How broad is your love

[Fry Crayola]

I thought I was clear - you're talking about the game mechanics, not the art style.

 

Either that, or you really do want your games to use completely different art styles to everything that's ever gone before, which I think would be silly, so I'm going with the first.

 

You mentioned Fez and Obra Dinn, both games you acknowledge you like because they do something new, not because they look like something new. At the same time, you say that 90% of pixel art games, you've played before. These all speak to conflating the art style with the mechanics. And yeah, a lot of old-school platformer revivals also use the art style that was prevalent at the time, because their selling point is generally "remember liking this? Try liking it again today". By labelling them all as "pixel art", it's like defining an entire literary genre by their covers. 

[Not Thread Owner]

I'll play pretty much anything. Even shite. I don't tend to go for sports games, or survival horror, and the majority of what would be classed as "AAA" is of no interest to me any more but it's as much the price as the content that puts me off.

 

I'm happiest with old games and indie games and anything quirky.

 

It baffles me the shit that kids play though. You get people on here moaning that games aren't 60fps or are 1440p not 4K and yet kids will play the jankiest, IAP-riddled, buggy shite and not give a fuck. And even "proper" games they play are janky shit - Fortnite, Roblox, Among Us. There's a nugget of fun there but so, so badly put together.

[Thor]

17 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

I thought I was clear - you're talking about the game mechanics, not the art style.

 

Either that, or you really do want your games to use completely different art styles to everything that's ever gone before, which I think would be silly, so I'm going with the first.

What? No, I'm absolutely talking about the art style. I thought that was clear. For me, there's no reason to make games with pixel art anymore, the technology/dev tools available now are way past that. So people making games with that art style are just backward looking. I want new and innovative games, I just don't want them to look like they were made to run on a C64 or a Master System. I've played those games, I'm done with them. But sometimes a game comes along that breaks through that (Fez, and DeKay just mentioned Among Us which is also bloody great).

[Lying Cat]

2 minutes ago, Thor said:

For me, there's no reason to make games with pixel art anymore, the technology/dev tools available now way past that. 

 

What a strange perspective - does not compute this end at all. More technology means there are more choices available, but shouldn't constrain and doesn't dictate which ought to be used.

[thesnwmn]

12 minutes ago, Thor said:

What? No, I'm absolutely talking about the art style. I thought that was clear. For me, there's no reason to make games with pixel art anymore, the technology/dev tools available now are way past that. So people making games with that art style are just backward looking. I want new and innovative games, I just don't want them to look like they were made to run on a C64 or a Master System. I've played those games, I'm done with them. But sometimes a game comes along that breaks through that (Fez, and DeKay just mentioned Among Us which is also bloody great).

 

Wow. I find that baffling.

 

What makes boring textured 3D models somehow unique and futuristic? Are VR games not just the same as all the 3D games we've seen before? Even if you think the first ones were different to non-VR 3D games aren't most of them since just more of the same?

 

But I get that.yoy clearly don't find it attractive or engaging. Just so strange to think of it as a dead end. Your world view seems so dull to me. Like you've sucked all excitement or beauty from things.

[Fry Crayola]

27 minutes ago, Thor said:

For me, there's no reason to make games with pixel art anymore

 

There's no reason to use oil on canvas any more.

 

There's no reason for impressionism any more.

 

There's no reason for photorealism any more.

 

All statements as bizarre to read as yours is to me.

 

Pixel art may have been born out of technical restrictions, but it is not defined by them, and has not become obsolete just because we have new ways to produce art.

[Thor]

7 minutes ago, Lying Cat said:

 

What a strange perspective - does not compute this end at all. More technology means there are more choices available, but shouldn't constrain and doesn't dictate which ought to be used.

Oh, I appreciate I am being somewhat narrow minded with my outlook. 

 

3 minutes ago, thesnwmn said:

But I get that.yoy clearly don't find it attractive or engaging. Just so strange to think of it as a dead end. Your world view seems so dull to me. Like you've sucked all excitement or beauty from things.

