Re: GAMES: Historical truths [was Re: The games are all crap...]

From: Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@turbont.net)
Date: Mon Jul 24 2000 - 20:35:17 MDT


"Emlyn (onetel)" wrote:
>
> > Doug Jones wrote:
> > >
> > > "Robert J. Bradbury" wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Regarding making "good" games. It is an interersting question as
> > > > to what seduces people into games -- currently the paradigm would
> > > > seem to suggest good graphics is a necessity -- in contrast the
> > > > 1970's games had *no* graphics -- you had to map the game entirely
> > > > in your head. I wonder if there are two types of people -- those
> > > > who can create mental images reflecting a reality and those who
> > > > require the images to be painted for them who would be enrolled
> > > > into very different game presentations.
> > >
> > > Yeah- readers vs mouth breathers.
> >
> > Quite. And no Doug, you are not being cynical.
> >
> > As a kid, I loved military aircraft, ships, and battles. Problem was, mom
> > refused to buy me any of those COOL GI Joe toys or other military models,
> so being the only kid on the block who was reading whole books at age 4, I
> would take bits of wood (we were not poor) and plastic, and make symbolic
> weapons, vehicles, ships and soldiers, and stage my little battles in the dirtpile
> behind the shed. Is it any wonder they other kids laughed at my little piles of
> sticks when they asked what I was doing and I said I was running a war???
> >
>
> There is an idea floating around (very strong in the general community too I
> think) that games need flashy graphics to be successful these days. Check
> out Utopia, or any of the other net-based, html based games. No graphics.
> Tens of thousands of players. Some of them are no brain surgeons. There is
> indeed a market for something other than eye-candy.

I have to agree. It seems to be, to me at least, a result of each
generation being brought up more by TV than by their parents. When I
first started playing Wolfenstein, I think in 1991 or so, I had not
played any video game more complex than atari games (4-6 years
previously), and the game literally game me headaches, I think because
the 3d graphics conflicted with my minds own generation of playspace. It
took quite a while before I could adjust so that I only had a slight
'car sick head' level of pain after several hours play.



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