Anyone remember Stunt Car on the Amiga? (there was an Atari ST and a c64 version too, would you believe). Well, it's making a comeback. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=1500
I loved this game - you basically drove a stunt car at ridiculous speeds around some of the most incredible tracks.. we're talking gigantic loops, and huge, huge ramps where you would go airborne for ages! You'd also have to position where you left the ramp well, because when you land, you had a moment of uncrontrollable bounce - so you needed to land on a spot where there was plenty of track left [:)]. Anyway, it was a big hit on the 16bit machines, and I'm kinda surprised that no one has done something like it since (unless I'm mistaken).
There are a few old games making comebacks too. Rygar, The Last Ninja to name just two..
What old favourite games do you have that you wish they would do a remake/sequel to?
Yes... all of those SNES rpgs were AWESOME!! Maybe the Lost Vikings could make a comeback too.
Battletoads (I've gone all consoley now) too maybe, if they did it right.
I used to love games like Crystal Caves and Secret Agent... maybe they could make some of those.
Anything but Operation Wolf. :D
Scott.
Stunts, that was a cool game, i liked it when u landed on the corner of something and then bounced back with twice the speed you landed with, so you'd fly into the air until all you could see of the map was this tiny little dot on the screen.
Haha, and whats wrong with operation wolf?
I think they should remake a bunch of the old JLM games i used to play back in the day, like JetPack and Dogs of War.
A game I'd like to see them do a sequel (or better yet, a remake) would be of a turn based RPG called Perihelion, by Psygnosis (on the Amiga also). It was a mature, dark, post apocalyptic RPG (no happy love story, or fun characters.. I don't think there was a single joke in the entire game [:)]).. Amazing story, fantastic artwork, and incredible atmosphere (the music contributed a lot to this). The game was seriously freaky, but I loved it.
Can't sleep... clown will eat me...
This is exactly why the games industry is falling flat on its haemmorhoidal arse, there is a drought of new ideas.
Old games really did have some good, original ideas, but lets not get sentimental. They worked in their zone. They still work there, simply because the ideas were a perfect match for the tech they were coded for.
We have much more to work with now, and sony (I know as pretentious as it sounds) is thinking along the right lines with creating emotions. (latest zelda game? ico?) If you compare the wealth of fiction in books and movies that use the basic storylines offered by Shakespeare, then the same can be applied to games.
But then Shakespeare didn't see interactive entertainment coming. What would he have done then?
Understand the powers of nostalgia, it is much rosier in hindsight, but it leads to backward thinking.
We have new powers at our fingertips, and new toys. This calls for new thinking.
The games industry is falling flat on its haemmorhoidal arse (in terms of innovation) because publishers are relying on safe and bankable genres.. and you can't blame them I guess, because hey, a lot of risk and money is involved..
I'm sure there are tonnes of innovative game ideas out there, but most will unfortunately never see the light of day. There's an independant games developer competition that's been held annually for a few years now (the name of competition escapes me atm). Lots of innovative and creative games entered over the years, none of which (even those that won the competition) have received any publishing interest..
quote:Originally posted by Bite Me
Old games really did have some good, original ideas, but lets not get sentimental. They worked in their zone. They still work there, simply because the ideas were a perfect match for the tech they were coded for.
Old games made for new tech that have become successful : Tomb Raider (which is basically Prince of Persia, Flashback in 3D), Soul Caliber 2 and all the fighting games (Street Fighter 2).. Grand Theft Auto 3(GTA 1, 2.. I'd throw in Mercenary (C64) and Hunter (Amiga) in there).. Mario 64 (Super Mario Bros).. Fun games translate to any new tech, I say.
I think old games should make a comeback, at least for the handheld platforms. Because naturally the handheld platforms (GBA, Nokia etc) lend themselves to quick bursts of gaming, so the older more arcadey games naturally lend themselves to that sort of gameplay, where you can pick them up, play a level, a match, or just start from scratch (like pong).
The other thing with the winners of the Independent games contests is that their games are usually far out or whacky, kind of like how abstract art is compared to regular art (like that milk spewing guy on the tabloid newscasts), or really made for a specific purpose (like for the blind etc). These contests are also balanced against mainstream games because the prizes are awarded for innovation, rather than just a really good product.