It is a dead end. Take the latest Monkey Island game, many wanted it to be pixel art to match the first two. The devs went a different, more modern direction, and the game is gorgeous. I take issue with your point of my world view, and Fry Crayola implying I'm not progressive. Me not liking pixel art in no way implies I don't want anything new, or innovation in my games, but no pixel art game released now is going to shape the future of the medium that is video games. That time has passed. 

[Thor]

14 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

There's no reason to use oil on canvas any more.

 

There's no reason for impressionism any more.

 

There's no reason for photorealism any more.

 

All statements as bizarre to read as yours is to me.

 

Pixel art may have been born out of technical restrictions, but it is not defined by them, and has not become obsolete just because we have new ways to produce art.

You're just fucking strawmanning now. 🙄

[Lying Cat]

9 minutes ago, Thor said:

It is a dead end. Take the latest Monkey Island game, many wanted it to be pixel art to match the first two. The devs went a different, more modern direction, and the game is gorgeous. I take issue with your point of my world view, and Fry Crayola implying I'm not progressive. Me not liking pixel art in no way implies I don't want anything new, or innovation in my games, but no pixel art game released now is going to shape the future of the medium that is video games. That time has passed. 

Perhaps it’s a language issue, but “I don’t like this style of art”, and “this style of art is a dead end and there’s no reason to use it because of new technology” are a very long way from one another.

 

The bleeding edge isn’t all that matters, especially when it comes to art style. I, and others no doubt are absolutely fine with you not liking the pixels, but you’re strangely absolutist here.

 

But then, you acknowledge you’re being narrow minded, which isn’t a particularly fantastic position to argue from, traditionally.

[Fry Crayola]

12 minutes ago, Thor said:

You're just fucking strawmanning now. 🙄

 

Pixel art is an artistic medium, and you're outright stating it has no place.

 

I'm not claiming the aforementioned statements are your argument, I'm asserting I find your stance as limiting as I would those.

[Fry Crayola]

24 minutes ago, Thor said:

Fry Crayola implying I'm not progressive

 

I said that your stance on pixel art does not make you progressive. That is not the same as implying you are not.

 

Also, I hope it's understood I only mean progressive in terms of video games as an art form - not a judgement on your politics!

[Thor]

20 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

I said that your stance on pixel art does not make you progressive. That is not the same as implying you are not.

Yes it is, otherwise why say it it all? 

 

23 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

Pixel art is an artistic medium, and you're outright stating it has no place.

Right, you and some others seem to have missed the part where I have qualified all my comments by prefixing them with 'For me', as in I am speaking only for myself.  Which leads onto... 

 

23 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

Pixel art is an artistic medium, and you're outright stating it has no place.

No, I'm saying it's not for me, this thread is about genres and types of games we don't want to play, games that are not for us. I've posted pixel art games, because they're not for me, and you guys are have fucking conniptions.

 

[Lying Cat]

4 minutes ago, Thor said:

No, I'm saying it's not for me, this thread is about genres and types of games we don't want to play, games that are not for us. I've posted pixel art games, because they're not for me, and you guys are have fucking conniptions.

 

I don’t think something being an opinion puts it beyond debate though, does it? And your position hasn’t been “I don’t like this”, it’s been “there’s no reason to make these any more”.

 

One is a preference for the media you consume, which is fine - the other is far more interesting and wide reaching which is what people are trying to engage you on.

[Fry Crayola]

22 minutes ago, Thor said:

Yes it is, otherwise why say it it all? 

 

No, they're not*. And you brought it up in the first place! You gave your desire to see gaming advance as a reason for not liking pixel art graphics.

 

I don't agree with you that pixel art is holding anything back.

 

You're entitled to your opinion on whether or not you like something, but you can't cry about pushback when people find your justifications odd.

 

 

*Having a mouth doesn't make something a river, but that does not mean a river can't have a mouth. 

[Thor]

27 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

I don't agree with you that pixel art is holding anything back.

Okay, that is a strawman. 

[Fry Crayola]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

no pixel art game released now is going to shape the future of the medium that is video games. That time has passed. 

