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Atari founder says the games of today are "trash"

gamernode.com — Nolan Bushnell may not be a household word but his effect on the game industry has been felt for decades--he is the founder of Atari and one of the early pioneers in video games. But Bushnell has some harsh words for the state of today's games and said, "Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad. . .

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  • sjbdallas, on 10/26/2007, -77/+172I find it hard to put a whole lot of faith in the words of a guy that OK'd the rapid development of a crappy ET game, then had them go ahead and produce a few million more copies than the total number of Atari's produced.
    • atomicpoet, on 10/23/2007, -1/+129Nolan Bushnell had left the company long ago by the time E.T. was released. In fact, I believe Atari was in the hands of Warner Communications at the time. Nolan, on the other hand, was successfully managing Chuck E. Cheese in 1983, so I do believe he had a good running knowledge of the gaming industry back then.

      There is a moral to the story though in regards to E.T.: never let an old media company buy out a high tech company and expect amazing things. It happened when New Corp bought MySpace, and it happened when AOL was absorbed by Time Warner. The rule applies to executives too. Mike Sculley was a disaster for Apple.
      • sanman, on 10/22/2007, -3/+18Maybe he should take a look at the Wii, and see if he can come up with some improvements.
        When I see the Wii, it does kind of give me ideas on how I might like to improve future generation controllers
        Unfortunately, I can't even get my hands on a Wii yet
        • tech42er, on 10/22/2007, -11/+6Seriously? There aren't any more shortages.
        • Rickler, on 10/22/2007, -10/+11Maybe you should play Wii sports for a few weeks. Then you will be bored ***** after you finish TP around the 3rd week because there are no good games.
          • gmprunner, on 10/22/2007, -2/+3Wii Sports isn't meant to be played for weeks. If your playing Wii Sports for weeks, then you're either a complete moron, or are so cheap that you wont buy any games (and there are lots of good ones; a fantastic deal is Resident Evil 4).
          • SSUK, on 10/22/2007, -2/+3Super Paper Mario. 'nuff said.
          • Blue_Eon, on 10/22/2007, -2/+2Metroid Prime 3, Trauma Center, Excite Truck, and Wii Play are good games.

            Why do people complain about the lack of games for the Wii when the PS3 doesn't have many marquee games out either?
        • SSUK, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2tech, you know how hard it was to acquire my Wii last week? No, you don't. Now gtfo. Shortages are ripe at the moment.
      • keviniskool, on 10/22/2007, -0/+8It's John Sculley
    • hokeywebb22, on 10/23/2007, -2/+24Well like atomicpoet said Busnhell was gone by the time ET came around. Also that ordering more copies then there were ataris would be for Pac-man not ET.
      • gamelord12, on 10/22/2007, -3/+6No, it was ET as well. Ever heard of the ET landfill?
        • emjaymj, on 10/22/2007, -1/+14That's because the game didn't sell nearly as well as expected, genius.
          • LeeSoong, on 10/21/2007, -3/+2why listen to a guy who could have grown his company up to ps3 levels, and just let it fail ?

            doh!
    • skunkman62, on 10/23/2007, -6/+5it was Howard Scott Warshaw who made ET. Nolan Bushnell made pong. you need to get your facts straight.
      here is a clip from an old G4 commercial of warshaw talking about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU
      • Elric1977, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2*****! I clicked it AGAIN! Stupid Rick Astley! See how many views it's had now!? This is the height of his sad sad career. An ongoing Digg joke.
    • ThinkBox, on 10/23/2007, -10/+1You tell 'em, Nolan Bushnell!!!!

      "BRING BACK THE GLORY DAYS OF E.T.!!!!!!!"
    • Lynxpro, on 10/23/2007, -1/+9Hey moron,

      Nolan Bushnell left Atari in 1979. E.T. was released in 1982. Bushnell left Atari out of frustration with Warner Communications (now Time Warner Inc.), who had been the parent company of Atari since 1976 when Bushnell sold the company to them. Bushnell wanted to sell the Atari VCS (2600) at cost (or below) in order to stimulate the sales of the more-profitable games. Warner thought that cutting the price of the VCS would ruin its reputation and that consumers would view it as "cheap". He had also argued against creating an Atari pinball division - which Warner insisted on - which lost money and was also closed down in 1976.

