I just caught up with most of the posts on this thread. To be honest I didn't really have a Game-spot account before I read this thread and this is kinda my first post. The reason I did this was because I was moved by the sheer magnitude of emotion HighScore79 put into his initial post. I'm sure most of you who read this post will wonder why I felt it necessary to include this background information, honestly I have no idea either.

I started playing video games at arcades at an early age, although my first console was a Sega Mega Drive 2. Not a very old console but it still feels like forever ago. Although gamer magazines were still around back then,I remember buying games that my friends recommended because I knew I could trust their opinion and they rarely let me down. A lot of time has passed between then and now, and the games have a lot better graphics, and the game-play has evolved phenomenally. I believe the gaming industry has geared itself considerably towards a more profit-centric rather than a quality driven approach as most corporate businesses have these days. This however gives good game developers an incentive to design games that are more innovative and edgy than their former projects. However the key word this statement is "good". Greed may be a motivating factor for these people, but presently it seems to be working well. I agree that the problem is clearly the distribution end. At a time when gamers are not necessarily considered geeky and unsociable, people proudly proclaim their allegiances to their consoles and along with this comes the absurd need to trash talk people still claiming that an good game still holds value no matter how old it gets, clearly this stems from obvious insecurities about how other people perceive them. If you are bored with a game, admit it. People generally crave variety. However, deceiving people, your fellow gamers who use this forum for advice on which game they should get, is truly despicable. Newer games that have been hyped up by these distributors cant all be awesome. Reserve your judgement till you have finished playing the game or when you are bored with the game, then look back and gauge the value of the experience. Only then can your review or comment have meaning, otherwise there will always be someone who can intelligently argue against the value of your opinion, successfully proving you to be a impetuous jackass. Age of a video-game defines neither "suckiness" nor "awesomeness".

On the comparison of BF:BC and Cod4, I found BF:BC demo to be entertaining and the storyline sounded pretty funny, however I will wait till the price to drop before getting it. Cod4 was a game that I will remember for quite a while. It was THE game that got me to stop playing Halo 3 online. This I thought was quite an achievement. Halo 3 had successfully taken over my life at the time. I am sure I wasnt alone in this experience.

suryafotedar

Hey awesome post man. I used to have an account on Gamespot, and I took 2 years off because every time you express an OPINION 5 people come and flame you. Not to be arrogant or anything, but I have played mostly every game that has came out for the past... well 7 years. And when a punk *** kid comes in and says something like, "FFVII > KoTR topic PHAILS" i gets really annoying. I made another account recently because I couldn't remember my old one, and I just kind of keep it in mind to not let things get on my nerves. But I saw the CoD4 remarks today and had to post on that. And it's not just CoD4, that is just the current example. I am sure we will be seeing it really soon when everyone will say the first Fable sucked, and the first GoW sucked... etc.

"I agree that the problem is clearly the distribution end"

Yeah, I think someone could come in and post, "you just hate Gamestop", and they would be right to a point. I never had a problem with EB, and there is a store called CD Warehouse here that is pretty cool too. In my opinion though, Gamestop is sucking in ENORMOUS amounts of money, and really (barring a few exceptions) giving nothing back to players, when they have every opportunity to do so. For instance, Bungie will send the individual stores a copy of Halo 3, and about 5 Halo 3 t-shirts, so the store can have a Halo 3 tournement. However, that tournement never happens, and the prizes go to the manager's friends and families, and that is garbage. It's not like they HAVE to have tournements and other promotions, they are a retail store. But when they are given stuff by Bungie, Nintendo, and a TON of other companies to give out and it never goes to anyone that is wrong. Instead you get, "thanks for trading in CoD4 for $20, and buying BF:BC for $60, now get the **** out, and remember to come back next week and pickup your copy of Alone in the Dark that we bullied you into preordering".

i totally agree man the hype machine has to die the community is making great games tht take like 2 days to beat and it sux ass good i miss games like quake 2 for the N64 that game was addictive and made u keep guessing on what to do to get all the secrets on the levels and such , even looka at the more recent scareface game for the ps2 THAT WAS A LONG ASS GAME !! ill be the first to ADMIT ive been sucked on to the hype train on quiet a few games and MOST Deffinatly been down the trade route i use to own over 100 ps2 games and like 75 N64 games but traded them all in for the next best thing , now all im left with is a ps2 with now games and an N64 with like 4 games i miss the old days in gaming when it wasnt just about SALES and what is best i just miss really good games ,i have pledged to not trade in any games as long as i ghave my 360, due to the loss of income GOD I CANT BEGIN to tell u guys how much ive (mostly my dad) spent in the past on **** ass games i thought would be GROUND BREAKING and phenominal just to get a measly 15 bucks back the main prob with gamers is they are **** consoumers who dont do enought research on their own to see if the game will be what they like and want they just go by wat X-Play or G I says to buy and half the tyme those games BLOW SICshyte767

I don't know if you read my post where I said I had a game store, and will again soon. I always gave a fair price considering my games were at least $15 cheaper than chain stores. Since I am not buying or selling games right now I am stuck going to WalMart, Gamestop, and Ebay for games. I absolutely refuse to trade anything in to Gamestop. If I really want to sell something I sell on Ebay. You will get a few bucks more, and the satisfaction of knowing that you both got a good deal. Ex. Sell for $20 instead of getting $15 at Gamestop, and the guy buying bought for $20 instead of paying $30 at Gamestop. Ebay is a little more buyer friendly on older games, but you will still get a little more. If I want to buy a new game I hit WalMart for the simple fact that I don't want to be hounded about a magazine subscription, I don't want to be told that you won't be able to find a copy of Madden 09' on this planet, and I don't want a 10% discount card. Just my personal games, I maybe have 25 360 games. It's worth the $15 just to keep them. I will still pull out Crackdown here and there. That's worth more than the $5.00 that game probaly trades for.

