Best time to be a gamer?

[Marc]

Honestly, I think it's now. My 360 is a Saturn/DC with some brillliant shit of its own. Emulation of everything is a torrent away. iPhone has some wonderful remasters, some brilliant riffs on classics, old Amiga devs, Minter and Cave. Yes, I grant you, it's not as exciting as it used to be. The wonder isn't quite as strong anymore, and the death of arcades left a hole that will never be filled - at least for someone my age. It's quite weird to think that some younger members may never have even played in an arcade. But, overall, given the choice between XBLA, App Store, Steam & GOG, Emu or a Speccy that could take ten minutes to load a bag of shit coin-op conversion, I know what I'd rather take.

[Moniker]

I agree. Right now you can play basically anything in gaming history, and a lot of it legally. The only downside is the lack of arcades and the fact that controller tech seems to have peaked in the 16 bit era.

[Blackbird]

I think the demise of the arcades has left a gaping hole in the way that games are fundamentally designed. Arcade games understood an extremely important concept of design very well, and that is: Don't waste my time. The game doesn't take long to play, but is a very dense, rich experience. Arcade mentality just made games better; I don't think the mainstream games are as well designed anymore. They're full of time sinks and filler.

[DJ Incompetent]

Best time to be a gamer? now

For content, yes.
For worthwhile masterpieces, no.

[jonny5]

For me, the 90's/early 2000's. As someone not really interested in anything outside arcade games, this time period was awesome.

So many great games, and arcades to play them in, and at least 2 machines in just about every corner store and pool hall.

I miss those days.

[mrsmiley381]

This may be the best time to be a video gamer, if you factor out some of the ridiculous nonsense that's going on in the industry right now. The way I see it, trophies and achievements have turned games into virtual checklists of mindless chores to undertake. DLC functions as a delivery method for quality content in a few cases, but most cases look like profit-driven money-grubbing. Additionally, exclusive DLC ensures that not everyone can have access to the same content, like CAVE Matsuri releases, without using a hacked console or tracking down one-time use codes. Seriously, cut that shit out, CAVE. The growing "indie" scene looks to be comprised of the most absolutely stereotypical pretentious hipsters or shitty coders with millions of dollars from a primarily retarded fanbase.

But today I'm going to supplement my complaining with a serious dose of factual proof rather than more mindless whining.

We live in a world where a man in Italy can take games from Japan and translate them into languages such as English so people worldwide can enjoy them.

The Internet has changed things, a lot for the better. Our world's programmers can communicate across continents to discover how to better emulate classic hardware, change the language of a game, or shove thousands of games onto a single cartridge. I can buy stuff like Battle Garegga from some fine gentleman in the UK, but someone who doesn't need or want an expensive Saturn game can wire up a mod chip available from a number of vendors or just emulate the arcade version. Guys like Toodles have discovered ways of getting one controller PCB to work on up to something like a dozen consoles. Hell, a few hours ago I preordered a game and two model kits from a store in Japan and the whole process took five minutes.

At the end of the day, video games are still awesome, even with the stupid bullshit being thrown at us. In a few years a lot more games are going to lose online features, but who knows where hacking will take us in that time? PSO has private servers, of all things. Trophies and achievements? Eh, fuck 'em, I guess. EA and Capcom DLC fuckery? Well, they're pretty shitty games anyway, so what do I care? Exclusive CAVE modes? It's not like I play them that much, anyway. Shovelware-laden indie hipster PC market? Who needs those assholes, anyway? Content over gameplay? Shit son, I got a hundred good, non-filler games to play. The shortage of real games is fake as far as I'm concerned.

If you guys excuse me, I'm going to look up freely available controller and joystick technical documentation. Why? Because I live in a world where I can learn about such things and apply them to play games the way I want to, and that's awesome. Hell, Shumps Farm, you're awesome. Just try not to be so mad at all the shit all the time. Turns out there's a nice, wide field next to that nuclear reactor in your backyard.

[moozooh]

For content, yes.
For worthwhile masterpieces, no.

Except now you can have easy access to the entire library of masterpieces, which grows constantly and becomes available on numerous distribution platforms beside emulation and piracy. This wasn't the case just a decade ago, let alone two decades.