      As for your ignorant comment, there's a two word fitting phrase that comes to mind... GAME OVER.
      • Lynxpro, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3Excuse me...the pinball division was closed down in 1979.
    • fixedcoma, on 10/23/2007, -4/+1well Bushnell, by all means "Go ***** yourself"!
  • bassman730, on 10/23/2007, -27/+5I was gonna make the same exact comment.
    • InSectWar, on 10/21/2007, -10/+3O rly?
    • skunkman62, on 10/21/2007, -1/+2then your facts are just as screwed up. Howard Scott Warshaw who made ET.
      • sparkmonkeyz, on 10/21/2007, -5/+1No one said he made E.T. but that he "OK'd the rapid development of a crappy game"
  • DeRiza, on 10/23/2007, -0/+88If BreakOut is a metaphor for tearing down boundaries, what's Tetris a metaphor for?
    • atomicpoet, on 10/22/2007, -1/+62Obsessive compulsion?
    • MutatedNantuko, on 10/21/2007, -1/+26Robots trying architecture?
    • Gir53457, on 10/22/2007, -0/+54Conforming to the Soviet Government? Everyone has their Niche and you should entrust the big man to find it for you?
    • Malcx, on 10/22/2007, -1/+18The Berlin Wall...
    • sanman, on 10/21/2007, -1/+37Trying to fit in?
    • ZigVicious, on 10/21/2007, -2/+41sex.
      • troye, on 10/21/2007, -0/+7That's the answer. Sex is always the answer.
        • allisonaxe, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1sex is not the answer! sex is the question. "yes" is the answer.
    • SEANWOOKIE, on 10/21/2007, -1/+22Stacking blocks?
    • fuzzynyanko, on 10/21/2007, -2/+21That a debug screen for an artificial intelligence program can earn you millions?
      • ZenMojo, on 10/21/2007, -0/+8It earned him *****. The game was stolen and marketed behind the creator's back.
        • Gir53457, on 10/21/2007, -0/+5The irony now is that he makes a pretty good living working for MS making puzzle games.
    • danasghar, on 10/21/2007, -2/+13why dont you go ahead and come back a little later Lumberg, im busy......
    • doronster195, on 10/21/2007, -1/+2digg down
    • Asianwaste, on 10/22/2007, -0/+8Tetris is a metaphor for life-achievements. No matter how much you complete something, it just mysteriously disappears as if you had never done it at all. After it disappears, something out there gives you more work to do until you die.
  • phatzo, on 11/04/2007, -14/+160I guess he has'nt played half life 2
    • SEANWOOKIE, on 10/22/2007, -13/+47i guess you have'nt learned to spell.
      • 3toe, on 10/21/2007, -14/+5I hope the " 'nt " was deliberate.
        • Matt174e, on 10/21/2007, -3/+4Your birth was'nt deliberate.
        • Matt174e, on 10/21/2007, -4/+2Mother *****. Where's the ***** delete button? I post two God damned messages in a row and I can't delete the ***** that I poested twice. What the *****?

          Digg me down.

          *****.
      • loppytheclown, on 10/21/2007, -11/+2I guess you haven't learned contractions.
        • Asianwaste, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1You learn all about that in lamaze class.
      • zybch, on 10/22/2007, -4/+24I like cake (except those that are a lie).
      • taquitohater, on 10/21/2007, -11/+5Heil Grammar Hitler! Because everyone knows that it's completely necessary to point out ever mistake in spelling, punctuation, and word usage when it obviously adds nothing to the discussion. Even though I realized half way through this post that it really adds nothing to the conversation either..... yay irony!
        • Flamekebab, on 10/21/2007, -2/+5I guess the fact that lots of us can't take people seriously who make that kind of dumb mistake has escaped you.
        • LeeSoong, on 10/21/2007, -1/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

          Godwin's law is so old and out of style. don't use it anymore please.

          you could try modernizing it a bit, ''Sieg Heil, oh servant of son of a Bush. forever forward against the godless evil doers, victory and virtue triumph.''

          but still, ww-2 is dated, http://starpathvisions.com/godmitus.jpg

          you need to update your insult file with new material..

          try hillary jokes or animal references...
      • DarkDx, on 10/22/2007, -0/+12I guess I do'nt care.
      • livingwater, on 10/21/2007, -3/+4It's called Punctuation... not spelling or grammar
        • Asianwaste, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1Isn't punctuation in the case of possessives and contractions a part of spelling and grammar?
      • Matt174e, on 10/22/2007, -1/+8I guess some people never heard of a tpyo.
      • mattmoto, on 10/22/2007, -1/+2I guess you haven't learned to capitalize.
    • 2shae, on 10/22/2007, -38/+4I have Orange Box and this is the first time I ever played Half-Life 2. What is so amazing about this game?
      I actually think it's boring and unoriginal. Nowhere near as fun as the Halo series and I'm not talking multiplayer, just Campaign (or story mode).
      Though Portals is pretty fun for like 15 minutes.
      • lordtyros, on 10/22/2007, -2/+16Obvious troll is obvious
      • brasso, on 10/24/2007, -2/+27So you think Halo was original?
      • staticneuron, on 10/22/2007, -3/+2original is not the same as fun. And the only thing original about half life was the gravity gun. The rest has been done to death before.

