Pre-NES games - good or bad? dated or timeless?

Moreso than with later generations, I hear people saying they find pre-NES gaming too dated or primitive to enjoy playing. I know that a lot gamers didn't grow up with the early stuff and its primarily play-for-score culture but not being into something isn't the same as actually thinking the games are bad now.

As someone who loves plenty of early video games for non-nostalgic reasons (console, arcade, portable, and computer) and wishes they would get more attention than they usually do, I'm curious why some people don't like them or think they're outdated.

And if so, at what point does game design become modern enough for you? For example, if you don't like Donkey Kong or Pitfall because they only have a few screens but you enjoy many NES/SMS sidescrollers, what about games that are in between like Montezuma's Revenge, Aztec Challenge, Bruce Lee, etc.?

So, yeah, let's discuss anything related to the topic.

Both. There's pre-nes games that are just way too old for me, and there's timeless classics that'll never stop being fun. Same goes for the 3rd, 4th and 5th gen though.

I LOVE the Colecovision and have been trying to get one for some time, but they've gone up in price. I'd love to get a 2600 too, but I just don't have the space.

I think that not everything pre-NES has aged well, but there are definitely a ton of games that are still playable and highly enjoyable. Once you adjust yourself to the simple visuals and sound, you can really get into them.

Vectrex is about the most badass thing ever

I Love pre-NES games and consoles. I don't quite play them as often as I do NES, SMS, Genesis, etc, but I have both an Atari 2600, a Colecovision, and a Commodore 64, and I have a lot of fun with them, and there's still many games for them I haven't played, so there's still lots to be found and enjoy.:)

I love pre-NES/SMS console and arcade games. dealing with the hardware can be inconvenient, but there are many great games. No different than the following generations.

Although there is a lot of pre-NES games that I simply can't enjoy at the same level anymore (Smurfs instantly come to mind), Games like Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man, Q-Bert, Centipede, Missle Command, Galaga, Dig Dug, Mr.Do, Burger Time, Breakout, etc. will always be fun for me. Even if I don't often go out of my way to play them anymore, I know that they'll still be fun whenever I do get around to them again.

There are still Pre-NES, arcade titles out there that haven't aged one bit. Mainly: the classics.

As far as Pre-NES console gaming goes, I don't care one way or the other if people say they've aged. The fact is, they are tons of fun. And there is alluring factor that reigns in them that most games nowadays have forgotten about: gameplay!

2600 ftw! :)

I don't stray into pre-NES territory too often, it's not bad by any stretch of the imagination but it gets to a point where I find it a little primitive, although I will say, theres a fair few 2600 games I do like.

These days I dont play anything pre 16 bit. I find the NES era games to be too dated. Didnt have those same thoughts 5-10 years ago but my mind changed.

I don't have a problem with primitive graphics. Back before I had an NES as a kid, my grandad had an Odyssey2 and I used to play the crap out of Pick Axe Pete on a tiny black and white tv with it. That being said there are some popular classic games I don't like for some specific reasons. Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man for example. I've never been able to like them. They have a sense of futility about them. No matter how good you are those ghosts keep coming. Even if you destroy them all they still come after you eventually. It's actually a pretty depressing game to me. Sinistar also comes to mind. It's like a dream you had as a kid where you're being chased, and whatever it is behind you is steadily closing in. But give me a game where I can fight tooth an nail to the bitter end (Galaga) and I can play it all day.

I never could stand the 2600 in general or the Colecovision, much less the really old stuff besides the Odyssey, and strongly prefer their NES incarnations such as Donkey Kong and Burgertime. Centipede however is a great game that never got proper porting to a later console (I own--Millipede doesn't cut it), whilst Pitfall is one of those excellent games I always seem to avoid in favour of later trash.
But little green blips? No.
All save a couple systems to me aren't treasure chests but rather an exhausting salvage hunt through the video game industry's roofbroken attic, and the pre NES era is the rotten box sitting in the puddle of algae.

I have VCS, Intellivision, 5200, and Colecovision. 5200 is my favorite, an underrated system IMO. VCS was my first system, but I have to say that I don't get much playing time on it anymore. Intellivision is easy to collect for as most games are fairly inexpensive.

Gameplay and graphics on all these are good to great, and there are many gems in these older libraries. For those who have written off these older systems, that just leaves more for people like me :p

I never had Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision, etc as a kid. We went straight from C64 to NES.

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Originally Posted by StarMist

I never could stand the 2600 in general or the Colecovision, much less the really old stuff besides the Odyssey, and strongly prefer their NES incarnations such as Donkey Kong and Burgertime. Centipede however is a great game that never got proper porting to a later console (I own--Millipede doesn't cut it), whilst Pitfall is one of those excellent games I always seem to avoid in favour of later trash.
But little green blips? No.

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You should check out Atari Anniversary Collection for the Dreamcast, PC and Playstation. It has excellent ports of Atari arcade classics.

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All save a couple systems to me aren't treasure chests but rather an exhausting salvage hunt through the video game industry's roofbroken attic, and the pre NES era is the rotten box sitting in the puddle of algae.

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I'd recommend emulating the C64. It has a ton of classics that are unlike any of the games before and after the system. My first recommendation would be PSI-5 Trading Company. The game involves creating a crew based on strengths and weaknesses to manage a ship, as it travels from picking up your cargo and managing to keep the ship and cargo intact, to your final destination. A lot of C-64 classics were ported to the NES, with titles like Maniac Mansion, Summer Games, The Bard's Tale, MULE, and Boulder Dash. It was a really great gaming system.