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WHY WE'RE ALL VIDEO GAME PIONEERS - by Mr Biffo

19/4/2017

20 Comments

 
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You can't go back. No, really: you cannot do that. You are stuck here. You can only go on. The past is hidden behind an invisible wall, and all you can do is look back at it. 

No. Please. I'm not threatening you. Well, not yet. It's just something I realised upon looking at some videos of old Sierra point-and-click adventures.

I loved those games, see. Getting a new Sierra game was a genuinely exciting thing for me. The packaging, the ritual of installing it and loading it up, the loading screen, the music... It was magical. It sort of didn't matter that I was rubbish at them, because puzzles; I just liked being part of those worlds. It was hair-raising, palpable... it felt like a privilege.

And I'll never again have that thrill. I've tried over the years to replicate it. I play the old games. I try to tell myself I'm as excited about new games as I always was... but the truth is that they don't have that buzz anymore for me. I wonder if they do for those who are just now coming to games for the first time.

I'm guessing that the demographic of Digitiser2000 isn't teens and whippersnappers. And if you're reading this and you are under 25... well... get away from my bins, you little shit. But for most of us here I'm going to assume that games are not a new thing; we are, generalising wildly, the generation that experienced the dawn of video games. We were pioneers, in a way. Our impact might've been tangential, but together we helped to build the modern games industry.

I don't know whether that means we had a vastly different experience of games to those who came after us, or whether contemporary kids have the same reaction to games that we might've done. I don't know if having had the opportunity to experience that has coloured - or, rather, stripped the colour - from everything which followed.

But I'm going to speculate that, yes, a combination of our formative ages and the newness of video games means that we got to have an experience with them that no other generation ever will.

And that is both sad and excellent. 
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PALPABLE
I mean, I've always loved my movies and TV shows... but I don't remember ever having that same tangible excitement about them that I did for games - well, except maybe for Star Wars. There was something uniquely special about anticipating that very first moment of a new game. 

Growing up, I think I knew in some way that every new game offered something which had never been seen before. That the people making the games were exploring the medium as much as the rest of us. We were together on a shared voyage of discovery. Everybody was finding their way. 

When I was eight years old I was arrested for breaking into an old vicarage over the road from my home. Yes: when I was eight. Aside from the utter terror and shame of being grabbed by a bunch of cops and bundled into a police car, the thrill of exploring that forbidden place (matron) is something I can only liken to the same feeling I got playing a game back then.

It was a place that - at least since the family who lived there had left - I knew we were the first to set foot in. The empty rooms, with a handful of relics left by its former inhabitants (I remember finding a shove ha'penny board in the kitchen, of all things), was pure video game adventuring made real.

It's a feeling I rarely get these days, given that my criminal days are long behind me. When I was lucky enough to go on an expedition with the Centre for Fortean Zoology some years back, I had it again.

We went full Indiana Jones at points - exploring caves and sites that, we were told, no Westerner had ever seen before. Aside from the constant hunger and exhaustion and having to poo outside and being bitten by loads of tiny little fish, it was living in a Sierra adventure game, with the invisible walls delineated only by my own stamina.
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THAT'S MAGIC!
Of course, I get that I'm older now. I know that as you get older less stuff is new. The world isn't as magical; the curtain has been ripped down to reveal the ordinary pleb behind the wizard. 

I'm curious to know if that's why there's such a desire for open world games. When I played those old Sierra adventures, there would be distant peaks or alleyways which I would never get to explore. Places only hinted at.

Now, thanks to where we're at with technology, you can see distant place from a mountaintop and walk or glide to it. Nowhere is closed off. Are modern developers somehow, on some level, chasing that same feeling I used to get - trying to recreate the buzz we all used to get?

Ironically, for me anyway, by making the entirety of a game world accessible it somehow dilutes the mystery which drove that feeling games used to give me. Perhaps it was because I knew those places were off-limits to everyone; player and creator alike. It gave the games a certain sense of a life beyond,  like we were all just visitors, and the game was letting us all play in a tiny corner of its world.

Of course, I know intellectually that wasn't the case - that the walls and limits were a result of the technology - but that was how it felt to me. I didn't need a massive open world when I was younger; I just needed it to be hinted at, for my imagination to do the rest of the work.

Somehow it made games more personal, because that world was the product of my own mind. Now I rarely get that luxury, and it has contributed - along with games not being new, and all the games being the same, and me being old - to the loss of something that was for a long time one of the key motivators to why I played games...

