I think Playstation reached the limit for my liking of realism. Using your hockey example, I like NHL 2001 better than NHL 96 on Sega. But PS1's NHL 1999 and 2000 sucked, for various reasons I will not go into. They just didn't work. I'd take NHL 96 any day over those. But I like the way the newer games keep stats better, and that I have more scoring options. I especially like the fact I can create 90 new players on my game! It definitely is not the realism that makes it more interesting to me, though. I've played PS2's hockey games and they got really boring really quick. For one thing, it took too long to finish a game!

Even in RPGs and strategy games, though, I don't know that I like the PS2 games all that much. There are too many stupid, crappy movies and the voices of the characters annoy me. The more a game becomes like watching a movie, and less like playing a game, the more I just want to turn the game off and go watch a movie instead. ;-)

All that said, I'll pass on Asteroids, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man. Yawn. And I always thought Joust was stupid, even before Playstation came out!

that's funny. the commentators cracking jokes is part of the fun for me.
And I'm with Shane. I was never really into Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac-Man, or Joust. It might be a generational thing, however.

Well, the commentators are ok for awhile. I usually turn them off after I've heard everything they say, with the exception of NHL Rock the Rink, in which you just can NOT play it without those wacky dudes talkin'! They are awesome.

My top five games:
1. NHL 96
2. Galaga
3. Street Fighter 2
4. Ninja Gaidan
5. Castlevania 2

Joust is in my top 10, though. It was stupid, but I loved it.

I have to admit that I like the newer sports games in particular because of their realism. I love the Madden games for this reason. I can see, however, how the casual gamer was left in the dust with all the added twists. The Madden games give you the opportunity to play the game with simplified controls, using only a few of the buttons. I haven't found the hockey games all that complicated. The game controls haven't changed since '96. Only the graphics. And all the things you complained about you can turn off. At least in the EA NHL games. You guys are sounding old. Joust? Fuck Joust. What are you, gay?

I wanted to add one more thing. I remember a lot of shitty games for the 2600 and Nintendo. A lot. I have to say, video games have never been better. Splinter Cell, Madden and the rest of the EA sports lineup, the Final Fantasy series, Deus Ex, The Sims, Tony Hawk, Halo, Grand Theft Auto, I could go on forever but I'm tired. Other than the sports games (that includes Tony Hawk) none of these games are overly complicated and all of them are fun as hell. I'll take them over Asteroids any day. Hell, even the new Tron game kicks the old one's ass (I played it in a Compusa. It's fucking sweet as hell.) And you can't even complain about the price. When the 2600 came out it was $200 and the games cost fifty bucks. Sound familiar? And that was twenty five years ago.

Not that I play video games. I mean, they're for kids. Just like comic books.

Yeah, but it didn't take but a month for you to be able to go to a garage sale and get that same $200 2600 for $10 because it sucked so bad.

My Top 10 Favorite Video Games (Which will fall somewhere later than original video games, but before the latest complicated games):

10 Super Baseball Simulator?? (NES)
9 Tekken 3 (PS)
8 Centipede (Arcade)
7 Bushido Blade 2 (PS)
6 Secret of Mana (Super Ninendo)
5 Super Tecmo Bowl (Nintendo)
4 Final Fantasy VII (PS)
3 NHL 1996 (Sega)
2 Final Fantasy Tactics (PS)
1 NHL 2001 (PS)

These games have been the most fun of all the games I have ever played. I've played games that were "better," but not more fun. My #10 choice I am not positive if this is the game. I had a friend that had this Nintendo baseball game where you made up teams from people and robots that you got to name, and you could blow them up with super pitches and stuff like that. It was really, really cool, but I am not positive if the game I listed is the one I am thinking of.

The controls have changed a lot since 1996. The Sega Genesis controller had three or six (depending on when you bought it) buttons and a joystick. How many buttons does the X-Box controller have? Something like eight buttons, two triggers, and two joysticks.

I will credit the new games with one thing: when you go over to your friend's house, and he is playing a game, it is fun to sit and watch some of them because they are like movies. Splinter Cell is really good for that. You couldn't do that with Sega Genesis.

Like any medium, there were a lot of shitty games for the old systems, just like there are probably a lot of shitty games now. Many of the games you listed (Shawn) are the kind of games that I didn't really like on the old systems either: the really involved, long-playing RPG-type games. And yes, I am sounding old. But at least I read comic books!

My video game list, should I make it, would be very short because I didn't have Playstation or Nintendo or anything like that until after Shane and I got married and he got his new PS. My mom thought most video games were evil, until Shane recently convinced her that if she got my brother a PS he wouldn't be on the computer all the damn time.
Anyway, my favorite all time on PS is Final Fantasy Tactics. I also like Tekken 3, Bushido Blade 2 and Monster Rancher 2.

I played Castlevania!

I still want to create an "EVIL SPOON" video game. That would be AWESOME. It would take something like 150 hours to complete, and when you got to the end you'd open the secret door and the EVIL SPOON would come out and kill you. No matter what you did, you'd get killed by the EVIL SPOON and the game would be over.

MUAH HA HA HA HA HA!!!

Mike, I only disagree with you about the hockey games. They haven't gotten anymore complicated. The controllers may have more buttons but the hockey game only uses half of them. The controls for hockey have barely changed. Only the graphics have changed.

There's also the fact that the controllers have changed shape, which makes them harder for me to play. When I first picked up a Nintendo controller, the instinctive (because video games are instinct-driven) way for me to hold the controller was to put it in my lap and push the buttons like a computer keyboard. An opposable thumb was fine, but it didn't occur to me to use it to push the buttons. Anyway, after Sega Genesis, the controllers started being designed for the majority, the thumb people. They don't sit in my lap right, so I have to adjust to being a thumb person, which I resent and which causes cramps in my thumbs (as you have noticed me complaining about, Shawn). Anyway, I'll still beat you half of the time on your new hockey game, thumbelina.

Maybe. If I use Minnesota and you use Detroit, O'Lord of the Lap.

RE: "The controls have changed a lot since 1996." and "which makes them harder for me to play."

The 6 button Genesis controller was introduced because of Mortal Kombat. However, I can tell you from playing Soul Caliber 2, that having more buttons is less complicated. It takes a lot less complex movements on the controller in SC2 to pull off a large variety of moves than it ever did in Mortal Kombat. The more buttons, the less complex actions you need to perform (to a point of course). However, if you were to play a lot of video games, you would notice that most of them only use 4(6 with the triggers) buttons and a control pad/stick. The trigger buttons were one of the greatest innovations in controller design (thank you SNES). Previously, your index fingers merely supported the controller, but now they can simplify the action by putting those fingers to another use. All other buttons are auxiliary and are rarely used in a high-activity situation.

You may have 6 buttons, but you're not pressing them all at once. It's still, for the most part, one button at a time.

You may feel daunted by more buttons, but it's not the number of buttons that makes it harder for you, it's your own fear of complication. Game controller design has has 20 years of ergonomic development to help alleviate the old problems of "joypad thumb" and related ailments.

If you had read my previous comment, you would realize that I never had "joypad thumb" because I didn't hold the controller the way most people did. I never had a problem with joypad design UNTIL they started with their ergonomic developments. My index fingers did not support the pad, they pushed the buttons. Now, with the new ergonomic controllers, I get cramps in my thumbs when I play because I'm not used to them. I never really cared enough about non-hockey video games to take the time to become a true thumb person. And having "only" six buttons still means that you have to think about six buttons instead of three in non-hockey games. I appreciate the pop psychology about fear of complication, but there's a lot more to it than that.