[McSwiggins]

There's so many games and so many systems. So my questions are what are you playing? What platform do you guys prefer: Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, computer, Sega...yes Sega still counts.
Do you guys remember what your first system was?

I'm playing several different games that I have been switching between: Yoshi's Woolly World on the Wii U, Legend of Zelda Oracle Of Ages and Oracle Of Seasons downloaded on my 2DS, Yoshi's New Island on the 2DS and Legacy of Ys, Lacrimosa Of Dana on the PsVita.
I prefer Nintendo but I also like PlayStation. I'm not into XBox much.
My first system was a Sega Game Gear. It got stolen out of my backpack at school.

[Coda]

My primary console of choice is the Nintendo Switch. PS4 is a fairly distant second, in terms of modern consoles.

My first console at all was a Game Boy; my first home console was an Intellivision.

If I had to pick my favorite console of all time, it would probably be the NES. This isn't just a nostalgia thing. Because of the console's limitations, games had to be simple and fun in order to work; they couldn't just lean on wowing with graphics and sound. I wouldn't say MOST NES games have aged well, but the games that were fun then are still fun in their own right now.

[McSwiggins]

I haven't gotten a ps4 yet. I want to eventually though. I love my switch. I also think my WIIU is nice, even though everyone seems to hate it. Lol. The gamepad did break. I can't get the L trigger to respond no matter what I do. I tried buying a can of air to below dust out from under it and it still refuses to respond. Unfortunately you have to buy a whole new system. They don't just sell replacement gamepads. So, I've just been using a pro controller for now. Unfortunately my Wind Waker HD copy won't load. I have a feeling one of my kids couldn't resist the temptation of the WIIU and played it when no one was there to supervise. It's been like this for a little over a year now, so my younger kids were still small enough to need me to make sure they didn't do anything like put discs in wrong or what have you.

The Gameboy was my second and I never planned on getting it but my friends were talking about how they liked Pokemon red and blue. I was extremely curious about what they liked about it and decided to save up from my paycheck. I've been a Pokemon player since, despite being 39. I'm glad it's continued to thrive though because now I use it as a means to bond with my kids who enjoy it.

The intellivision came out the year I was born. I never had one and I completely forgot they existed until you mentioned it. I forgot about my sega game gear until recently as well. By chance, I happened to stumble upon one a few days after it popped into my head. I didn't have enough in my spare budget for it though, unfortunately.

I think that's a really interesting point, about the NES and I have to say that I agree. Games like Legend of Zelda, Mario and Metroid are all still fun for me to play. While they're not incredibly impressive these days, they're still challenging and enjoyable. I've recently downloaded Oracle Of Ages and Seasons and I find them a lot more fun than I thought I would.

Do you find older games much more difficult than current games? For example, asside from Breath Of the Wild, which didn't hesitate to one shot me several times, I find that a lot of newer Zelda games are easier, to the point where I find it almost boring. A Link Between Worlds was so easy.

[Coda]

I don't think older games are -- as a rule -- harder than newer games.

Older games had to deal with a lack of in-game instructions because there wasn't room for tutorials. They also had to deal with limitations in the available control schemes and the raw capabilities of the hardware itself. Programmers were also less familiar with the tools available because it was all new and there wasn't a well-established set of best practices. And finally there was the fact that many games were designed for arcade play, so they were designed to get more quarters pushed into the slot.

But when it comes down to it, none of that makes games more difficult. Bad instructions and awkward control schemes do make the games harder to play, but that's a different kind of "hard". Arcade-style gameplay means frequent game overs and shorter sessions, but that's just frustrating; it doesn't make the actual challenges any more difficult, it just means it takes longer to overcome a mistake.

And less experienced developers? Well, those still happen today. Bad game design is still bad game design, whether then or now.

So if you hold all of the above constant, then there's a pretty wide span of difficulty ranges in both older games and modern games. Any sense that it's easier is mostly a matter of quality-of-life improvements, not about an overall trend in reducing the difficulty of the game's challenges.

[KittyBeary]

I still play Animal Crossing New Leaf...... XD

I also started playing this new game on Steam called R.I.C.A and it's pretty fun!

[McSwiggins]

I find myself getting disgruntled and wanting to throw it against the wall more often than I do newer games.

New leaf, I went crazy for but only because my friend was really into it and was something we connected with.

[Espy]

Messing around with some CRPGs lately. Most recent addictions have been Pillars of Eternity, Apex Legends, and replaying Dragon Age: Origins.

Need to get back into IWD and BG.

[Merskelly Metalien]

My first console was an N64, :3 and I've still got one. Not my original one, but one my cousins had for a while and never used again. <x] Still have a bunch of my old games I used to play on it though, plus some bought ones and some my cousins let us have. :] My first game was Diddy Kong Racing. I still play it sometimes, though I'm a bit rusty. >u>; I used to be an ace at it when I was probably around 13 or 14 though...

Currently tho, I'm kind of playing Kingdom Hearts III, Fallout 3 (huh, both 3s..o-o)
and trying to earn more BP in Pokémon Soul Silver to be able to buy a TM for my Carvine for my Pokémon Platinum game finally! >x[ But it's taking forever because I suck at battling and only really get 1 or 2 BP at a time, and I need like 25 more and it's just, ghhhhh, slow. =_=;

But as soon as I finish Platinum I'll likely be working on my town in New Leaf! :] Mayhaps tidying it up for visitors and such! I haven't played New Leaf with anyone else in a long long time. It's amazing how relaxing and addicting it is tho. 0-0

I'm not much of a PC gamer, :c But I have played a few PC games, a ton of free online flash games and I played WoW for a little while. I actually played most of my childhood learning games on the PC, xD I'd love to revisit them for nostalgic value, even though they're pretty easy now haha.