​Knowing I was one of the pioneers. Knowing that this was all as new to me as it was to everyone else. We were blessed in that respect, the fortunate ones. No gamer will ever get to have that again... but at least they don't know what they missed out on.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
NINTENDO SWITCH ANDTHE POST-ZELDA HANGOVER - BY MR BIFFO
​
ROLL AGAIN! HERE ARE 10 WEIRD OLD BOARD GAMES
​
MR BIFFO'S FOUND FOOTAGE - UPDATE & GALLERY!​

20 Comments
Col. Asdasd
19/4/2017 10:05:00 am

Good article Biff. I would argue that mainstream games haven't really pushed the medium forward for about ten years now. There are occasional exceptions that break new ground, sure, but the rate of acceleration has declined wildly from the 80s, 90s and early 00s.

But that's not to say games as a whole aren't going anywhere new. If you look to the margins, to the indies and the art games and the strange new flesh of VR, then I would say the pioneering spirit remains well and truly alive. But in pure AAA terms, we're just seeing everything being poured into increasing audio visual fidelity for ever-diminishing returns.

As for the past: don't be sad that it's over. Be happy that it happened!

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RichardM
19/4/2017 10:26:55 am

Yeah. I miss that feeling. The island opposite the Dam in GoldenEye, the Ice Key Cave in Banjo-Kazooie... It actually spoilt it a bit when you could access them with an Action Replay / cheat codes. The idea that it might be possible, that it was secret: brilliant stuff.

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a+
19/4/2017 10:55:26 am

Article resonates strongly with this reader

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combat_honey
19/4/2017 01:18:30 pm

Something that makes me feel a *tiny* bit less angry about the appalling inequality in this country is that I get the sense that fabulously wealthy people ultimately don't end up being much happier than the rest of us. And I kind of feel like it's a similar thing with open world games. Having grown up on games with much smaller 'worlds', frustrated that games were so limited, I remember being stunned by the size and openness of Morrowind. For years after I couldn't get enough of massive open world games - they were everything I'd ever wanted games to be. But now the magic has worn off and in hindsight I realise the value of those inaccessible rooms and unreachable islands, etc. As with being fabulously wealthy, the idea of 'open world' games is more appealing than the actual reality, at least in the long term. Our brains just seems to be wired against complacent contentment.

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RichardM
19/4/2017 01:34:29 pm

Yes. Sad that the cat is out of the bag, and can't be re-bagged. No AAA developer is probably ever going to make restrained small games any longer, because people will whinge if the world is tiny. It's a shame that VR hasn't taken off: I think it represents a sufficient paradigm shift that people would accept smaller, more refined games. Maybe with that edge of mystery and adventure back?

Thinking of movies, I'm reminded of a bit in the otherwise crappy Terminator Salvation when the young Kyle Reese looks up at some frosted glass windows in SkyNet Central, and sees shadowy figures watching from behind. Who are they? Mysssstery... It's a fantastic feeling to have your imagination tickled, rather than spoon fed shit (like the rest of that film).

Oh, and an open world VR game would be shit, unless you had a fucking massive warehouse to run about in. And a generally good state of fitness.

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Tom E
19/4/2017 01:23:44 pm

The joys of discovery are nothing compared to the compilation of data.

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Monkey Head
19/4/2017 01:50:42 pm

Great article, I have on rare occasions felt that excitement in anticipation of seeing a film, notably the Star Wars films, Lord of the Rings (the trailers gripped me) and as an early teen, for some reason Predator after hearing an advert on the radio. Mostly though I can relate to that feeling with games, the anticipation through reading the magazines of the day and talking to my friends in school who had already played them, the very ideas of where those games via my imagination would take me, despite the reality of the graphics and often dodgy controls would have me eagerly anticipating the day I would first plug the games cassette into my Amstrad CPC 464. Generally these games were courtesy of my rich friend who taped all the latest ones onto blanks for me, happy days indeed.

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Matthew Smith link
19/4/2017 02:09:49 pm

I think it's true that those of us who grew up surrounded by the games of the '80s and (most particularly) the '90s were extraordinarily lucky in a way that no subsequent generation will be, largely because of the ways in which gaming technology developed during those decades. Practically every month there was something new and vastly exciting to wow us; games kept on doing things we'd never seen before, graphics and sound kept becoming ever more sophisticated, and each new console was a huge jump forward compared to its predecessors (except for the Commodore CD32, obv). Now, by and large, games just get barely-perceptibly shinier every half-decade or so, and that's pretty much it. Most modern improvements in gaming technology just aren't that striking; if you grew up with, say, a Playstation 2, chances are the arrival of the PS4 wasn't a particularly momentous occasion. Compare are contrast with how it felt for us when we first saw what the SNES could do compared with the NES, or when the original Playstation hoved into view during the 16-bit era.

