Unexplained Game Popularity

Metal Gear and Thief, as well as Splinter Cell and Hitman and any other well-done stealth game are, first and foremost, well-masqueraded puzzle games. You are given conditions - the layout of the level, your abilities and equipment, the enemy locations and patrol patterns, and you must get from point A to point B undetected. This is why Assassins Creed was so poorly received by the stealth game crowd, as at its raw core it's just a platformer with slasher elements, but it was marketed as a stealth game, which is sort of... misaimed.

The big war between Splinter Cell and Metal Gear, as well as the Broken Base around Metal Gear Solid 4 was about Metal Gear allowing Pacifist Run to NOT be the only option. In fact, to be the Nintendo Hard, optional, rewarding with extra secret stuff option. Splinter Cell strongly suggested it as the default, the first two games destroyed you mercilessly if you tried to deviate in the slightest.

edited 7th Mar '11 11:57:26 PM by Noelemahc

Videogames do not make you a worse person... Than you already are.

Assassin's Creed was a decent game, but it was not what it was marketed as, which I found very annoying.

Personally I only played Pandora Tomorrow in the Splinter Cell franchise and I found the multiplayer to be a highly refreshing new way to fight.

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Regarding Assassins Creed: People liked the free roaming with parkour abilities. It just felt pretty cool, even if the gameplay needed to be refined a bit. (And hey, the sequel fixed that up pretty well!)

What I want to know is: Why is Majoras Mask seen as inferior to Ocarina Of Time?

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That online game, Pandemic. It seems to slow down as the game goes on, which seems counterintuitive to me. You should be getting more money as the game goes on, not less. It's a pity because the idea of it interested me, but the customization seems superficial, unfortunately .

edited 8th Mar '11 4:57:48 AM by MrAHR

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Final Fantasy VII's popularity probably comes from the fact it was the first 3D FF made, it had a compelling story (definitely not the best from the franchise, but still good) with interesting characters and awesome C Gs for the time.

And when I say "interesting characters" that includes Cloud before the whole emo fiasco.

Re: Metal Gear and Splinter Cell, there's also the issue of story style. Some people prefer over the top anime plots, some people prefer more serious technothriller.

Home of CBR Rumbles-in-Exile: rumbles.fr.yuku.com

Maybe this is on topic, maybe not, but I think it bears mentioning — and it's been kinda bugging my mind for a few weeks.

I've grown up with video games. From 1986 to now, I've always had a console or PC game that was accessable to me. I grew up playing them all, and looking back, I really had a knack for stumbling across some true gems of gaminmg that are either rare today or have a cult following or are remembered as being a genre-launcher or codifying said genre. (Not trying to self-aggrandize, just noting that I was super-lucky in this regard. I don't know that I had anything to do with having the ability to pick kickass games out)

Anyway, as I said, I've played long and I've played hard when it comes to video games. And now, I'm pushing 25, and I find myself just not being able to get into them as much as I was able to. I used to log hundreds of hours playing Final Fantasy or Shin Megami Tensei, I was on the leaderboards playing Starcraft and Age of Empires, I was a crackshot among my friends playing Goldeneye, I pulled speedruns in Metal Gear Solid... And now, well, my skills are waning. I might play 5 hours a week, maybe. I read a lot now. (Not trying to say that's better than playing video games.) I find myself attracted to more casual games now. I'm finding that I like playing Sim City 4, Plants Vs. Zombies, Minecraft, or any number of my DS games a lot more now than I do trying to get back into playing Team Fortress 2 or something so competitive/time consuming. I remember days when I would play ONE capture the flag match for 4 hours. Now, I lose interest in about 30 minutes.

Maybe this helps explain some of the appeal of casual games.

Not every casual gamer is a middle-aged soccer mom who can't hack "true" hardcore gaming. Some of the casuals were just as hardcore as the best of them, but we just don't have the time to devote our whole evenings to playing anymore... I don't regret it, I had some good times playing Starcraft over a LAN with my buddies all hours of the night... Now, well, I have to get up early and work late, keep house and make a living. Maybe, one day, I'll be able to game hardcore again. If I do, I'll let all the young whippersnappers out there know about it too — I hope to prove that oldsters can still hack it, one day.

