Younger generations and retro gaming.

[Carpincho Pampeano]

My little sister asked me if i could get Kingdom Hearts for her because she has been interested in the series for some time (i think that her interest comes from the "fan art" of Riku and Sora) so i got the game for her. She couldn't figure out how to get past the screen after choosing the shield, sword and staff.

She was supposed to go to the light to continue, i knew that and waited for her to do that. After a few minutes i told her that she must go to the light and her response was " Oh, no one told me i should do that so how would i know?", i told her that she should have some innate desire to explore.

I don't think kids have been getting dumber because that makes no sense, but i do belive that they have been strongly conditioned to follow orders and being told what they should do. I love my sister and it genuinely broke my heart that she couldn't go past that screen by itself. She also took her sweet time to leave destiny island i think she clocked 2hs to do so.

Have you seen similar things? How was your experience making someone younger play something like Morrowing where you have to read to figure stuff or free exploration with next to no instruction to progress the game?

 

[JamesDixon]

Sounds like your sister is retarded. I'd take her back and exchange her for a non-retarded version.

It's true. Anyone younger then Gen X are morons with some exceptions. The dumbing down of the world is a well known phenomena because they have gotten all the technology in their daily lives that removes all sense of discovery.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

She's not retarded, she actually reads a lot and often has some retort when we talk about stuff. That's why it came to my atention that she couldn't figure such simple stuff without being told what to do, i wanted to know other users experience in similar cases.

 

[JamesDixon]

She's not retarded, she actually reads a lot and often has some retort when we talk about stuff. That's why it came to my atention that she couldn't figure such simple stuff without being told what to do, i wanted to know other users experience in similar cases.

If she couldn't understand the most simplest of things in a game and needed your help... she's retarded. Don't worry we're all retards in our own way. I'm a retard in the fact that I don't give a fuck about what anyone thinks of me.

The entire point that you missed in your retarded defense of your sister was that she has a lack of motivation to discover things on her own. Now think about how she is being raised. Is she handheld in most tasks to ensure she does them or is she given instructions that are vague? If she's handheld then she will never have the drive for discovery. That's the thing about female members of the species. They are handed everything on silver platter and never really have to work to get anywhere.

In your case, were you handheld or given vague directions to get stuff done? Do you have an innate drive to discover things on your own?

Only you can answer these questions.

 

[Butter]

I assume that zoomers unironically refer to Skyrim as retro gaming by this point. In other words, they're not used to doing anything resembling thinking when they play video games. All they know is "follow quest marker and wait for the QTE".

 

[markec]

Modern games are very streamlined especially mobile ones that often have things like a large arrow, a narrator or camera movement showing the way to progress.

Mobile games that are very popular with younger generations are extremely linear and simple.

Growing up and only playing those type games, would explain this mentality of waiting for the game to tell you when to progress.

In that case I dont think she is retarded only programmed into a certain behavior that can be neutralized by giving her other type of games to play. Like some adventures that will force her to be creative and inquisitive,

 

[JamesDixon]

Modern games are very streamlined especially mobile ones that often have things like a large arrow, a narrator or camera movement showing the way to progress.

Growing up and only playing those type games, would explain this mentality of waiting for the game to tell you when to progress.

In that case I dont think she is retarded only programmed into a certain behavior that can be neutralized by giving her other type of games to play. Like some adventures that will force her to be creative and inquisitive,

She's been programmed to be retarded.

 

[Curratum]

My first grader had an intense thoughtful expression at lunch today, when I asked him what was up, he said he was now COMPLETELY sure that the Deep Ainsel Well opens up into the boss arena of Estel. I told him that's impossible because you could never ride an elevator down directly into the boss without going through the preceding level. When we finished our food, he asked to boot up the game and showed me that's exactly where the location is, only it's a one-way elevator from the boss arena and up to a new area.

He also leafed through the Dark Souls 2 strategy guide until he came up with a very good combo of items and stats that I'd never have thought of.

However he also blames the game and unfair difficulty every time he can't deal with the mechanics and difficulty of any game he plays, so it balances out. When I told him about arcades and only having 3 lives per coin, he said that's awfully unfair and that he would never play any of this without an emulator or a modern PC version.

 

[Viata]

Is Kindgom Hearts considered retro now?

 

[bionicman]

Idk about you guys, but Witcher 3 is one of those retro games still worth playing today imo. You just have to look past the graphics, there's a hidden gem in there.

 

[Falksi]

I've set my mates kids up with cheap emulation PCs since Covid started, and they've been pretty receptive to the retro games I've given them (mainly early to mid 90's, 8 & 16-bit era).