        All games share elements, I mean there is so much you can do with the technology before it starts to get hard to understand or just not fun. So gameplay mechanics haven't changed it is just the little adjustments and tweaks that sets games apart from the rest.
      • goffy59, on 10/22/2007, -1/+9Halo copies all the FPS's (1990 and up). Console whore! Or dumbass.
      • noumuon, on 10/21/2007, -1/+2did you just say the halo series is fun? if by halo series, you mean halo 1 and only halo 1, then yes, it is fun.
      • Asianwaste, on 10/24/2007, -1/+1Unoriginal? THERE'S A ***** GRAVITY GUN!!!!!
    • grumbel, on 10/22/2007, -2/+17Half Life 2 is the game he *doesn't* want, what he wants is simply something more like the Wii due to its social aspects, which of course is kind of late to request right now when the Wii is already there and having huge success.
    • ZenMojo, on 10/22/2007, -2/+91) Breakout's not a social game. It's 1-player, so he's talking out his ass.
      2) Atari games from back then for the most part suck by modern standards.
      • Lynxpro, on 10/22/2007, -2/+41. Bushnell has been focusing on social video games at his bistro restaurant chain for half a decade now. So it is not him talking out of his ass but you posting online out of your ass.

        2. Atari started in 1972. Judging Atari's achievements from the 1970s to the modern era is something an ignorant douche bag would do. Congrats. Besides, if it wasn't for Atari, you wouldn't be playing video games today because the industry is here today because of them.
        • noumuon, on 10/22/2007, -3/+2wait, this is atari you're talking about, right? because i'm pretty sure we'd still have video games without atari. just because they were an early console doesn't mean they started anything...
  • shinythingy, on 10/22/2007, -27/+22Yeah we totally need more ET
  • Shrubber, on 10/23/2007, -16/+74Really, has Nolan Bushnell ever known much about video games? He was a business man, not a programmer; he really doesn't know jack about how to make a good game. The fact that he's still sometimes cited as "the Father of Video Games" over Ralph Baer disturbs me greatly.
    • atomicpoet, on 10/22/2007, -1/+31He knows what sells. He was the primary one responsible for Pong and Breakout. He also started Chuck E. Cheese. He's the "father of video games" because he was the one most responsible for video games becoming a mainstream interest. Kind of like how Woz is known as the "father of the PC" even though the Altair was released two years before the Apple I.
      • Shrubber, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1He knows what HE sells/used to sell. As far as I know, he's been out of the business for years. While he definitely knows his Atari games, he's been out of the market for too long, IMHO, to declare that modern games are uniformly "trash" with much credibility. And no, I do not consider Chuck. E. Cheese to be a part of the video game industry.
    • Lynxpro, on 10/22/2007, -2/+4Ralph Baer is not the father of video games. Space War was made a decade + before Baer created his crappy video game. Nolan Bushnell had "Computer Space" in the arcades in 1971 which predates Baer. Bushnell did see Baer's primitive ping pong game and improved upon it (with Al Alcorn's engineering genius) and built Atari from that. But no, you still hear Baer complain about Bushnell to this day, yet Baer's major achievement was Milton Bradley's "Simon" which was a direct rip-off of Atari's "Touch Me" which was out first.

      • Shrubber, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2I didn't say that Baer invented games. I don't really think he was the sole person responsible for creating the video game market; it was the cumulative effort of many people over several decades. William Higinbotham had been playing "Tennis for Two" on an oscilloscope since the FIFTIES. Yet, he never did anything with it other than take it on tour as an attraction. Ralph Baer was the first person to really push a corporation (Magnavox) to bring the technology to market. He developed the mechanics of creating a console that could interact directly with a standard television. It was the Odyssey, which he designed, that first brought gaming to the living room. Computer space was a commercial flop, that did very little to excite the masses. Now, Bushnell definitely deserves some credit for Pong and the VCS. Those were the products that really kick-started gaming, and put video games into public awareness. But Bushnell probably couldn't have (and really, wouldn't have) made either of those without seeing Ralph Baer's Brown Box, and drawing inspiration from it.
      • bormon, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1What do you work for atari or something? Get over it.
    • rpgmaker, on 10/22/2007, -1/+3He knows about video games AND he knows what sell, in the article he is describing the Wii actually.
    • Asianwaste, on 10/22/2007, -0/+6He's just angry that no one makes any more games to put in a Chuck E. Cheese's anymore.
  • KnockoutNerd, on 10/21/2007, -3/+34Yeah, pong was the greatest game ever, and only one mode of play.
  • felman87, on 10/23/2007, -2/+108Statistically, most games are trash.
    • jonoxplor, on 10/22/2007, -5/+6*tony hawk series*

