Is this question still going? Everyone knows the answer is giant mother****ing lasers.
Strapped to the heads of sharks...
I played solid virtually every day for almost 8 years, from the early days of UT, through 2k3, 2k4, UT3. Some good, some bad. I agree with those that say it's "the good ole days" syndrome. I pounded through a LOT of FPS intermixed in the UT years. Some were quite fun for a while. The worst of the Unreal titles still blew away 90% of virtually any other FPS I've played on PC or Consoles.
Look at the PC and Online Gaming Market in 1999 - Q3, UT, Counterstrike, and uhhhh...well...
Look at the PC and Online Gaming Market in 2003, then again in 2004, 2007, 2009...
For anyone that's been around here for the last 10 years, there is virtually NOTHING comparable to the market 10 years ago. PC gaming isn't dead, Console gaming doesn't suck. We should be thrilled that in last decade Gaming has gone from something stupid, nerdy kids did to being the most mainstream form of leisure activity across most demographics. When I was 12, I played Donkey Kong and my parents didn't understand. Now I'm pushing 40, my parents are dead and I'm playing Mario games with my 12 year old...as well as UT3 on xbox and PC.
UT isn't dead of it's own doing. Even the most shortsighted things Epic have done are really nothing compared to any average developer. UT has been a financial success across the board. The worst selling title of the franchise was probably the best console version of any of them (UC2), it's just another shooter in a sea of endless releases that come and go. Hell, look at Call of Duty. Massively popular, but they crank out the titles faster than Starbucks dishes out Latte.
UT and Q3A started the storm of real time online gaming. They set the standard. Nothing will ever be the same again. Seriously, does anyone still really think that UT3 doesn't have players because the weapons balance, or buggy initial release or because the player models were too stubby? Every time a new UT title has come out, it's got 10 times as many similar games coming out in the same financial quarter. UT, Q3, Tribes...How many real online FPS were there in 1999? 4? 5?
Seriously. The highest rated sitcom on US television of all time was The Beverly Hillibillies. It would get phenomenal numbers. Sometimes 35 million homes tuned in on any given night for a new episode. So when new show launches in 2009 and is considered a smashing success when it gets 5 million US viewers, is this because it's lower quality than the Clampett Clan? It's because in 1968 there 3 channels. In 2008 there were 300.
In 1999 there were fewer shooters on the market than are released in the average month or financial quarter in now. The choices grow larger than the market. If I want to shoot the hell out of people online I have dozens of choices on any given day just on my game shelf alone. In 2000, I had UT, I had Q3, I had Tribes. UT won, and when I finally pulled my head out of my PC 8 years later it took some time to admit that the market had changed, not my game.
UT2003...UT2004? As good as UT? Not in my mind, but still better than virtually any other shooters I played in the first first 8 years of this decade. I miss the good ole days, too. But the market isn't about what new shooter is going to be a staple for the next 4 years, it's about what will next month's Call of Duty title be about. Fine games in their own right, but just not the same.
When 2k3 came out, we had people in here moaning for what went wrong and wanting a return to UT. These same people are still saying the community died that day. Funny thing is, there are still people trolling and posting here that never played UT99 and felt EXACTLY the same way when UT3 came out and they wondered what the hell happened to their good ole UT2004.
The good ole days are gone, but there's still a lot of great gaming out there. It's just a different world.
Phew, December. Thought for a moment I wouldn't get my yearly post in. Do I hold the record for the longest amount of time registered with the fewest posts yet?
