Is there any innovation in gaming?

[Thrawn05]

I always thought Rebellion and Force Commander were good, but I was so much in the minority that I didn't bother making any types of mods or maps for them. There was really no community for them.

FC was great because it broke away from all the resource micro-managing that many other RTS games like Total Annihilation (which is a great game as well) depend on. I just wish RTS games were more like that. Plus being able to be at eye level with your units really made deciesion making a whole lot easier for me.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Innovation comes either from new hardware, or new hardware abilities (ie, fast enough video cards to do X, or enough RAM to do Y), or feasibly new software abilities [DirectX advances, OpenGL, etc.] (though i'm not sure how much further that can go at this point).

Until a major new hardware advance comes, you CAN'T really have true innovation in gaming ... simply because we've had the same basic hardware setup for so many years, that pretty much anything (on a basic level) worth thinking up has been thought up. Maybe once in a really blue moon someone'll come up with something somewhat new, but it's increasingly rare.

Then some new major change in hardware (or software) will occur, and that will enable whole new realms of gaming. VGA graphics (or even VESA graphics), the Video card w/dedicated VRAM, the Mouse, the Joystick, the Gamepad, >640k RAM, DirectX, OpenGL, Pixel shaders ... all enabled some sort of innovation.

That's why the Revolution will be good for gaming, even if it turns out to be a failure as a console - it'll stimulate innovation, simply because of its controller, which is a new and different piece of hardware. The same will happen when they invent full body controllers, obviously, or on a smaller scale, more effectively integrate video cameras into gaming (they do that to a small extent now, there are a few games like the excercise game for PS2).

I don't think it's fair to blame game developers, though. You can't blame the ranger for not exploring new territory when he's forced to stay in the King's forest by impenetrable walls.

Quite.

[Alex]

Originally posted by Carolus Rex


Here's an analogy. Look at yourself in a mirror... What do you look like? The same as yesterday, of course! And yesterday you looked just like the day before that...

Regress like this 10-15 years and what do you see? Every day you look just like the day before, but compare the mirror image 15 years ago with the one today... Huge change!

Carolus

The difference, of course, is that 15 years ago my graphics were prettier than now...

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Alex


The difference, of course, is that 15 years ago my graphics were prettier than now...

And your AI was better.

[Alex]

Originally posted by DrSpike


And your AI was better.

Now I resent that!!!!

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Sava


keyboard + mouse is completely superior to a stupid gamepad for FPS games... FACT!

there is no comparison...

I can't believe you just made that statement... well... actually... yes I can

That's because you suck with the gamepad The only thing that is clearly superior in the keyboard + mouse setup is the greater precision of the mouse. Besides that, a good gamepad is superior IMO.

[duke o' york]

That depends upon the game you are playing. Some games are far better suited to the mouse, some to the good old-fashioned joystick, and some to the gamepad.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by DrSpike


And your AI was better.

id least ive managed a sequel

One that definitely has better graphics - and im impressed daily by the AI

Though sometimes there are bugs

But to be honest, the original was probably even buggier at that point in its patching history

[DrSpike]

[Sava]

Originally posted by nostromo


That's because you suck with the gamepad

bah, I used to play Goldeneye for N64 multiplayer with my friends all the time... I WILL PWN YOUR ASS IN ANY FPS, GAMEPAD OR MOUSE + KEYBOARD

The only thing that is clearly superior in the keyboard + mouse setup is the greater precision of the mouse. Besides that, a good gamepad is superior IMO.

Everything about K+M is superior. Nothing about gamepad is better than keyboard + mouse.

WASD is so much better for movement than the gamepad. You have better reaction time with your fingers than with your thumbs on an analog stick. Gee... three fingers in the WASD position? Or one finger on an analog stick? Not to mention all your other fingers on your left hand being available to jump, duck, reload, and do whatever else you need... and then on the right hand, the precision of the mouse cannot even be touched by a clumsy gamepad. If you were facing me in any game, and I had a K+M and you had a gamepad, I would easily be strafing around corners quickly getting headshots on you before you could even struggle to keep crosshairs EVEN CLOSE TO THE VICINITY I WAS IN.

You could be firing 120mm howitzers and you'd miss with the inaccuracy of the gamepad.

At most, the gamepad control configuration allows you to have four fingers ready to press buttons. And your left thumb is controlling movement, while your right is firing. You can't precision aim worth a damn... the L and R buttons of a gamepad are horribly clumsy at best.

The only games where a gamepad are worth a damn are sports games (maybe driving) and perhaps 3rd person or sidescrolling type games. For everything else, mouse + keyboard reigns supreme.

And it's really moot, because I can still play with a gamepad on my PC if I wanted to, because most every game has joystick support. While you can't play any game (not any I can think of) with keyboard + mouse on a console.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Sava
Everything about K+M is superior. Nothing about gamepad is better than keyboard + mouse.

Not everything... a gamepad has one genre it's better at than a keyboard and mouse: Fighting
Playing Tekken or StreetFighter or whatever is very diffecult to play with a keyboard only (compared to a gamepad)
But that's the only thing it's good for, for everything else, the keyboard + mouse is much much better

[DrSpike]

Well I agree that K + M is best, but let's not make sweeping generalisations. Analogue controls are way better than keyboards for a lot of games, like racing games for instance.

[Nostromo]

bah, I used to play Goldeneye for N64 multiplayer with my friends all the time... I WILL PWN YOUR ASS IN ANY FPS, GAMEPAD OR MOUSE + KEYBOARD

Care to make it interesting?

[Skanky Burns]

What, add flashing text to his post?

[Nostromo]

What, add flashing text to his post?

He can do that if he wants. But here's what I meant: wanna bet, n00b?