Network now...BLOG
Old Games Don’t Matter?
Videogames are disappearing.
While more and more new releases jostle for position in an increasingly competitive and buoyant marketplace, the sad truth is that videogames are disappearing.
At least part of the reason is systemic and has to do with the way we have become used to thinking about videogames. When I wrote my last book on the cultures of videogame fans, I did a little experiment. Counting the pages of some of the best–selling official and unofficial games magazines, I found that somewhere between 75-90% of non-advertising pages were dedicated to forthcoming, as–yet–unreleased titles. Previews and teasers written under headings like ‘The Next Best Game in The World Ever is…’, and the ‘Anticip–O–Meter™’ all help focus our attentions on the near horizon and contribute to making us vaguely unsatisfied with what we have.
I’m not pointing the finger at magazine culture here. Videogames marketing and advertising carries a similar message. Just as Office 2008 supersedes 2004, so too do the next instalments of Resident Evil, Gran Turismo and Metal Gear Solid. Each new iteration of the hardware these games run on consigns its forebears to the bargain bin of history. Where classic games remain revered, like the original Half-Life’s appearance in the HL2 release, they often have to be reinvented to counter the ravaging effects of time. Like faded movie stars trying to recapture their former beauty under the plastic surgeon’s knife, graphics engines are updated, games are given HD, surround sound facelifts, and the old is rendered palatable for a modern audience. The language of progress is all around us. Let’s not forget that before it went all inclusive and joined the touchy-feely generation, the Wii was a ‘Revolution’. Elsewhere, backwards compatibility is broken or absent altogether.
Contact Us / About Us / Advertise With Us / BeltwayBlips / TechBlips / MassiveBlips / GamerBlips / FAQ
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Subscribe To Edge Magazine / Corrections / Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
My favourite games are, in respect to my "gaming career", old games. XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time. Lemmings on my Amiga 500+. Heroes of Might & Magic 2 (my first introduction to HMM). I will always revisit these games. In fact, only recently, I bought XCOM from Steam! What a bargain!
I think, just like they do with books, music and films. Old games are there to be cherished and no matter how small (and rubbish) the game has probably contributed something to the games industry. Whether it be a new genre of game, a new system of gameplay, etc.
Something like a gaming archive is likely to excite me close to a heart attack in 50/60 years time, when I check it out and think..."Wow. Zelda 64 is still bloody good. Beep-boop."
I have no intention to play the devil's advocate here, as I actually collect (old) games, but I still would love to see a remake of Thing Bounces Back (the sequel to Thing on a Spring) on either the Wii, 360 or PS3. Sounds like the perfect game for the Wii now because well... if its developers had today's technology, I can imagine that being their platform of choice for this particular game.
The best thing about "retro" games are the memories that come with them. Of course, it's important to make sure that old games do not disappear for all sorts of other reasons - but for me personally, the first and foremost reason is these memories attached to them. Playing H.E.R.O. on a Commodore 64 at a friend's house for instance and having to wait forever till the game actually loaded and then finally getting to play it - or the first time you discover the size of Final Fantasy 7's world when you get out of Midgar. Things like that surpass technical limitations.
What should or what shouldn't?... Every game should go in there... What's the importance of culture if your gonna remove parts of it?
Just as people prefer movies of the classical age, there are those people who prefer games of varying generations. It's good to know that there are something big done to preserve them.
I go on rare game hunts from time to time. Unfortunately these games tend to be preowned if they were bought from retailers like GameStop. Buying games used and in the bargain bins does not help the publishers and developers let alone let them know we actually care. It's great that Nintendo has Virtual Console so that I can finally own games that I had borrowed from a friend as a child and loved every bit of it. I was happy to plop down my 8 bucks to purchase Gunstar Heroes the day it was released on VC. Certainly developer Treasure knows that we care. They're making Sin and Punishment 2 because of the VC sales.
That said, there are plenty of old games that are ridiculously hard to find and requires a constant eye to find the games that we want. That shouldn't be the case. I hope that VC, PSN, XBLA and the National Videogame Archive can bring back all of these games so that we can all enjoy it no matter how old they are.
Great Work you all are doing, Cheers!
When I have children I'm going to make them start with the games I grew up with, I'll make them learn MS-DOS and play everything that's classic.
Its really important to have a semblance of history, and this is something I fear people that are new to this passionate hobby will never understand or appreciate.
Perhaps through work like this, more and more gamers will consider playing or re-visiting classic games.
Well, I suggest you check out Good Old Games then :)
http://www.gog.com/
(And no, I'm not associated with them, nor do I get money from them for plugging them.)
I agree with your general message, it's important to remember old games. There are people who care though, unlike what you seem to perceive, and they're active and well.