I'd bet that there are a lot of innovative mainstream games out there, just that they don't have the publicity to sell really well and be acknowledged by the mass gaming public, and aren't far out "whackyily innovative" to compete in the independant games contests (also being published, however poorly, disqualifies you from the contests).
Me and my brother were having a dicussion somewhat pertinent to this subject a couple of days ago. The development process of computer games is a creative one, not necessarily artistic, but definitely a creative one. The reason behind computer games sucking sphincter hole right now is that the creativity has been ceased for commercial reasons. While the focus is on the cash (and unfortunately it is for various reasons) it's going to be the same old re-hashes of already-covered material again and again.
Q : Who here thinks Britney Spears creates emotive, original and thoughtful music?
I'm guessing no one :)
There is plenty of different original games out there, but they are not "noteable" -> the same way that alot of good musicians out there now-a-days aren't noteable either. It's just looking at similarities between creative media.
As for the old games and not getting sentimental? I agree, partially, but I also don't agree.
I think that there needs to be good new creative stuff out there, but alot of the old games laid down some excellent ground work. Alot of them were very good, under-successful and could easily pass as new games nowadays if they had a face-lift. I think using an already created environment, and an already created history/backdrop for a game is good - carrying on a bit of storyline is okay, as long as it's not at typical hollywood sequel.
Totally rehashing the same idea and 'game mechanic' (as I call it) is not good. It lacks creativity and ultimately won't be a very good game either. Alot of mistakes were made back in the old days of game making, and some of our childhood memories (sentimentality) make us blur over what actually is a seriously flawed game, but we loved 'em anyway.
p.s. Stunts was cool :) Something like GTA3 is as close as we get nowadays - in fact, GTA3 probably could've used a few more of 'Stunts' ideas and it could've been even better. It always pays to check out what games have been made in the past to polish up the games of the future.
I totally agree there Maitrek, the current stock of games out there is a rehash of old concepts, at the moment we have one FPS with about a thousand faces, it really sux. RTS well while they are good are definetly lacking originality, Dune 2 Rocked, and a few after that, but nothing recent. What does the industry need?
EG:
Fighter, Platform, Strategy, RPG, Simulation, with strategic elements ? hmmmmm
Whilst I think originality and creativity is a good thing it always stems from previous experiences. What needs to happen is to step back in to the past and get some experimental game concepts from back, then. Than try to rebuild it into something current and playable.
Just think on that one how would someone intergrate these concepts, frankly there is an extreme degree of problems that will arise, not to mention how complex the final system to play would be.
The old games all had one thing in common Playability and Replayability, what we have now is getting slowly further and further from it.
Defining What is fun is a very difficult task,
besides maybe
#define What_is_fun 43
But seriously what is fun for one group of gamers is completely different to any other group or person.
On the note of rehashing old stuff.. Have a look at blizzards site, they now have a classic section where they are re releasing old games to GBA, eg The Lost Vikings.
I have noticed that one of my faves is coming back, on a not so new platform, PS2 :)
(Robin Hood) Defender of the Crown, clasic 4 colour game from way back when i was knee high or so, but that had game play. Stunts was great loved it, Ikari warriors, etc.
Dig dug, Death Track all great games. I most have done close to 200 leagues in Death Track.
What is revolutionary is true creativity, or mabe stealing concepts from else where. DDR is a classic case of that, Clubbing and dancing. Now Dance Routine games.. SCARY,
Where else could we pull ideas from ??
Anway I though a would put a couple of cents into the conV
0xBaaDf00d
I love playing old games, they just get straight to the point.
Coin in, thumbs working, I'm smiling.
Only a handful of recent games do the same, so I can see the attraction of bringing the chemistry that old games have to the new formats. But isn't this defeating the purpose?
Why do new formats/ extra technology exist? We seem to enjoy old classics more, and have a soft spot for them even if they sometimes don't play out exactly like we thought they would.
Q;Why are we all buying into the new stuff?
Q;why are my ears pricking up at the thought of a PS3?
A;The hope of a fresh new gaming classic
Monkeyball, good idea, thumbs up, but its a rarity these days.
Sure, the publishers can keep on about risk/development cost ratios, but come on, the big guns EA/Sony/THQ et al, could try something a little daring once in a while. Every game developer I know has two or three original ideas that they're gagging to make.
