Gaming has come a long way; from inserting huge floppy disks into suitcase-sized computers that boot up blocks and text, gamers today can boot up almost any game on their PCs or consoles and are greeted with jaw-dropping graphics and controls that are easy to understand that it immediately becomes second nature for players.
Nowadays, games and consoles have tons of features that would have made gaming a much better experience if some of these modern-day creature comforts were present during the early days of gaming. Here are some modern gaming features gamers from previous decades would have wanted.
10 Wireless Controller Connectivity
Back in the day, players had to plug in controllers into their consoles just to play games. Typically, this involves untangling a mess of wires that take more time than it needs. Older gamers would rejoice if wireless connectivity was a feature back then. Today's controllers can now connect on PC or consoles seamlessly.
No more time wasted figuring out which wires are the right ones to untangle, and when the gaming session is over, all they need to do is turn off the Bluetooth controller without any hassle.
9 Huge PC & Console Game Storage
Gaming consoles before didn’t have internal memory, so most game companies opted to use cartridges to provide much-needed space for their games to run. Having a huge PC and console memory or game storage would help older gamers clear some physical space on their shelves.
More in-console memory means they can save their games in their consoles, as opposed to accumulating tons of cartridges or CDs on their shelves or closets.
8 Buying Games Digitally
Speaking of games, back in the day, gamers had to go to stores that sell video games. For AAA titles, gamers would often line up in said stores before the release date.
Imagine older gamers if they had the option to buy games digitally: no more waiting in line to get the latest titles, or not getting a copy because the store has sold out. They would just log into the digital store of their consoles and get their copy without any stress.
7 Cloud Saves
On the subject of modern in-game features, cloud saves would be another blessing for gamers of yesteryears. Memory cards back then cost a lot, and they could only store a handful of saves. This means older gamers had to choose which save files needed to go if they wanted to get a new game.
Having cloud saves would give players additional space and not resort to deleting their hard-earned game saves to free up room.
6 Game Patches
Games that were released decades ago are considered finished products by their developers and publishers. Bugs and glitches are also common, and since these games are out on physical media, patching them would be next to impossible.
Nowadays, AAA titles like God of War: Ragnarok, and Horizon Forbidden West, as well as games that have online multiplayer features like Final Fantasy 14 and even Fortnite have game patches that add new features in their games like New Game Plus, or fix bugs or glitches. Having the ability to patch games back in the day would have been great since developers could further tweak, perfect, and support their titles as they see fit.
5 Availability Of Game Guides
The advent of gaming websites and video-on-demand has made looking for game guides an easy task for present-day players. For older players, though, they didn’t have that luxury. They often resorted to gaming magazines or weekly television shows for the slight chance that the game they are playing will be featured.
Nowadays, players struggling with a particular puzzle or area can go online and look for tips and tricks to defeat a boss or unlock paths without any hassle. Access to game guides, tips and tricks with one click would tremendously help gamers back then, especially when it comes to finishing those hard-to-complete titles.
4 Fast Travel Options In-Game
Older RPGs that have extensive maps often had players explore every inch of the stages to evoke how big the areas are. While this was a novel approach, over time traversing such long expanses became tedious.
Having the option to fast-travel on certain old games would be a neat feature. It effectively cuts down the long traversals in between areas, especially if players are in a rush to get from place to place. Modern RPGs like Ghost of Tsushima, Skyrim, and Hogwarts Legacy provide players quick traversal options to hasten their journeys along and complete their quest lines.
3 Auto-Saving Progress
Another annoying thing older gamers had to deal with is manually saving games. They would often look for save points in the game and save their progress. Other games don’t even give them the option to save, and when they fail a level, they would have to restart that level from the start.
Auto saving is a welcome feature for older gamers since it lessens the pressure for them to manually save their progress and lessens the chances of them starting from scratch. Imagine playing the old Castlevania, Super Mario, or Ninja Gaiden games: having an auto-save function in particularly hard areas can save a ton of time for players who just want to finish said stage.
2 Online Multiplayer Functionality
While couch co-op and passing the controller for the next challengers was big back in the day, today’s online multiplayer functionality takes playing with others to another level. Players who fancy a one-on-one match in a fighting game, or team up for a co-op session of a beat 'em up, or first-person shooter title can do so seamlessly.
Earlier titles have tried to incorporate online multiplayer features, but unlike nowadays, connectivity was still a novel concept to add in games back in the day. And most people preferred to visit their friends' houses and play in their rooms, or wherever the console was set up. In modern times, players can just turn their consoles on, go online, check if their friends are playing, and they can start a session right away.
1 Cross-play Feature
During the 80s and 90s, and to some extent even today, players had to choose which console would serve as their gaming platform. This was a commitment since different gaming platforms provided game titles that are exclusive to their consoles.
Nowadays, most multiplayer titles have cross-play features. For gamers back in the day, having the option to play console exclusives on different platforms would be amazing: imagine playing Super Mario on a Sega Genesis or a PlayStation, or Halo on a PlayStation 3. The possibilities would have been endless.