There’s no wrong or right way to enjoy games, and so many ways to find enjoyment in those games. Some people love the novelty, or the stories, graphics, music…
Based on the favorites you’ve mentioned, I feel like you really enjoy specific mechanics or the physical experience/practice of the game. Back in the day, I could spend hours running through Diablo 2, and that was entirely based on button mashing and running. Something about its pacing, interface, and the match of its challenge with my coordination just hit exactly right - difficult enough to be rewarding, easy enough that repeatedly dying didn’t frustrate me, and always another fight just seconds away. I played that for years.
Now that game launchers track my time, it’s really obvious that I like certain games for their mechanics - mostly Skyrim & Fallout - other games for sandbox/crafting - Valheim, Rimworld, X4 - hundreds of hours in each, even though I’ll try other games, at least long enough to finish their stories, once. Sometimes just because I paid for it & feel obligated to get to the end. It’s OK to have favorites.
I'm extremely picky, and I'm lucky to have a game I love to bits that's been consistent the last two decades. I don't think it's a bad thing, and I've come to accept it. I still play games socially with my friends, even if I wouldn't have played that game by myself.
I went through the same thing you did, trying games that are popular and finding that I don't enjoy them that much, and then thinking that I've become jaded and no longer enjoy games. However when I do play a game I enjoy I enjoy it very much indeed, so perhaps I'm not jaded after all.
Well, you already say it: physics games. They NEEDS to be accurate with their collision detection since they relay on it to the game to be fun. The majority of action games don’t need such accuracy cuz THAT IS NOT FUN. You know how frustrating is to swing your sword in a narrow passage in Dark Souls to it to bounce on the walls?
Also, is a extremely demanding process to calculate such precise collisions.
Maybe games with destructible structures? It depends on which is the main mechanic of the game, if it’s relays on physics, there would be accurate collision detection (or at least as accurate as it needs them to be).
The niche isnt there because its not really practical. No consumer device can run modern high poly 3D structures with full physics simulation in real time. There is a reason why the only physics sim games are very low poly. And even those are performance hungry despite custom engines.
Realistic physics for realistic looking scenes is something that you give to a renderfarm that will throw 100+ times more compute at it than the most expensive consumer GPU on the market.
If some geniuses do invent a robust framework for physics based combat which results in realistic sword swings unlike Dark Souls’ bounce/no-bounce mechanic, it will be very fun
The damage could be calculated depending on how powerful the swing was and where it hit the enemy. I fantasize about this often
Its a little bit half baked right now but it’s been under construction for the better part of a decade. I think the plan now is to use Exanima as a proof of concept and then pivot that technology into a “real” game. But I find it very fun in its current state and does exactly what you’re asking for.
Exanima is basically the prequel to the main game they are also currently working on (Sui Generis).
It’s also planned to have multiplayer after the story part is finished.
Check out Exanima.
There’s a nice video of theirs showcasing some complex object collisions - www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9-ihvHJdJE
And some neat cloth physics at about 14:25
It’s fun because of all the extra role playing stuff, the actual combat is slightly frustrating because of how slow it is. Most humans cannot wield a long sword in a very efficient manner. If you swing and miss it takes time to correct, time to compensate for momentum, by which point somebody’s probably stabbed you in the eye with a little knife.
Or you just get by an arrow because the sword is so heavy you can’t move quickly.
Limit Internet usage and avoid games and other entertainment for a few days, then go on itch.io and just play whatever. Not because it looks cool, not because it’s popular. Just anything.
Not to rain on that particular advice—it may actually work for others, I obviously do not know—but I did try that at some point, and got bored really quickly.
For anyone who hasn't tried it, I recommend doing it just to find out if you feel or notice anything interesting.
I usually only find like 2-3 interesting games out of 200, but the ones I did find were pretty sweet. Sometimes you’re not lucky and exclusively play trash.
I mainly enjoy 2 types of games, ones with replayabilty (Stellaris, Rimworld, Slay The Spire, Roguelites in General, some RPGs) and short to medium single player games which I usually only play once. If you don’t like the second category, my recommendation is definitely the wrong approach, yeah
@mohab Eh. I like what I like, which is relatively narrow, and the major industry quit catering to me 30 years ago. Luckily indies picked up the torch that AAA threw away.
Ah, man, I feel the same. I like some indie titles, but haven't run into anything I could add to my favorites except Crimzon Clover World EXplosion. Nex Machina and Furi got really close too.
