleyes:

 

Thief brought me back to the world of games, but it was it! Since then (more than a few years) I've played only a couple of games that were worth it, beyond that I could only entertain myself with casual games (Flash.) Where are the grown up games?! I know for a fact that there are hoards of 30 years old gamers out there.

 

I don't wanna scare you guys (working on the dark mod) but I expect The Dark Mod to be my salvation! :laugh:

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I also play very few games any more. I really loved Gothic 1 and 2 though, and am itching to try Risen (released last week). I greatly enjoyed Mass Effect (being a sci-fi nerd how could I not!), but I understand it's not for everyone.

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Same here. Spending more time outdoors with the spouse on my time off and less on games. Finding myself being pickier and more critical, and commenting on how much these days on how "this new game X is just a retread of that old game Y with a new skin and a new *ahem* plot". Only games I've acquired this year are Mirror's Edge and the Galactic Civilizations 2 add-ons. Playing old games I already have and waiting for the inevitable price drop just seems more prudent.

Loose BOWELS are the first sign of THE CHOLERA MORBUS!
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Try checking out some indie games. They tend to be more diverse than the mass-market titles you see on shelves. There are way too many to list here, but check out http://www.igf.com/ for some of the cream of the crop. Or I can recommend specific ones if you tell me what kind of games you like. :)

 

For casual games, you're not limited to Flash - check out basically anything developed by Popcap. Or, look at portals/aggregators like Reflexive, Big Fish, etc. (they're called "portals" since they don't develop many games of their own - they're sort of like publishers, except their developer agreements are usually non-exclusive, so you'll often find the same game on multiple portals).

 

Finally, there are enough mass-market games coming out all the time that you can probably find something you like if you look hard enough. :) Waiting for the prices to drop is definitely a viable strategy. Mirror's Edge and Bioshock are two "old" but still recent (and very good) games which I've picked up for cheap recently.

My games | Public Service Announcement: TDM is not set in the Thief universe. The city in which it takes place is not the City from Thief. The player character is not called Garrett. Any person who contradicts these facts will be subjected to disapproving stares.
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I agree that old games were more interesting, but, as Crispy said, some Indy games today are not so bad. I found Penumbra series made by 2 young sweden guys, very interesting, or the indy Portal (acquired by Valve) a very original game, or, to say some addictive casual game, i like a lot Numpty Physics (or the commercial version named Crayon Phisics deluxe).

 

However, if we are desperate, there is always the Interactive Fiction (IF) ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_fiction :laugh:

 

As you say, mature gamer, like you and me and i presume all the taffers, normally wants a more complex e deeper level of play. But today blockbuster game, like in other media (music, cinema, literature, etc etc), are alwyas more and more immersive, but less complex and deep. That's the mass market, my friend.:(

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To be picky (because I love being picky), Crayon Physics is the original, Crayon Physics Deluxe is the commercial sequel to the original (made by the same guy), and Numpty Physics is a somewhat-different free clone of Crayon Physics. :)

 

Edit: If you like 2D platformers, check out Aquaria and Braid. Both are very good indie games. Aquaria is probably my favourite, and of the two is most similar to ye olde 2D platformer (despite being set underwater and thus having no 'jump' mechanic, or platforms as such). Braid is more of a puzzle game.

 

BTW, you can play Streets of Rage on Wii and iPhone now. :)

My games | Public Service Announcement: TDM is not set in the Thief universe. The city in which it takes place is not the City from Thief. The player character is not called Garrett. Any person who contradicts these facts will be subjected to disapproving stares.
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That independent games site is really interesting! I totally forgot how the independent scene tends to be more creative :)

 

Btw, I didn't mean to say old games are better.. I meant to say that my standards are higher! If I met streets of Rage today, I would probably think it's crap! :laugh:

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If we're recommending 2D games (or at least platformers) I'm gonna throw my 2 cents in and vote for Trine! I quite enjoyed this game even though the puzzles were fairly easy. It kind of reminds me alot of the Lost Vikings which I played when i was a kid :)

 

On the subject of older games being more intereseting I'm kind of half and half; i do think alot of the older games are better than their conemporaries but i think if i were to play them now they'd be crap. That said there are alot of older gems that truly were both fun to play and had engaging storylines and other elements; or truly revolutionary gameplay. I'm sort of compiling a list in my head of my gripes with modern games; so far the most annoying trends i've seen are:

 


  • Protagonists who are Space marines or any other kind of 'marine' and who wear large, encumbering suits of body/robot armour, (unless they're space marines from warhammer 40k who are pretty cool :P )(Edit: marines from the Aliens IP are also ok)
    Protagonists who have amnesia
    Protagonists who cant/won't ever talk
    Short (also easy to beat) games

 

I mean making the guy from Doom a space marine, who doesnt talk or have any backstory was probably ok to do in the 90's when it was relatively fresh; but it seems to me that games trying to do this today are becoming very very stale (im lookin at you Gears of War and Halo). Thats why i like Mass Effect; you were actually able to give your character a backstory that played into the game quite well, he/she talked and had his/her own personality; it didnt even matter that he/she was in space and technically a marine!

