Why am I playing Dungeonkeeper 2 again?

[Laralyn]

And why was I playing System Shock 2 last week? And why am I playing Thief 2 over lunch times at work?

I don't want to start a tirade against unimaginative games. I work in the game industry. I like to think I'm making something cool. I'm playing and enjoying several different console games at the moment.

But on the PC, it's all games that are 2-3 years old. There hasn't been a release in months that even caught my eye. There hasn't been much in the past year that kept me playing for more than a few weeks (not even Freelancer). That's especially true if you eliminate RPGs from the mix. I haven't enjoyed a strategy, sim or action title in ages.

What the heck is going on? Is it that my tastes have changed, or are companies just not making the kind of games I like to play? Or have I really and truly, God forbid, made that transition to being... a console gamer?

[Brian Rubin]

Maybe you're feeling nostalgic? I play these games all the time inbetween bouts of newer games. There's just something about the games you mentioned that keeps us coming back to them, be it innovation, originality, or just great gameplay. :)

[Stroker Ace]

The Internet has made it hard to appreciate games... there's always someone to point out every single flaw in a new game you play.

Also, as we all get older and play more and more games, it's harder to impress us. We give Thief some bonus points as a first mover, but if someone made another game just like Thief today, we wouldn't care.

I've been feeling pretty jaded about games myself lately; I'm starting to think that reading too much about games makes it hard to enjoy the good points in any game for me anymore... I buy hot new games, play them for a day or two, then get bored by the flaws in the design.

[Jason Becker]

I can go to a store like Gamestop and overhear people talking about some game and think about how it would probably get ripped on by somebody pointing out every tine little flaw. These people would probably would just look at you funny, and say jeez its only a video game.

[Shady]

What the heck is going on? Is it that my tastes have changed, or are companies just not making the kind of games I like to play? Or have I really and truly, God forbid, made that transition to being... a console gamer?

Yeah, and there's no good music on the radio anymore either!!!!

You've changed--or maybe it's that you haven't changed enough. I think there were some dandy games released last year: Warcraft, Medal of Honor, and No One Lives Forever. And I'm looking forward to Rise of Nations being released.

[Tom Ohle]

Rise of Nations has really gotten me interested. The ads of "Where were you when the Mayans dropped the bomb?" are the first ads that have actually made me want to buy something in... forever. Kudos to the ad folks.

[Alan Au]

Nostalgia is great! Well, okay, most of the time it's great. I find that games from about 1998 or so are usually the ones that hold up the best, both in terms of visual detail and compatibility with current hardware.

That said, they have (relatively) small drive space requirements, and they run like a charm on modern processors. Besides which they're already sitting on my shelf (i.e. no extra cash out of my pocket), and the learning curve is only as much as it takes to refresh my memory. I guess you could call it "low specific-energy gaming". hehe

- Alan

[mtkafka]

Try this mod for Doom/Heretic/Hexen for some good ole mid nineties nostalgia... you could almost feel the newness of grunge the background while you wereplaying these games!

http://www.doomsdayhq.com/

etc

[Anonymous]

Last year had some decent new releases that reminded me there is more to a PC than internet and e-mail.

NOLF 2, Disciples II, Warcraft 3(Hey, I got a kick out of it!) and though I didn't exactly fall head over heels in love like everyone else, Battlefield 1942 was a very strong release. IWD2 also provided limited enjoyment. Syberia was compelling enough for me to finish it, but it wasn't exactly a memorable quest.

Of course we're now over 1/3rd of the way through 2003 and I personnally have yet to return to gaming on my hardrive which is dissapointing. Freelancer seemed interesting, but I just couldn't seem to budget time and money into giving it a go. Same with Age of Mythology.

Though I've always considered myself a 'console' gamer(stop hissing!) I have always dabbled in the PC spectrum of gaming now and again keeping tabs with the few landmark releases worth playing. I fear that now the only PC titles I am looking forward to installing in the next several months will be expansion packs to older releases.

Fortunately this IS a really good time to be a console gamer though. Not a week goes by without a few worthwhile gems hitting store shelves. It's quite insane really.