      they started off ok but then when you could drive cars etc. it blew it
  • freakgd, on 10/22/2007, -27/+16Nolan Bushnell is trash
  • loganhid, on 10/23/2007, -14/+58Come on guys - The Mans getting Old so he's getting to that age where he seems to hate everything except gardening,lining up to collect his pension fund and going to holidays.
    • Gir53457, on 10/22/2007, -6/+10The guy is so far out of touch from video games today. This is almost the same situation as the congressman who claimed he was a gamer for playing Pong.
      • Pulpfiction23, on 10/22/2007, -1/+3man,if he's in congress it was probably beer pong, look those guys they always look wasted, they're always saying crazy *****
    • whistles, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3Actually he is very active and has a new restaurant concept that includes games at every table. His idea is to promote social games not games you play in a dark room in your parents basement. www.uwink.com He is actually more cool than you :)
      • Gir53457, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2My uncle has one of those in his bar, It plays Dig-Dug and Pac-Man.
      • Aokubidaikon, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1He also knows more gooder grammar than you.
  • Spamcan, on 10/23/2007, -3/+36"He sees a generation of video games that foster fun, social interaction, and education.
    "Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that," says Bushnell. "

    Yes, brainless violence does make up a large segment of the video game market, but what about the DS and the Wii? Games like Brain Age and Wii Sports are exactly what he's talking about. Nintendo's entire "Wii would like to play" series of ads are about how the system fosters social interaction.

    Oh, and speaking of "pure, unadulterated trash".. http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7985
    • modifiedbears, on 10/22/2007, -19/+4Wii Sports is sad unless you are disabled in some way and can't play the sport because of it.
    • yfguitarist, on 10/21/2007, -0/+4Alright, obviously people aren't reading the article and are just responding with the first thing that pops into their head. He hasn't played video games in a while, so he doesn't know about the Wii and stuff like that. I respect his opinion. He does have a point about lots of video games centering around violence. My dad and uncle didn't want to play Goldeneye with me and my brother and cousins when it came out. It could be a generational thing. Quit bashing him for his opinion (this isn't necessarily directed at you, Spamcan, your comment about the Wii prompted me to speak).
  • NecroSexy, on 10/22/2007, -5/+15He would know.
  • wisewaif, on 10/21/2007, -21/+2Yeah, does anyone have any nostalgia for those old Atari games? I played a retrospective of them, and they were all junk. The first real video game was Super Mario Bros. Morimoto transcended all his "trash."
    • alex1015, on 10/21/2007, -0/+14Miyamoto?
      • katanaswordfish, on 10/21/2007, -0/+13No no.... He means the Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto... obviously...
        • DarkSamus, on 10/21/2007, -0/+4i'm surprised he didn't say his first name, sushi
    • DonKarnage25, on 10/21/2007, -3/+16Dug down for "The first real video game was Super Mario Bros."
      That's just nonsense.
      • noumuon, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3yea, everyone knows the first real video game was a modified oscilloscope... :P
    • RobotBuddha, on 10/21/2007, -4/+1I think you have a point. I've sat down with emulators and a lot of the old atari games I loved as a kid. The vast majority of them just weren't that fun compared to modern offerings.
      • mookieXL, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2I agree, most 2600 games didn't age well. But River Raid still kicks ass.
  • ggnictee, on 10/23/2007, -9/+58as someone who as worked as a video game designer i would just like to add a "hell ya."
    I can't count the number of times a man in a suit (who probably had never played a game in his life, let alone a video game) walked into a room full of people who love, live and create video games and told them exactly how the game should be made. It was soul crushing to watch a really fun interesting game get turned into something that's "just like that one that made a lot of money"
    it makes me sad.
    • floatingpoints, on 10/22/2007, -1/+7Well, what should make you sad is how those people didn't stand up to him and say, "***** you, you don't know *****. This isn't happening."
      • hockey, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1When you have a family to feed and you need the paycheck to pay bills you kinda don't do that to the guy who has the authority to fire you.
    • Camphlobactor, on 10/22/2007, -0/+6Sounds like Electronic Arts
  • ggnictee, on 10/23/2007, -3/+56as someone who as worked as a video game designer i would just like to add a "hell ya."
    I can't count the number of times a man in a suit (who probably had never played a game in his life, let alone a video game) walked into a room full of people who love, live and create video games and told them exactly how the game should be made. It was soul crushing to watch a really fun interesting game get turned into something that's "just like that one that made a lot of money"
    we don't necessarily need less 'shooters and blow'em ups' we just need to let the people who design our shooters be free to create fun interesting shooters and blow'em ups. They're designers. Let them design. I promise they know what makes a fun game. Unfortunately it's hard to get a corp. to risk millions of dollars on game designs that arn't tested in the market.
    it makes me sad.
    • Waskonator, on 10/21/2007, -2/+3Preach it brother.
    • iEnigma, on 10/21/2007, -15/+3Did you seriously reply to your own comment directly above this one?
    • macweirdo42, on 10/21/2007, -0/+5But... but... free market... invisible hand... MONEY'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN MAKING A CREATIVE GAME!!! Look on, Libertarian digg community, and despair, for this is what you bring us - ***** video games. The market demands endless sequels and rehashes, because those are guaranteed to sell. The fact of the matter is, games are too expensive for innovation - if I'm putting down $50, I want something that I know I'm gonna enjoy.
      • Stevethegreat, on 10/21/2007, -2/+1Free market does not work on art and if we want videogames to start meaning sth we must not have them work along the lines of hardware or professional software. Recreation is a very different thing than a mere creation, unfortunately on "entertainment" the faster, cheaper, quicker doctrine does not apply. I'm one of the most pro-free market guys you can find around but then again I assert that art must be handled differently than mere products, since they also function on different rules.

