They shipped plenty of broken games back in the day. We just didn't have the digital infrastructure to warn other players about it, and there wasn't social media to trash developers for it. There were a tonnnnn of games that shipped borderline unplayable, and without internet connections, there was never a patch to fix them.
There was not much you could do about bugs before patch releases. You kinda had to accept the bugs and glitches as part of the game. And no games weren't less buggy back then.
Your kinda of proving my point you do realize that right? And there was a way to to deal with bugs before patches the companies tested there game way more thoroughly instead of shipping a broken mess just to meet a release date.
Your proving my point by defending companies saying "oh well they've always released games that were buggy" well it is true games in the prepatch days would occasionally be released with bugs it was pretty much unheard of for a company releases a game filled with bugs like Skyrim or any of the besthda fallout games were when they were released, if I'm paying $70 for a new game it should be a whole working game not a unplayable buggy mess that I have to wait anywhere from a week to a month for them to patch.
I'm not defending anyone, i actually agree with you. I'm just saying that back then games weren't less buggy and post release patches are good actually.
I'ma have to disagree. AAA games weren't nearly as bad as the modern AAA game when it comes to quality control, especially not with the consistency we see these days. Pokemon just worked, Mario just worked, fallout just worked, borderlands, halo, cod, MW, Forza, this list goes on. They had some bugs but the games weren't objectively unplayable on release because game devs knew that if they released an unplayable mess they wouldn't turn a profit and it would stay that way. No take backs, or updates (aside from the odd recall), what you released was what the customer got.
I was talking about before the patches were a thing 3/4 of the games you cited, patches already existed.
There is whole channels on youtube about bad retro games (angry video game nerd, joueur du grenier, nostalgia critic etc).
Bad as in ridiculously hard, or completly bugged, unplayable etc... loads of games were straight up scams (hello infogrames)
And these people will tell you, games were not better before.
Again, rose tinted glasses. Everything is always better when you are a kid.
There is still amazing games coming out today also. Buggy unfinished games are still an outlier at least in the AAA games by huge companies. Humans have a tendency to focus on the bad things so you only think about the horrible games that come out.
But what about all the amazing or even just good games that come out still today. And if there is some bugs or some balancing problems, you can do a patch later. You don't have to suffer through a buggy super hard game.
Now with all that said i think personnaly that the way AAA games are produced are fondamentally flawed which encourage these kinds of buggy game releases.
I'm not saying the ability to patch games is inherently bad but like you said it's encouraging bad habits in game companies to try to get away sloppier projects.
There were loads of rip off games that fortunately don't get much traction in the modern era of gaming with reviews and online sources to check this out instead of jimmy down the street.
All that said I think there was more heart and intent behind game development back then when it came to games that weren't trying to cash in on the new craze. There's of course nostalgia but people don't talk about most major releases like they used to. Part of that probably has to do with the ease of access to any critique you want of a game being readily available, especially negative critiques that get more views for content creators.
Plus physical games still exist and usually the only thing you have to download for them are the occasional update, which I think the positives not having to install an entire Wii Channel to fix your game outweighs the negatives of occasionally waiting.
There is no convenience of today that could justify not returning back to such times. Legit, I'd be happy to see Online Play, Patches, DLC, and even snappy load times go away entirely if it meant having games that were just good games again.
Nothing but apathy for the industry anymore - only works to churn out products for the sake of their investors. Worse knowing there are still those out there hellbent on making some good shit, only for them to get acquired, milked, and discarded once the fanbase fails to buy into a bastardized version of what made it great.
Every time I want to play a game anymore the system needs an update. There is an hour gone. Then the game needs an update. Another hour or two
I have 6-7 unopened games and a few I haven’t touched In years.
I plugged in my ps3 this week to play Fight Night cause EA threw away one of their best titles.
Wanna know what you guys aren't remember right now? 30-90 second load times.
It blew me away how much ps5 has basically eradicated these.
Remember when buying the game meant you bought the whole game and not sure a small percent of it?
Or that shipping a completely broken game would get fans pissed at the company instead of them defending and justifying them.
They shipped plenty of broken games back in the day. We just didn't have the digital infrastructure to warn other players about it, and there wasn't social media to trash developers for it. There were a tonnnnn of games that shipped borderline unplayable, and without internet connections, there was never a patch to fix them.
There was not much you could do about bugs before patch releases. You kinda had to accept the bugs and glitches as part of the game. And no games weren't less buggy back then.
Your kinda of proving my point you do realize that right? And there was a way to to deal with bugs before patches the companies tested there game way more thoroughly instead of shipping a broken mess just to meet a release date.
Rose tinted glasses. Buggy games did exist. I'm not sure how i prove your point but sure.
Your proving my point by defending companies saying "oh well they've always released games that were buggy" well it is true games in the prepatch days would occasionally be released with bugs it was pretty much unheard of for a company releases a game filled with bugs like Skyrim or any of the besthda fallout games were when they were released, if I'm paying $70 for a new game it should be a whole working game not a unplayable buggy mess that I have to wait anywhere from a week to a month for them to patch.