 

You didn't say that, then?

[Thor]

Oh Jesus fucking christ. That does not say pixel art games are holding anything back. I'm done with this now. 

[partious]

I think there’s a sort of homogenized image of “gamer” that’s pushed by games journalism etc in a way that doesn’t really happen in other entertainment media. A belief that if someone likes games they therefore should like all genres and styles of game,

 I’m really into retro games, have a big collection that I play regularly etc. Love arcade games, “pick up and play” , am basically all about instantly gratifying gameplay experiences. I am at heart still a Dreamcast fanboy who hasn’t really been in tune with the mainstream since the Dreamcast/GameCube/PS2 era. Still enjoy first party Nintendo stuff.

 

I also really like VR. Not so much the wave your hands around mini game stuff, but the 3D headset aspect. The sense of scale and feeling of presence you can get from higher end VR games is something I find myself excited about going forward.

 

So, I like older/indie games with satisfying gameplay and also cutting edge VR stuff. Everything in between I really just don’t have much interest in. AAA games on a TV? Might just be a lack of imagination on my part, but I don’t find them remotely immersive and always just get bored and stop playing after the initial few hours once the game goes into the content padding stage, even if it was a game where the setting etc interested me. I’d generally rather watch a movie or read a book. I like the idea of playing certain big AAA games but the reality of sitting down and playing them never lives up to my imagination. I have a fairly long list of AAA open world games that have been played for about 10-15 hours and then never touched again. 

[SeanR]

Tastes change

[JoeK]

22 minutes ago, SeanR said:

Tastes change

 

Ah, but war...

 

war never changes  

[Qazimod]

9 hours ago, Thor said:

I want new and innovative games, I just don't want them to look like they were made to run on a C64 or a Master System. I've played those games, I'm done with them

 

Man, if I played something like Noita or Super Time Force on my C64 in 1990 I'd lose my shit:

 

 

 

I agree that the aesthetic isn't as much of a big deal any more, but as long as the gameplay ideas are fun, it's all good.  

[Benny]

As with films, and so with games, I consume everything.

 

Spoiler

Except football management sims.

 

[Fry Crayola]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

Oh Jesus fucking christ. That does not say pixel art games are holding anything back. I'm done with this now. 

 

If they're not shaping the future, what are they doing? The implication of what you wrote seems clear to me - if a game has pixel art, it can't be innovative, which you earlier said you want to see.

 

If that's not what you meant, what did you mean?

[Not Thread Owner]

9 hours ago, Thor said:

I want new and innovative games, I just don't want them to look like they were made to run on a C64 or a Master System.

 

They can be both things.

 

9 hours ago, Thor said:

DeKay just mentioned Among Us which is also bloody great

 

I wouldn't say it was pixel art.

 

Tell you what does piss me off with pixel art games though - when the pixels are all different sizes. So you've have them one size for the graphics and another size for the HUD and another size for dialogue. Or sometimes, different sizes for different graphics.

[Not Thread Owner]

17 minutes ago, Benny said:

As with films, and so with games, I consume everything.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Except football management sims.

 

 

One of the few sports games I will play. Along with golf.

[Thor]

3 minutes ago, deKay said:

I wouldn't say it was pixel art.

You're right. It's been nearly a year since I played it. I could have sworn the art was more the amiga style of pixels. Whoops. 

[Down by Law]

My main love will always be 2D games, especially side scrolling beat em ups. I never get bored playing them and if its something with a rich fighting engine or good music (preferably both) I'll play them forever. Then you take stuff like Huntdown, Metal Slug, Sonic, Hotline Miami etc - all games with superb controls, music and great mechanics - and i'll keep coming back

 

I also love 3rd person action adventure games, FPS's, horror games, fighting games and platformers. Character driven games like Max Payne, Silent Hill, Uncharted etc I have always enjoyed. 

 

I don't play racing games outside of arcade ones which i love, especially the blue blue skies Sega variety which i absolutely rinse. I can't play something like Gran Turismo or WRC for longer than an hour but I've played the same 4 tracks on Sega Rally for nearly 30 years. The only relatively recent racer I put more than a few hours into was Driveclub and that was helped by the insane visuals and arcadey handling.