I would rather put it like this: now is the best time to be a gamer, not to become a gamer.

[Ruldra]

Agreed. This gen has some BS going on (mainly the gradual loss of physical copies and DLC scamming), but overall it's a great time for us gamers. Unfortunately my time for gaming is just getting shorter and shorter.

[CMPXCHG8B]

I'd say that the 1990s were the best time to experience games- a lot of genre defining stuff came out then. I remember walking through the isles of PC games the local computer store had (Dopler Computers). Isles and isles of full-sized boxes, each with a CD jewel case and manuals as thick as your thumb. Everything was new and original.

Today isn't so bad though. Yeah, we've got the sequel garbage flying out of the franchise factories, and proprietary consoles, but the majority of that stuff has PC releases now that the console wars are subsiding. And emulation. People have gotten really good at emulation.

So I'd say today is the most convenient time to be a gamer. You can access and play nearly anything these days on a modern day computer, including all the old stuff. Couldn't do that before, had to buy the actual hardware. But as far as being a paying gamer and actually sitting around anticipating things, the 1990s were really something else.

-CMPX

[Blackbird]

Yeah, I mean, we've had a lot of people talking about how emulation makes getting (older) games really easy, but there hasn't been a lot of optimism yet about -new- releases. Nowadays, there might be a single, or at most, a handful of new games each year that I get truly excited for. Compare that to the 90's, where there were so many I had to pick and choose which ones to spend my time on... and I'm still catching up on the ones I missed!

It's hard for me to get excited about the future when every game that could be potentially great always has some flaw, some smarmy nickle-and-dime DLC scheme or privacy invasion.

I have thoughts like this:

"Well, it's a shame I have to boycott the latest installment of one of my favorite series, because they turned the game into eBay."

"I have to be online all the time to even play this single-player game? Pass."

"Digital download only? It had better be damned good."

"Oh great, the online client I have to sign into in order to play this game includes privacy-invading spyware. Boycott."

"This company sued their own developers and interrogated them in a locked room because they wanted to try making other games instead of milking the franchise to death. Boycott."

It's to the point where a great game release nowadays is the odd one where there -isn't- some crappy DRM/DLC/moneygrab/privacy issue. Game development in the mainstream has frankly become, more often than not, unethical, and gamers don't have the principles or the backbone to draw a line in the sand.

[njiska]

For content, yes.
For worthwhile masterpieces, no.

Except now you can have easy access to the entire library of masterpieces, which grows constantly and becomes available on numerous distribution platforms beside emulation and piracy. This wasn't the case just a decade ago, let alone two decades.

I would rather put it like this: now is the best time to be a gamer, not to become a gamer.

I'm going to challenge this, on the grounds that I think you guys are just slightly off with the date. I'd say the best time to be a gamer was around 2009.

- Steam was just hitting full swing.
- iOS games we're just starting to hit their stride.
- The virtual console was pumping out new classics every week.
- XBLA games were still worth playing and affordable.
- Shmups were starting to make a home on the 360.
- Retro software was plentiful around the world both legally and through torrentz.
- Nearly every dead system had an excellent emulator.
- Good Old Games became a year old.
- Minecraft began.
- Console software didn't require Online Passes or come with pre-order location specific dlc.
- Console UI's didn't suck.
- The PS3 still supported Linux and 5 systems per account.

Basically 2009 had all the high points of today and none of the ills.

[JBC]

"Digital download only? It had better be damned good."

My sentiments exactly.

And you just reminded me of how much I want to play Hard Corps Uprising. There's no demo! How do I know if I like it? I can't trade it in or return it or sell it off or give it away if I don't like it

[moozooh]

- Steam was just hitting full swing.
- iOS games we're just starting to hit their stride.
- The virtual console was pumping out new classics every week.
- XBLA games were still worth playing and affordable.
- Shmups were starting to make a home on the 360.
- Retro software was plentiful around the world both legally and through torrentz.
- Nearly every dead system had an excellent emulator.
- Good Old Games became a year old.
- Minecraft began.

So did any of this go away or something?

