Enjoyment of old games

[Scottish29]

My first thread so I'm hoping it's a good one and hopefully get some good conversations going from this.

As I said in my introduction I found this via watching YouTube video of Dan//Mushy playing Max Power Racing and he mentioned here so if you see this or anyone who has seen Dan//Mushy please let him know someone wants to thank him for the videos, it really took me down memory lane and watching videos of a game I played so much as a primary school kid in the U.K mid/late 90's really was amazing to watch.

Anyway back to the subject in hand and old games that I genuinely loved so much I spent hours on end playing and at times taking the game too seriously, literally!!

L.M.A. Manager 2007 is one of the those games that I took seriously, pad with pen and taking time to plan fixtures, teams, transfers and other stuff in relation to the game (which I still do to this day on FM 20) L.M.A Manager 2007 I truthfully spent so much time on the game back when I was a kid I could name every player in the teams in the Scottish Leagues and in the English Leagues, using different tactics and formations for different games and different scenarios, on the weekends (Friday nights and Saturday nights) I'd be on the Xbox 360 for around 13 hours straight getting through half a season and spending time in the Transfer Market doing wheeling and dealing.

L.M.A Manager 2007 I still have for Xbox 360 but can't be bothered to plug into my TV and also need a few new controllers for the Xbox 360 but recently I tried to get it for PC, I got it installed but couldn't get it loaded and play (laptop was bought for FM 20 so it should be ok for L.M.A Manager because it's not like a racing game)

If anyone can help that would be amazing I'd be really greatful.

So what games did you spent multiple hours on end playing? Would you still play it to this day? Do games with that nostalgia feeling best being left alone?


Scottish29

[MrFlibble]

I tried to get it for PC, I got it installed but couldn't get it loaded and play

You might want to make a topic in the Get Games to Work section and describe your problem in detail. Windows 10 does have issues with legacy compatibility, assuming you have Windows 10 that is. Sometimes it's really easier to run old Windows games in Wine rather than modern Windows.

DxWnd might be of help too.

[486 player]

So what games did you spent multiple hours on end playing? Scottish29

When I complete a game I'll change to next and replay up to years later.

Would you still play it to this day? Scottish29

If I'd like manager games, yeah.

Do games with that nostalgia feeling best being left alone?Scottish29

No. It depends on game (technology/game play advancement). When I once played Galaga as young kid, I enjoyed considerably when I got another ship next to current, but over a decade later it felt lackin' o' fun. I still may play Champ Galagon, if I feel so today though.

[Scottish29]

I tried to get it for PC, I got it installed but couldn't get it loaded and play

You might want to make a topic in the Get Games to Work section and describe your problem in detail. Windows 10 does have issues with legacy compatibility, assuming you have Windows 10 that is. Sometimes it's really easier to run old Windows games in Wine rather than modern Windows.

DxWnd might be of help too.

Thank you for your response MrFlibble

I can't remember what the exact issue was but something about the install.exe not being the correct one and I couldn't play it, I'll try and upload again and note exactly what it says, Yes Windows 10 (updates frequently)

So what games did you spent multiple hours on end playing? Scottish29

When I complete a game I'll change to next and replay up to years later.

Would you still play it to this day? Scottish29

If I'd like manager games, yeah.

Do games with that nostalgia feeling best being left alone?Scottish29

No. It depends on game (technology/game play advancement). When I once played Galaga as young kid, I enjoyed considerably when I got another ship next to current, but over a decade later it felt lackin' o' fun. I still may play Champ Galagon, if I feel so today though.

Thank you 486 player for your response.

Some games when I complete I rarely go back to for numerous reasons or just simply grown board of it, but with the L.M.A Manager games and all football manager games the A.I is the interesting thing, tactics for 1 game might not work the following, so for instance if I'm Manager of Newcastle United and I play a 4-4-2 against Everton and win 3-1 then the next game it might not work at lets say Leeds United or Middlesbrough.

I used to do different challenges (I liked to challenge myself) and get from bottom League to the top League, and I took the game so serious I literally sat for hours mapping out fixtures and players and so on, really did spent so much time on Managerial games in my opinion it's one of the batter simulation games because as I said nothing is guaranteed.

Suppose it makes sense about not playing if you don't like L.M.A Manager or any other Managerial types of games maybe I wasn't at good at asking the question properly I meant like any game you played and loved all them years ago, would you revisit it further down the line? There is no right or wrong answer it's all subjective which is the beautiful thing about video games because if everyone loved and hated same games the gaming world would be boring.

Some people say that reliving games from the past is a bad thing because you run the risk of hating it because it's hard not to compare graphics and gaming developers ethos's and I agree to a certain extent, but not all games would be rubbish in this day in age in comparison to 20 years ago, look at Fifa for example, back in the 2000's Fifa had arcade style of Fifa which I absolutely loved, balloon balls and invisible walls and not to mention Fifa Lounge (my cousin and I used them frequently, especially Lounge so we'd set League of 12 - 6 of my teams v 6 of his teams) and we'd set some scenarios up and it was really fun but nowadays Fifa is so realistic, which I enjoy don't get me wrong but I also feel that Fifa should bring back some of the arcade stuff so friends can play and have a laugh and so on.

[MrFlibble]

Scottish29, I have merged your replies into a single post; in the future, please refrain from double posting (making two consecutive posts in a short time) unless absolutely necessary. You should be able to edit your posts, please use that function instead.

To reply to your original question, I've never thought of games as something that you play through and put aside for good, like watching a movie. I like games with high repay potential that I can go back to from time to time, or play frequently. From this perspective, the notion of "old" games is a bit useless because it does not matter for me when a game came out; whether I like it or not (and want to play or not) is more important.