[QUOTE="mohfrontline"]agree. And anyone who would subscribe to a game magazine is just a LITTLE nerdy in my book.shotputking

says the guy posting on an internet forum... which is way cooler then getting a magazine?

but yeah, we are definitely going through a golden age of gaming... i've bought about 20 xbox games, and i can say there has only been one i didn't think was a really good game (perfect dark zero)... back in the ps1 days, or super nintendo, and especially nintendo, it was really hit or miss.

and to those of you that are 29 and buying used games off of ebay... don't you have jobs? support the industry that you spend so much time enjoying, buy your games new.

This is a classic internet line, "don't you guys have jobs?". Yeh I have a job, and I support things, I support what is best for me. I refuse to support an industry that is telling me I need to spend $180 a week on video games during the slow part of the year. This is like someone telling you it's their birthday every month so you can support them.

Madden 09, GTA IV, R6V2, SSB Brawl, Mario Kart, GoW2, Dead Space, MLB 2k8, Grid, Rock Band Downloads. These games I either have either bought new, or will buy new within this year.

I am fully aware of how supply and demand, and economics work. But for me it is their job to supply me with something new that I want, not just to make something new and have 5 sources tell me that I want it. But that's just me.

LOOK i'm 21 and smack in the middle between 29 and 18 and i always grew up around older people.

Are you kidding me that there was never any big magazines and that people just started going off reviews? as we get older we tend to forget, it's why younger people sometimes have the sharper minds.

There was always magazines man do you not remember NINTENDO Power? How about GamePro? EGM(Electronics Gaming Monthly)? Then there was playstation magazine and before all that there was plenty of magazines. Maybe you didn't pay that much attention and that's why you think it's different now. If anything you can say the internet is ruining games, you can't say game magazines. They've been there forever i'm 21 years old and i've been getting those magazines forever. So i don't know maybe you just didn't pay attention.

JuanaSmoke

I said "real" magazines, and what I meant was, unbiased magazines. This would exclude Nintendo Power, Game Informer, Xbox Magazine, etc. GamePro was probably the first, but wasn't available, in my area at least, until about midway through the 16-bit generation. At 21 years old you missed about 10 years of gaming, no offense. I wouldn't BLAME a magazine, or a website for anything. Everyone has choices in life. I am buying a Mazda Speed 6 next month. It will be a new 08' when the 09's are coming out. Next year I doubt I will say, "Wow, Mazda sent me this book about the NEW Speed 6, and it has 11 more hp. I gotta get rid of mine, this POS sucks ***".

[QUOTE="JuanaSmoke"]

LOOK i'm 21 and smack in the middle between 29 and 18 and i always grew up around older people.

Are you kidding me that there was never any big magazines and that people just started going off reviews? as we get older we tend to forget, it's why younger people sometimes have the sharper minds.

There was always magazines man do you not remember NINTENDO Power? How about GamePro? EGM(Electronics Gaming Monthly)? Then there was playstation magazine and before all that there was plenty of magazines. Maybe you didn't pay that much attention and that's why you think it's different now. If anything you can say the internet is ruining games, you can't say game magazines. They've been there forever i'm 21 years old and i've been getting those magazines forever. So i don't know maybe you just didn't pay attention.

JuanaSmoke

otherwise i do agree with some of what you say...the newest game coming out is always the best, but thats because every new game is really good and theres hardly ever games that come out for 360 that are total crap. So theres always a lot of great games being released, you kind of seem to be living in the past like seriously if you'd rather play atari than 360, your a retro gamer. 360 offers A LOTT more than atari with a lot better games lol i mean seriously and of course snes and N64 games are amazing and all the classics that's why i always want them to release good arcade games but they don't.

I've had all systems atari, snes but if your playing those systems over 360. I don't know what your reasoning can be besides you haven't played them in a while.

It's the internet you just hear all the kids and your grown up now, it's always been this way its just back on SNES they didn't have any big titles besides Mario because nintendo was fairly new and all the games were mostly the first of their kind so people based it off what they see and looks good, also there was no online play. Now with online play and games that are have been around on other consoles and are accomplished to be great, like MGS, GTA, Call of Duty, Battlefield..so now those games will get a lot of hype on this next gen consoles which like you said is a hard console to top with how advanced it is. So with games like that that have been around they'll always get a lot of hype now from the fans who have been playing for years and years and than people hear the hype, get the game, and realize it is a great game and amazing but it's nothing they haven't played, that's all it is.

I don't think anyone said they play 360 over atari 100% of the time. Believe it or not I have almost everything from Colecovision through Xbox 360, and believe it or not I will play them, especially NES, over Xbox 360. I wouldn't say I am a retro gamer, I m just a gamer. I mainly play NES for the challange that is almost never present on newer games.

Amen to what Avenger said.

Heh, I was playing Combat the other day. I remember getting my SNES for Christmas one year. The jump between 8 and 16 bit is something I doubt gaming will ever see again. It look just like a cartoon, in my mind anyway, and I really think I thought that would be the last game system for a looooong time. It would be like the next gen coming out being twice as good. Just can't happen. Yeah though, I was pumped about the Atari.