Boredom in games?

[SoApBoX]

About a week ago or something, I posted a topic similar to this but it had got deleted somehow by accident. This is a repost of it with some improved info:

Two years ago, I had bought Star Wars Rouge Squadron 3 from a budget bin for a surprisingly super cheap price. When I brought it home I just expected a decent game, but when I started playing it, I was virtually blown away(mind the pun, there). The first part of the game where you were flying was amazing, not to mention that the on-foot segment of the stage was just as awesome. I dug it back then, and though it ended shortly, I got my buck's worth out of it.

We are now at present day. I have worn this game out from constant play overs and it is not on that same level of fun, anymore. One of my presents for Christmas 07' was Star Wars Rouge Squadron 2 and the only difference between the third one and this new one was that it was all just flying missions, and everything else was almost EXACTLY the same, right from the menu screen to the level select screen to the flying action, it was only just slightly altered from the third one. Egar to play it, I quickly ran to my Wii(backwards compatible, BTW, because I used to use my GC but now it's spending it's retirement in my room somewhere in a safe little box)and booted it up. Once I start getting into the action, something out of nowhere hits me like a brick.

It's not fun.

Sure, I was upset that it wasn't like the third one, but what I was really torn apart about was how it was the EXACT. SAME. THING. It was just then that it hit me: maybe it was too similar to the 3rd installment, which I got bored of, and my mind just took the 2nd installment like the 3rd installment?

Guys, I really need some questions answered here because this is something that has been running around in my mind for the past 2 years. Has this ever happened to anyone besides me on here? Why would you not like a certain game because it's too similar to a game that you played before that became boring? What if Rouge Squadron 2 was renamed, reformulated, had a different theme and style? Would I enjoy it then or will those gameplay mechanics still come back to haunt me? I need something guys!

[PhyllisV]

honestly, even a reformulated 're-run' would be just that- a re-run.

my 02...

PV


Yentoo
Ventrilo Servers
Dedicated Servers

[jshockley]

I've never played a series in reverse order so I can't say that happens. I'm sure wouldn't have been bored if you played part 2 first then part 3.

actually i'm lying, I remeber going back and playing street fighter 1, and after playing street fighter 2 it was a piece of trash, though i bet it was a piece of trash when it came out. probably why no one has ever played it.

Usually games get better in each iteration so your experience is natural.

[toyoka]

Well, I had played Half Life 2 (Episode 2) and then went back to the original Half Life 2 Series (before Episode 1) and it was still as fun as always was. I guess Valve is just good at creating tension (that is, creating space between one Episode and another, so it doesn't feel like the same thing over and over again). So either way you play it, its still fun

[ronnoc10]

Originally Posted by jshockley

I've never played a series in reverse order so I can't say that happens. I'm sure wouldn't have been bored if you played part 2 first then part 3.

actually i'm lying, I remeber going back and playing street fighter 1, and after playing street fighter 2 it was a piece of trash, though i bet it was a piece of trash when it came out. probably why no one has ever played it.

Usually games get better in each iteration so your experience is natural.

Lies! I played SF1 after SF2, and I enjoyed it. It wasn't the coolest thing ever, but is was amusing, and certainly not trash > : (

[jshockley]

Originally Posted by ronnoc10

Lies! I played SF1 after SF2, and I enjoyed it. It wasn't the coolest thing ever, but is was amusing, and certainly not trash > : (

Lol O.k. it wasn't complete trash, it was more novel than anything

[zero1328]

Sequels usually build upon each other to create a better game, but alot of it isn't very different. It's usually just an extra gameplay element or something (here, it's co-op and on-foot segments). So, when you go to an earlier game, you're actually going down in terms of quality, so it's natural for you to not like it.

In the case of Half-Life, it isn't the kind of game where the company constantly re-iterates and milks the franchise. The problem doesn't appear because the environment and plot is still developing and changing, so the experiences will be fairly different.

[Adam Moore]

Originally Posted by SoApBoX

About a week ago or something, I posted a topic similar to this but it had got deleted somehow by accident. This is a repost of it with some improved info:

Two years ago, I had bought Star Wars Rouge Squadron 3 from a budget bin for a surprisingly super cheap price. When I brought it home I just expected a decent game, but when I started playing it, I was virtually blown away(mind the pun, there). The first part of the game where you were flying was amazing, not to mention that the on-foot segment of the stage was just as awesome. I dug it back then, and though it ended shortly, I got my buck's worth out of it.

We are now at present day. I have worn this game out from constant play overs and it is not on that same level of fun, anymore. One of my presents for Christmas 07' was Star Wars Rouge Squadron 2 and the only difference between the third one and this new one was that it was all just flying missions, and everything else was almost EXACTLY the same, right from the menu screen to the level select screen to the flying action, it was only just slightly altered from the third one. Egar to play it, I quickly ran to my Wii(backwards compatible, BTW, because I used to use my GC but now it's spending it's retirement in my room somewhere in a safe little box)and booted it up. Once I start getting into the action, something out of nowhere hits me like a brick.

It's not fun.

Sure, I was upset that it wasn't like the third one, but what I was really torn apart about was how it was the EXACT. SAME. THING. It was just then that it hit me: maybe it was too similar to the 3rd installment, which I got bored of, and my mind just took the 2nd installment like the 3rd installment?

Guys, I really need some questions answered here because this is something that has been running around in my mind for the past 2 years. Has this ever happened to anyone besides me on here? Why would you not like a certain game because it's too similar to a game that you played before that became boring? What if Rouge Squadron 2 was renamed, reformulated, had a different theme and style? Would I enjoy it then or will those gameplay mechanics still come back to haunt me? I need something guys!

Pretty good observations. Have you read Raph Koster's A Theory of Fun for Game Design? He noticed the same reaction in his children when they played tic-tac-toe. At first, it was a fun and challenging game...but as they learned to play, they mastered it. Once they mastered it, it wasn't fun anymore. Your post reminded me of that story.

Here is a snippet nabbed from google books.