In some ways what I think the game industry needs is its own form of the Academy Awards; or at least some entity that will push the medium further towards making more artful games.

Edited by SplaTtzZ
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There are industry awards, and there is innovation if you know where to look. My favourite example of a modern innovative mass-market game: Mirror's Edge. This from a company owned by EA, and best known for Battlefield 1942 et al. :)

 

No argument from me about space marines. Consequence of the limited diversity in some development studios, I reckon. We're already starting to move away from that, I think, and will continue to do so as the industry matures (quite literally).

 

Protagonists who don't talk - I grinned a bit at that one. Gordon Freeman anyone? Apparently this was a deliberate strategy on Valve's part; make the main character a blank slate so the player can project themselves onto him and become more involved in the game. This is one of those things that can be argued both ways.

 

Amnesia - Yep. Lazy storytelling device, but what do you expect in a world of bad plots. :) There's a substantial bunch of hardcore gamers who don't care about plot and will hate developers for making them navigate it, so plots are stripped down to accomodate them. "You have amnesia and must regain your memory" is one of a handful of stock-standard plots which are braindead simple to understand and therefore get used a lot. On the subject of stupid plots, this is worth a read: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17531 (Link contains BioShock spoiler)

 

Niche games can avoid the plot problem, but if you're making a modern big-budget game then it has to be mass-market, or you'll go broke. Hence the attraction of indie games; there are tons of niches that aren't well-served by mass-market games and which indies are much better suited to fill, if you don't mind making some budgetary compromises.

 

As for short games, this is increasingly a trend in an industry where consumers demand more content, more high-end content, and lower prices despite the already thin margins of the game industry. It was all well and good to have long games back in the day, but the fact is that a lot of people got bored of them before finishing them. Better to have less content, spend more time crafting it, and ultimately provide better value to the majority of customers. I realise it can get annoying to pay full price for a short game, but unfortunately the economics of game development only barely add up in the first place. That's another reason why you often see generic games; innovation is risky, and you just can't afford to be risky when you're only just breaking even. Look at all the innovative studios (LGS!) that have gone bust over the years.

My games | Public Service Announcement: TDM is not set in the Thief universe. The city in which it takes place is not the City from Thief. The player character is not called Garrett. Any person who contradicts these facts will be subjected to disapproving stares.
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there is innovation if you know where to look

Can you give more examples? :D (I'm not doubting, btw)

 

I really like Portal too! But I don't think this one counts because it came from the indie scene, wih Narbacular Drop. And even though I really enjoyed, it was way too easy.. they probably thought "our target audience is not that smart" :laugh: And don't get me started on Half Life and it's "puzzles" :rolleyes: The one time I played HL (don't know wich episode it was) I came across this problem: I had to connect the power to a device, but the cable was too short. There was this extension cord close by, so I connected using it. WOW I could be a rocket scientist!

 

I just found out a game called Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising that has a very interesting change of pace from the usual fps. Apparently, if you play like John Rambo you will die. A lot.

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To my knowledge most of the industry awards are all web based, ie. gaming review websites giving out goty awards or something whereas what I'm thinking of with an Academy Awards of Gaming :P is something on the lines of the hollywood version with all the glitz and glamour. Though already i can see holes in this idea; mainly because the protagonists of games aren't real people who can show up but pixels on a screen. And that therefore means any such industry wide awards would have to be given to the developers and I dont think I'd spend valuable time watching the likes of Cliffy B or Derek Smart take the stage. I guess what I'd like to see is an independent body reviewing games based on their artistic merits; I mean I rarely watch the academy awards but I do hear about which movies win and any time I see a movie that has won awards i'll generally rent it out, if for no other reason than i trust the academy's review board that the film is well made both from an artistic and technical standpoint. I think that such a body in the gaming industry (lord knows how its membership would be formed or how it would remain independent) could give much needed mass marketing appeal for lesser known titles that don't include mute, amnesiac space marines. I don't think current review websites and the like really cut it.

Of course this also opens up a whole can of worms as to what exactly constitutes an 'artful' game; cos various games like serious sam which had no plot really at all were nevertheless great fun!

