Patches v1.3 - Games used to be better
By Eric Barrett
“Games used to be better”
Have you ever heard the phrase, “games used to be better when I was growing up”? Or “I liked games better back X number of years ago.” Next to the word “Noob” these are probably the most common things that gamers say.
And I’d bet that if you’ve spent any significant time playing video games, you’ve probably had those thoughts as well. All gamers have these thoughts - especially after you’ve played your 23rd consecutive crappy game. It’s hard not to remember the “good old days”, even if you’re only 17.
Heck it’s difficult to not say those things when you’re a grizzled gaming veteran like 
myself. Why I remember the good old days of playing on the Atari 2600. Back when controllers only came with one button. There was none of this, “dual shock” mumbo jumbo. And we liked it that way! Of course, some people are more grizzled than myself – to them I grew up in the “spoiled” times of gaming, where I played games that didn’t require a paper and pen. When they wanted to play computer games they had to get out two chunks of wood and bat a golf ball around. Or something.
By complaining unnecessarily about the mythical “past”, I think we do ourselves, our memories, and our games a disservice. In many ways, games are vastly superior to what they used to be. Graphics, audio, writing, stories, complexity, almost all of those are always better in today’s games than they were 10 or 15 years ago. Heck, even 5 years ago. Remember those “revolutionary” graphics of Final Fantasy VII? Have you played the game recently? They aren’t so revolutionary anymore. That’s the fundamental nature of technology - it is always improving. Always.
So why do people make these statements? Well I think there are several reasons behind it.
First, it’s easier to remember the past fondly. We tend to gloss over the crummy games (ET for the Atari) and remember the great games (Asteroids for the Atari). Who wants to waste time remembering the bad games? If I think about all the games I’ve played the first games to pop into my head are almost always the “Great” games. Pac-Man, Metroid, Zelda, Final Fantasy (basically all of them), Half Life, and the list goes on.
So at first glance it really does feel like all the good games were in the past. But if I spend a little bit of time thinking about games, I start thinking about all the crummy games I’ve wasted hours of my life on. Ghostbusters, Klingon Honor Guard, 
Anachronox, etc… It becomes pretty obvious that for every good game in the past, there were bad games.
Secondly, we tend to remember games fondly that were a novelty when we first played them. The reason I think Civilization was WAY better than Civilization 2 or 3 is because Civilization marked the first time I was exposed to that style of gameplay. I had no idea you could play a game like that until Sid Meier brought me (although not personally) the game Civilization.
Tying into the concept of novelty the concept of distinctiveness. The first time you are exposed to something is typically a very distinctive experience. Research has shown that the more distinctive an experience the easier it is to remember. Sure Civ 2 and Civ 3 were good games, but I had already “done that before.” So the experience is less distinctive, and therefore harder for me to recall.
Playing Civilization was a revolutionary experience that I’ll never be able to have again. Sure I might experience revolutionary gameplay again, but to me there will never be a command and conquer-style game that will be as enjoyable as Civilization. So with each passing game in that genre, I am less likely to think a new game is as great as the “original”.
Third, memory is affected by the “depth” of the processing. In other words, the more you play something - the more you experience something - the more you think about something - the more “deeply” you process that experience. For video games, this means that the more you’ve played a game the more you’ve processed it. And thus, the more it’s remembered.
This is why it’s often easier to remember those great games. We’ve spent a lot of time playing them and thinking about them. In contrast, we probably turn off the bad games in the first few hours, if not the first few minutes.
One thing to remember is that each of these reasons I’ve outlined can be overpowered by one another. Just because something is a novelty doesn’t mean you’ll remember it as “better” if it wasn’t very distinctive. Similarly, if something was distinctive, but you only played it for a few hours - 10 years ago, it probably wasn’t too “deeply” processesed. As you can see, there is a lot of wiggle room in how we remember things. And that’s partially what allows people to constantly say, “games were better” in the past. They are rarely challenged on that assertion, because at first glance it appears they are right!
So the next time you start to say that phrase, think about it for a second. And ask yourself, “is it really better?” I think you’ll be surprised by your answer.
Having finally settled upon a name, the “Gaming Column” will henceforth be known as “Patches”. Well, until I can think of something better at any rate. In closing I would like to say that games really were better back in the 90’s.
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March 22, 2005
Off the Cuff - #21 – Comic book movies – enough already?
Off the Cuff – Edition 21
By Eric Barrett
Comics, Cartoons, and all things related
*Joss Whedon – who some of you might know as the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – has been tapped to write and direct the upcoming Wonder Woman movie. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure this was the best choice for a Wonder Woman movie. At the heart of Buffy is a campy, somewhat non-serious, goofy set of characters. It’s not a show I consider to focus a lot on “realism.” On the other hand, Wonder Woman IS a serious character. She’s noble, tough, determined, and honor-driven. To me it doesn’t seem like a good match between director and content.
