What are the true spiritual successors to yesteryear's games?

[tcv]

I have been thinking about this topic for a couple of weeks. I haven't quite figured out how I want to phrase the question, so after stewing on it for so long I thought I would just put it out there and see if you guys want to run with it.

Over the years, I've lost my gaming interest. Being of the earliest generation -- Pong systems, Odyssey, 2600, 5200, Intellivision, Coleco -- I think I started to lose touch with gaming when the NES debuted. As much as I liked the console, I found the games had a different focus. Many of them had a well-defined goal, something beyond points like in the earlier generation. Plus, I was simply TERRIBLE at most of the NES games. You may like or not like the Angry Video Game Nerd, but he has a point that some of those NES games were insanely hard.

As everything progressed into 16-bit and beyond, I found that not much really captured my interest as it did back then. Now, certainly some of this is growing up, getting responsibilities, having less time, etc. Still I think there was something genuinely different about yesteryear's games.

(I also have to state unequivocally that I did like many games from those subsequent eras. Just not as much. I played Sonic all the way through Dreamcast to the Gamecube, for example.) :SONRUN:

I was playing Peggle the other night -- something most of us would consider firmly in the so-called "Casual Game" category -- and I realized that many casual games are more like it was back in the 1970s. They're focused on challenges rather than quests. They highlight points as evidence of success. They're focused on short session game play. And, perhaps most importantly, they're easy to understand. You can pick them up and play almost immediately.

Sure, nothing is perfect. 2600 Adventure had a goal. It was a quest and wasn't so focused on points. Plus, certainly others like SwordQuest or Utopia don't quite fit my ideas here. But others? Like Circus Atari or Demon Attack? ... they say Generation One perfectly to me.

So, I have been wanting to ask you guys: What am I smoking? No, seriously, is there something here? Are some of today's games just so much more than the games were back then that they're quite unrelated? And if so, what are the true spiritual games that recapture that early generation today?

[Duke.Togo]

Hmmmm, I can understand where you are coming from even though I enjoy retro and modern. I'd say that games have changed tremendously since the beginning. As to where to recapture it? I'd point towards inexpensive downloadable titles, whether on iOS or Xbox Live Arcade/Indie Games. Games like Minotaur Rescue, Shoot1Up, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, Pac-Man CE DX, Space Giraffe, and others fill this pick up and play hole for me.

[Dhalamar]

I just like games, I don't care what generation they're from. I started off on the Atari 2600 and just kept moving up from there. Got into the emulation scene when it was in it's infancy, and that helped me play the games for the systems that I either didn't have anymore or had never even touched. Nowadays, though, it's one of 3 systems that get the most play : my iPod Touch (Bejeweled Blitz hehe), PC (for just about everything, like it's been since the XT days) and the Playstation 3. Back when games didn't have a predetermined goal, I'd say they did. The way I always played them, I wrote down all my high scores. My goal was to beat that score. *shrug*

I wouldn't personally say that the games have "changed" all that much, they just kept evolving with the new hardware. Shooters are shooters, RPGs are still boring, puzzle games are still puzzle games. And those Telltale games or whatever (Tales of Monkey Island, Back to the Future) are just point and click adventures ala Lucasarts, just evolved to suit the modern hardware. Pac-Man, Galaga, Rally X, etc etc for better or worse have gone through the same evolution.

[wongojack]

Games inspired by the generation of gaming you are describing are 'out there.' The indie game scene produces these quite frequently. XNA has let regular dudes remake all kinds of classic games with new twists - just check out the indie games in XBLA. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!! is in this category.

But if you don't want to do that check out the GameMaker software and games made with it. GarageGames.com toutes the Torque engine and games made with the 2d engine might fit the bill.

[MrFrumble]

I think that iOS (and the like) games are the spiritual successors to the early generation games you are thinking of.

I've been back into gaming for about a year or so. However, I spend way more time listening to podcasts and reading the internet than I do actually playing my consoles.

I recently got an iPad through work for testing our web stuff on. This was my first smartphone/tablet. The other day I had the realization that I will probably play more games on this thing and similar future devices than through other means. It is easy to find, buy, and play truly great games on these things. The device is instant on, most of the games are inexpensive, and it is possible for "one man" developers to make a big impact just like in the good ol' days.