Why Games Just Aren't as Fun Anymore

Everyone who puts down the newer video game systems seem to have their own opinion about why today's video gamesjust aren't as capable of holding our colloective interest. Most of these people say "Game companies are concentrating too much on graphics and sound" and "Games just aren't as hard anymore". These are certainly valid points, but there is also a third reason..The fact is, game companies today, in their relentless pursuit of money, just aren't coming up with new, innovative idea for video games anymore. Games don't have to be challenging (necessarily) to hold my attention, just original. Marble Madness is a perfect example.The game isn't very hard, taking me an average of about 5 to 6 minutes per session to beat. Yet I keep on coming back to it, simply because it's FUN. Few things make me happier than trying to get that marble through the stages of the game. A much better game than most of today's one's, in my opinion... Granted, original ideas don't always work (AD&D: Heroes of theLance was [I think] supposed to be an action/RPG mix, but failed miserably at both), but if game companies would have some courage and try to come upwith new ideas, it might just put the fun back into video games....

-Emptyeye (Comments welcome...emptyeye@juno.com)