Now I wrote all of that before I read this, “…but unlike her counterparts Batman and Superman, this ground breaking heroine has yet to be reinvented for the feature file arena.” I don’t know about you, but the word “reinvent” always scares me. It usually means they are planning on changing the fundamental nature of the character.
This quote might also reveal why they chose Whedon – if they are planning on “reinventing” Wonder Woman for the big screen, they might want to take a slightly less serious look at the character. After all, the Wonder Woman character in Justice League Unlimited is pretty angry, and they might want more of a Linda Carter Wonder Woman instead. Just something to think about.
I guess the bottom line is that I think Whedon is a talented writer, I’m just not sure his “style” fits with the Wonder Woman character.
*Oh the irony. The Flash is one of my least favorite characters and yet his movie is probably the one I’m most looking forward to (right after the new Batman movie). If you’ve been reading this column for any length of time you’ve probably noticed that I talk a lot about comic book movies. Well that’s simply because there are so many movies being released right now that are based on comic books. For a while it was exciting. I was looking forward to Spider-Man, I thought Hellboy was a fun movie, I thought Constantine was pretty good. But I avoided Catwoman like the plague. And apparently only one guy, named Earl, saw Elektra. And I live in a constant state of dread regarding the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. (See here and here).
So when I initially heard about the Flash movie I was not enthused. In fact, it was a movie I had every intention of avoiding. However, as I’ve read more about it, I think I’m actually looking forward to this movie. Recent comic book based movies have done either a horrible job with casting, a horrible job with the character, or a horrible job with the story (or in some cases,**cough**Catwoman**cough** all three). My hope is that The Flash will avoid this. In terms of casting, they are talking with Ryan Reynolds, who I can just see as a wise-talking Flash. They’ve also chosen David Goyer to direct the movie (he previously wrote and directed Blade II and Blade: Trinity), which I think has potential to be a good pick. Now we’ll just have to wait and see about the story itself.
So going from no interest, to mild enthusiasm isn’t too bad of a deal.
*Okay, one last comic book movie thought before I move on. Have you also thought that they’ve really been pushing Sin City? It seems everywhere I go there’s a Sin City poster, Sin City ad, Sin City toy, Sin City whatever. That makes me fear for this movie. How many movies have truly survived an over abundance of advertising? The other thing that makes me fear for this movie is the fact that it’s black and white. Hasn’t evolution proven that we have color vision for a reason?
*A few things about anime? If not, maybe you should skip the next few bullet points!
One of the most common themes in anime is the student-teacher conflict. But anime seems to take this to an extreme. They often show a conflict that’s not only combative in nature, but almost hate-filled. In these cartoons, at least some of the teachers are portrayed as consciously working to fail students – and thus get them expelled. It makes me wonder if this is just pandering to the feelings of children who watch the cartoons or if the adversarial relationship is really this bad. After all, who didn’t feel that teachers were “out to get you” when you were in school – even up through college?
We don’t see that type of relationship in American shows. Why is that? Can it really be that much worse in Japan? I sort of think it has to do with the amount of pressure Japanese society places on children in school. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I’d like to find out more.
It is also interesting to note that almost all of these cartoons have at least one teacher/administrator who is firmly on the side of the children.
*I’m saddened that Cartoon Network took both YuYu Hakusho and Ruroni Kenshin off the air. They’ve replaced them with Zatch Bell (jury’s still out) and a second episode of Dragon Ball GT (disappointing). So much for my Saturday Night cartoon lineup…
*Only one more issue for Space Ghost. I love minis because, well, they are short stories. Essentially guaranteeing that I don’t get stuck buying 100 books a month. But at the same time, it’s always sad to see a good title end. And in this case, Space Ghost has been fantastic. It’s been both revolutionary in the way it depicts the character, but also traditional in it’s representation. This mini really reminds me of the cartoon character I grew up watching. That’s why I really hope we get to see an ongoing book featuring Space Ghost’s early career. I haven’t heard anything about this, but there’s always hope I suppose.
*Between Majestic and Space Ghost I feel like I’m reading a lot about big guys in white spandex and capes who fly.
*Top 3 books for March
1. Majestic
2. Space Ghost
3. Green Lantern Rebirth
Again no Marvel titles. Although I’ll have to say, I did enjoy the conclusion to She-Hulk as well as Strange. But not as much as the other three books.
*Well thanks for stopping in here once more. Next week we should have the new Game Column up with it’s official name. So get cracking if you have a submission to make.
