Over the course of the 40+ years that video games have existed they have changed a lot. From the incredibly basic games such as Pong to the highly detailed and expansive open-world titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2 that we see today. We have also seen many trends come and go, some of them were better than others and some we’re more than happy to never have to deal with again. Before the 2000s, video games were a lot different than they are now, largely due to hardware limitations and internet speeds, with some saying it was a much better era for video games. But, why is that? Let’s find out. Here are seven reasons why retro games are awesome.
1. No Microtransactions
Microtransactions have become fairly common in video games, even single-player titles. If a microtransaction is purely cosmetic and has no advantage to using it, then it is optional for players to purchase. But, when a game features pay to win microtransactions then it becomes a problem. This creates the scenario of, if you choose not to open your wallet and spend a lot of money on the game then you will have a disadvantage against other players, and that takes all of the fun out of the experience and is a terrible practice that needs to stop.
2. No DLC
DLC is nothing new in gaming, in fact, we saw them in the form of expansion packs as early as the 90s. But, they have become more common nowadays and almost expected for a game. While they can be a great way to further expand the story of the game and keep players engaged for a long time, for a time it was common to see DLC already on the disc but locked behind a paywall. This took away from what DLC was meant to be and instead saw developers remove content for the sole purpose of milking more money from the player. I’m glad that practice has been largely stopped, but it was much better when we got the full experience on day one. Well, besides titles such as Street Fighter 2 which saw five versions of the game released.
3. Game Development Was Much Faster
It has been eight years since the release of GTA V and a new game is nowhere in sight similar to Skyrim which was released a decade ago and there’s still no sign of The Elder Scrolls 6. Due to the hardware limitations of the time, games were a lot more basic compared to the games of today. This certainly helped to speed up development, with many games usually taking between 1-3 years to develop and release, which meant it was never too long to wait before the next entry in a series was released
4. Local Multiplayer/Co-Op
Although online gaming has allowed players to connect with people all over the world, part of me does miss the local multiplayer experience. Goldeneye was legendary for its multiplayer, with friends all gathering around a single TV to duke it out and settle the score, it is a shame that we have largely lost that in video games.
5. No Installation
Today there are many games that are in the hundreds of GB in size, which can mean that they take many hours to install, which is incredibly frustrating when you just want to play the latest game you’ve purchased. Before the Xbox 360 and PS3, games always played off the disc and didn’t require any installation, except on PC, but games were usually smaller so installation never took that long.
6. More Gameplay and Less Story
Due to games being much simpler, many titles had a very basic story, with some such as Super Mario Bros giving you no prior knowledge of the game before you start unless you read the manual. That’s not to say that some titles didn’t have elaborate stories, but today even the most basic of games usually have a complex story and a bunch of tutorials to get through before you can finally play the game.
7. Fewer Spoilers
The internet is a key part of many of our lives today, after all, you’re reading this on the internet. Up until the 2000s, the internet wasn’t a big part of our lives, with a much smaller amount of the population having it in their homes. This meant that many of us had to rely on magazines for the latest gaming news, which really helped to minimize spoilers. Nowadays if you’re not playing a new game on release you pretty much have to go off the grid to not have the game spoiled by the internet.
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