Video games and systems used to age so much faster in the past

[Calavera]

GTA V came out around 11 and a half years ago and it is still the newest game in the series, the graphics really don't look dated and tons of people still play it.

I remember in 2002 when Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 was released on the N64 and being absolutely amazed. I was like WOAH! That is insane that they are releasing THPS 3 and the ancient N64! The N64 would have been around 6 years old at the point and seemed absolutely ancient. By that time we had the Dreamcast,Xbox,Gamecube and PS2

Also for no reason I want to post about the Shenmue arcade games for 2025! Shenmue came out in 2000 and you could play the 1985 arcade game Space Harrier inside of Shenmue. That would be like if Shenmue IV was released in 2025 and you could play Red Dead Redemption or Fallout New Vegas !

[pixel]

The sixth generation (PS2, Xbox, GC and DC) represent the apex of 3D graphics. Those systems are the sweet spot for me. The models still hold up today with higher-resolution textures. The Xbox 360 was a champ too but too many games were brown with tons of bloom lighting.

The biggest downgrade for me was going from SNES/Genesis to the PS1. I hated polygonal graphics on the Playstation and the gameplay suffered as developers figured out the third dimension. The N64 wasn't perfect but played it much more than the PS1. Maybe my brain wasn't fully developed yet for stuff like MGS and FF7.

I definitely miss the excitement of seeing new hardware coming out.

[Calavera]

The sixth generation (PS2, Xbox, GC and DC) represent the apex of 3D graphics. Those systems are the sweet spot for me. The models still hold up today with higher-resolution textures. The Xbox 360 was a champ too but too many games were brown with tons of bloom lighting.

The biggest downgrade for me was going from SNES/Genesis to the PS1. I hated polygonal graphics on the Playstation and the gameplay suffered as developers figured out the third dimension. The N64 wasn't perfect but played it much more than the PS1. Maybe my brain wasn't fully developed yet for stuff like MGS and FF7.

I definitely miss the excitement of seeing new hardware coming out.

I agree, it is probably just because I grew up playing those systems but I really like the way Dreamcast graphics look. For example if they remade Skies of Arcadia with the exact same gameplay but made the graphics current gen and realistic I don't think it would be as good. Even a game like Crazy Taxi 1&2 if it had super realistic graphics I feel like it would lose it's charm and not be as fun to play.

I went straight from SNES to N64 so I was amazed at the graphics. PS1 while I didn't think it looked horrible I knew even back then it wasn't great. I remember in Gran Turismo 2 thinking it was kind of a shame it had all those awesome cars but they all looked like so blurry and pixelated. Then Bleem! came around and made PS1 games actually look good. I'd say the 32-bit generation is the hardest to go back to. It is too bad they didn't move Panzer Dragoon Saga over to the Dreamcast. I'd like to play it but those old 32-bit games are so clunky to play nowadays. At least they had the sense to move Shenmue to the DC. If it had stayed on the Saturn it wouldn't have been anywhere close to as amazing as it was on DC. When I first played Shenmue it was amazing. Being able to just walk around, open cabinets and drawers and look through them. Walk through town talk to people go into shops and the graphics were top notch. They still look good to this day imo. If it had stayed on Saturn it would have probably ended up as obscure and unplayed as Panzer Dragoon Saga.

The sixth generation was probably the last really big leap in graphics. I suppose you could say Xbox 360 and PS3 was also a decent leap but after that the improvements got less and less noticeable. When it was SNES to N64 it was amazing. Now it's just the same graphics as 10 years ago but now with support for 4K! :frown:

[ian]

I remember in Gran Turismo 2 thinking it was kind of a shame it had all those awesome cars but they all looked like so blurry and pixelated. Then Bleem! came around and made PS1 games actually look good. I'd say the 32-bit generation is the hardest to go back to. It is too bad they didn't move Panzer Dragoon Saga over to the Dreamcast

Gran Turismo 2 is probably the biggest example of gameplay over graphics in all of gaming.

The game was THE racing game because it was just so massive and well done in every way, except ONE... It also not only looked worse than pretty much every other racing game of 1998,1999 and 2000, but indeed looked worse than the original game from late 1997.

But even though the game looks like a slapped ass, it's still a great game even today, and far, FAR exceeds the original, and even Gran Turismo 3 as an actual racing game.
When a game is so great, you'll forgive it looking shit.

The other example of Panzer Dragoon Saga... It's a HEAPS better game than Skies of Arcadia, despite its appearance on the previous generation of hardware, it's just a better game despite looking a lot worse. Looking better might have been better (and helped sales) but it stands out as more amazing because they achieved such a damn good game on a frigging Saturn when most games of First gen 3D graphics are practically unplayable these days.

I have more hours in Minecraft than I do the entire crysis and far cry series combined...

As for systems ageing. They still age pretty quickly.
The Series X aged as useless the second it came out with a single game and then got no more... Still waiting for perfect dark and fable after 5 god damn years.
And the PS4 went from brand new to a complete waste of time in the space of only 6 years.

I dunno about any of you guys, but I was as excited for my PS5 PRO as I was my Dreamcast.
I bought my Dreamcast for my 13th birthday. I bought my PS5 pro for my 38th.(A little early)

The good thing about the Dreamcast though? It'll never age. It's as timeless now as it was a quarter of a century ago.

[pixel]

I remember in Gran Turismo 2 thinking it was kind of a shame it had all those awesome cars but they all looked like so blurry and pixelated. Then Bleem! came around and made PS1 games actually look good. I'd say the 32-bit generation is the hardest to go back to. It is too bad they didn't move Panzer Dragoon Saga over to the Dreamcast

The good thing about the Dreamcast though? It'll never age. It's as timeless now as it was a quarter of a century ago.

It has to be the polygon count with a locked-in 60 FPS. Any game with a decent poly count and a smooth framerate can compete with modern gaming, even before upscaling or a fresh texture pack.

[melancholy]

I agree, it is probably just because I grew up playing those systems but I really like the way Dreamcast graphics look. For example if they remade Skies of Arcadia with the exact same gameplay but made the graphics current gen and realistic I don't think it would be as good. Even a game like Crazy Taxi 1&2 if it had super realistic graphics I feel like it would lose its charm and not be as fun to play.

This is one of the reasons that Nintendo still thrives. Hardware limitations don’t affect them because they design their games with a style that would have fit just as well on the GameCube as it does the switch. If Microsoft remade Crazy Taxi, it would probably look like something that came out of an Unreal Engine tech demo. If Nintendo remade it, however, it would probably look like an over-saturated cartoon, and would feel perfect as a result.