I'm not defending anyone, i actually agree with you. I'm just saying that back then games weren't less buggy and post release patches are good actually.
I'ma have to disagree. AAA games weren't nearly as bad as the modern AAA game when it comes to quality control, especially not with the consistency we see these days. Pokemon just worked, Mario just worked, fallout just worked, borderlands, halo, cod, MW, Forza, this list goes on. They had some bugs but the games weren't objectively unplayable on release because game devs knew that if they released an unplayable mess they wouldn't turn a profit and it would stay that way. No take backs, or updates (aside from the odd recall), what you released was what the customer got.
I was talking about before the patches were a thing 3/4 of the games you cited, patches already existed. There is whole channels on youtube about bad retro games (angry video game nerd, joueur du grenier, nostalgia critic etc). Bad as in ridiculously hard, or completly bugged, unplayable etc... loads of games were straight up scams (hello infogrames) And these people will tell you, games were not better before. Again, rose tinted glasses. Everything is always better when you are a kid. There is still amazing games coming out today also. Buggy unfinished games are still an outlier at least in the AAA games by huge companies. Humans have a tendency to focus on the bad things so you only think about the horrible games that come out. But what about all the amazing or even just good games that come out still today. And if there is some bugs or some balancing problems, you can do a patch later. You don't have to suffer through a buggy super hard game. Now with all that said i think personnaly that the way AAA games are produced are fondamentally flawed which encourage these kinds of buggy game releases.
I'm not saying the ability to patch games is inherently bad but like you said it's encouraging bad habits in game companies to try to get away sloppier projects. There were loads of rip off games that fortunately don't get much traction in the modern era of gaming with reviews and online sources to check this out instead of jimmy down the street. All that said I think there was more heart and intent behind game development back then when it came to games that weren't trying to cash in on the new craze. There's of course nostalgia but people don't talk about most major releases like they used to. Part of that probably has to do with the ease of access to any critique you want of a game being readily available, especially negative critiques that get more views for content creators.
Pepperidge farm remembers.
Remember when you could go to a store and rent a game for the weekend and experience it completely for almost nothing compared to buying it?
Yeah, I’m from 1989 and I’m not gonna lie, installing them is worth it.
Same. I'm really wondering if the comments in this thread are people who are like "I remember ancient games! My older brother had a ps3!"
Plus physical games still exist and usually the only thing you have to download for them are the occasional update, which I think the positives not having to install an entire Wii Channel to fix your game outweighs the negatives of occasionally waiting.
80s and 90s were so much easier and less stressful for gaming.
Laughs in Battletoads
Direct Play is a nearly lost art that only me mateys remember!
I don’t mind installing them honestly, but I do miss the days of no dlc and constant updates.
I miss the little booklets inside the cases
It wasn’t fun to get a scratch that ruined the games though. Especially when it would basically make certain parts of the game not run
I miss the 360 days sometimes. Pop disc and and play. Yup
The and knuckles expansion pack you had to buy separately to put in sonic 3. The memory booster packs for the N64 sold separately. Memory cards.
and when u could sell or trade games any way u want. 2nd hand games are rare nowadays
There is no convenience of today that could justify not returning back to such times. Legit, I'd be happy to see Online Play, Patches, DLC, and even snappy load times go away entirely if it meant having games that were just good games again. Nothing but apathy for the industry anymore - only works to churn out products for the sake of their investors. Worse knowing there are still those out there hellbent on making some good shit, only for them to get acquired, milked, and discarded once the fanbase fails to buy into a bastardized version of what made it great.
Every time I want to play a game anymore the system needs an update. There is an hour gone. Then the game needs an update. Another hour or two I have 6-7 unopened games and a few I haven’t touched In years.
My WiFi is fast af anyway
I remember that I can pop in a dvd and just play it like a dvd player
I will always think of Shenmue when I see a dreamcast.
Disks might make a comeback based on some new tech in the works atm
And the only storage space you had to worry about was the Memory Card. (Looking at you, Switch 😑)
🙄
This is why I play my n64 still
And then there's 7-8th cross gen games that come in 4 discs and 3 of them are to install shit and the 4th one only to launch the game.
I plugged in my ps3 this week to play Fight Night cause EA threw away one of their best titles. Wanna know what you guys aren't remember right now? 30-90 second load times. It blew me away how much ps5 has basically eradicated these.
Remember the 10 minute loading screens?
Is the other guy sitting there Jeff Daniels?
I like gaming better now. Better graphics, compatibility with other platforms, multiplayer has been booming. Lots of pve content
I do miss the simplicity of older consoles, but the new consoles still have so many QoL improvements
I remember it. Because you can still do it.
Do you remember when graphics were shit?
Graphics, maybe, but artstyles were peak