[blackoak]

Yeah, I have no argument to make, but it was the late 80s to mid 90s for me. I really liked the PC gaming of this time... it was just before everything started to become engine based. I always loved the isometric perspective on RPGs (fallout etc) and this was a golden age for that too. I especially enjoyed going into a store like Software etc., which was in the back of a bookstore here in the east bay, and seeing all the new boxy games... SSI gold box series being a favorite.

I missed the arcade scene, sadly, largely because there wasn't anything in my neck of the suburbs. As far as consoles go I liked this period as a pinnacle of 2D sprite art... I realize 3D has had to go through a lot of growing pains to be able to put out works of aesthetic depth now, and I appreciate that now, but I certainly did not enjoy the N64/PSX 3D crazes at the time.

[BulletMagnet]

And you just reminded me of how much I want to play Hard Corps Uprising. There's no demo!

I coulda sworn there was one on XBLA, I'm sure I've played it.

As for the topic at hand, if you ask me every era has its good and bad points, this one included...as grumpy as DRM and other contemporary junk makes me, I'm also a lot more pleased with overall localization quality than I used to be (YMMV of course), to name just a couple of things.

[Ganelon]

The most content? Yes, almost all past games can still be obtained and new games are still rushing out.

The most inexpensive games? No, most pre-millennial games were cheaper and more easily found in the mid 00s.

The easiest means of illegally obtaining games? Yes.

The most upcoming releases to look forward to in genres we love? No, at least not if you're a 2D shooter fan.

The most information available about games? Yes.

The best online game communities? No, with niche online game community participation becoming more and more widespread, there's not as much camaraderie.

If you want to amass a video game museum, then each passing day is still getting better and better. I imagine 20 years from now, that will change as much of this online-only content becomes very annoying to legally acquire. However, I can't say that today's new releases are my cup of tea. I can imagine that realistic FPS and sports fans are thrilled with the state of video games now but there aren't many new games I'm interested in. Large companies generally can't risk putting out a new 2D RPG/beat-em-up/sidescroller/shooter and the indie scene rarely does one appealing enough for me to buy.

Regarding ports and emulations, the cutoff point is ultimately up to each player's taste. Those who just want to play the game can go ahead and pirate or buy the legal emulations/ports. Those who care about the optimal playing experience, as I unfortunately do, prefer the original version on the best set of hardware. New versions aren't helping substitute in the latter case because not one of these new versions are perfect replicas of the original.

[njiska]

- Steam was just hitting full swing.
- iOS games we're just starting to hit their stride.
- The virtual console was pumping out new classics every week.
- XBLA games were still worth playing and affordable.
- Shmups were starting to make a home on the 360.
- Retro software was plentiful around the world both legally and through torrentz.
- Nearly every dead system had an excellent emulator.
- Good Old Games became a year old.
- Minecraft began.

So did any of this go away or something?

Yeah the part you edited out from the quote for starters. Also XBLA games have greatly diminished in quality and increased in price. The virtual console is dead and no longer offering easy access to new classic every week. The ones on the service are still there, but the influx of new titles has slowed to almost none. I'm not saying that today doesn't still have a bunch of good points, but the question was "Best time to be a gamer" not "A fairly good time to be a gamer". My argument to your point is that we passed the best point in 2009 and have started heading down hill.

[JBC]

And you just reminded me of how much I want to play Hard Corps Uprising. There's no demo!

I coulda sworn there was one on XBLA, I'm sure I've played it.

Definitely not one on PSN though. I've looked at least 3 times now just to make sure I'm not overlooking it. I can't miss a Contra game, even if it is just a spin-off

[BIL]

I'm enjoying being a gamer more than ever, thanks to the internet. It's easy to research and import practically anything I like, and I tend to enjoy what I have a lot more thoroughly than when I was younger. Couldn't care less about particular eras. There's stuff I love from all (even this one) and I don't do nostalgia.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Those who care about the optimal playing experience, as I unfortunately do, prefer the original version on the best set of hardware.