 

I don't play sports games with the exception of old school NHL and Boxing games, and Neo Turf Masters because NTM is probably the only game 10x more fun than the sport it is based on. 

 

 

 

 

[Not Thread Owner]

Two of my favourite games this year (they came out last year I think but anyway) have been Blaster Master Zero 2 and 3. Full pixel art, in the style of the original NES game, but makes use of all the buttons controllers have today. Great Metroidvania games, and wouldn't have even caught my interest if they weren't pixel, I expect.

[ScouserInExile]

It's funny, until I actually thought about it, I would have said I play a narrow range of games. I think almost entirely because of the game I don't play: FPS or first person anything,for that matter (I get motion sickness); similarly, a lot of third person, over the shoulder stuff: almost anything that can be described as an RPG; essentially all Nintendo IPs - Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Pokémon, Animal Crossing, Splatoon... none of that stuff does anything for me; sports games like FIFA or Madden (is that still a thing?); MMOs or anything entirely online; walking sims / I can't think of the right term for those games where you kinda interact it the story; I've never got on with GTA, Assassin's Creed, God of War or gears of War; I don't really do anything platformer either; or 3D fighters... So you'd say that's a lot of the gaming landscape.

 

But then, the gaming landscape is so vast that there's a lot left that I do play. Over the last couple of years, I've played and enjoyed:

Simcade type racing games. The Forza Motorsport and Horizon games particularly. I used to play Gran Turismo a lot, but switched to Forza from 4 onwards. 

A couple of 2D fighters. The last three Mortal Kombat games have been great and I've really liked the two Injustice games. The new Capcom Fighting Collection is great as well. Love a bit of Darkstalkers.

Scrolling beat em ups. Streets of Rage 4 was fantastic, the new Turtles is really good as well. As is the Capcom Beat Em Up Bundle. 

A few turn based games. The new Xcom games are particularly good and I've been giving the older Civilisation games a bash as well. Never sure I know what I'm doing with them, though.

I've played a lot of Sniper Elite recently. Only discovered 4 due to it featuring in a MS Rewards challenge and found I loved it. Day one for 5 (helped by it being on Game Pass).

I've sunk a lot of time into mining and crafting type games as well. Not the obvious one, but Terraria and Stardew Valley. Proper time sinks.

A couple of older RTS games: Comman and Conquer, Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and I suppose Settlers would fall into this category also.

Not sure what category Minecraft Dungeons and Hades would fall into. Rogue like lite kinda things. Played a lot of them, either way.

Quite liking a quick game of Taiko thingy the Drum thing every day at the mo. That's a new genre to me.

And I've had a game of Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe on the go for about 20 years now.

 

So, yeah. I like a wide range of games, it seems. And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few.

[phillv85]

The only genres I'm very unlikely to play these days are:

 

MOBA/MMORPG - I don't have the time to commit to these and just dropping in and getting annihilated is no fun at all.

Sports Sims - I still love footie games that aren't straight up sims but I've no time for the FIFA's and Pro Evo's of this world anymore (or EA FC and eFootball whatever shite they're called). Exceptions are made here for combat sports, although I prefer the old UFC games to the new ones with a million mechanics to learn.

3D Platformers that aren't Mario - I just don't like them, I find them tedious and always have done. I'm not even that keen on the Mario ones, but I can get a little enjoyment from them. 

Horror games - I don't want to need a spare pair of pants on hand when I'm trying to relax playing games.

 

Genres that haven't had much attention aside from the above in the past few years:

 

JRPG's - I love a game where I can constantly improve my stats etc. but I've not played much in the way of JRPG's recently due to time constraints and possibly the fear of starting one only to realise I think it's crap after I've sunk 50 hours into it.

Racing Sims - I spend a little time on the Forza games now and again but I never got in to the GT series or other sims really. 

FPS - I got tired of them probably 6-8 years ago and have only dipped in a little since. They can be fun but there's other genres I prefer to spend my time with.