Gaming In The 2000s Is Overrated Compared To Modern Gaming

Gaming has come a long way in the last few decades. We’ve crossed several console generations, and having physical copies of games is a distant memory at this point.

When we think about the past, gaming in the 2000s often gets overrated compared to modern gaming. The nostalgic factor comes into play, and we believe that gaming in that era was the best time of our lives. But is that the truth?

While it is true to some extent that gaming in the 2000s was more peaceful and calming compared to today. It was a whole other level of entertainment. But, some issues with gaming in the old days were often overlooked.

Localization

When we talk about the gaming industry as a whole, back in the 2000s, there were a lot of localization issues for console games. Most games developed in the east never made it to the west. Most classic JRPGs, which were quite famous in the east, either only got localized in one region in the west or never received a localization at all.

It did deprive most fans of playing the best games of the era, as some of the classics were developed in Japan during that time.

Accessibility

There were accessibility issues as well. All we had back then were physical copies of the game, and when we went to buy those famous games at the local game stores, we’d find that either they’ve run out of physical copies or they don’t put your desired game in their stock.

Compared to that, modern gaming has digital copies of everything, thanks to Steam and many other platforms. You can buy and download games anywhere as often as you wish without fear of the copies running out of stock.

The Internet

Back then, the internet wasn’t as common as today. If we got stuck at a puzzle for a couple of days, it meant dropping the game or finding out someone who had done that part of the puzzle. But, with the internet, that isn’t the issue anymore, as we can just look up any software or hardware issues, including puzzles.

Memory Cards

In the 2000s, we mostly had consoles for gaming. These consoles could be hand-held consoles such as the GBA, GC, and NDS or PlayStation 1 and 2. The issue with these gaming consoles was that we needed memory cards for them to store the saved data.

It was all over if we lost the memory cards, and these cards were relatively small. It was pretty tough to keep track of them.

Visuals

While the gaming industry was revolutionizing during the 2000s, it was common for games to look terrible in 3D. Most 2D games of that era looked excellent, but the 3D games were where the developments were being made. And the games weren’t as visually pleasing as most gamers remember them.

Think about the PS1 release of Final Fantasy 7 for a moment. The game had brilliant storytelling, decent gameplay, and everything, but the graphics weren’t half as visually pleasing as the FF7 Remake.

The FF7 Remake is so graphically pleasing you wouldn’t even think it’s the remake of the same game from the PS1 era. The massive leap in graphics is one of the best selling points of modern games compared to the older ones.

Storytelling

One thing is for sure, games back in the day came with solid stories. There was a lot of competition in the gaming industry back then. But, today, most video game studios focus on the multiplayer and competitive aspects of the game instead of single-player and story-driven aspects.

Multiplayer and Microtransactions

One more notable aspect of those times was the fact that there were no season passes or microtransactions. Once you’ve paid for the game at your local store, that’s it. There’s no more money to be spent on that game.

But nowadays, these types of things have their own perks. The multiplayer scene is the biggest in history, and people want to look good in the games.

The games were also quite frequently developed back then. A gaming studio could release multiple titles in a year, which we don’t see as often today, where a single game takes several years to come out.

The games released back in the 2000s were also quite diverse. Games we see in the modern gaming industry are more or less the same or follow specific trends.

It is also true that modern games are somewhat bland. The games from the 2000s, the classics, have stood the test of time, and people would sometimes still go and play those games. But, can we say the same about modern games? We can’t know for sure what game from the current era we’d return to play 20 years in the future.

Modern games deserve their credit, though. People have high expectations these days, and these games actually deliver those expectations. Yes, games take longer to make these days. But, these games have so much content for the players that makes the time taken justified.

In conclusion, it won’t be a lie if I said that gaming in the 2000s often gets overrated in discussions. But, there are both sides to the story. Modern games are specifically designed for the modern audience, and they do their jobs at that.

Gaming, in general, has come a long way. Things are more accessible now than ever, and gaming is easier than it was in the past. With the introduction of backward compatibility and emulators, we can easily play games from 20 to 30 years ago. So, if you don’t like any of the modern games, you could try your hand at the older ones.