The Year in Gaming

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Posted by Zonk on Thursday December 23, 2004 @03:39AM from the another-year-another-level dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CNN/Money's Game Over column looks at some of the gaming trends of 2004, including the prevalence of sex and sequels. Writer Chris Morris provides some follow-up as well, discussing the sad, sad sales numbers of "Singles," "The Guy Game" and "Leisure Suit Larry"; the odds of another Playboy magazine video game girls layout and whatever happened to the ApeXtreme." Gamespot has a nice Year in Review piece as well, and we've already previously mentioned Grimwell.com's MMORPG Year in Review.

4 of 19 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Dont forget! by Richie1984 · 2004-12-23 03:50 · Score: 2, Insightful

Gamespot failed to mention the continuing trend in game related court action, such as blaming game developers for all sorts of evils in society, and while this isn't unique to the 2004 gaming year, the rise in both subtle and blatent sexual/violent overtones in games, mentioned by Slashdot, can only help to fuel this trend. Even though the sales numbers for games with heavy sexual content are remarkably low, I doubt it'll stop any parents groups from using them as a scapegoat sometime soon.

--
I'm not stressed. I'm just terribly, terribly alert.
Re:So... modern by boarder8925 · 2004-12-23 04:15 · Score: 2, Insightful

So, here we are at the end of 2004, and the hottest game trend out there is those tiny self-contained units that play C-64, NES, Atari games.

That is what the videogame revolution has brought us: the ability to run the old 8-bit games from 1988 on our TV but with smaller hardware.
Exactly. People who grew up in the early days of video games are jumping to buy their childhood memories again, either for themselves or their children. Hey, those games are pretty addicting. =)

"What's old is new again," my friend.

--
Keep your eyes to the sky.
Re:So... modern by AtariAmarok · 2004-12-23 04:18 · Score: 2, Insightful

"Hey, those games are pretty addicting. =)"
Seriously, way too many modern games on all platforms look pretty bad: so many have just about everything in colors that vary little from dark gray. The "muddy look" reigns. Not all games suffer from it, but many do.

--
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Re:So... modern by hal2814 · 2004-12-23 05:18 · Score: 3, Insightful

It's because most newer games have adandoned any notion of simple, addictive gameplay. When's the last time you played a game that could be played with one or two buttons and a joystick? These classic games are a nice diversion to showcase what's missing from today's games. I'm not saying that gaming should revert to its one-button-plus-joystick glory, but it's nice to have a few fast, simple games to play from time to time.