There is definitely a hand-holding element which me & my mates had to break in them to start with. But after a few family sessions together they soon picked it up.

The best games to start with are arcade style ones IMO. Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Super Mario World, Arrow Flash - all easy games which give newbies loads of room for error early doors, but which also rock to play.

Shining Force 2 is the most popular RPG amongst them at this stage, although a couple are also loving Baldur's Gate 2.

 

[Lemming42]

Kids can get to grips with just about anything given enough time. My niece played the first three Tomb Raider games at my insistence and after getting over the inevitable initial "fuck these controls" reaction she blasted through them all and had a great time. Played plenty of other classics too. Only game she's been shit at is Thief because she doesn't have the patience for it, but she liked the cool mechanics like different floors producing different sounds, and did the usual method that all kids do for Bafford's Manor where you just bunnyhop around at 300mph and blackjack every guard on the map.

I found it was best to ease things in by showing her games with very simple mechanics and no user interface bullshit to get around. Half-Life and Max Payne were two great ones for this purpose, given that they're both linear, have consistent and clear movement and combat mechanics, and it's literally impossible to fuck a playthrough up. Doom worked as well, albeit running on GZDoom to enable mouselook. She liked Soldier of Fortune as well until her mum found us playing it and told me to "shut that awful shit off".

The internet has definitely rendered some kids (and countless adults) retarded, what with the whole "get whatever you want whenever you want it immediately" culture it offers, and the increasing streamlining of all media content into the most bite-size, handheld form makes some youngsters chafe against elements of older game design. But they're children, children learn fast, just sit them in front of a game and they'll figure it out eventually if they've got the will to do so.

 

[JamesDixon]

I've set my mates kids up with cheap emulation PCs since Covid started, and they've been pretty receptive to the retro games I've given them (mainly early to mid 90's, 8 & 16-bit era).

There is definitely a hand-holding element which me & my mates had to break in them to start with. But after a few family sessions together they soon picked it up.

The best games to start with are arcade style ones IMO. Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Super Mario World, Arrow Flash - all easy games which give newbies loads of room for error early doors, but which also rock to play.

Shining Force 2 is the most popular RPG amongst them at this stage, although a couple are also loving Baldur's Gate 2.

See everyone can remove the cultural retardation with some tough love.

 

[Fedora Master]

Stop grooming your sister to become a weeb.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

video games aren't for women

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

Stop grooming your sister to become a weeb.

It was the other way around.

 

[AdamReith]

Does she fear all light or only from sources of great intensity?

When is the last time you permitted her to leave the basement?

 

[Late Bloomer]

Jeez. Instead of getting all bothered just help her out. It can possibly be a lost cause. I blame lawnmower parents and siblings. If its not innate then it must be taught. So teach. The stand back and marvel and your skills as a teacher.

 

[Luka-boy]

You forgot to mention:
- What's her previous gaming experience, if any?
- How old is she?

Because maybe she simply lacks gaming experience and needs to play a few games from various genres to develop that kind of instinct.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

You forgot to mention:
- What's her previous gaming experience, if any?
- How old is she?

Because maybe she simply lacks gaming experience and needs to play a few games from various genres to develop that kind of instinct.

She's 18, she more or less started playing the past year Genshin Impact and Valorant, she mostly watches anime and read manga.

 

[Morenatsu.]

She liked Soldier of Fortune as well until her mum found us playing it and told me to "shut that awful shit off".

wow mum's got good taste lmaoooooo

 

[Hace El Oso]

In that case I dont think she is retarded only programmed into a certain behavior that can be neutralized by giving her other type of games to play. Like some adventures that will force her to be creative and inquisitive

The issue is at a certain point these faculties aren’t just terribly atrophied and requiring extensive therapy to develop even to a basic degree but have never developed in the first place. There is no therapy for that.

 

[Comte]

You forgot to mention:
- What's her previous gaming experience, if any?
- How old is she?

Because maybe she simply lacks gaming experience and needs to play a few games from various genres to develop that kind of instinct.

She's 18, she more or less started playing the past year Genshin Impact and Valorant, she mostly watches anime and read manga.

Do you want to bang your sister?

 

[†††]

 

[wishbonetail]

You all talk about handholding but mainstream was always like that. SNES JRPGs were as simplistic as it gets. In NES, Megadrive arcades screen moved slowly from left to right and you with it, while pushin a couple of buttons, polishing your lower brain functions. There werent many games on consoles, which required drive for discovery or initiative or some thought.
PC games is another story. But PC game design mostly died around 2004, with all the online bullshit and blend in with consoles.