 

As to protagonists speaking, i've always found it completely immersion breaking when they dont say anything, for a number of reasons. Firstly is that most if not all the dialogue therefore has to be stilted in such a way to not allow the player interaction. Most of the dialogue then seems to revolve around NPCs asking rhetorical questions or questions which they answer for you; and giving orders. Secondly, whilst I would agree with that article and Ken Levine that cut scenes are'nt always a good way to advance plot, if done properly I think they can be quite entertaining. Failing that allowing the player some interaction, like for example Mass Effect, even if this seems less natural, is better than having a mute character.

In my own experience with Half Life 2, I generally spent the dialogue scenes like the professor's lab just acting like a complete asshole, jumping on tables, kicking shit over and playing with the little gizmos. This was simply because i had no input for any of the dialogue and therefore was not invested in the scene.

 

I've always preffered or invested more in Rpg's than other genres for this exact reason, but then i guess that's the whole point of roleplaying :) Most of the older games i've enjoyed the most tend to be the most dialogue heavy or have creative and interesting plots. Thief is definitely a prime example, not only for its very innovative gameplay mechanics like stealth; but also because of its interesting plot and narrative. Garret was truly a character i liked playing as; because he was a complex character and an anti-hero. I think thats what alot of older games had going for them, since the technology was not as good at suspending disbelief or being immersive as it is today developers relied much more on plot and good storytelling. Though of course i might just be nostalgic about my youth :D

 

I just found out a game called Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

 

Be wary of this one. It is more realistic than you average fps but not as realistic as the original Op Flashpoint games or Arma (alot of users on the forums are complaining it isn't realistic or hard enough). It does however have alot less bugs than its main rival Arma II and is much more polished. Multiplayer however is a little screwed atm with no dedicated servers (its a console port) but i think theres a patch coming soon. Also there will be fan made missions (pc version has an editor) and maybe mods too i guess but don't quote me on that last one :P

Edited by SplaTtzZ
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*pulls out rage doll and writes "mute protagonist" on it*

 

GOD DAMN YOU YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! YOU HAVE BEEN RUINING OTHERWISE GREAT GAMES FOR MY ENTIRE LIFE!

 

*beats rage doll's head on table*

 

yeah that one dates back to old Jrpg's like dragon quest and stuff, the second worst "innovation" after that one is the chatterbox side kick who talks for you.

 

I'm playing through half life 2 for the first time as we speak and its pissing me off, sweet Jesus this gimmick was old when it was invented ... if your gonna use a tired old gag like this AND COMMENT WITHIN THE GAME ON HOW THE PROTAGONIST DOESN'T TALK at least have some crack head wack the main character in the thought with a led pipe or something to explain it.

 

*edit* this one looks good.

http://www.zenoclash.com

 

*edit* #2

 

randomly found this game.

 

not quite sure if its what you meant by for "older people" but ... http://darkroomsexgame.com/about.php

 

yes it is a real game.

Edited by Sogi-Ya
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*edit* this one looks good.

http://www.zenoclash.com

 

 

 

REALLY interesting game, thanks for sharing!

 

It semble some sort of Oblivion, but with a super cool world universe and very good melee combat. I cannot understand if the RPG side it's good too, but it sound really interesting.

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I recently installed Might and Magic 6 and played it for a few hours and thought to myself "Damn, they just don't make games like this anymore."

|=-=------=-=|

happycheeze.deviantart.com

 

Moddb

 

Gamers Outreach, a nonprofit that uses videogames to raise money for chairty.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Lots of interesting links... I for one usually resort to GOG.com for lack of anything better... I'll have to check some of those (absolutely loved Penumbra and Portal BTW).

"Lie to a liar, for lies are his coin; Steal from a thief, for that is easy; lay a trap for a trickster and catch him at first attempt, but beware of an honest man"

- Arab proverb

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I got Assasins Creed. The game seems fairly cool but the menus just kill me, and the controls are all botched so I haven't gotten far. The stealth is not as good as Thief either.

 

Trined was pretty good, I still need to finish the last level. Not hard but it was fun. Intersting physics puzzles, beautiful artwork.

 

I broke down and bought Bioshock awhile back too. It was a pretty fun game, I'd recomend it. Alot of games I never finish, this one kept me 'til the end.

Dark is the sway that mows like a harvest

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I've been thinking these days.. there used to be a lot of great games! I loved Streets of Rage, Sonic, Duke Nukem, etc. And suddenly no cool games are made anymore. This, of course, is ridiculous. What happened is that I've become VERY demanding! any of this new games would be super awesome if I was 15 :rolleyes:

 

Thief brought me back to the world of games, but it was it! Since then (more than a few years) I've played only a couple of games that were worth it, beyond that I could only entertain myself with casual games (Flash.) Where are the grown up games?! I know for a fact that there are hoards of 30 years old gamers out there.