That said, there are games which I used to play a lot some ten or fifteen years ago, and haven't touched since for various reasons (in some cases, because this or that game no longer works on modern Windows versions without some effort/research/workaround, or not even then). It's nice to put a game a side and look at it after a while and digest the past experience with it. In some cases, I think of these: I'm not really keen to play this any more, if only for nostalgic reasons, as I know it basically inside and out; or I don't want to spend time on it if there's something I haven't tried out yet -- and now I feel very clearly that I have a lot less free time than fifteen years ago when I was a university student An example of such a game would be the original Red Alert.

I have no issue with graphics, because it's modern graphics that is lacking, not the old ones for me.

But sometimes I get this feeling that a game is outdated, conceptually. For example, I checked out a couple of demos o KKnD2. KKnD is basically a Red Alert clone that came out in 1997, and the second part is a sequel from 1998-1999. From what I played, it's an okay game, but it hardly introduced any changes to the original 1997 formula (which itself basically dates back to 1995 with the original Command & Conquer), so I could not get off the feeling that it must have been already outdated at the time of its release, as it came out at the same time or even later than StarCraft.

[Scottish29]

Scottish29, I have merged your replies into a single post; in the future, please refrain from double posting (making two consecutive posts in a short time) unless absolutely necessary. You should be able to edit your posts, please use that function instead.

To reply to your original question, I've never thought of games as something that you play through and put aside for good, like watching a movie. I like games with high repay potential that I can go back to from time to time, or play frequently. From this perspective, the notion of "old" games is a bit useless because it does not matter for me when a game came out; whether I like it or not (and want to play or not) is more important.

That said, there are games which I used to play a lot some ten or fifteen years ago, and haven't touched since for various reasons (in some cases, because this or that game no longer works on modern Windows versions without some effort/research/workaround, or not even then). It's nice to put a game a side and look at it after a while and digest the past experience with it. In some cases, I think of these: I'm not really keen to play this any more, if only for nostalgic reasons, as I know it basically inside and out; or I don't want to spend time on it if there's something I haven't tried out yet -- and now I feel very clearly that I have a lot less free time than fifteen years ago when I was a university student An example of such a game would be the original Red Alert.

I have no issue with graphics, because it's modern graphics that is lacking, not the old ones for me.

But sometimes I get this feeling that a game is outdated, conceptually. For example, I checked out a couple of demos o KKnD2. KKnD is basically a Red Alert clone that came out in 1997, and the second part is a sequel from 1998-1999. From what I played, it's an okay game, but it hardly introduced any changes to the original 1997 formula (which itself basically dates back to 1995 with the original Command & Conquer), so I could not get off the feeling that it must have been already outdated at the time of its release, as it came out at the same time or even later than StarCraft.

Ok MrFlibble, I'm new to forums so I'll try and merge them myself but if I don't then please excuse the ignorance, but I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Red Alert and Command & Conquer games my parents played religiously back in the day, My Dad still plays Age Of Empires from 1997 I think is when the game was released, Looking back over the many hundreds of games I've played there is so many I'd play again mainly for nostalgia but also to challenge myself and see if I remember certain things about the game.

I myself have been long-term unemployed so I've always got time to but I don't play many games I'm not a COD type of player or anything like that I'm mainly F1 but anytime I do try games I don't tend to play them very long.

Graphics has majorly improved since 2000, like back then everything looked pixelated and stuff now everything looks so realistic which for certain games is wonderful, like many times I've streamed F1 racing on YouTube and my Facebook people think it's an actual real-life F1 race until I point out it's me racing but back then I feel games focused on the additional stuff put into the game rather than realistic content and that I feel kind of spoils games but again that's subjective.

[MrFlibble]

Red Alert and Command & Conquer games my parents played religiously back in the day, My Dad still plays Age Of Empires from 1997 I think is when the game was released

Cool, AoE is one of my favourites too! I gave away the CD I had (AoE + RoR + AoK + Conquerors) to one of my friends a while ago though; I had no time to play at all at the time, and thought it'd be better to give it away than to have it lying around and gathering dust like that. I still have the two demos with unique levels so if I want to relive the nostalgia I'll go for those I guess. Haven't decided on whether I want the re-releases -- they seem good but I'm not a fan of Steam.

now everything looks so realistic which for certain games is wonderful

It's likely true for games that aim for realism like racing or flight sims. I still have a soft spot for retro style visuals; and many games seem to look overly generic with "realistic" 3D graphics. Like I come across various fantasy RPGs in the GOG catalogue from time to time, and they all look the same to me (well, maybe the fact my PC won't handle this level of graphics is a factor too ). Compare with the "pixely" stuff where you clearly see the art style, e.g. Might and Magic vs. Ishar vs. Realms of Arkania:


I grew up playing F-19 Stealth Fighter and Prince of Persia. For the former, new flight sims are not made with similar graphics (unless it's a fan/open source game, but even then it's pretty rare), for the obvious reasons that the simulation genre demands to look as realistic as possible. For the latter, there have been modern remakes with 3D models and dynamic lighting etc. They are nice I guess but they fail to capture the original's charm IMO. Again, compare this to the SNES version, which has "improved" but still pixel-y graphics in a very good-looking style.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the advancement in graphics. For example, the hardware-accelerated 3D mode in JetFighter III looks amazing to me, even decades after the original release. But I feel that today we've hit the ceiling with improvements in the visuals department. Recently someone shared a video of the first level from Return to Castle Wolfenstein remade in UE4. Doesn't seem like an improvement to me TBH. There's motion blur everywhere -- is this for "realism" or just a performance optimisation? Also there are some odd perspective warps during movement which I don't know what are supposed to mean. At any rate, these new visuals seem to add nothing essential to gameplay.