Nolan Bushnell Thoughts on Todays Video Games

[TR0N]

If any thing a rant from a old man even if he was the founder of atari.
http://gamernode.com/News/4726-Atari-founder-says-games-of-today-are-trash/index.html

[GUTS]

Sounds like every fat nintendo nerd on the planet.

[guyjin]

"Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that."

I agree wholeheartedly. if that makes me a fat nintendo nerd, then that's what I am.

IMHO, EA is largely responsible for the problem.

[SignOfZeta]

Well, when it comes to the blockbusters I do think that most modern games are trash. Not that they aren't well made, but well made violence porn is still violence porn.

There is a shitload of great stuff coming out all the time in the 2nd tier sales category though, and even a few huge sellers are decent, but mostly from Nintendo. A guy that only goes to the game store at Xmas might not see any of those.

BTW, whoever wrote this article is a much bigger tool than Bushnell. Its reminds me of when right wing talk show hosts quoting people totally out of context supposedly proving that Ted Kennedy is a baby eating Communist or something. I'd be much more interested in reading the entire interview (if it exists), which was obviously conducted by someone else.

[Kitsunexus]

While I think most modern games are trash, I'm not exactly a huge fan of his old Atari games, either. 

[Necromancer]

"Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that."

I disagree wholeheartedly.  Games haven't gotten any more violent or dirty, the violence and filth is just depicted in a more realistic fashion.  There's just as many quality sports, puzzle, driving, and other 'clean' games released now as there was back in Atari's salad days.

[Kitsunexus]

Atari's salad days

WTF is a "salad day"!? 0_o

[Necromancer]

WTF is a "salad day"!? 0_o

It refers to the good ol' days from one's youth.

[guyjin]

I don't care about the gratuitous violence.

What I think he meant by 'race to the bottom' was quality-wise. Since it's no longer feasible to have one, or even a few, programmers develop a game, budgets must go up. Suits see this, and think 'I must get more work for more money'. hence things like the EA widow occur. Because these poor people don't have lives, they don't really care about the damn game and just want to git er done. thus quality suffers.

there are a few cases in the industry where this does not happen, and that is where most of the good games tend to come from.

[bust3dstr8]

Nolan is thinking back to the good ole' days and his Atari 2600, when they had nice wholesome games like Custer's Revenge.

[Necromancer]

I see where you're coming from, guyjin, but I don't think the good to crap ratio has gotten any worse.  The 2600 was plagued with boring originals and derivative junk - just like today's consoles.

Nolan is thinking back to the good ole' days and his Atari 2600, when they had nice wholesome games like Custer's Revenge.

[SignOfZeta]

I see where you're coming from, guyjin, but I don't think the good to crap ratio has gotten any worse.  The 2600 was plagued with boring originals and derivative junk - just like today's consoles.

As far as outright quality goes, things are so much better nowadays. Before the internet, and especially before game magazines, games that were virtually unplayable shit were really common. Now they are extremely rare. Try releasing ET, Circus Lido, or Rise of the Robots today.

I think what Nolan is bothered by is the sex, violence, etc in crap like 50 Cent Bullet Proof, GTA, State of Emergency, Manhunt, etc. That stuff is "trash", even if its very playable. If those were the only kind of games out nowadays, I'd just wouldn't play any new games. The truth is we also have good stuff like Guitar Hero, Animal Crossing, etc, and some of the "newer" games (newer as seen by old dudes) have been amazing experiences for me; Rez, Sakura Wars 3, Mother 3, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, and many others.

I think he probably just saw a guy playing Manhunt or some other such snuff material, which is enough to ruin anyones outlook on games.

Either that or Madden...

[Joe Redifer]

What are they racing to the bottom of?

[Necromancer]

I think what Nolan is bothered by is the sex, violence, etc in crap like 50 Cent Bullet Proof, GTA, State of Emergency, Manhunt, etc. That stuff is "trash", even if its very playable.

That's the argument against current gaming that I hear most often, and I just don't see how the objective of GTA and its ilk is all that different from older games.  Tons of classic games were all about administering a beat down or shooting anything that moves.  GTA just changes it to first person perspective with more realism and more recognizable innocent bystanders.

[Hobo Xiphas]

Try releasing ET

I think I am going to start a gaming lobby called, "E.T.: Not As Bad As People Say"