Has there ever been any better time for that than now? In this respect the only better thing about the old times was the possibility to visit actual arcades and play coin-op games in their natural environment. The cabs and controllers, however, weren't always exactly better maintained than the stuff one can put together and use at home.
In my book the worst thing about gaming today is the lack of any true alternative to CRTs (but those few who care still have time to stock up on as many as they need).
I know for sure that my current (pretty modest) collection of fully kosher, legal, authentic videogaming hard- and software would blow the ten-years-old me away (without even diving into the internet, piracy and emulation). If I don't enjoy it quite as much as I would have enjoyed it back then, or if I don't have that much time to enjoy it anymore, well, in this sense "best time to be a gamer" is a very individual thing for everybody.

[blackoak]

Its funny seeing people talk about the availability of information on the internet as a good thing. I enjoy communities like this for sure, but the gamefaqs phenomenon and constant news on upcoming releases has actually taken a lot of the thrill and excitement away from me. I liked the pacing of monthly game magazines for information... I realize it comes down to self-discipline to some degree, but there's a magical quality in not-knowing imo.

[Blackbird]

I don't think LCDs are as bad as people make them out to be. As I see it, they have two main problems.

1) The response time/input lag is not ideal on all models.

However, LCDs have gotten good enough that some LCDs have a fast response time; you'd have to be really picky to notice at this point. In this case, you just need to do your research and pick a model that has a low input lag suitable for gaming. This is really a marketing problem - this is a very important technical specification/characteristic of the product, but it is rarely formally documented by the original manufacturer. Independent reviewers have to test this information when it should be as freely available as the resolution of the screen.

2) LCDs do not handle lower resolution content/backwards compatibility well.

You can resolve this two ways. The first is to emulate and display your game that way - it usually yields good display results. The second is to use a quality scaler with genuine hardware. Hopefully this can be resolved with better and more affordable scalers in the future. Good scalers can produce really amazing image quality even with low resolution sources. If only the Framemeister cost 40 dollars instead of 400 dollars, haha.

Dead pixels kind of suck, too. Hope that goes away with the next generation of display tech.

I do like the sharpness, low weight, and compact size of the LCD displays, though.

[BIL]

Its funny seeing people talk about the availability of information on the internet as a good thing. I enjoy communities like this for sure, but the gamefaqs phenomenon and constant news on upcoming releases has actually taken a lot of the thrill and excitement away from me.

Strictly referring to ancient 80s/90s import stuff in my case. A lot of the stuff from that era I own now, I either wouldn't have known about or wouldn't have been confident buying without online research. For the occasional current-gen game I intend to play, I do avoid all but the most basic details (release date/region, general reaction of fellow fans, etc).

[njiska]

2) LCDs do not handle lower resolution content/backwards compatibility well.

You can resolve this two ways. The first is to emulate and display your game that way - it usually yields good display results. The second is to use a quality scaler with genuine hardware. Hopefully this can be resolved with better and more affordable scalers in the future. Good scalers can produce really amazing image quality even with low resolution sources. If only the Framemeister cost 40 dollars instead of 400 dollars, haha.

I've tried a number of different scalers over the years and it's still just not the same. Often content looks too sharp or too smooth. Very low res content only looks really good to me on a multi-sync CRT. A properly calibrated display with correct geometry and glorious scan lines is the only way to play retro titles. This is why i went out of my way to acquire a 36" Trinitron. But hey, if LCDs work for you, then it's all good.

The real problem with LCD's is shit black levels. It's improved dramatically over the last few years, but it's just not as good as Plasma.

[xbl0x180]

I loved the late 80s and early 90s arcade scene. The NES, SNES, and PS2 were the best consoles I've owned with a few N64 and other odds-and-ends here and there. Today's DLCrap infested scene is not for me. In fact, I literally refuse to play along and have never paid for DLCrap (or even played on-line)

[null1024]

I'd say that the 1990s were the best time to experience games- a lot of genre defining stuff came out then. I remember walking through the isles of PC games the local computer store had (Dopler Computers). Isles and isles of full-sized boxes, each with a CD jewel case and manuals as thick as your thumb. Everything was new and original.

Today isn't so bad though. Yeah, we've got the sequel garbage flying out of the franchise factories, and proprietary consoles, but the majority of that stuff has PC releases now that the console wars are subsiding. And emulation. People have gotten really good at emulation.

