When you're late ..

So.. i got into serious gaming when i bought this beast of a machine in october 2007 (yes im a PC gamer i dont have or want a console and lets drop the crap, PC isnt that bad.. 80% of the greatest games have a PC version and thats enough for me)

Yes you should find a new hobby... NOT.

You shouldn't feel bad. Are you upset because you're finding it impossible to get into these games?

If not, it's not too late. Half Life 2 came out years ago, but I only just got to play it last year and I liked it.

80% of them? Wait, did you count emulation in that percentage, because it seems kinda inflated. I'd get into PC gaming, but it's too much hassle for me.

I've been into gaming for as long as I can remember, but I still have those gaps in knowledge that you're talking about.  I never had a NES or SNES as a child so there are a ton of classic franchises that I can't get enthusiastic about.

I agree that going back and trying to fill in those gaps is a lost cause, so I guess just accept that you missed the boat on that stuff and move on.  It's probably not too late for the HL franchise if you wanted to get into that, even HL1 has aged pretty well and doesn't require nostalgia in order to enjoy it.  Final Fantasy games can all be enjoyed individually (no continuing story) so it's never too late to jump into that if you want to.

I wouldn't get too down about it, there are potentially great franchises starting up all the time.  I can see Assassin's Creed running and running for example.

I can't say I know what it's like to be in that boat i'm afraid, I mean, I missed out on a huge number of sega titles, I never played a Genesis (Mega Drive) or Master System other than Alex The Kidd until I was like, 12, and by then my dad had a Playstation, so I ignored the sega stuff. So I never experienced things like Phantasy Star or things like that.

But everything past the playstation i've been there and done that, including PC games. Although I did miss out on classic text adventures which I just cannot play now, i'm cool with slow games but, holy shit. So I won't know what Zork and etc feels like.

Honestly though, I can still enjoy stuff on the early sega's and Atari consoles that I never played before, so you should still be able to give things a try, sure they might not have the same appeal as they did then, but they will be a lot lot cheaper too, unless they are rare and not as of yet on GoG like Planescape Torment, which i'm so glad to have an original boxed version of.

Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be the same amount of great stuff coming out on PC as there used to be, i've all but given up on it and switched primarily to consoles, but i'm sure it will pick up in a few years and i'll have an excuse to buy a nice PC.

I'd say give it a go anyway, I mean, most of the music and films I like are from before I was even born, and a lot of my favorite games I couldn't truly appreciate at the time because I was no more than 13 years old (Resident Evil, etc)

Mate your going to do your dam nut in if you keep thinking like that, just relax and enjoy it. Your speaking as if nothing amazing is ever going to come out again. Yeah there will be all the things to look back on now but in twenty or even less years people will be looking back at some of the games we play today. You dont think people will think back to Call of Duty 4 and go 'yeah I remember back in 2008 when I played that, I'd never seen a game as cinematic and engaging as that before (yes that's entirely personal opinion)

The most ironic thing about this is that I ENVY YOU, yourself being someone who can just pick up a game and go holy shit I have never ever seen anything like before. Theres always going to be things to look back on, just enjoy what you play and leave it like that. If you are one of people that can go back and play oldergames then by all means do so but do so because you want to, not because of some strange dissociateve feelings you have for some inexplicable reason.

Stop over thinking and play mate.

When you get overwhelmed by these classic titles, then dude your on giantbomb. Click the link to go the to the the games wiki page and I'm sure someone would have typed what impact that game had on games today. Sure its not the same thing as playing it but I can appreciate acknowledging a games influence even if I have not played it myself. It might be away to remove this superficial alienation.

I wouldn't go out of your way to find out about the games gone by unless you want to. Gaming is fun, not a lesson in history. It may be worth your while though if you find yourself enjoying a series and are interested to see how it started.

The main reason why people bang on about some titles is for the simple reason that they grew up playing them. I have the fondest memories of games like Smash T.V., Desert Strike, Jazz Jackrabbit and Doom II - but if games like that were released today I'd give them a miss as they'd probably be on a cell phone. That's not to say you shouldn't play them just don't feel like you have to.

Most modern games take tips and tricks from older games and for the most part improve on them, keep looking forward, unless somthing in the past really catches your eye.