I grew up on those great old dos RPG and adventure games with the midi music and the 320*200 256 color VGA displays. Sure, the interfaces were sometimes agravating, but I LIKED all those crazy midi background music pieces, I liked the top view 2D look, and heaven knows I enjoyed the immense dialog (epitomied in the Ultima series, especially Ultima 7). Now don''t get me wrong. I like the 3D games of today too. Morrowind is very high on my list. But it feels sometimes as if the original excitement of computer games is gone. It''s not that they aren''t scalable to Windows games. For anyone who has ever played Black Isle''s "Planescape: Torment", it is obvious that these types of games are still possible. Perhaps we''ve abandoned a classic look and feel for the more realistic modern games. The music is orchestrated, the sound effects aren''t just "krtch" and "krmp" anymore, the graphics on newer games makes me do a double take to make sure I''m not watching TV (Black and White 2, as an example, looks incredible.) It''s as if we started out making abstract and impressionistic games, but abandoned the style when realism came along. Well, doggone it, I LIKE abstract impressionism! Yeah, new games are great, but my favorites are still Savage Empire, Ultima 7, and those great SNES RPG''s like Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy 3. If a game company were to make a game with, shall we call it "less than incredible" graphics, midi music files, etc. that was as indepth as those old games, I''d buy it in a minute. And those old games were made with something like a quarter of the people it takes to make a game nowadays. Can''t the old abstract, impressionistic game style live alongside the new 3D realism?

Sound effects? Graphics? You kids with your newfangled...

I think that stylized graphics and innovative gameplay are far from dead. Remember that games were not produced as frequently back then as they are now. Heck, we get a new "Neon Toyota" racing game every month or so. But clever games like Grandia II and Xenosaga and Disgaea still roll out about as frequently as games like Secret of Mana did back in the day. The larger industry makes the serach a little more intense, but the rewards are still there.

Yes, great games are still coming out for platforms. Squaresoft is a great company, and I think I''ve liked every one of their titles.

But have you strolled down the PC games section in Walmart? After looking at the $50 games that are new, I usually end up buying a $10 game from the bargain shelf.

That''s not to say that great PC games don''t exist. I think what has probably happened is the best game designers are making the MMORPG''s now, leaving the new single player PC game section something of a racing game and FPS wasteland.

Thank goodness there''s still games like the Sims and Simcity 4. But what happens when simulation games become MMOG''s? Yes, the Sims Online was something of a dissapointment, but that won''t discourage the simulation genre forever.

I can''t play MMORPG''s! I have an addictive personality! If I start up on one of those, I never see the light of day again for 3 months! I can''t take that kinda hit to my _real_ life anymore. I need a great game that you can beat and be done with in a week or two, throw it on a shelf, and pull it out again in 2 to 3 years.

Is it so much to ask far a game where _I_ am the greatest and best, and _I_ have a destiny to fulfill, and all the other people in the game look up to me as the greatest? MMORPG''s can become a little depressing. You''re never the best or the greatest, and that''s not always fun! I want people to look at me in awe, be they real or imaginary.

Yesterday''s best games are better than today''s crap games. You''ve just forgotten that yesterday had crap games, too.

I agree with you, I enjoyed a lot of those old games. When I want to play a game out of my youth (not that long ago, really), I start up an emulator. Good times, good times.

PC Games ten years ago had a very addicting quality. Even after beating them, I coulnd''t stop from playing it again.

Some of the more notiable games:

Space Quest series
Liesure Suit Larry series
Police Quest Series
Prince of Persia
Empire
Doom
Battle Chess
Hack / Moria (text based rpg)
Pirates!

So many more, I really loved playing those games on my 386.

Perhaps what has happened is that none of the series from the old games continue on to the present.

King''s Quest - Dead
Ultima Series - First mortally wounded, now dead (it''s ghost survives as a MMORPG though)

Leisure Suit Larry - I hear talk of a new one, but until I see it and am convinced it''s good: DEAD!

and a whole bunch others. These series survived through like 7 or more versions, only to be dead now, and all around the early 90''s. What happened?

Consoles still have the Final Fantasy series, among others, but really, WHERE HAVE ALL THE PC SERIES GONE? *sniff sniff*

quote: Original post by Numsgil
Perhaps what has happened is that none of the series from the old games continue on to the present.

Ultima Series - First mortally wounded, now dead (it''s ghost survives as a MMORPG though)

Well Ultima X: Odyssey has been announced some time ago, it seems like it''s about to be released.

There is at least one PC RPG series that isn''t resting easy in its early grave: Might and Magic.

Ubisoft (who bought the rights from 3DO, who bought the rights from NWC) have plans to create Might and Magic X, and are currently developing Heroes of Might and Magic V.

There are also several fan created projects.

do not forget monkey island !! i love these old style adventures.