        Of course in a sophisticated crowd, arts working under the free-markets' system would also make money but what does constitute a sophisticated crowd? Hard answers on hard question that's why I prefer the old system of sponsorship that the Athenian democracy was using concerning arts and art-making. "I sponsor you regardless of the odds you have to make a successful game", of course that's also in the sphere of an ideal society with no practical usage in our world here and now and 'll eventually be filtered down to the same logic under which today's system prevails. So we're left with one last possible solution and that's the modern type of ancient Athens's kind of sponsorship, "donations", yeah that's right public donations, it doesn't matter anymore how *many* "bought" the game but *who* "bought" the game, and fortunately people of higher sophistication are those who will most probably donate more, as they'll have more.

        So -say- you put out a great game, regarding it's artistic spectrum? Of course it may become a flop, only few may "buy it" and actually understand it but those few -chances are- will donate a lot more than the mindless mass playing Halo 3 and -so- we reach to an equilibrium, provided only by the magnificent tool we invented, "the Internet".
      • aadsfasdf, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2This doesn't happen in just games. The games that bring in money work. They might not be original, but they work for the average person. The same goes for movies, tv shows, music etc.
    • bormon, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1dugg down for ripping off the guys comment above you....kidding
  • PawFox, on 10/23/2007, -8/+3While he has all in reason to state his opinon all current games are trash, but whats happened to the saying: "Other peoples garbage is other people's treasure"?
    • Remmiz, on 10/21/2007, -0/+6Perhaps you mean - "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
    • DonKarnage25, on 10/21/2007, -0/+9I hate to be the grammar nazi of this thread, but I'd suggest googling a saying if you're going to put it in quotations. Maybe then you wouldn't be getting dugg down.
      • screwfanboys1, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1***** that nobody should have to check over their sayings or spellings over and over just because they are afraid of getting corrected by douche bags who for some reason can't stand typos and feel the need to correct EVERY DAMN ONE
  • CurlyHayami, on 10/23/2007, -18/+29Still not over the complete destruction of their system by Nintendo?

    Pathetic.
    • Buelldozer, on 10/23/2007, -6/+24He wasn't with Atari by then. So not only does your comment show your own ignorance on the subject it's completely irrelevant.
    • NecroSexy, on 10/23/2007, -16/+3It is relevant because of a little thing called memory.
  • dewyjuhl, on 10/23/2007, -4/+28he's so right. Educational gaming is where its at.
    • macweirdo42, on 10/23/2007, -0/+15Oregon Trail FTW!

      "Buttface has cholera."
      "Here lies Pepperoni and Sausage."
      "You got 2,000 pounds of food. But, you could only carry 100 pounds back to the wagon." (GODDAMNIT!)

      Oh, memories...
      • DarkSamus, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4i always had a few extra dead buffaloes and dears lying around, oh yea and other small animals, forget crossing any rivers
  • MacintoshSauce, on 10/23/2007, -12/+13For the most part, games today are garbage.
    • sgtpppr, on 10/22/2007, -7/+5You're just mad cause the only games out for your Apple are Leisure Suit Larry 37 and Solitaire.
  • Ramble, on 10/23/2007, -7/+30Fine if he thinks that but I personally think games like Bioshock, Deus Ex, HL2, etc. are more involving than tetris and pong.
  • Hangender, on 10/21/2007, -15/+3Atari is also trash =)
  • Sengara, on 10/23/2007, -6/+55Portal. 'nuf said
    • jonoxplor, on 10/22/2007, -4/+7CAKE IS A LIE!
    • spawnfree, on 10/22/2007, -3/+3Let Bushnell eat cake.
      And by cake I mean fire.
      • zybch, on 10/22/2007, -6/+2The only good Bushnell is an on-fire and screaming Bushnell !
    • iEnigma, on 10/21/2007, -10/+6Yes, one 3 hour long game shall persuade him!
      • carpespasm, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5i would hope so. pong and breakout only lasted an hour or two max on their own. it was just that they were the best thing out at the time with no competition to speak of.

        it's easy to toss out complaints when he left the gaming industry before it got big enough to fill out anything more than the most basic genres
      • Bamborzled, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1Sure, the game itself is 3 hours long, but remember that the developers of Portal are going to open this game up like they did with Narbacular Drop, which would probably result in thousands of maps and puzzles all created by players for players to solve.
    • adude, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1Exactly. I'm really annoyed by comments like the ones he made. First, when he talks about Breakout, he's right that it's a great game that a lot of people still love to play, but the video game market has expanded... a lot. Now people target niche audiences. There are MMORPGs for those who like the social aspect, Sim games for those who like... simulating, and then there are great FPS games (such as Half-Life 2) that provide a great and unique experience. And then there are those games like Portal, which astound people because of its original (and yet simple) gameplay. So maybe he should be saying there should be more Portal-like games, but in the end, people will still want to play shoot-em-ups as well... that IS what the market demands.
  • TypeEE, on 10/21/2007, -4/+15He can only prove himself by making a better game now
    • goffy59, on 10/21/2007, -0/+5Considering Atari did a lot back then specially with their computer. They can say whatever the hell they want.
    • whistles, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2Actually he has done better. He has combined his two prior loves into one that is even better www.uwink.com
  • reed311, on 10/23/2007, -1/+14Well, I agree with him for the most part. I mean, look at what they were doing back then. I used to play my atari for hours. The graphics were ***** and you only had one button, but they focused all their work on the game play. Now games are about graphics and voice acting (well, not all of them). Nintendo tried to bring things back with the Wii, but the Wii has had a lot of ***** games as well.
  • ahpro, on 10/21/2007, -9/+4You know how when people die in counter strike: source easily they tend to make excuses for it and blame it on other things. Do you think its the same with this guy?

    *gets killed*
    ARGH! Games these days..
  • Nostromo13, on 10/21/2007, -13/+8Anyone care what this guy thinks?
  • Waskonator, on 10/22/2007, -2/+35It's sad how many terrible games, with great graphics are made these days. I'd make a top ten list about it but... ugh. Anyways, it is absolutely true. Go back to the days of old... come on back with me... Super Mario Brothers, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, Street Fighter... yeah these are all common legacy games that everyone quotes as legendary. But its TRUE. These games all had precise timing involved, and quick reflexes, and rhythm, and catchy sounds, and total and complete replay value. I just finished Metroid Prime 3, and i gotta say its a ***** sweet game to play. And it took 20 hours to beat. Gears of War, Resistance: Fall of Man, Half Life series... all great story lines, and graphics. But where is the fun? Its the same story, its the same game. The only difference is each one brings you closer to what you really want from a game, each in a different way. What we really want is a game that amazes ourselves that we can do it. Games like Guitar Hero, and Super Smash Brothers, and Mario Cart, and Katamari; they all use this philosophy. And it works! They are undeniably fun games. Some lack graphics, or story line, but i would pick up and play any one of those games any day. And thats what we are missing from all of the FPS, and RPG games that are so saturated in this medium; replay value, entrepreneurship, and a hook that will guide us in. Most of all, I think we all need to stop trying to make these games simulate real life, and start making them simulate games we wish we COULD play in real life. We need to look back to the roots, take a hint, and think about making something new.
    • zybch, on 10/22/2007, -6/+2You didn't think HL2 was fun?
      • Waskonator, on 10/21/2007, -1/+9Thats not what I said, or meant. I'm just saying it's only a FPS, which has been done... and done. It's a great FPS, just like the others that I mentioned. My point is I am tired of waiting for new FPS games just to be disappointed. When you step back, its all just point and shoot. Maybe a little hide here, and problem solve there. Sometimes you get lost, or you have to take on way more baddies than humanly possible. But there is such little strategy to be learned, and much less admiration to be earned from these types of games.
      • staticneuron, on 10/22/2007, -2/+1here's a crazy idea..... try more games. There are more games out there other than shooters. Some people find fun in shooters because "amazes themselves that they can do it". Contra, ninja gaiden, and many other games bring this kind of enjoyment. I don't know about you but some of the games you mention I just do not like the mechanics, therefore the game ceases to be fun.
    • AgentKPB, on 10/22/2007, -3/+6Deus Ex, best game ever.
      • goffy59, on 10/22/2007, -2/+4Except number 2. Only because it was made on console; they had to dumb it down. Hence the door codes are automatic as long as you read a piece of paper that has the code. No more using the mouse to click each key to give you that nice feeling "I'm doing something!".
    • goffy59, on 10/22/2007, -3/+2You speak of many console games. What about Fallout 2? I want a REAL RPG. The only racing game I thought was fun was Carmageddon. Lemmings? Crystal Caves? ***** your "classics". no pun intended to you. Planescape: Torment anyone?
      • goffy59, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I was dugg down by all the simple minded gamers that have never played a game that required a bit of intelligence. Fallout 2 had 63000 lines of dialog. Is there such thing in ANY game of this day and age? No.
    • staticneuron, on 10/22/2007, -7/+4Please get over yourself.

      "What we really want is a game that amazes ourselves that we can do it. Games like Guitar Hero, and Super Smash Brothers, and Mario Cart, and Katamari; they all use this philosophy. And it works! They are undeniably fun games. Some lack graphics, or story line, but i would pick up and play any one of those games any day. And thats what we are missing from all of the FPS, and RPG games that are so saturated in this medium; replay value, entrepreneurship, and a hook that will guide us in"

      No. That is what YOU really want. There are other people in the world with different tastes. You say smash brothers or guitar hero is fun, but what on earth makes you qualified to push the opinion that they are more fun than gears or any other game you feel to look down upon. You like crazy gameplay, despite story, fine... more power to you. I tend to like great gameplay and great story, I kind of use the story to immerse myself in the world and give more of a personal reason I am wasting money and life on video games.

      AS far as realism graphics and gameplay go.. this seems to be another thin attack on a style and a choice of games. I like sci fi and steam punk myself but I enjoy playing realistic games like rainbow 6 and call of duty 4. You may not find it as FUN as the other games you mention but people like me find them more enjoyable and fun than you do.
      Give me great gameplay + story+ funfactor and I will be one happy gamer.
    • screwfanboys1, on 10/22/2007, -1/+1if FPS's aren't fun for you, then DON"T ***** PLAY THEM!

      For me games like Halo and resistance are loads of fun along with Guitar hero, super smash, etc.
  • tracker198x, on 10/22/2007, -2/+19he is right, its all about graphics now and the developers or kids dont even care about how FUN the game is. Zelda 2, zelda link to the past, ff6 are all shining examples of how graphics do not a great game make. MGS 1 on the psx also
    • KyleMistry, on 10/21/2007, -1/+16Not to go against your point, but Zelda 2 isn't exactly what comes to mind when I think of a fun game.
      • IndigoMoss, on 10/22/2007, -0/+10Agreed, also MGS 1 did have pretty amazing graphics for it's time/platform.
      • macweirdo42, on 10/21/2007, -1/+4Oddly enough, Zelda 2's grown on me. Goddamn that game pissed me off when I was a kid, though.
      • tracker198x, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4its REALLY HARD. they dont make hard games anymore. plus i love the rpg levelling of it
    • Schmapdi, on 10/21/2007, -1/+1as did Zelda and FF6 -
    • floatingpoints, on 10/21/2007, -4/+1"how graphics do not a great game make. "

      What's with the yoda talk?

      "how graphics do not define a great game"

      Fixed.
    • hockey, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2/slightly off topic retort

      FF6 had some of the best graphics in the history of the SNES. They had one screen where they used all 256 colors of the SNES color palette. To my knowledge it's the only game to do that.
  • Soofi, on 10/22/2007, -1/+9I was sceptical of his comments at first, because technology has propelled gaming to unprecedented levels which has not even been fully realized yet with the likes of the Sony PS3 hardware and stunning visual graphics.. but he makes a good point about the content of games, as they all seem to follow the same repeated themes. Social gaming to replace the old boardgames has yet to come to fruition, but in good time it will come. Online multiplayer games are the trend now.

    Calling today's games 'trash' is overdoing it in my opinion, rather I would say there is a lack of innovation - but overall well designed games are alot of fun, and I know from experience it has helped me keep my senses sharp & refined, and improved hand-eye co-ordination. Games that feature online multiplayer networks provide the social aspect of chatting and forming game clans - I've spent a good part of my young life on the Worms series - our clan site is still on the web: http://www.xyapx.com which I hope to keep alive as a reminder of some special times and the formation of some unique friendships.
    • Nextrix, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1I agree, the aspects of running a guild/clan/team in an on-line game, talking with them over vent or team speak, and then meeting some of them in real life brings that aspect of on-line social interaction into play. It also allows the binding of a community, and the determination and organizational skill it takes to keep it together.
  • wiigamesblog, on 10/21/2007, -2/+6There are a lot of "pretty" games out now, but I can still appreciate the classics.. like...
    Mario Kart for SNES, Tetrinet / Tetris, Bomberman. (OK So I didn't grow up in the atari age)
  • w3weasel, on 10/21/2007, -16/+1.... says the developers of E.T. (atari 2600 game)
  • schnikies79, on 10/22/2007, -3/+17I mostly agree. I am sick and tired or racing and FPS games. Something new?
    • dualscreenman, on 10/21/2007, -0/+8EA Sports 20xx!
      Oh wait...
    • JEAH, on 10/22/2007, -0/+4they make em, you just don't buy em
    • RunnyBabbit, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1I have to second this. More in the first-person-puzzle-comedy genre please.
  • DonKarnage25, on 10/22/2007, -2/+12My biggest problem with games today, and I'm sure that this has been said many times before, is that most of them tend to lean more towards who can make the prettiest game than who can make the best GAME. If I wanted to stare at art, I'd go to an art show.
    • kufu91, on 10/21/2007, -1/+3"If I wanted to stare at art, I'd go to an art show."

