The State of Gaming.

I have been a big gaming fan from the days of the nintendo entertainment system (nes) and would spend many hours trying to beat that end of level boss or get a higher score. These last few years i have become quite bored with the games released, the graphics are out of this world now, and some of the ps3 games due out make me drool.

However there is not many games out that have the gameplay to keeped me hooked. When Super mario kart was out on the super nintendo entertainment system (snes) me and my sister would play this game untill our eyes hurt, 4am one morning yet the next releases of the mario kart games while have been "good" none have came close to the original. Some Say its because i am getting older, i dont think this is true is i still hook the snes up for some retro fun. Games like mario world, donkey kong country have never been matched by the updated versions.

There are a few exeptions, these include Half-life 2, call of duty 1 & 2 (3 less so) and halo to a degree and one game that shocked me, Lego Star Wars 2 this being because it was fun to play and did not have the greatest graphics.

If i could say one thing to the game makers it would be, "stop spending the movie sized budgets on making games look real, they are not ment to be, what they are ment to be is a way to escape and fun. SO PUT GAMEPLAY BEFORE GRAPHICS.

Totally agree with ya... seems they are all (with one or two exeptions) chasing the perfect graphics and forgetting about the game play...

I did not see you as a gamer Ian.

Not so much now.. but when the kids were younger.... I'd have gave you a run for your money on the ole Mario Kart... Me and Bowzer were quite a team

Baz and I love games. I'm the "puzzle" lover in this house, and Baz loves the Command and Conquer series, plus Tiger Woods Golf and Championship Manager. We both used to LOVE Super Mario on the SNES and like you would stay up all night playing. Those were the days - games are far too serious now I reckon ....
If you want to "go back in time" try Real Arcade - believe you can find them at real.com. They have great games!

I still have my NES and the games are cool . Just bought a wii and am enjoying the latest Zelda. Also bought Myst for the PSP recently too, not as good as URU on the pc but quite addictive in terms of puzzle solving.Glad I am not the only gamer here......

Vicki, thanks i will take a look at it. I forgot to mention that the championship manager/football manager games are a fave of mine, but i can lose myself for hours.

Fudgeley, I also have a wii, i like the zelda but i dont think its a patch on the versions on the snes and n64. One game i would suggest is wario ware, very fun and addictive.

I play World of Warcraft online game. Its great and I can be on it for hours. I know what you mean though. I love PS but Tomb Raider, for instance, has lost the appeal it had at the start.

Crash Bandicoot anyone

Ahhh, I recall the days of Super Mario and Zelda on the SNES. I do actually think a large part is age. I believe that you demand more from a game as you get older, which, if absent in your youth, doesn't always matter.

That said, I feel that now it's all about the graphics, with very little emphasis placed on actual game play. I've managed to work with this by sticking to my chosen genre of games -- tactic/strategy such as Cossacks etc. In those games, the graphics tend to naturally take a back seat. (Though even in Cossacks II, they went overboard a little I feel.)