Time was when older generations would say things like: "You kids today, you don't know how good you've got it. Mumble grumble ooh me piles, etc." We're the first generation who'll be saying things like: "Ah man, you kids today don't know what you missed out on."

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Retro Resolution link
19/4/2017 02:36:36 pm

Perfectly stated. If you were the Matthew Smith of legend, this would be excellent, too.

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Biscotti
19/4/2017 02:55:37 pm

I don't think there's much of a gap between Master System and Mega Drive though, or NES and SNES. I think the leap to 3D is the only really exciting development, other than that it's just various layers of shininess.

In terms of graphics, that is: as in the past, devs are still finding many, many ways to make games exciting these days. Maybe because I had a decade-hiatus from gaming that ended about 5 years ago, but I STILL get excited about a new game's release, just like when I was a kid (really!). After looking forward to it all week, last weekend I played NieR for 13 hours on the Saturday, and loved every second.

Am I a sad man? Perhaps, but I am at least a happy sad man (er...) whereas so many of my contemporaries that play games just complain that things aren't as good as they used to be or adopt a wearying 'rant' character to complain about antialaising or something. Just don't play games! You don't have to.

I suspect another reason I enjoy them so much is because I am unfettered by responsibility. I only like playing on saturdays, because then I can stay awake as long as I want if I want to keep playing. Playing on a weekday means I have to limit my playtime, which annoys me far more than it should. I wonder if this is what annoys so many adults seeking escape in virtual realms (if you will excuse so wanky a sentence), and why they don't find games so effective anymore: the constant tap-tap-tap of responsibility knocking upon their chamber door (consciousness).

In short, games are still really good

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The Ranting 1980s Gamer
19/4/2017 04:09:32 pm

Hey guys I'm The Ranting 1980s Gamer. You know what sucks?

ALL videogames ever, but ESPECIALLY ones from the 1980s that have already been covered by fifteen other ranters from the ranting community.

Rrrrrghh! Shit! Hnnnnnnngghhhhh!

I'm just so angry! About videogames!

Furious Videogames Jeffrey
19/4/2017 07:09:08 pm

Have you seen this notoriously terrible game from 15 years ago??? It doesn't control very well! Grrr!

[pretends to drink a beer]

YouTube Video Game Shrieker Manchild
20/4/2017 12:17:18 pm

Hey guys, YVGSMC here! Angry dudes are played out. The future of videogames content on Youtube is 30-something-year-old men screaming and flailing wildly like a toddler for the amusement of 10-year-olds. You still get to swear, but there's way less emphasis on production values or scripting. If you can sacrifice your dignity or pride in your work completely, the rewards are fantastic!

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! AAAAAAAAARGGHHH! OH FUCK! AAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!

10 year old Sam
20/4/2017 02:39:55 pm

*subscribes*

SonOfPurple link
19/4/2017 05:00:27 pm

Today's kids do have a sense of discovery insofar as they'll one day have their own "I remember the joy..." moment in years to come, it's just theirs'll be the day they discovered Angry Birds, Candy Crush, Oxnard Bumtwizzle or whatever the hot app of the moment...

I have myself experienced the thrill of discovery, exploration and adventure (not the TV channel). Sometimes in games - from creating custom players and levels to see my own ideas generated into life, through to a little light-touch gamebreaking such as using the Sonic 3 debug to sail old Blue to parts which only Tails/Knuckles could reach in open play (albeit then usually plummeting off some half-coded slab of plinth...) Also with things like TV, digging around to see what'd be fetched up if I tweaked the 'text' button-oh.

I've felt the real-world pull of experiment too, such as that day in the 90s that I decided to find out for myself what this "Croydon" business was all about, by hopping on a bus. Did get a bit lost, and was called the C-bomb within five minutes of arrival, but I found the town centre eventually, so we're all good..

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Meatballs-me-branch-me-do
19/4/2017 05:18:58 pm

I grew up in Sierra adventures and totally agree. There's little sense of wonder in most new game worlds and that's not down to experience as it is a lack of quality and unique world building from developers.

There's no good reason we can't have more unique and fanciful settings other than the devs don't want to. Gears of War's "not quite Earth" setting, Sera, is a good one when it comes to feeling like a distinct and interesting place with a history all its own. Likewise, Metal Gear Solid V being in 1980s occupied Afghanistan is inspired, and nothing can top the ArmA series for making locations that feel convincing and real.