      pretty pictures aren't art
    • Nextrix, on 10/22/2007, -0/+1Exactly! Their are many reason why games of today are TRASH, one being real social interaction, and the other being the downfall of eye candy.
  • spawnfree, on 10/21/2007, -1/+7Where is Jeff Minter when you need him?
    He made me buy the last Atari console.
    • Lynxpro, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2He [Jeff Minter] is making games for Xbox Live Arcade. He also made the "virtual light machine" for the Xbox 360 just as he did before for the Atari Jaguar CD-Rom.
  • MajorMauser, on 10/22/2007, -2/+7Nolans right but Its Society not the games being made.
  • juicebag, on 10/22/2007, -8/+10He's totally wrong. Sorry to admit it, but Guitar Hero, Half Life 2, and Metroid Prime 3 are more fun than any games back in the 80s.
    • mos6507, on 10/22/2007, -0/+2Guitar hero is a moneymaking factory. It's a way to sell you music in another form. There is something very dangerous about that business model.
  • ifm1989, on 10/22/2007, -2/+20get off my lawn
  • wetmetalthong, on 10/22/2007, -0/+7Nolan Bushnell *is* a household name. If you're a golden age gaming geek like me.
    • Lynxpro, on 10/21/2007, -0/+1Suffice to say, Steve Jobs would not be where he is today had Nolan Bushnell not employed him first at Atari.
  • dfective, on 10/21/2007, -4/+0I know of 2 ***** NOT TALTENTED guys Atari just hired. Glad they know how to pick this stuff out...
  • BackwardsPanda, on 10/21/2007, -0/+7Plus hes the founder of chuck e. cheeses. yay modern marvels
    • Lynxpro, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3He was behind the advent of in-car navigation systems... Look up e-Tac.

      He also tried to kick-start the robotics revolution in the 80s with Androbot but was years too early for it.
  • SniperSlap, on 10/22/2007, -0/+14While I don't disagree with what he has to say, I wonder about his motivations for saying such things.

    It is true however, and the only reason games have as much respect as they do nowadays is because computer and video gaming has entered prime time and mainstream focus. Stupid people like games now, thus you have lots of FPS shooters. Because - well...Dumb people like action, their brains can't handle much more.
    • skinturtle, on 10/22/2007, -0/+5"Stupid people like games now, thus you have lots of FPS shooters. Because - well...Dumb people like action, their brains can't handle much more."

      Amen
    • schavira, on 10/22/2007, -0/+3Greatest comment ever.
  • murf43143, on 10/22/2007, -4/+7THEIR games of today are trash.
    • s0nicfreak, on 10/21/2007, -0/+2Except it isn't the same people anymore... the Atari name was bought by Infogrames...
  • KyleMistry, on 10/22/2007, -12/+2I'll take Metal Gear Solid 4 over Tetris any day. Sorry, mister old man. Get back to your medication now.
  • everlast88, on 10/21/2007, -8/+3i remember this thing called the "video game crash of 1983", and if memory serves Atari was pretty much (if not entirely) responsible for. He's just bitter about Nintendo doing what Atari couldn't, end of story.
    • whistles, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3Bushnell was forced out in 1978 for reasons that fly in the face of what you say.
      From wikipedia
      "Bushnell was eventually forced out of the company in November of 1978 after a dispute with Warner over the future direction of the company, notably on the lifespan of the 2600 and their closed software strategy
  • ParticleMan420, on 10/22/2007, -8/+2yes, the gaming industry needs to listen to this man, because ATARI is such a powerhouse game developer...../sarcasm
  • HomeNucleonics, on 10/22/2007, -6/+0I can't wait to get to the age when I bitch about how everything new is crap and make constant references to the "good ol' days".
    • whistles, on 10/21/2007, -0/+3Have you been to his newest project?
  • sherifffruitfly, on 10/21/2007, -7/+1Talking about idiotic games like gta, he's right. Talking about interesting games like aom and eve, he's wrong.
  • devilsavocado, on 10/22/2007, -2/+3Those who are clamoring for him to create something to back this up, well he already has, though not a game- uWink. Family can sit around the table and play silly little games against each other while eating dinner. The restaurants are sensory overload but it's still backing up what he's talked about. It's not amazing graphics and blowing people up but apparently it's entertaining.

    And I second the comments about the Wii being exactly what he would be looking for.
  • paperballet, on 10/22/2007, -6/+1beauty is in the eye of the beholder. as is trash. this guy needs to understand that unless you're a nostalgia freak or 35 years old, you never even played Atari games. this is EXACTLY why kids shouldn't trust their parents. we're dream crushers... haha.
  • jalexhall1989, on 10/20/2007, -0/+1I was really more surprised the article didn't contain "back in my day", the words "weak" strung out about our generation, and "uphill both ways through the snow".
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