I was about 2 decades later, but I bonded over games like Pokemon and later made many friendships in minecraft. Wish I could revisit that time. I think it’s less about any particular era in gaming - it’s about being young. Kids are still forging friendships over video games today - just different ones (although, at least in the case of my nephew, Minecraft is still one of them :D).
It always seemed like a kiddie hobby that’s not meant to be taken seriously, but apparently a bunch of people in their 20s and 30s take it very seriously.
Yes, they enjoy and will happily play me at Mario Kart for exactly the same reasons they won't play me at F-Zero.Presence of catch up mechanics role of luck, amount it rewards familiarity with the game/tracks
The one that sticks out in my mind is the original BioShock. Spoilers if you haven’t played it.
BioshockThe first thing that happens is a voice over the intercom asks, “Would you kindly pick up that weapon.” And of course you do it, or the game does not progress. The voice is very polite and resonable, helping you navigate this dank maze of horrors. “Would you kindly open that door?” “Would you kindly kill that monster?” The calm manners contrast starkly against the modern horrors you’re experiencing in the game. Of course every request seems like a great idea at the time, and of course the game ends if you fail.
Then halfway into the game, you finally meet the man behind the voice and he explains that you are a mind-controlled slave, conditions to obey any command that begins with “would you kindly…” He’s trying to destroy the tyranny of the system and commands you to kill him, sacrificing himself to free you from the control phrase. The “tutorial” seemed like it was just helpful instructions, but you didn’t really have a choice, did you? The majority of players just followed those instructions without question, never considering whether they were good choices or moral actions. And could you say no? Without the wrench, you can’t survive the first attack. Without opening the door, you remain in the first room forever. Your world is pre-ordained and tightly controlled. How much free will do you have in the game and outside of it? At what point do you stop making decisions and start following orders? And when can you stop again?
I was going to mention Bioshock too, but what I love about it is the voiceovers never pause gameplay. The worst tutorials are the ones that make you sit through cutscenes that are longer than you want to sit through.
The only thing that comes to mind is that it’s a Nintendo game and most people with Nintendo consoles don’t have access to the variety of games that the rest of us do.
They’re kind of stuck with whatever Nintendo puts out, so I guess it makes sense they would value it more.
I remember when I first bought my Gamecube… I had to sign an agreement that I would never play a non-Nintendo property again. “How could they ever enforce this?” I thought. Little did I know that the next day, the Sony SWAT Team would be bursting into my house to extract my Playstation. It was absolutely terrifying.
I haven’t played a single non-Nintendo game since.
I don’t really have time for extensive puzzle games anymore, so I watch a YouTuber named Aliensrock. He’s still playing it, and I’m so invested! It’s insane that a puzzle rougelite can work so well and be so engaging with the story and mysteries. There are multiple ways to figure out each puzzle (except one so far), which is fascinating.
In a way it’s more fair by design. In a completely fair game the most skilled player will always win. In a game like Mario Kart everyone has a chance to win.
As a kid my family wouldn’t play most games with me because I won every time. If we couldn’t do co-op mode we didnt play, and they’d still get grumbly on co-op because I’d be doing the heavy lifting and showing them up. They’d play Mario Kart and Mario Party with me though.
As an e-sport or “compare your online rank to mine and weep” dick-measurer it sucks. As a video game its very good.
You got Jazz Jackrabbit to run on the steam deck? I tried to install everything GOG had available (including 2) and had no success with heroic. Teach me your ways.
I want to shout out Left 4 Dead’s game instructor for smoothly teaching new players the game even while they’re playing with others. Get more ammo here. Use adrenaline to do stuff faster. Give Nick your pills. Rescue is coming - defend yourself! Then, once you’ve played enough, the help messages gradually become less frequent.
I’ll also shout it out for being my favourite implementation of HUD markers in any game. The icon pulses into view close to your crosshair, then flies over to the thing it’s pointing at. If it goes off-screen, the marker returns next to your crosshair, with an arrow indicating which direction to look in to see it again. A lot of other games have marker icons just suddenly appear at the spot and they crawl along the edge of the screen if the item is off-screen. The way L4D does it really draws my eyes.
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Aktywne