I have to laugh thinking that I, and others around my age will be among the first generation of life-long elderly gamers. It should be an interesting demographic in about 30 years.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth and the learned find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists

I have a bit of that too, the whole "I used to be able to keep interest for hours but now can't manage thirty minutes" thing. Lately I've considered the problem might be depression, as it goes away when I take certain painkillers.

For example, Last Sunday I tried to play the original Pool of Radiance again and just couldn't stay with it. Then last night, I took a lortab for a headache (which may sound extreme, but lortab is basically just extra-strength tylenol with a happy potion attached, and I wanted to use 'em before they expire) and all the sudden it was the most addictive game in the world.

I sure hope the Moral Guardians never see this post...

Three Days gimmick, pure and simple. I stopped liking Zelda because of how each game started revolving around an annoying gimmick instead of just letting me go see the mountains or something.

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Also, different plot and more focus on sidequests.

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New theme music also a box

wat.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth and the learned find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists

Many of the early games did have one gimmick or another though, except maybe the original NES installment. For that one the specific 'Zelda blend' of gameplay itself was the gimmick just like FF 1 was a Japanese Wizardry.

I think you have to place Final Fantasy VII in context for the time to understand the popularity. It seems average nowadays due to something similar to Seinfeld Is Unfunny. Many of the things it did have been done many times since (and done better), but they were new or relatively new and interesting at the time.

Waiting on a TRS slot? Finishing off one of these cleaning efforts will usually open one up.

Plus, it was one of the first games to have tons of advertising, IIRC.

What year was it released? 1997? I was twelve... I don't remember seeing any advertising for it, and I feel like I was pretty plugged into the games discussion at that age.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth and the learned find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists

It was also the first big budget 3D JRPG. That drew a lot of attention and interest.

Sadly, its graphics *really* haven't aged well.

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I think that was more for the cutscene action than anything.

I'm no fanboy, and I don't worship the plastic that FFVII discs were cut from or anything, but you gotta admit — the cutscene of Cloud Strife coming down the stairs on that steampunkish motorcycle was pretty badass.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth and the learned find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists

At the time, Majora's 3 Days thing really drew me in. Giving me a slowly approaching time limit sort of set the mood for the game, and that mood was fear. For me, it helped immersion.

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I personally would like to know why Gears Of War became so popular while Epic's other series, Unreal, slowly faded away after its release. I mean, Unreal Tournament was one of the games, along with Quake 3 Arena, that led to the evolution of multiplayer FPS, but Gears is the household name among gamers while a lot of these people don't know what Unreal Tournament is, or haven't played it.

For crying out loud, the back of the UT 3 box says "From the creators of Gears Of War!!!" Gee, never mind that the first Unreal came out like 8 years before Gears!

I ain't got nothing for Gears, but for Unreal, maybe its the near total dropping of any FP Ses in the series with more than a paper thin plot? Yes, yes, multiplayer deathmatch, but there are lots of games that provide raw multiplayer deathmatch.

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For Go W they included certain features specifically to broaden its appeal, whereas the later UT games skew heavily towards tourney-level gameplay... which the majority of console gamers apparently don't 'get'. Not to mention Go W has a comparatively stronger narrative for those who like that sort of thing.

Plus, Unreal Tournament 3 had a shaky initial release and Unreal II did terribly as an Unreal game (but is decent when you look at it as any other FPS, in my opinion).

edited 8th Mar '11 7:58:49 PM by RocketDude

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From what I've seen, more people know the Unreal Engine than know what Unreal Tournament is.

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If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably the lack of Little Mac & Doc Louis. Seeing this tiny dude take on massive opponents is really inspiring, and Doc's hints ranged from "pretty helpful" to "lol wut?" Also, the opponents weren't nearly as interesting ("Mad Clown"? Seriously?)

SPO!! doesn't deserve the hate it gets. Both games are among the best titles of their respective consoles.

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You know what I never got that people liked? — flight sims.

I even owned the Jane's Combat Simulator back in the day, and I remember it had a manual as thick as my bible. My dad thought it was cool, but he was in the Air Force... I couldn't land, or dogfight at ALL, so I just had fun crashing into mountains and raining fire on the balkans.

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth and the learned find themselves perfectly equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists