It's not just nostalgia, but i dislke next gen graphics and games..

Anyone else feel the same way? I way more fun playing older games then newer ones.

JRPG wise yes I some what feel that way. Every other genre no not really.

I think the problem is that if you're somewhere in your mid to late 20's (or older) you got to experience an amazing era of interactive entertainment.
The 80's pioneered games, and was the foundation for what came in the next decade.
The 90's was imo the greatest era of innovation and creativity we've seen yet.
But then in the early 2000's things stated to go stale, with graphics being the main (and arguabley only) form of advancement.

The mindset has changed alot in the industry too.
Devs seem to be trying to make games for everyone now, where in the past, games were made for gamers.

For me I love the new graphics Vs the old.

No, not me. Although I still enjoy past games, generally from the SNES era onward, I find games nowadays to be amazing and I am enjoying them now more then ever.

You dislike the current gen games? To say something like that would be to imply that you dont play new games. Shame. Id actually hate to have your mind set. Each to their own i suppose.

I respect the classics, but there are no games from past generations that even come close to epics like Mass Effect, Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, Valkyria Chronicles and Modern Warfare.

Not on sheer scale, quality of graphics, fully fleshed out gameplay, and simply everything else that comes with the evolution of the media.

I think much of the problem (at least for me) is that today's games require more investment to truly appreciate and get a better feeling of accomplishment, progress,and satisfaction in the end, whereas older games you could simply pick up and play for ten minutes and get a more fullfilling, albeit more shallow experience. It just takes more time nowadays to get the most out of gaming.

A lot of newer games feel like interactive action movies.

Older games seemed more 'dark', less refined, but offered a more niche experience.

I look forward to the day the industry goes belly up, and small development studios resurface in place of the EAs and Activisions of the world.

Gone are the days where developers would say "it would be cool to add..." and have the chance to do it (more artistic approach).

Now, publisher-influenced development is all about "our market data says we need to do this".

I also used to like the old games more than the new ones. Maybe I'm getting used and don't find the new games exciting? Or just the times are different? Can't give explanation for my nostalgia.

Games these days are made to appeal to all ages and backgrounds.

10 yrs ago, games were made for geeks.

Games that appeal to all backgrounds are graphic heavy and shallow strategy wise.

Games made for nerds were games that took a lot of time investment and learning curve to be successful at (that's the types of game us in our mid 20s-30s grew up with).

It's like going from playing chess hard-core for yrs growing up ... then being forced to play checkers. Checkers is fun for a minute, but Chess offers a far more deep and rewarding experience.

Its me as well, games back then tried to stand out and get your attention which worked perfectly back then which is why we get classics like Half-Life, Deus Ex, Morrowind, Diablo 2 etc. nowadays most games are dumbed down for the mainstream or suffer from the LABLH (Lets all be like Halo) syndrome. And of course next to no one bothers with art style nowadays its mostly just slap on realistic graphics onto the game.

I like new games better than old games. No matter how innovative an old game is, it is bogged down by the technological limitations of its time. Grahpical limitations, controller interface limitations, sound design limitations, etc. A particular old game may still be considered good despite the limitations of its time, but the limitations are still there.

IMO a great new game will always be more enjoyable than a great old game because you don't have the extra effort of overlooking technical limitations when playing the new game.

Of course, old games from genres that have not advanced much technologically over the years fare best when compared with new games. For example, in the 2d/3d scrolling platformer genre there is no great technological gap between an NES Mario game and a Wii Mario game, which explains why there are so many threads full of people claiming that the NES Mario is more fun.

In contrast, FPSs have made many leaps and bounds technologically and so there are very few threads that contain people who prefer a game like the original Doom to modern FPSs.

I tend to dislike the new games in the genres that haven't advanced much technolgoically. They seem stale and give you a feeling of been there done that. When I see people saying that they prefer old games to new games I think they are recognizing that staleness in their favorite genre and its there not because old games are better, but because their favorite genre hasn't advanced technologically with the times.