 

I don't wanna scare you guys (working on the dark mod) but I expect The Dark Mod to be my salvation! :laugh:

 

I feel the same way, yet i played a few thousand too many hours of "guns", "war" and Gi-Joe" as a kid, so i like [some] FPS's and theres lots to choose from of course. Yet I can't believe the over-all quality of the games im passing on, where I would used to have been salivating just looking at previews. I also think im getting set in my ways as i get older and want things to be like they had been. I guess thats life. However, one benefit of not clawing at the screen just for screenshots to games im waiting for and being able to wait as much as a year or three before i play a game im interested in is having tons of mods available. I passed on Stalker, SOC: but eventually, they came out with with a ton of mods, like oblivion lost, which solved so many of the problems or quirks that kept me away from it AND added many cool immersive things like pitch-black nights, the ability to sneak, incredible gun sounds, whether and immersive gameplay. Call of Duty 4 had a realism mod out, made by a military shooting coach, etc, etc, anyway, you know the drill.

 

@Half-life 2 comments:

 

I think HOW you play the game has a great effect, and relates to how you approach it mentally. I bet there could be a class for this people would benefit from. If you can't "turn off" your brain and your thinking about that kind of stuff during scripted sequences, thats terrible! I don't know how but shut it off if you can, accept it as reality. Coincidently, yesterday i ran across a comment on youtube, which was response to someones comment that Terminator: Salvation was a plot hole'd mess, and this guy responded with "I dont believe in plot holes, behind every goof is a logical explanation". There is some truth behind that [as long as your willing to fill in missing parts of a script] and I find to be another great excuse to let yourself enjoy a movie, or a game.

 

Speaking of Half-life 2. Now theres a game with a ton of available mods. When I first played it, I slowed down my walk speed [ or modified a key, I can't remember] for the purpose creating immersion. I find it helps my experience in games if i slowly walk through graphically rich areas, or areas where enemies are around, as i would i real life, or slow pan around. Having taken 3 college psychology courses, i'd guess that may not [be able to] benefit everyone. Theres tons of texture and other graphical mods as well as gameplay mods. I prefer realism/believability and havn't played any of the HL2 additions, so after the last one comes out, i have planned to search for mods which make that "game" more like an "experience". But thats my preferences, and i know everyone is different.

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I appreciate Half Life for what it does best: story telling. The game is linear, the puzzles are boring and I don't like action games, but the story telling is amazing! It's like watching a movie, Valve has really nailed this this down.

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I just found out a game called Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising that has a very interesting change of pace from the usual fps. Apparently, if you play like John Rambo you will die. A lot.

 

Those types of games are my favorite. I played the original on and off for years. If you havn't played Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay,(prob $5 on Ebay or Direct Drive) it has a good atmosphere, good story and cautious, stealthy gameplay. Theres a new version thats been put out to get console gamers up to speed on the storyline. If your really hard up, I used to find playing puzzle games, like Riven/Myst with just a notepad and my brain very satisfying. I've heard good things about Advent Rising, but havn't played it yet. Raven Shield is another "one shot - one kill" game you *might* like, but i kind of doubt it.

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Damnit, I typed up a big description of two games but then hit back and lost all of it...

 

To summarize:

Killing floor

Red Orchestra

Two games I'm enjoying.

 

I find the funnest games are the ones with a big difficulty curve. I like being challenged but not in a way such as retardedly impossible to solve puzzles or super soldiers.

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Damnit, I typed up a big description of two games but then hit back and lost all of it...

Dude. Use Firefox (3.5). :P

 

I just hit back and forward repeatedly about half a dozen times while typing this reply and didn't lose anything. That alone is worth switching browsers for!

My games | Public Service Announcement: TDM is not set in the Thief universe. The city in which it takes place is not the City from Thief. The player character is not called Garrett. Any person who contradicts these facts will be subjected to disapproving stares.
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Yeah, Opera is also pretty good. I used it for a while. The lack of add-ons was all that brought me back to Firefox in the end. Everything I really liked about Opera has been ported to Firefox now anyway (though no doubt Opera has yet more features by now - I haven't checked it out for a while).

My games | Public Service Announcement: TDM is not set in the Thief universe. The city in which it takes place is not the City from Thief. The player character is not called Garrett. Any person who contradicts these facts will be subjected to disapproving stares.
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