The most singular problem is that every development studio / publisher can't afford to have it's own niche in the market, from where it earns the bread and butter profits, (zelda, tomb raider etc) so that it's more risque titles can go to development w/out pressure. But, once a studio has its niche it can rely on it too much, to the point of commercial distraction. This is a flaw of the current business heavy system in place in the studios. The profits blind, the suits scream for more.
here's my other $0.02...
I think there'll be more underground development coming our way,
smaller teams using available game technology.
There is a space for the classics but remember, they're just the classics. Wanna see more of them? Don't sell your old consoles.
Me? I want fresh.
ps I forgot to add, after our second published game, years ago, we, due to inexperience and almost necessary reliance on proven licenses, were toying with the idea of remaking Stunt Car Racer, (see first post)
We had the tech, it was just a question of convincing the license originator, Geoff Crammond.
I'll bet we would have been waiting in a queue even then.
New idea, pah!
Some more old games getting reworked..
The new adventures of Zak Mckracken (free, fan made sequel) www.gamershell.com/news_BTheNewAdventuresofZakMc.shtml
R-Type Final www.gamers.com/news/1351621 (this looks awesome)
Each gaming platform has its limitations and advantages,
And a different kind of thinking and puzzle solving for each.
When you take something like pitfall for instance and remake it for a ps2 it would not hold much chop this is because its a totally different gaming experience the limitations have been removed and therefore the expectations are much higher.
I think developers should be concentrating on new ideas and concepts instead of rehashing on past memories and cashing in on our childhood experiences.
This does not mean that the games old should be forgotten though,
I still pull out my 2600 every now and again and get into breakout.
And stunt car racer networked between 2 old hotted up Atari?s was great.
When you look at our current games you can see that they are the evolved form of our old c64 and amiga platforms.
if we are using the same code why use the same old concepts, it just doesn?t make sense to me?
Its sterilizing our imagination and making me wonder if the idea well is running that dry?
nannoo nannoo
Very short $0.02
I don't think the idea well is running dry - it's really just the whole industry isn't paying much attention to it.
On top of that, there's other issues involved.
The market/consumers doesn't respond well to different products. There's a perceived risk from their point of view as well. They haven't tried this type of game before, it might not be worth shelling out up to (and sometimes over) $80 to give it a shot. The way games are marketed, and the way they are sold, and presented in general really doesn't promote different gaming products when you think carefully about it.
Commercialism leads to saturation, that's only the natural progression of things, and it even happened in the "good ol' days". Sometimes you just have to say that the original is the best I guess.
If you haven't tried a game I would suggest grabbing a demo of it, however demos are now around the 100-200 meg mark, so downloading them (even if you've got broadband) is an expensive ordeal, (if you don't get gaming magazines). And I agree $80 is a lot to shell out for a game that you don't know how its going to be.
hehehhe, i put some serious time into 'stunt car' (amiga) and finished the chapionship (8 tracks) and then you got a car that went about twice as fast and the track was blue... (ever wonder why some jumps had a landing, and then another landing further down the track, that was why)
some neat levels, but 'drawbridge' was evil, and 'sky jump' was insane....
quote:If you haven't tried a game I would suggest grabbing a demo of it, however demos are now around the 100-200 meg mark, so downloading them (even if you've got broadband) is an expensive ordeal, (if you don't get gaming magazines). And I agree $80 is a lot to shell out for a game that you don't know how its going to be.
This is my whole point summed up right here basically. When it comes to marketing games, we are preaching to the converted. The only people who try out these games or have a look into them, are people who are already into games (ie collect gaming mags, have way too much internet bandwidth etc etc). Alternative games for oft ignored gaming markets are being marketed to people who play the mass-commercialised stuff, they aren't being marketed in a casual-gamer friendly manner.
quote:Originally posted by spacecaptsteve
I'm really keen on seeing a third Halloween Harry game. I've got about 4 different attempts to get that project going on my hard drive but we never seemed to be able to get the momentum going on any of them. :(
You should do it before 2005.. it'll be a 20th anniversary thing! (20 years since the first Halloween Harry game.. now THAT is a long time. [:)])
Chrono Trigger, I'm playing it again on my snes emulator, its awesome.
Crude busters was a cool arcade beat'em up I'd like to see again(also known as 2 crude dudes)
Bionic commando and rastan saga