What are your favorite gaming experiences that are lost to time?

[Chary]

Early browser flash games and iOS games that were on the App Store right at the launch of the original iPhone and iPod Touch--anything that I played during those moments in time, I enjoyed a lot, but have totally forgotten, so I'll likely never recall them.

 

[retrospect]

Being in a store and finding a game that looks fun and deciding to buy it, without being told by a hegemonic gaming press which games you should play and like.

 

[prof72]

i think everybody has their own AAA

when you say lost in time means playing for hundred of hours right?
RPG with story and ending is out of the question
because even you repeat it, there will be ending

so games without ending is most likely it like you chose tetris
in my mind, its simulation game

games with never ending:

monster hunter, attack on titan, diablo

megamall story game or any "story" at the end of the title
prisoner tycoon or any "tycoon" at the end of the title

bomber crew (ww2 7 man airplane crew)
space crew

 

[moetheloser]

i think everybody has their own AAA

when you say lost in time means playing for hundred of hours right?

I think this is more of super old memories that you cant really relive given how companies keep shutting down things, maybe you had a real good memory with friends on an MMO that was now shutdown.

 

[cvskid]

For me it's lightgun games. I know you can stiill technically play them but you would need a pc and other things so it would get expensive. Would be nice to still have them on game consoles.

 

[Wolfy]

For me it's lightgun games. I know you can stiill technically play them but you would need a pc and other things so it would get expensive. Would be nice to still have them on game consoles.

Or just grab yourself a decently cheap CRT off Offerup in your area and be able to play again! Nothing's dead till people treat it as such

 

[moetheloser]

Or just grab yourself a decently cheap CRT off Offerup in your area and be able to play again! Nothing's dead till people treat it as such

Ive also seen a bunch of wii games like a 007 game where theres a gun accessory that you put your wiimote and nunchuck in. That might be a nice "modern" lightgun experience

 

[LoggerMan]

Not being able to afford games, artificial game scarcity. It made you believe games were more valuable than they were, like it was a special treat to rent them for a day. Now that all the consoles let you download games on sale or through a subscription instantly it feels like games are cheap. I remember when some SNES games were two day's wages at Target. Nowadays publishers would struggle to even give away some of those games.

 

[moetheloser]

Not being able to afford games, artificial game scarcity. It made you believe games were more valuable than they were, like it was a special treat to rent them for a day. Now that all the consoles let you download games on sale or through a subscription instantly it feels like games are cheap. I remember when some SNES games were two day's wages at Target. Nowadays publishers would struggle to even give away some of those games.

as someone who finally got their first check, for a whopping 50 bucks at that, I still feel that feeling of not being able to afford games, or anything to pleasure myself with.

 

[Maximumbeans]

Some that spring to mind:
- Playing the Flash games on Cartoon Network with my friend, some of them were so absorbing that you could spend entire afternoons going through them.
- Playing through WoW's Wrath of the Lich King expansion back when it was the real deal and not the classic relaunch version that's currently going on. There was such a unique atmosphere to questing through Northrend and playing with my best friends made it all the sweeter.
- Sat playing Pokemon Ruby during summer holidays with my family. This one is technically reproducible but back then I was just a kid, virtually zero responsibilities and I could just relax and take in my favourite region.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

There were a lot of flash games I used to play and love but most for the best of me can't remember them anymore even if I tried to find them and get them running.

Also there was this game: "Can you see me now?" by Blast Theory which was released back in 2003 as a sort of social/AR/Location based game experiment that they ran for a little while. Basically it was a version of tag/hide and seek where you (playing as a digital player on a 3D map) would have to hide/run away from others who would be in fact in the real world tracking you down on PDA's they had and trying to find you and catch you before the time ran out. The 3D map perspective was a generated map of a real space that spanned some streets and buildings and there would be multiple digital players but only a handful of actual "runners" on the ground chasing after you. This was long LONG before Niantic or anything that they would come out such as Pokemon GO. It was a fun as hell game that I enjoyed as a kid, and it was set up neat enough that you could hear the runners on the ground communicating with each other via 2 way radio which would be broadcasted on the player end side to hear in on whether or not they were talking about you and trying to find/approach you. It had way more engagement then it had any right to, especially for 2003.

Unfortunately the project stopped after some time probably due to it being a short term project/experiment and not something that was meant to stick around for long. I'd imagine keeping on Runners and other systems would have been expensive in the long run and they definitely were not doing this for any monetary gains.

Here is a small video about it.


I really loved this game as a kid and I wish they did something like this again. Even with the stuff that exists now there is still nothing like this that exists to such an intricate and well thought out experience.

 

[prof72]

There were a lot of flash games I used to play and love but most for the best of me can't remember them anymore even if I tried to find them and get them running.

Also there was this game: "Can you see me now?" by Blast Theory which was released back in 2003 as a sort of social/AR/Location based game experiment that they ran for a little while. Basically it was a version of tag/hide and seek where you (playing as a digital player on a 3D map) would have to hide/run away from others who would be in fact in the real world tracking you down on PDA's they had and trying to find you and catch you before the time ran out. The 3D map perspective was a generated map of a real space that spanned some streets and buildings and there would be multiple digital players but only a handful of actual "runners" on the ground chasing after you. This was long LONG before Niantic or anything that they would come out such as Pokemon GO. It was a fun as hell game that I enjoyed as a kid, and it was set up neat enough that you could hear the runners on the ground communicating with each other via 2 way radio which would be broadcasted on the player end side to hear in on whether or not they were talking about you and trying to find/approach you. It had way more engagement then it had any right to, especially for 2003.

Unfortunately the project stopped after some time probably due to it being a short term project/experiment and not something that was meant to stick around for long. I'd imagine keeping on Runners and other systems would have been expensive in the long run and they definitely were not doing this for any monetary gains.

Here is a small video about it.


I really loved this game as a kid and I wish they did something like this again. Even with the stuff that exists now there is still nothing like this that exists to such an intricate and well thought out experience.

this is so awesome!

 

[ArtisanHyren]

I missed Super Mario 3D All Stars but got the Fire Emblem limited-time release. Not a big loss though as I can play each of the three games separately, but might be more of a pain to stream. What I miss most, however, is legitimate online gameplay on Wii U and 3DS. Wii and DS I think dodged a bullet but correct me if I'm wrong. The online play exploits story I've heard about potential bricking of consoles or taking credit card data from an online match, and also the hacked gameplay of Splatoon even without seems unbearable in games that could've aged better. Now that it's out I wonder what the fix is gonna be. At least some of that is gone away but I would like to know if Smash and Kid Icarus Uprising got affected.

 

[Hanafuda]

I miss the era of Streetpass and the excitement of taking my 3DS to E3/AnimeExpo/events in general and just drowning in Streetpass connections. When I worked at Nintendo's PTD, it too was a goldmine of Streetpass passersby, and it was great clearing out a Puzzle Swap puzzle in a week or less. Definitely a product of its time, and it's a shame there isn't anything comparable these days.

In 2013, my wife, my daughter, and me all took our 3DS's to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. Just travelling around Japan in general was a Streetpass bonanza, but at the Disney parks it was pure overload. Couple of great days.

Edit: oh the gaming experience lost to time for me would be when the arcade machines were the cutting edge. Whether it was getting to the arcade to play the latest machines or just another game of Galaga at the pizza shop, getting to play on those cabinets was a real treat back when home systems were pathetic by comparison. (I was 13yo in 1980, if you're wondering.)