So I'd say today is the most convenient time to be a gamer. You can access and play nearly anything these days on a modern day computer, including all the old stuff. Couldn't do that before, had to buy the actual hardware. But as far as being a paying gamer and actually sitting around anticipating things, the 1990s were really something else.

-CMPX

This, almost completely. I'd push the end date to the early to mid 2000s for really anticipating new releases.
In terms of new stuff I've been interested in getting, after 2004, that has dropped like a rock.
On the other hand, I can emulate most of the older stuff I want, really easily. My netbook doubles as a full-fledged PS1 most of the time, my phone is a [slow because it's a J2ME based one] Game Boy, my DS is a Neo Geo [almost -- Garou runs at 5/6ths fullspeed], etc.

And most importantly, legally obtaining older games on modern systems is [relatively] cheap and really easy. Things like Virtual Console are amazing as hell [except when stuff gets pulled, but that just drives people to go play those games through more questionable or outright illegal means].

Also, even if you want to play games on their original hardware, many of the best games and the systems to play them on are pretty cheap to find. You're definitely paying far less now for them than at the time of release [factoring inflation, although the numeric price is usually cheaper; also, I'm ignoring always expensive things like the Neo Geo].

Right now is definitely the best time to be a gamer. Being able to plug your average laptop into a TV and fire up games for nearly every not-Saturn game console made before 1997, that's convenience. Things like the Retrode let you dump your own older games that you have legally and relatively easily [they just show up as a rom on a drive after plugging the game in, no fuss]! I can plug a PS2 controller into my computer or [not-iPad] tablet with a $4 adapter!

And then there are the handful of games released nowadays that you are interested in [example: Sin and Punishment 2]. Those might be far and few between, but you have over 2 decades worth of stuff available to you to pass the time between.

Keep in mind -- I absolutely adore emulation [there was a time when I'd spend an evening and see what I could get running on my machine, even if I knew it would never work particularly well], and that factors a major part of this.
If you don't like emulation, you will probably hate nowadays to be a gamer, and almost absolutely adore the mid to late 90s.

[chempop]

Being an arcade mall-rat during the entire SF2 era... Nothing even comes close to that excitement.
Virtua Fighter and MK 1&2 also fit in that timeline, man those were the days!

[Ganelon]

Those who care about the optimal playing experience, as I unfortunately do, prefer the original version on the best set of hardware.

Has there ever been any better time for that than now? In this respect the only better thing about the old times was the possibility to visit actual arcades and play coin-op games in their natural environment.

My comment there was in response to Marc's suggestion that emulation in all of its forms is an acceptable substitute for the real deal. But speed and sound imperfections are often the easiest to notice. I wanted to make clear that folks like me exist who demand the purest experience available. Even Steam versions sometimes have issues that the original releases didn't.

Basically, I was covering all the bases since I found the topic question slightly ambiguous. I assumed for most of my post that all past releases were being considered but if the topic was focusing on today's releases, then I wanted to address that point as well.

And in case someone wants to ask what the purest experience is, I'll go ahead and point out that there are differing opinions. Plenty of transparencies back in the late 80s and early 90s were dithered and seem intended for composite video instead of RGB. On the other hand, composite video looks very blurry everywhere else. In the end, it's each player's call (I stick with RGB myself nowadays) but one thing that's clear is that adding an additional filter to the graphics and rearranging the resolution wasn't intended.

[GaijinPunch]

Arcade mentality just made games better; I don't think the mainstream games are as well designed anymore. They're full of time sinks and filler.

Word

I also miss digging through magazines to find out information. W/ the internet, the latest news & rumors are at your finger tips. Takes away a lot of the fun, IMHFO.

[Ed Oscuro]

I agree. Right now you can play basically anything in gaming history, and a lot of it legally.

When was this ever not true? By this logic, the best time to play anything was to be a gamer when the first Pong consoles arrived, since they all played the same.

But I take your point to be that it's the large variety of stuff available that makes it good...in this sense I suppose you're right. However, the recent proliferation of poor handheld and console knockoff versions of systems in addition to the huge number of digital downloads and services that vanish forever irritates me. But in terms of sheer number of things available, every year past this one should thus be the "best year ever." We're still getting things in MAME, after all...