The person who invented Pong calls Modern Video Games 'Pure, Unadulterated Trash' and I tend to agree, do you?

Question

I remember when my dad bought me an Atari 7800 when I was little and I used to play centipede and Asteroids in the living room. He told me he can still hear that song in his head. I used to ask him to try and even though he wasn't that good at it I fount it fun playing games with him. When I got the NES, Genesis, and early computer games (like Xwing) it was the same thing.

Eventually games started becoming like soldier of fortune and these hardcore, really violent games that I wouldn't really want my parents to see me playing. Since I was a teenager I played some of them just because I felt like I shouldn't be playing them.

Now that I'm in my mid 20's I still play games, but I've found that most are these hardcore games that are more like tech demos than fun to play games. I would never get the whole family together to play any of these new games. I think the Wii has sold so well because people can all play it together.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,304476,00.html

Answer 1

Being raised in the "Atari age" I can say firsthand, that games have indeed come a long way. But it is a double edged sword. as graphics got better and better, gameplay has suffered. If you look at the best, long living games they all have one thing in common. You can pick them up play them for a while, and put them down after awhile feeling satisfied. Whereas games like Warcraft and the like dominate people's spare time. Some games nowaday are so incredibly frustrating, they are not appealing to the gamers from my generation. Rpg's are fun, but demand long and tiring sessions waiting to get to the next save point. Games like GRAW, are too complicated for most, and they feel more like they are doing work than having fun. Not to say that games are no longer fun, But this is why Bushnell thinks games are trash, and to a point I agree.

But games like Resident evil, Halo, and almost anything on the wii are for those casual gamers that just want to play for awhile, then go do something else. Graphics do not a game make, but these three have killer graphics, as well as suitable control that most can pick up and play. I think Micro$oft has the right attitude, make something for everyone

Answer 2

You have fond memories of the Atari 7800? Well you know i think we all remember our first or early systems and somehow think things used to be so much better. My question is, have you actually gone back and played most of those games that you remember so well? Ya they pretty much suck now, with the exception of the few whose gameplay has aged quite well.

Its called evolution, and while i agree some games focus more on the visual aspects nowadays, there are still a lot of AWESOME stuff being put out. I play my 360 all the time thanks to awesome games like Oblivion, Bioshock, Halo 3, Skate, Forza 2, etc etc. There was a lot of trash back with the Atari as well... remember that atari game "custer's revenge"? You basically ran from one side of the screen as naked custer and dodged arrows so you could rape a tied up indian woman... there always has and always will be garbage.

I think you just get a lot of negativity towards videogames because of the generation gap and a lot of the baby boomers not having experienced games themselves look down on it. Its like the comic books during the 60's when parents thought it was all garbage and rotted kids brains.

And as far as im concerned, I feel the Wii is a step backwards for gaming. Don't get me wrong i have nothing against family friendly games, and I even have a few on my 360, but what the Wii is doing is making it easy for companies to port tons of mediocre games and tacking on lame motion controls to them, or just pushing out minigame compilations with no effort put in. You might have Twilight Princess or Excite Truck to brag about, but 75% of the wii's game library is a cesspool of last gen leftovers.

So please, while i respect all of the pioneers who made games and revolutionized the medium 30 years ago, i dont think its fair for him to call all games trash. The only reason pong is so tame is because of technology. If we had the consoles that we do now back then, you wouldnt have games like pong with 1 white ball and two paddles on a blank screen.

Answer 3

I'm in my thirties and i can still hear the song from locoroco in my head.
There's plenty of depth, fun and intelligence in games now that wasn't possible before.
Wii is an obvious example, but the truth is all the big companies are trying to broaden their range to bring all sorts of games to the biggest audience they can. (you only need look at titles like Singstar and Buzz)
The biggest problem is in tarring all games with the same violent brush when patently they aren't.
Keep your pong, i'll take Virtua tennis 3

Answer 4

no, at least not exactly. while there are some bad (inappropriate) games out there (M rated, some t rated), it is possible to find good well made games. take mario for example, and zelda, and viva piñata. yeah, that's why the wii sells so well, because it has hardly any m-rated titles. systems like playstation and xbox sell well to older kids, for their mature ratings.
but not all games are like this.

Answer 5

Since that guy is the one that started the video game rage I would say his comments are just a little Hippocratic wouldn't you? I think he's just mad hie royalty take isn't as much as it once was.

Answer 6

There are some trashy ones, however there are some pretty good ones.

The guy who said that is probably thinking that he was the first, and all others are just pretenders.

Answer 7

Im with you