I have a very similar experience to @Zarxrax. When I was younger, I’d play just about anything I could get my hands on. But now, it’s like you, where 99% of what’s out there doesn’t interest me.
I think this happened for a few reasons for me:
Games are a pretty big time commitment compared to other media, and my time has only become more valuable as I get older. I’m just not willing to invest it in a game that isn’t really scratching an itch effectively
There are more games out now than ever before in history. Combined with the previous point, there’s never been a better time to be picky.
AAA games are stagnating pretty badly due to profit incentive. While there a still some that break the mold and show artistic value, most of them are so commodified and painfully derivative, it’s difficult for an older gamer who has already played things like it to get excited
I’ve become more attuned to my preferences in genre, and know what I will and will not enjoy, which is something I didn’t have as much when I was younger, since everything was still relatively new and therefore, interesting enough to play.
But this last one is the biggest reason for me: games are not reaching the potential they have locked within them.
I say that as someone who is a massive fan of storytelling, good writing, and immersion in games. Compared to books and movies, writers are still given extremely low priority in the gaming industry, which results in a tremendous amount of cognitive dissonance, simplistic writing, and a lack of innovative gameplay inspired by said writing.
Indies have been the most willing to experiment, but that’s mostly with pure mechanics or themes, and writing is still often neglected.
There have been a few titles that I think reach that potential, but most of them are quite old now. With so few to truly tickle me in that way, I’ll instead opt for arcade type games that manage to create a tight gameplay loop, as it let’s me not lament the lack of a good story so much.
Disco Elysium (even though I personally didn’t really care for the game due to the setting, the writing is undeniably high quality)
A Mind Forever Voyaging
All of those games have, IMO, a tremendously good sync between gameplay and story, where everything lines up to the point where you can become fully absorbed into whatever experience the writer/designer crafted. I would say Thief accomplishes it the best, while Mafia’s and Deus Ex’s clunky gameplay hold them back, but I can see what they were trying to achieve, and overall are close enough to my ideal.
Oddly enough I actually pre-ordered a physical copy of Primordia, and got a ways into it before stopping for some reason. I should really go back and finish it!
Okay the other person is onto the right path but I think it’s important to understand the underlying reasons for how “backwards compatibility” works on the Xbox.
The 360 used a PowerPC architecture, which at the time was very cost effective at the time. Pretty much most things now use x86, our standard 32-bit and 64-bit CPUs are this architecture. (ARM is another type that we are seeing now).
Now, you cannot run code from one PC architecture to another, even emulated this is a very costly procedure, every call to the CPU, every call has to be translated. Even with emulation this is difficult. (Note how we’re still just now getting 360 emulators).
This is mostly why Microsoft and Sony both said no to backwards compatibility, because there was no simple way to take a disc, pop it in, and play.
So after the massive backlash (which they deserved, but also was understandable their point of view), Microsoft created their backward compatibility program. Essentially what they (or developers, not sure who did it) did, was to literally re-compile each entire game for x86, instead of PowerPC. They would then upload the bits to Microsoft, and that is what you download when playing. The disc you insert is purely for checking that you own it, after that you ignore everything else and download the x86 version which is runnable on your console.
So, it stands that backward compatibility wasn’t feasible, it still isn’t “backward compatible”. They rebuilt everything from the source code to run. A pretty massive effort on Microsoft’s part and the developers just so we could play old games. Hopefully you see too why I don’t blame Sony for not going through all of that, it’s a lot of work.
So to answer your questions:
Digitally downloaded in x86 with the disc as key
No, it is a simple recompile, from the original source code
No, since there is only the PowerPC bits on the disc, there is no way to play the game on a newer x86 cpu without downloading the x86 bits
They work the same, once compiled for x86 it works for all x86 processors. (Caveats in software engineering of course, but in this case you can assume they are the same)
Microsoft went through a ton of effort to get this working, and developers each had to pull up old projects, figure out how to build them again, and did all of this for free. I’m all for hating on Microsoft for a myriad of reasons, but this was a project that had very little profit for them but did the community a huge service. They have my thanks, and Sony has my understanding for why they didn’t do it at the time.
No, since there is only the PowerPC bits on the disc, there is no way to play the game on a newer x86 cpu without downloading the x86 bits
Something worth adding here, if you happen to know, would be if the games still work after download & install while offline. Microsoft’s been rather inconsistent with this over the years (which is part of why Xbox One fell behind PS4 at launch).