Nowadays you almost expect there to be a desert level, a sloppy-slidey ice level and a forest level again... albeit as areas of the obligatory open world. Hell, there should be an underwater temple full of irritating lever puzzles.

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Ben
19/4/2017 08:26:08 pm

We were all priveleged to experience the shock and awe of the new, an exotic language we had to learn. Now, with rare exception, it does feel like games have reached the point of diminishing returns.

Everything seems mundanely, glacially iterative or rehashed; I can't remember the last time I played something that felt genuinely original and not just like a reskin of stuff I've played before or some kind of mash up of tired old, long established genres. Even Zelda BOTW, brilliant and refined as it is, is only really original in the way it reimagines what a Zelda game is (and even that has largely been attributed to a return to the original 'Legend of Zelda' blueprint) and the manner in which it reconfigures the 'cherrypicked' best features of the open world genre (smothered liberally with that sweet Nintendo magic, of course). I love it and it has a unique soul all it's own, but fundamentally, it's not 'new'.

Games these days (outside the more niche indie sphere at least) all fall into about 5 thematic, generic aesthetics, look the same, feature identikit gameplay and just lack personality, individuality and the creative confidence and liberal experimentation that made games feel so exciting and bold back in the good old days.

Either that or I'm looking at things through the cynical cataracts of a withered, joyless husk, am utterly dead inside and am now over the decomposition hump on my way to nourishing future generations of worms.

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ChorltonWheelie
19/4/2017 08:28:26 pm

Kids today, eh? Twats, all of 'em.

Being a 50 yr old gamer I love games now more than ever. I've not forgotten perusing cassettes at the local micro shop and choosing a new, very expensive, game based on the artwork. Did I buy some god awful shit that would be strangled at birth these days? Oh yes. Again and again. The bad old days.

Every single taste in gaming is now at your fingertips. It takes just a modicum of effort to see that outside of the console AAA charts there are bright, bustling gaming communities catering for every whim imaginable.

Imagination isn't bound. The possibilities are infinite. We can still be pioneers.

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Penyrolewen
19/4/2017 08:57:58 pm

Hmmm, good article and very in tune with what I feel. But it doesn't seem to just apply to games with me. I just don't get as excited about anything as I used to.
Yes, definitely part of it is the absence of the new, pioneering stuff that came with games and tech in general in the 80s and 90s. Stuff gets better now of course but it definitely isn't with the huge leaps it once did. I remember my second mobile phone holding 30 whole texts before you had to delete any! That was 20 more than my first phone did! Now, we get slightly less bezel and a few more megapixels or something.
Yes, modern tech is AMAZING, so much better than we could have imagined 30 years ago, but as is so often the case, it's been the journey that's been the best bit, not the destination.

However, I think some of the problem is age (47). I've seen a lot of stuff, played a lot, heard a lot, done a- you get the idea.

Less and less is as new and exciting as it was when I was 18. No worse, just as exciting to an 18 year old I'm sure, but not to me. I just don't get as excited when a band releases a new album, a new film comes out, a holiday is coming...it's rubbish but true. And so, while games aren't as groundbreaking (usually) just because they WERE so new and there were so many new ideas to explore, there's also the fact that part of the problem is that I've seen those ideas before. If I hadn't, maybe they'd be more interesting to me. I dunno.

Finally, games used to be much more a one man (usually, not being sexist) or small team effort. Much easier for unusual visions and ideas to come to fruition. Now games have more people involved than films do - and big, corporate committees aren't known for left-field, odd or downright mad ideas getting through.

Still, another interesting and thought provoking article - cheers Biffo.

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Starbuck
19/4/2017 10:20:13 pm

Agree with so many of the comments above that I don't know where to start. So I won't.

But.

Totally agree we shouldn't be bound to the open world idea. Nintendo saying that the next Zelda will be open world... much as I love the latest I don't need that. People criticised Skyward Sword for the limited areas, but I'm a(n old) videogames, so i LOVE the constraints. It's a toy!

Still, "properly brought up" kids seem to realise that the likes of Defender sit up there with Rez VR. Minish Cap with Breath of the Wild.

But that feel of pushing the technological envelope forward - it is missing nowadays (aside from BotW Wii U). Lords of Midnight on Spectrum - a precursor. Elite on everything 8 bit - Fibonacculous! And then there was shaded light-sourced 8bit polygons...

Maybe this is why I always buy underpowered consoles - for the coding artistry required to make them sing. Effort brings us closer to perfection.

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