here's a entry from my blog I thought might be an interesting read:Spent some time last night trying to rack up some hi-scores for an ongoing thread we have on RFGen. Part of a sub-forum where we post scores for all sorts of games for different systems past and present. In the process throwing down the gauntlet, doing a bit of smack talk and reminiscing about our pasts and well as re-living them in a small way.
It's a shame more people can't enjoy what it's like to experience gaming's past in it's truest form which is having the actual hardware & games handy. There's something to be said of hands-on with genuine controllers and popping in a disc or cartridge.
Those of us willing to walk down memory lane are reminded of both the evolution of gaming as an artistic form and as a ever changing technological accomplishment. As the years pass I see this "retro craze" grow into something more than just nostalgia and re-living past, but into a statement of "cool" in popular culture similar to bringing back fashion trends and classic car models.
I wonder though, without hands-on and it being replicated or emulated, are we degrading the experience the original developer had in mind? Does the younger generation treat classics like Pac-Man for what it is, or as a simple game similar to something found on a
cell phone? Good enough to pass the time at a bus stop but not enough to work towards getting at least to the 10th round?
I am by no means one of those guys that hates new games or is stuck in my past. Some of my absolute all-time favorite games have been released in the last couple of years. I just feel that the ideas and motivations of older games may not be getting through to those unable to play them as they were meant to. If they did then perhaps we'd be enjoying new games based on those same principles.
I have family and friends who marvel at the fact that I have a spiderweb mess of systems and wires in my living room. It's not uncommon to see an Atari 2600 or Intellivision next to my Xbox 360. Or a TurboGrafx-16 between a Gamecube and PS2. Or a 1541 Floppy drive mere feet from my PC's DVD burner. It's like having my own
TARDIS where I can simultaneously enjoy gaming from the 70's, 80's, 90's and the present by living all of it at once. Those who stop by can't resist the urge to pick up a Wico Command Control and put in a few games of Yar's Revenge or challenge me at Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat or Goldeneye.
Sometimes I feel like a gaming ambassador, spreading the good word about games those younger than me may have missed that I think they should try. While it's nice that there are so many compilations of classics for newer systems, it's been my observation that niche items like the Flashback consoles or some of those plug-n-play systems built like original controllers offer more of a unique challenge and experience than using a dual analog stick or equivalent. I really hope that in the future companies realize this and bring more peripherals and games utilizing them to newer systems much like the
Madcatz Arcade Stick. As the TV slogan for the Intellivision once said: "The closest thing to the real thing"Â. I guess in a funny way that applies more now than ever, for completely different reasons.
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