I suppose this is what getting older feels like.
I had the first NES system with the original inclusion of Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. Actually it was the first console of the line but I don’t think the very first version because I think the very first version did not have Duck Hunt or the gun. Correct me if I’m mistaken. I was a little late to the NES and by then I think they added that element to it.
But also, I didn’t buy any console after that, because once I started gaming on PC I only ever gamed on PC. Although I regret not getting into Turbo Grafx 16 because years later I found troves of the games at a flea market and the guy dug up all of the ones he had and brought them over the following few weeks. By that time I was no longer really interested in them so I was just buying and reselling them on eBay. Massive score on that load. But I wish I had just collected the whole set and gotten a unit.
Why did I start rambling? Oh yeah cuz it’s Reddit. Anyway, consoles were a nice idea but to me, once I could upgrade a graphics card and always still be able to not only play the games that I had already, but continue to be able to get newer ones… I dunno, the console concept seemed to me a money pit, because first of all, the moment it hit the shelves in stores, there were already better graphics chips being sold for PC, and also, eventually as I had predicted, it would become a console war, combined with cutting off older units whenever they pleased, as well as all the rest of the shit they’ve pulled over the years with DRM, and online requirement so they could fucking cut you off when they pleased. I opted to not even bother stepping into that racket. PC gaming for me. Especially retro PC gaming.
Ok ramble over. Just wanted to share my experiences.
Why did I start rambling? Oh yeah cuz it’s Reddit.
🤔
I feel like I’m the only one here who actually likes it when games I loved when I was younger become old/retro. I see it as a badge of honour, like them getting to enter the hall of fame.
Super Mario World isn’t a bad game just because it’s old, it’s just as great now as it was in the 90s. Same with Sunshine. And it makes me happy knowing I grew up with these games - no amount of aging or growing old could take that away from me.
I agree. Xbox 360 now being considered a retro console now is amazing to me too.
Worse still, virtual reality headsets started around the 1960s with the sword of damocles and people still treat it like it’s a novel technology…
Super Mario 64 is 29 years old.
The bottom picture is Super Mario Sunshine. Released in 2002, so will be 23 years old this summer/fall.
Galaxy was 2007 so unless I’m forgetting a game between the two then the post is still accurate
Galaxy is not pictured.
My point was that this was the most recent Mario game 20 years ago because Galaxy wasn’t out at the time
Yeah I’m saying that author with 20 years is optimistic. Given development time of video games someone saw 3D Mario 30 years ago.
I can’t believe SNES mario was only 6 years before that. I’m so glad I was around to have my mind blown when firing up N64 mario for the first time
I remember watching someone playing tekken in TV store in 1995. That was 30 years ago and I’m old as fuck.
Why would you say this
Here’s Mario at nearly 30 years ago (29 years):
Mario 64
I remember everyone gathering around the TV to see this because it was so unbelievable.
A buddy of mine bought an N64 with Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 on launch day. We didn’t know that it would sell out so quickly. He worked at a retail store and got into talking to a customer about him having the N64. Apparently the guy was a father that was desperate to get an N64 for his kid. He offered to pay 4x what my buddy paid at retail. It was a lot of money for a young guy in his late teens. He sold it to the guy out of his trunk the next day for the cash. It would be 6 months before inventory returned in stores and he was able to rebuy an N64.
It still bugs me that your life count reset to 4 if you turned off the console.
Mario games have done that for a few episodes after this too. And also for 2D games that baffling thing where you can only save after finishing a castle or fortress.
Then Super Mario Odyssey just gets rid of lives completely, and nothing of value was lost.
One of my University students asked me the other day if I was doing anything special for the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith.
I told him he needs to remember I control his grade.
Should’ve told him you have the high ground.
It’s not an anniversary the Jedi would celebrate…
Hey… Shut up.
This was Mario 40 years ago:
Fun fact: New Super Mario Bros turns 19 this year.
Yes, that means we’re close to the turning point where New Super Mario Bros gets older than what Super Mario Bros was when it was released.
Can’t wait for New Super Mario Bros (New)
That’s what’s mind blowing to me. The difference between games used to be staggering. The original Mario Bros compared to Mario 3 was huge. And jumping up to Mario 64 in less than a decade was even bigger still.
