As time has passed gaming has advanced all the more, going into new directions, improving on graphics, mechanics and AI all over. Yet why is it that many gamers prefer the games of old? Is it because the older games were genuinely better or is it due to blindness caused by nostalgia goggles? When video games first came into being, gamers were entering into what was fully uncharted territory. This gave the prospect of experimentation and taking risks a lot more viable as the market was as of yet underdeveloped, lacking in content and not really knowing its own demands.

Older games, particularly from the era of the late 90s to late 2000s be they Warcraft, Starcraft, Demon Souls, Doom, Half Life, Captain Claw, Age of Empires, Call Of Duty, Dead Space, Stalker, Star Wars: Republic Commando, Dawn Of War, Company of Heroes, Wolfenstein, Diablo etc are regarded as masterpieces of their time due to their tenacity and their willingness to experiment with some of the most creative and original ideas that led to the gamer market expand.

Due to the fact that the gaming market was at this point still in its early phase of development, it was unrefined and not a full on industrialized complex. Today, gaming is refined and fully industrialized with developers knowing what to make which will yield maximum profit leading to a high decline in the propensity to take risks and expand on ideas, particularly if the old formula still works.

Of course when it comes to interface, AI, graphics, mechanics, control refinement, the newer the content, the better it gets. Old games certainly can’t compete against that, but what they lack in refinement, they make up for with conceptual superiority, storyline, depth, and overall just having a more ‘fun’ vibe to them.

Nostalgia goggles however also play a big role in our judgement as time has a tendency to warp all perception. There are many old games out there which are unplayable by today's standards.

Ultimately we play games to have fun, and while there are many modern games that far surpass their predecessors, better graphics don't mean improved gameplay.