The opinions stated in here solely reflect the opinions of the author. If you would like to comment on some of the items in this article, please feel free to post in the forum or send an e-mail. All characters, titles, and etc. are owned and ©; their respective publishers and creators- the author and StillontheShelf.com makes no claim towards them. This column is intended as an opinion piece only. Off the Cuff is ©; Eric Barrett. Please report any broken links!
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March 8, 2005
Off the Cuff - #20 – Star Trek Revisited
Off the Cuff – Edition 20
By Eric BarrettComics, Cartoons, and all things related
*Wow.
Wow. That’s really all I can say. If you’ll remember, a few weeks ago I wrote about Star Trek Enterprise and it’s cancellation. At that time Paramount seemed ready to tuck the Star Trek license away for “future use.” And I didn’t really think there was anything that could be done to save Enterprise.
Well I may have been wrong. Star Trek fans, showing their dogged loyalty have managed to generate over $3 million in money to “pay” for a fifth season. This has to be unprecedented. The sum was primarily donated by 3 anonymous givers from the aerospace industry.
Unfortunately I have yet to read anything from Paramount regarding this, and I still think Enterprise will get canned. But we may be a little closer to our goal of saving Enterprise.
Let’s hope so.
*Another article about this story. This time it’s reached all the way across the Atlantic to the BBC. Maybe there is some hope. Cross your fingers everyone.
*One of the things that bothered me about Dragon Ball GT is Maj Uub. At the end of DBZ, Goku decided to train Maj Uub as a way to ensure Earth has a protector should 
anything ever happen to Goku. Yet in Dragon Ball GT Maj Uub’s a complete non-factor. What good is a world protector who is so “weak” that the next time a threat occurs he only shows up for cameos? I think they missed out on a great opportunity to work in a new character. After all, what’s the point of Goku training Uub if he’ll never be strong enough to take over?
*Obviously the answer is, poor story telling.
*A few months back Cartoon Network changed its commercial breaks. They went from one long break to three to four small breaks. Well, shows just aren’t designed to be interrupted every few minutes. It completely disrupts the storytelling and flow of the show. And some of the breaks come during important dialogue or action. I understand the need for advertising, but this just ruins the episode and makes me want to watch it on DVD, where there are NO commercials. Not only that, it’s annoying!
*“The Greatest Story Never Told”: I talked about this episode last time and mentioned what a great story it was (ha ha). (For those of you needing a reminder, Booster Gold saves the world from a dangerous black hole, and no one but one scientist knows it.) Something I didn’t notice before was why the scientists were doing research on the black hole – they were concerned about global warming! So let’s see here…global warming, Destruction of the Known Universe, global warming, Destruction of the Known Universe…hmmmmm, let me get back to you on this one.
*Elektra is going to be released on DVD on April 5th – that didn’t take long.
*If you’ve been following this column the last few weeks (or even just today) you’ll realize that I’m very disappointed that UPN cancelled Star Trek Enterprise. Well I share a similar concern for Justice League Unlimited – a show that also went from bad to good.
Luckily it looks like I don’t have much to worry about - Cartoon Network has ordered 23 more episodes of Justice League Unlimited. At least I have one more season to enjoy it!
*One thing I’ve never understood is how TV executives schedule TV programs. They seem to want to target timeslots that other, already popular, shows have. I suppose the idea is to put your best against their best – a philosophy I can respect. But is that really a good idea?
For instance, WB is moving The Batman from a 10:30 timeslot 
to an 11:30 timeslot. This will run Batman against Fox’s Shaman King. Both are very good shows, and now I have to decide which one to watch. Wouldn’t it have been better to move The Batman to a timeslot that wasn’t against Shaman King? I have a hard time believing The Batman is losing to F-zero on Fox.
The same thing holds true for Enterprise. They were facing a decline of viewership so they moved it from Wednesday night (a bad night to begin with in my opinion) to Friday. But they put it up against a science fiction show with an already existing cult following. Enterprise was simply not going to pull people away from StarGate. UPN somehow thought this was a good idea?
I don’t get it.
*A little bad news before I sign off (and when you hear it, you’ll know just how ‘little’ it is). I may not be able to make next week’s installment of Off the Cuff. I’ll be traveling and I’m not sure if I’ll have time to write it. So this may be your only dose for a whole two weeks. See? It’s hardly bad news at all – and to some it might even be good news!
*Well, maybe one more item. I just wanted to point out that if you’re a comic book fan and you aren’t reading Craig Reade’s weekly checklist of comics, you’re missing out. It’s about the only way I actually keep up with what comic books are out and when. So either sign up for it in its newsletter format, or check it out here at Still on the Shelf!
