Herr Schatten wrote:Probably, but that doesn't make the game itself better. All you're saying is that the perception of a game is different and all I say is that this doesn't make the game different in any way. You see? We're arguing over totally different things here.
Huh, not want to go too philosophical, but, how can you talk about a game's difference without giving a perception? Maybe I'm too relativist for you, but there's no such thing as absolute truth. It's not like "this game is like this", the game is how it's perceived, always. Even your objective, current opinion of the game is a perception and it is never based on the game alone, but on your whole being, experience, surroundings.
Herr Schatten wrote:Once you have accumulated a vast collection of consoles and home computers this argument becomes pretty pointless anyway, because the more you know the more you can compare for yourself, getting a better grip at reaching the ever-evading, yet much desired, objectivity.
Perhaps. Perhaps it could be the opposite too. I wouldn't be so sure that expanding our knowledge always leads us to a better grasp. Sometimes it could just get things out of focus.
Case in point: amiga shooting scene. Your "current" perception of it could be worsened by the better offer out there, thus not realizing which were the limits developers were facing and sometimes the achievements some games reached nonetheless. I'm not sure a too distant pow always help judge. Sometimes you must be well close to a phenomena to understand it fully: I wouldn't try to judge a Cave game over another as I understand my pow is too mainstream to appreciate score multipliers systems or chaining effectively. On the other hand it is quite common to hear young gamers say that all NES games are quite crappy by nowadays standards.
Herr Schatten wrote:Revisiting games you remember to have liked from time to time and judging them again helps, too. If I express an opinion on an old game it's always my current perception of it. That's why it may sound overly harsh sometimes, because obviously not all games have aged as well as others.
Yeah, I agree on that, of course. On a greater scale, I'd say an amiga user had to revisit the whole amiga experience and tone it down a bit. I remember how many products (Bodyblows, HA!) and how many programmers were considered absolute genius, while the only merit they had was that they actually had learned a bit how to code on the amiga, and were not ready yet to jump on more profitable markets, as the competition would have crushed them.