I believe so? I think? It’s been a long time. The only thing I could see that would prevent it is if they require a check when launching it, but I remember if you had the disc in that was enough for it before.
I think my tastes have remained mostly the same, it’s the industry that is losing me as a customer for two reasons:
more and more games now are based on shit that I hate - multiplayer, GaaS, micro transactions, copy and paste gameplay mechanics with new coats of paint, etc.
studios that used to make my favorite games have really gone downhill over the last decade, like Bethesda, Bioware, and maybe CDPR (hopefully the cp2077 release was just a fluke but we’ll see).
maybe CDPR (hopefully the cp2077 release was just a fluke but we’ll see).
Cyberpunk 2077 was Witcher 1 repeat tbh, people forgot Witcher 1 was a mess at launch since they patched it up a bunch and some other stuff to try to make amends
AI is not a great source to ask for any sort of factual information, just a heads up. Its good for creating new stuff, like improvising story narratives or something like being a TTRPG dungeon master, though. I just wouldn’t ever rely on anything it says to ever be factually true.
Im not an Xbox/Microsoft employee, but I will answer to the best of my knowledge. Some or all may be wrong though.
Both.
It does not transform the game at all as long as there are no bugs. Usually the only benefit is increased internal resolution, and sometimes increased framerate Everything else is identical to the original release.
AFAIK, no. When you install the game it doesn’t actually copy the files, it downloads them because some of the files are patched. No internet means you cant download. I think it also needs occasional connection to check. I do think you can play offline but not for 20 years straight.
To my knowledge, no, there is no significant difference. I think it probably is exactly identical, actually. It is however, different from how backwards compatibility worked on the Xbox 360. It is significantly improved.
Cross-generational System Link. Its cool being able to have one player on Original Xbox and one on Series X in the same game.
In reference to point 2 I would like to ask you a question: do the x86 versions that are downloaded offer improvements over the original X360 games in terms of image contrast (notoriously dark on that platform) and audio? PS3 games sounded better at the time due to blurays and audio chip.
It is exactly the same game. Audio quality will be identical to the X360 release.
The picture may be a bit brighter, I haven’t noticed the X360 being darker. But picture output is effected by the emulator in the same way that picture output on a N64 emulator will appear brighter than a real N64 plugged into the composite plugs on an LED TV.
I’ve found that as I got older, my taste in games has narrowed significantly. I used to be able to play pretty much anything, or especially any popular or critically acclaimed games. But these days I just don’t give a shit about most of what’s out there. I do have certain genres and developers that interest me though, so I know there are occasionally going to be some new games that I really like. And every now and then I might get surprised by something too.
I suspect this is a natural result of having much more limited time as we become adults. I used to love all kinds of games too, but today if I feel like a game doesn’t respect my time it gets thrown right onto the “no thanks” pile.
It’s limited time, but also the selection these last few years has felt very uninspired. Everything is extremely derivative and been done to death.
There was a mass consolidation of developers/publishers recently, on top of further extended development cycles that has really limited any kind of variety we might have seen.
You can only play reskins of essentially the same game for so long. Not to mention recycling gameplay loops microtransaction hell toxic multiplayer experience (cheating griefing), makes for a minefield of unplesant game experiences. Sticking to what you like and know is how you get enjoyment out of playing.
Does it not feel weird sometimes to be disconnected from the gaming zeitgeist? Like, we can obviously still follow news and whatnot, but I'm particularly talking about having no significant emotional investment in contemporary releases—in other words: being disconnected from the hype of announcements and release cycles.
I know people consider this a blessing in this age of hyper-consumerism, but there's a communal aspect to it that I like, and it often feels odd to not be part of it.
Not weird for me. I don’t play anymore at all. Don’t even have a system to do so. But, I watch YouTube videos about games and game facts or speed running every night before bed. I know more about games now than when I actually played them. I just don’t have time for them anymore but that doesn’t mean they don’t interest me. I lost my passion for playing games years ago but not the idea of it. I don’t know or care about the hype but I just find it terribly interesting via others hype or interest in these games. If that makes sense.
Like, we can obviously still follow news and whatnot
I stopped following the news first, then largely lost interest in new games after that. After TotalBiscuit passed I haven’t seen a single thing about video game news or reviews. If there’s something I’m interested in I might skim through a review, but that’s the most I do.
I used to buy tons of games and I enjoyed them all. These days I rarely buy any, unless it’s something that’s really got my attention. But I’ve got a ton of old games to play.
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