I mostly prefer Nintendo, since it was my first console and I have a Gameboy color, old (broken) DS, a DSi and 3DS, along with my brother's Switch and my jet black edition Wii. :/ Buuut I've played mostly Playstation games despite that...I grew up with both, so I love Crash and Spyro and Kingdom Hearts and Little Big Planet and Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank and Soul Caliber and Pokémon and Smash Bros and Animal Crossing and Mario Party pretty much all the same! ^-^ <3

[Coda]

Originally Posted by McSwiggins

I find myself getting disgruntled and wanting to throw it against the wall more often than I do newer games.

That would be the quality-of-life improvements in modern games. Frustrating isn't the same thing as difficult. Frustrating means that the game has flaws that interfere with completing the game's challenges. (This includes game over screens that send you back to the beginning of the game; game over is not a way to make games harder, just more frustrating.) Difficult means that the challenge can be completed using mastery of the intended game mechanics, but it takes practice and experience.

[Stabbsworth]

I tend to prefer stuff on PC because of rebindable keys and such. I do have a Switch and a 3DS, but because of NSO, I don't really bother playing on the Switch much.

I also have a DSi, but the top screen is fucked, as well as the right bumper button. It's still playable, somewhat, but I really should figure out how to get the screen's cover off so I can repair it, maybe sell it off. Or I could sell it off as parts, I guess.

(At the very least, the 3DS is backwards-compatible with the original DS games.)

Recently I've been getting back into Don't Starve Together, what with it suddenly working on the computer again. I've also played a fair bit of Dead Cells in the time it took for DST to actually get itself working.

(With some hilarity, one of the mods I use is causing weird status stuff for other people on one of the servers I host. We're suspecting that it's the Asparagus mod. Status stuff being Maxwell's HP set to 100, being set on fire and nothing actually going down. Note: Maxwell's maximum HP value is 75.)

IIRC, what got me into video gaming in the first place would be the PS2. Me and my dad played a lot of Sonic Riders on that console, plus Spyro. I think he still has it, if not, I can probably figure out how to get an emulator working at some point on this computer.

[McSwiggins]

Espy: I didn't know what CRPGs stood for because I am terrible at acronyms, even if I actually know of what it refers to.
Pillars of eternity looks neat. I'm not into RPGs too much though.

Metalien: Diddy Kong racing was fun. My 6 year olds and 7 year olds have gotten into Crash Team Racing and Mario Kart. The house gets loud when the bunch of them are playing because they get extremely competitive...just like their old man. I miss my N64.
My 12 year old son mops up the floor with me at Smash Bros on the Switch.
I sold my Wii because I needed money at the time. But I still have a Wii U, Switch, 2DS, DS, Gameboy Advance SP, PS Vita, PS2 and PS3.
I think the Wii U was underrated but that's just me. I don't have a lot of games for ot but the games I do have, I love.

I've never gotten into Kingdom Hearts. How's the 3rd?

Coda: I mean, true. Lol.

Void: I never played online when it was free anyway, so I don't miss anything when it comes to NSO. I did buy my 12 year old son a subscription though because he likes to play with his friends. At least it's cheaper than PS and XBox online subscriptions.

My top screen of my DS won't stay up, but it's still useable. My Wii U game pad is fucked though for a similar reason as the left trigger doesn't respond. At least I can use a pro controller. Is the top screen fucked as in it doesn't show anything or it is like mine and just won't stay up on it's own?
I only use my DS for Gameboy advance games and my Gameboy advance sp for Gameboy color games. I wish that the switch was backwards compatible but I understand why they chose game cards instead of discs.

I've never played Don't Starve. I want to check it out though.

Video games, I've found, are a great way to bond with your family. I'm glad I get to play games with my children and I like watching them play together.

[Espy]

CRPGs are "Classic" RPGs, like, hm... Baldur's Gate is probably the most obvious example. Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate II, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1 and 2...

Pillars of Eternity, and Tyranny, to an extent, hark back to "classic" RPG roots. Same with Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age, and KOTOR.

[Merskelly Metalien]

;-; Battling for BP is taking ages...I keep losing and trying again, only to lose, but I can't give up because I've come this far with 63 BP, and I will spend it all on that TM! I can't give up, even though I'm giving up for now. <x}
I love Pokémon..but I'm still not too good at battling..*sigh*

On the plus side, I think I'm getting a bit better at Super Smash Bros. :}
Either that or I really like making Mii fighters a little too much. >~>; It's embarrassing. I have to stop..nobody visiting and playing this is going to pick a Mii fighter..(someday they will~ ;-;)

<:/ Lately though, I'm actually loosing interest in playing anything.
Hope it's not the depression I don't think I have. *shrug* Eh..I'm going to just get back to my BP salvaging and rest. -w-

[McSwiggins]

Like I said, I just didn't know the acronym...


I make mii fighters of my family and then when I play alone, I use them and make weird backstories on wjy we're brawling. Is that odd...?

[Coda]

That's not odd, that's the entire spirit of Smash. After all, everyone's playing as toys brought to life for the entertainment of some unseen child.

[Stabbsworth]

I could probably gift you a copy of the base game (or DST) at some point? DST has Reign of Giants content built-in.