Tuesday, April 17, 2012

O is for Old School Games and Gamers

I'm glad that I was a child of the 1980s. I got to witness the success of the home console for myself. Maybe it's that sense of nostalgia that makes me still return to those games today. It also could be that many of those games are amazing and fun to play. Another reason is a few of those early 8-bit franchises are still being made all these generations later. When a new Zelda or Mario game is released, it generally receives high praise.  

Perhaps the fact that I was lucky enough to play those games from the beginning has tainted the way I see them, because I don't understand gamers who "can't" play 2D games. To me, it's like saying you "can't" watch a black and white movie. Just because the technology isn't as advanced as it is today, that doesn't mean those games are bad or not worth your time.

I don't know what it is that turns off some newer gamers to old school games. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. Graphics are the obvious reason, but graphics aren't everything. Or maybe it's because few games had the ability to save data at all. Is it because today's games tend to help gamers with maps, autosaves, and waypoints? Maybe old school games are just too hard?

I don't know, but it saddens me a bit when someone who loves the newer Zelda or Mario games dismiss the originals without giving them a chance.

1 comment:

  1. I earned brownie points from the hubby when we moved in together and he saw my original Nintendo box in the basement. He still has his first Atari... Yep, we're old gamer nerds. HAHA! :) ~ Angela, Whole Foods Living, http://www.wholefoodsliving.blogspot.com/

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