The opinions stated in here solely reflect the opinions of the author. If you would like to comment on some of the items in this article, please feel free to post in the forum or send an e-mail. All characters, titles, and etc. are owned and ©; their respective publishers and creators- the author and StillontheShelf.com makes no claim towards them. This column is intended as an opinion piece only. Off the Cuff is ©; Eric Barrett. Please report any broken links!
Post your comments in the Forum!
March 1, 2005
Gaming Column - The Addiction known as video games
By Eric Barrett
The Addiction
Sometimes you come across a game that is so perfect, so amazing, so brilliant that you just can’t stop playing. I know that if you’ve been playing video games for more than a few months, you’ve experienced this phenomenon as well.
You find yourself not doing homework, not cleaning your apartment, and sometimes not doing laundry. Girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives all suffer from a serious lack of attention. Often when you get home from work or school, The Game is all that you can think about. You’ve searched all the fan sites, read all the strategy guides. It becomes an all-consuming obsession.
There really isn’t one type of game that will draw you in. It can be a sports game, a role playing game, or maybe it’s an action game. Whatever the case is, there are a few fundamentals that all these captivating games follow.
One of the most important factors is that it must capture your 
imagination. I don’t care if it’s a sports game or an RPG. It has to get you excited. You have to be able to envision it when you aren’t playing. For me, RPGs are more likely to do this. A great story really captures my imagination and holds my attention. However, I’ve been excited about sports games too. Back in the day, I used to obsess over Tecmo Bowl for the NES. Now the game seems so simple and basic with just 4 plays to call, but it was revolutionary at the time. Its play control was also flawless for the time. I couldn’t wait to play. And for a long time I played nothing but that game.
The second feature, is that it must be Re-playable. If the game is only interesting once, you might like the game, but you won’t come back to it over and over again. Games like Knights of the Old Republic allow you to play the game multiple times. By choosing either the light or the dark paths of the force you alter the whole game. Not only the story line but the way characters interact with one another. However, those aren’t the only 
style of games that are re-playable. Sometimes simple gameplay leads to re-playability. Pac-Man was an example of this. Even though it was a simple concept it was one of the first truly addictive video games. Another great example is Civilization. These games allowed you to control an empire. Each game you played was different and presented new challenges. I’ve been playing Civilization since 1995 and I still love it.
Just one more…turn. When you play an addictive game you just want one more hit. It’s always one more turn, one more life, one more level or one more click. There is something about the way the game is set up that makes you want to keep going.
Finally, the last component of an addictive game is longevity. A truly addictive game isn’t necessarily a ‘classic’ in the sense of the best games ever made. Instead, it is a game that appeals to you for a long time. In movie terms it’s the difference between a classic like It’s a Wonderful Life and a simply enjoyable movie like Commando. Sure sometimes a game is a classic and long lasting. However, it doesn’t always have to be that way. Ultimately, as long as the game makes you want to play it for a long time that is the important thing.
So there you have it, the four major components to an addictive game. I’ve had a lot of games that I’ve loved to play over the years. Starting with Asteroids for the Atari 2600, Dragon Warrior for the NES, Chrono Trigger for the SNES, along with numerous PC titles.
So what game captures my imagination right now? That’s simple, Diablo 2. I love this game. I can’t stop playing. I put in probably a dozen hours a week into a game that is approaching the 6-year mark. The game is so well balanced that it’s amazing.
I’ve played all of the different character classes from Barbarians to Sorceresses. From Druids to Necromancers. Each class is totally unique, and no two classes play exactly the same way. But not only that, there are almost a countless number of variations of each class. I’ve played Paladin breeds of Hammerdins (Blessed Hammer attack), 
Clerics (focusing on killing the undead and healing your party members), Tesladins (lightning attacks), and several other minor variations. And that’s just one character type. Currently the character I use most is a Necromancer focusing on summoning an unstoppable army of warriors.
Diablo 2 has proven to be a game of infinite variety and re-playability. It allows you to work on character design and leveling up. Or as I prefer, finding unique and magical items. Whichever way you play, or if you choose to play both ways, Diablo 2 always offers a good time.
Yes, my name is Eric Barrett and I’m an addict.
Note: In no way do I actually believe that you can be ‘addicted’ to video games. It’s simply meant as a joke. If you think you are addicted to a video game get a life. Games are great, and I play more than my share, but seriously, addicted?!
Patches:
*Just one note this time…We are still looking for a name for this column, so if you have a suggestion make sure to let us know!
“Gaming Column” will appear the first week of every month, unless there is such an out-pouring in the forums demanding for more. At which point I will demand Craig pay me more money, and no more of these half-eaten Pop-Tarts he likes to send.
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