Skill level comparisons

[G-type | 2,482]

How do you think the collective average skill level of people currently interested and engaged in playing retro games compares to the skill level of back when it was the contemporary platform?

My theory is that the people that have stuck around do so because they're highly interested and tend to skew towards the upper strata of the skill spectrum. In other words, my meager abilities would probably compare more favorably to the average gamers of the past. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by G-type

[Webhead123 | 675]

I think that's probably right. I think there are a lot of factors that contribute to this, not the least of which being a larger body of experience to draw from and the simple passage of time. I imagine a lot of the people that play classic games "seriously" (meaning with interest to putting in effort to completing them, as opposed to just looking for 10 minutes of disposable fun) either have the benefit of previous personal experience with those games or are looking to the vast catalogue of lessons learned and tips given by the players that do. Even just the fact that game design is iterative and builds upon itself means that modern players have the advantage of perspective that those of us playing in prior decades didn't.

I know that I'm personally a lot more "skilled" (if dare I call it that) at games in general today than I was in the '80s or '90s. Part of that is better spatial awareness, better problem solving skills, more developed hand-eye-coordination but part of it is also just that I've seen and experimented with so much more of the evolution of game design, so I better understand how video games work as a medium and how to better interact with them. I have to imagine the same is true for most of the people that are still invested in the old-school games.

Edited June 9, 2023 by Webhead123

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

As an "average" Sega Genesis kid, I was cheating, getting frustrated, and using Game Genie constantly. Nowadays I have way more discipline to set down and learn a game. Since video games skewed towards kids in the 80s/90s moreso than now, I would think the average person playing old games is much better now.

We've also also played 100s of games to give us more experience. The first thing I do when I get to a boss fight now is run up to the boss and just slash it and see if I can brute force kill it before I die. I would never have beaten Ninja Gaiden 5-4 as a kid because it would never occur to me to try this. This boss is super hard and has nearly unavoidable attacks... unless you just run up and hit him faster than he hits you.

 

[SailingWiimote | 16]

I'm way better at games than I was as a kid, but there are still certain skill sets I struggle with. One I struggle with is memorizing hectic enemy patterns with little to go on.

I have diagnosed poor short term memory, so games like Rush 'n' Attack and Starship Hector are impossible to me. Everything looks the same, and you have to memorize where exact enemies spawn and how they behave.

Games like Biohazard Battle on Genesis I can manage though, because the scenery is always changing, and enemy types tend to come in set waves, so I can memorize something a little more clear like that.

I feel like the passion I have for games gives me an advantage, because I always want to beat as many games as I can. There are a LOT of games I've played and finished that many people wouldn't have bothered to see to the end. Being stubborn can be an advantage for gaming.

It's one of the main reasons I don't use emulators, because I'm more inclined to get my money's worth by finishing it if I bought it. I'll usually quit a game early on if I got it for free somehow.

Edited June 9, 2023 by SailingWiimote

[fox | 1,667]

Trash.  Then, now, forever

[Tanooki | 4,934]

5 hours ago, SailingWiimote said:

It's one of the main reasons I don't use emulators, because I'm more inclined to get my money's worth by finishing it if I bought it. I'll usually quit a game early on if I got it for free somehow.

Same here, and same applies to flash kits too.

I do not include multicarts in that, as they do cost a bit unless you get lucky and they have a precise list of titles you can select from but it's not overkill.  Emulators and flash kits are just rom dumps, no value to them, so you don't value wasting your time on them long so you get like this gamers ADHD thing going on where you never can stick to anything and in turn accomplish nothing but wasting time.  I've been very tempted to sell the stupid kits off I have and just stick to the hundreds of games I own as they're already more than enough.  The only issue is when something comes along I do like I can't put it on there to play with more recent things.