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Seinfeld Is Unfunny/Video Games: Difference between revisions
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** ''[[Night Trap]]'' also helped cause the ESRB to be formed, or was one of the prime motivators. Seeing it now it's amazing to think of how it was supposed to be so offensive on the Sega CD. Of course, even then, there wasn't any actual violence (implied, not actually shown), and many of the things that were shown were so fantastical people couldn't ''possibly'' replicate it. (As it was filmed) However, the sex... oh boy... a girl in a nightgown that looked like something in the 50s. ''SCANDALOUS!!!'' (However, the game's biggest criticizers at the time were people who [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|hadn't actually seen it]].)
** Admittedly, ''Mortal Kombat'' did drift from its harsher origins over the course of the series. Fatalities in later titles were less about the raw violence and more about the spectacle. Kano went from ripping people's hearts out in the first game to using his [[Eye Beams]] to blow up his enemies by the third. It's still a finishing move, but the extremeness of the ''MK3'' fatality just lacked the cold-bloodedness and disturbing vibe the first game had.
* ''[[Phantasy Star]]''. A lot of the tropes of JRPGs in general come from this series, including the mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy elements, customizing party lineups by swapping out party members, and the emotionally shocking but dramatically effective storyline deaths of important protagonists<ref> Technically, ''[[
** It does technically hold onto one claim to fame, though it is unfortunately [[Broken Base|at home in the 'Dark Horse' of the original quadrology]]. And that is a branching storyline caused by marital succession. Granted, such a thing is probably a massive pain in the arse to script then implement, so it is no surprise few others have a constantly refreshing cast of characters.
** Most of the early Western RPGs (such as ''[[Heavy On The Magick]]'' on the European 8-bit computers, or ''[[Dungeon Master (video game)|Dungeon Master]]'' on the Amiga and Atari ST) had little plot intrusion in the game with much of that sort of thing being in the "The story so far..." section of the instruction manual. Nowadays, while there are still segments of the gaming population that prefer games to have as little story as possible, even a story-lite game like ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' still has a main plot thrown into the game with a few token cinematics.
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*** Early western RPGs were so mechanically similar that you could frequently import parties developed in other games. You could play ''[[Bards Tale]] 2'' with your ''[[Wizardry]]'' party.
** How about a more straight example? ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'' was one of the first major RPGs (another was ''[[SaGa]] 1'', also known as ''[[Final Fantasy Legend]]'') to include heavy Christian imagery and [[God Is Evil|cast God as a villain]]. It pre-dates ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' by three years, ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' by five years and ''[[Xenogears]]'' by six. It also focuses heavily on story (a rarity at the time), includes a [[Wide Open Sandbox|free-roaming environment]], has [[Multiple Endings]] and gives you the option of [[Villain Protagonist|choosing what kind of morality you want to follow]] [[Karma Meter|based on the actions you take in the game]], which significantly changes the story. [[The End of the World as We Know It|One of the villains destroys the world]] partway through the game [[Final Fantasy VI|two years before Kefka did it]]. And most importantly, in a genre filled with Cliché Storms at the time, this was an [[Urban Fantasy]] set in the real world that quickly shifts into [[After the End]]. This isn't even mentioning the ultimate twist, which rarely leaves its series '''''to this day''''' - you only had two party members, while the four other spots were filled with [[Monster Allies]]. Of course, since all of these controversial themes [[No Export for You|kept it inside Japan for over a decade]], most fans don't even realize it was a trendsetter because they just never had an opportunity to play them and by the time they did come over, the themes that are frequent fodder for the franchise had already become commonplace.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Legend]]'' has its leveling system (an improvement of ''[[
* ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]''. The original game was an immense hit in its day due to its technological innovations. But its once-shocking 3-D graphics now look... underwhelming, due to low polygon counts and lack of texture filtering.
** Similar deal is with the graphics of ''[[Alone in The Dark]]''. Or ''4-D Boxing''.
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* The original ''[[Battle Arena Toshinden]]'' was one of the most highly-rated games for the original [[Play Station]] when it originally came out. It was one of the most advertised launch titles for the platform in America, as well as the third game to ever get a score of 98% from ''Game Players'' magazine (the other two being the SNES port of ''Super [[Street Fighter II]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''). However, the sequels got progressively worse reviews (the fourth one wasn't even released in America) and the original game is now seen as a joke by hardcore fighting game enthusiasts compared to the original ''[[Virtua Fighter]]'' and ''[[Tekken]]'' (which had its console releases around the same time).
** Graphics-wise, they're comparible (with ''Toshinden'' arguably a notch above). Gameplay wise, ''VF'' and ''Tekken'' hold up. ''BAT''... doesn't.
* The ''[[SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs|SOCOM]]'' series lately looks like a candidate for this trope. Back when the [[Play Station 2]]'s internet play was available, the ''SOCOM'' series blended the best aspects of PC tactical shooters (mainly ''[[Counter-Strike]]'', ''[[Delta Force]]'' and ''[[Rainbow Six]]'') and made the gameplay palatable for console gamers. Combine this with the ultra-popular [[Play Station 2]] and the result? [http://therealsocom.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=1068 Six million total sales between the first two games alone] (with ''SOCOM 1'' getting the 3.45 mil bulk.) Unfortunately, ''SOCOM'''s relevance was mostly symbiotic with Sony's problematic online gaming support, which worsened overtime. Xbox Live's reputation eventually surpassed the [[Play Station 2]] online service, thanks to the lack of a built-in hard drive causing numerous issues (mainly with cheaters and being dropped from games). Then ''[[Halo 2]]'' exploded in popularity. And then the worst combination for the series: [[
* [[Genre Savvy]] people are predicting this to happen to the original ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'' because it was released on an engine considered "outdated". A lot of other early [[Multiplayer Online Battle Arena|MOBA]] games in general after other games like ''[[Demigod]]'', ''[[Heroes of Newerth]]'', ''[[League of Legends]]'' and ''DotA 2'' improved and played with the formula a bit more.
* The first ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' game. It was made in 1996, and... quite honestly hasn't aged very well. It kicked off a series, and ''was'' a cult hit, but the sequels (even the second games, which followed the original formula, not the madly popular dating sim) polished the franchise so much better the first game is much ''much'' harder to just pick up and play than the later installments. This is one of those games where you spend either a couple hours poking around constantly finding the items... or five minutes with a guide.
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