Nolen Bushnell speaks! Trash or Truth?

Recently in the new GI article I found a quote from Nolen Bushnell. It was all fine...until I read it. It says:

"Video games today are a race to the bottom. They are pure, unadulterated trash and I'm sad for that."

Normally I'd leave it alone and let each man have his opinion, but I could not let this go. Honestly, this year alone we have seen some of the biggest titles in years that are already replacing "classic" titles in the List of Top 10's and 100's everywhere. I respect Mr. Bushnell, but times change. Video games will change just like everything else will. Fortunately for us, they keep on getting better.

Thoughts on the quote? And what is your opinion of the state of games?

Right, right...Nolan Bushnell certainly has a right to criticize the industry on the quality of its releases. I mean, its not like he was the head of a company whose console nearly killed the industry two decades ago when it began churning out terrible excuses for video games, of which perhaps a game with a two letter acronymn using a popular movie license (which sold so poorly that millions of carts were buried in a Nevada desert) is the most recognized atrocity in gaming.

Oh wait...

You know what, I think Nolan Bushnell should stick to his area of expertise: Themed family resturants with anamatronic singing robots.

Right, right...Nolan Bushnell certainly has a right to criticize the industry on the quality of its releases. I mean, its not like he was the head of a company whose console nearly killed the industry two decades ago when it began churning out terrible excuses for video games, of which perhaps a game with a two letter acronymn using a popular movie license (which sold so poorly that millions of carts were buried in a Nevada desert) is the most recognized atrocity in gaming.

Oh wait...

You know what, I think Nolan Bushnell should stick to his area of expertise: Themed family resturants with anamatronic singing robots.

gameguy6700

Yes, I consider myself a person with good taste, but I tend to be less critical/nitpicky of games than some just because I can remember stretching E.T.'s neck repeatedly to levitate him out of a pit and zigzagging to escape the FBI guy. ET did have a really nice title screen, but it was all downhill from there.

Well, he's right about it all being a race to the bottom line. The bigger and more mainstream gaming gets, the more it becomes big business (as if it wasn't there already). And anyone that works for corporate America can tell you that the ONLY thing that matters is that bottom line.

We may get lucky with a few developers that happen to work on a project they love, and it shows. But most devs are working within guidelines given to them by the publisher, as well sometimes too short of a time frame. And those games show their qualtiy as well.

I think that's what Bushnell is referring to. Not too many games are being made becasue its the devs passion. Many potentially coolgameplay elements are taken out because of time and publisher constraints. So games are no longer being made with fun as the sole purpose.

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

Right, right...Nolan Bushnell certainly has a right to criticize the industry on the quality of its releases. I mean, its not like he was the head of a company whose console nearly killed the industry two decades ago when it began churning out terrible excuses for video games, of which perhaps a game with a two letter acronymn using a popular movie license (which sold so poorly that millions of carts were buried in a Nevada desert) is the most recognized atrocity in gaming.

Oh wait...

You know what, I think Nolan Bushnell should stick to his area of expertise: Themed family resturants with anamatronic singing robots.

CarnageHeart

ET did have a really nice title screen, but it was all downhill from there.

I don't know, I thought the Reese's Pieces graphicwere done pretty well with the hardware limitations.

Getting back to Mr. Bushnell, he's more than welcome to comment on the industry if he'd like to, regardless of how negative his opinion is. But the fact is he hasn't been an important part of the industry for 20 years (or to be more accurate 25 years, but I'll be generous). He is no different than any other aging icon who can't meaningfully contribute to an industry he helped create, just like aging rock stars from the 50's and 60's who have complain about the lack of decent music since LP's were abandoned because it's the only way people will listen to their opinions. You just pat them on the head, smile and nod and politely applaud when they win a lifetime achievement award.

He needs to elaborate on what he meant. Is there any clarification on what Bushnell says in the article, or is that it?King9999

That's it. It's the quote of the month and it isn't pointed to any thing specific.

While I do think that the games coming out to the market were better in some years then today, calling all the games now "pure trash" is taking things a little too far. This year alone we received Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, Crysis, Odin Sphere, The Orange Box, Super Mario Galaxy, Contra 4, Phoenix Wright 3, World in Conflict, King of Fighters XI, The Witcher, and many others. Some of the games I listed will probably be rememered for years, so I doubt that we are in the dark ages of the medium.

So unless there was a time where everything was pure gold in the market, which from my experiences of constantly playing games from different eras there wasn't, I think he either got lost in translation or simply craves attention.

Though I would really like to know what he said during the rest of the interview, since it's just a one sentence quote.

[QUOTE="pshmit"] Here an article that provides a bit more context for his comments: http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/nolan-bushnell-says-todays-video-games-are-unadulterated-trash/71074/ [/QUOTE]

Good find on that article. On one hand I sort of understand where he's coming from. When Atari first came out I do remember a lot more families playing together, but now that I think about it, it was really more for the novelty of it. Video games were new to everyone, so mom and dad were playing Kombat with the kids because they were being introduced to it for the very first time.

And while 10 years ago I may have agreed with him that gaming was a more isolated experience as online gaming hadn't quite caught on, and co-op gaming was on the decline. But today gaming is more social than ever. Handhelds all have wi-fi features for connectivity, X-box Live, Home, even Nintendo's friend codes all have made gaming the most social it's ever been. It may not be families gaming together anymore, but there's something to be said for gaming with someone on the otherside of the planet.