Where Have All The Good Games Gone?

"Oh no! Jump, jump. Jump now! Otherwise, Commander Keen will die!!!"

Commander Keen - an all time classic!

Ah, the good old days. I still remember the times when my brothers and I used to literally shout and jump around when we gathered together in front of our 80286 AT machine to have a game or two on Apogee's Commander Keen.

By today's standard, the graphics were nothing to shout about. Some of the first few games I played only supported 16 colours! And they all used only 2D sprites! Even the sound effects were only cleverly manipulated tones of beeps via the PC' speakers. There weren't any 3D games until Wolfenstein 3D came along. But even then, it wasn't really a true 3D-rendered game! Sound effects? Today we even have 5.1 directional audio with the likes of DOOM 3. But back then, even owning a stereo sound card was a luxury!

So, some of you might wonder why I'm writing a rant about today's state of gaming compared to the yesteryears when the advancements of computers and audio have come so far over the past two decades? Well, in a way, I'm writing this rant because of these advancements!

Think about it. What made you play those games on Nintendo and Atari game machines back in the good old days? Why would someone keep playing for hours and hours on a side-scrolling game that only supported 16 colours and has beeps for its sound effects? Why do I, even now, have the urge to go back and play those games?

Because they're fun to play! That's why - they are F-U-N!