Obviously games have continued to improve since then, but we’ll never have such rapid massive leaps again.
The original Mario Bros compared to Mario 3 was huge.
And that was on the same system.
Honestly, I believe technical progress has grinded to a halt. Moore’s law was broken with regards to hardware. I cannot think of novel tech after smartphones. Now, it feels like everything new is a wealth hoarding scheme by corporate greed.
We’ll know there’s been a new tech revolution when HL3 comes out
The first time I played Super Mario on the N64 I can still recall how it made me slightly dizzy, which delighted me. That effect only lasted a short while, but it was a lot of fun to feel that disoriented by a video game, if but briefly.
It was the first time I remember people struggling to mentally map the controls.
Your grandma or little sibling could understand how to move NES Mario around (not necessarily being good at it, of course), but 3D was too intimidating for a lot of people to even try.
to be fair the sort of primitive camera controls took some getting used to
Yeah the controls on the early N64 games weren’t as intuitive as controls now. It wasn’t really until Halo that 3d games felt good to control.
turok was good on the n64.
quake was good in the 90s
I think what’s more interesting is Mario today doesn’t even look much different than Mario 20 years ago. The Switch just never bothered, plus graphics in general are flattening out.
On a still picture taken in the right place, maybe. Bright, cartoony graphics also help. The Mario style is probably not the kind that’s best to showcase graphic power.
Anyway, animation, lighting and physics is where you can see the gap between Odyssey and Sunshine. Also richer, bigger environments, even though Sunshine used a lot of tricks and already looked rather impressive for the time on that front. Well, until framerate dropped into single-digit halfway through Noki Bay.
There’s certainly some improvement. I’ve played Sunshine recently on an emulator and it’s not as refined as Odyssey and yes, the physics jump a bit from 64 to Sunshine to Galaxy to Odyssey. They’re all quite enjoyable, just the Switch admits to only being a slight step up from a Wii U, lol. They all use tricks to look better, same with Zelda BotW artistic blur, etc.
In any case, Mario doesn’t exactly need picture perfect ray traced lit graphics where you can see every fiber of his mustache or how his overalls reflect light just right so you can see the denim texture. Then again … Lol
In any case, Mario doesn’t exactly need picture perfect ray traced lit graphics where you can see every fiber of his mustache or how his overalls reflect light just right so you can see the denim texture.
Nah, the only thing he needed was nose jiggle physics actually.
I still can’t understand how that even crossed someone’s mind. It’s funny though.
We went from the Wii to two Wiis duct taped together to two Wiis in a tablet and soon to three Wiis in a tablet
It got worse after a closer look - realizing this is Sunshine, and not something earlier…
I love SM64 but Sunshine is actually a great game as well.
I nearly assumed I was looking at sm64, but that one is turning 30 next year…
Yes, the original is lines and crude unlike some of the other examples of “old 3D games”, but this is (maybe) the first actual 3D space game, so it has to start somewhere.
Guess I should have been more specific on first home system 3D space game. Yes, there were arcade and mainframe things before. But their game world wasn’t as big. :P
Atari Star Wars arcade game came out in 1983. One year prior to Elite in 1984:
Vectrex Starhawk was 1979
Spasim is a 3d space simulator from 1974, first person and multiplayer.
“NOSEWAT”
Crysis is roughly as old now as Super Mario Bros 3 was when Crysis first released.
This year the original SMB will be forty years old.
yeah… PS3 is “retro” now!
I honestly don’t agree with that at all. 360 and PS3 are old but their games aren’t very different compare to the big budget games of today. A few fads ended and others took their place, but that’s it. To me retro systems end with the Wii, mainly because Wii was just an overclocked Gamecube.
I am with you on this one, but ask people who are in the business or “retro” and/or ask people who are 15-20yo today! it’s a sad truth: 2 generations ago and you’re already “retro” :)
Actually I’m in my 20s myself. I just can’t see games like Call of Duty 4, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, GTA 4 and The Last of Us as retro when they are largely identical to what we would expect from a modern AAA title.
2007 was a long time ago, but not much has changed since then in mainstream big budget game development.
