Got a laugh at work today...

[Dire 51]

I'm known as "the game guy" at the Blockbuster I just started working at, and today I was putting some PS2 games back. This kid - couldn't have been any more than 10 or 11 - started asking me questions about some of the games we had. I answered his questions, and he starts telling me about his collection of 13 PS2 games and how he wants to be a "game master", as he put it. Then he asks me how many games I have, and I tell him a little about what I own.

He didn't recognize any of the systems I mentioned - I expected that - but when he asked how old they were, I told him. He then told me that he couldn't play any of those games because they were all in black & white and would hurt his vision if he played them (keep in mind, I was mentioning everything from the 2600 through the SNES and Genesis). I kind of chuckled, and told him "No, they're definitely in color. You should look them up online sometime."

He said he would, and about then his father came over and told him to stop bothering me. *shrug* Black & white... I wonder how he came to that conclusion? It gave me a laugh, though.

[Dahne]

Nintendo said the Virtual Boy could damage kids' vision. Something to do with shooting red lights into developing retinas or something.

Funny, but it just doesn't seem quite right to me for a kid to be beginning the hobby with one of the current consoles. SNES, Genesis, even the PS1, they're all much easier to envision a kid playing. The current generation seems to be targeted primarily to drunk 20-year-olds who should know better. :p

*muse, muse...*

[Sotenga]

Hehehe... good story. Doesn't sound like such a bad kid. He's just ignorant is all. Maybe you could enlighten him more if he ever comes back? ;)

[Cmosfm]

You should give him an NES. That would make you like...a father figure to him....and you could maybe chat it up with his mom and in the matter of a few hours have lost an NES but gained a loving family and a child to train in the ways of the classics.


Or, just skip all that and write down this the url for digital press for him.

[optic_85]

Oh, man. Im not very old(almost 19) but i love old games(even the ones from long before i was born). But it seems like kids these days just have no respect for retro. Like recently i was sitting at my friends house playing ice climbers on NES, his little brother who was on the computer turned his chair twords us, glance at the screen for a few seconds, and said "why the heck do you guys play this crap"?. He then went on to critisize the graphics, and the "beep boop", "retarded" music. I tried to explain that there is more to video games than graphics, but he just didnt get it....I saw a shirt somewhere that summed up my feelings on this subject. It had a pic of a nintendo controller, and in big bold print it said "DON'T FORGET YOUR ROOTS!"

[EnemyZero]

When i was working at target i got those types of kids in all the time, there was one family i got alot though, husband, wife, son , daughter probably around 9-10 years old, and they started getting into gaming , they'd stop by all the time and hit me up for some knowledge, on prices, good deals and so forth, i remember them telling me they picked up a saturn with 2 controllers, 2 light guns and 20 games including gaurdian heroes, first 2 panzer dragoon games, nights, and a few others for 15 bucks at a flea market, they said it almost....teasingly....i think what got to me is they ran across it by accident, i LOOK for deals like that and rarely find em, but anyways, i get adullts and i get kids who are ignortant of video games, and once i get started my mouth keeps going, just like my fingers on the dp forums :P but now that im starting at GameCrazy in a week im sure i will get even more people like that ^_^

[charitycasegreg]

a lot of my freinds think the old systems are cool.

[charitycasegreg]

Oh, man. Im not very old(almost 19) but i love old games(even the ones from long before i was born). But it seems like kids these days just have no respect for retro. Like recently i was sitting at my friends house playing ice climbers on NES, his little brother who was on the computer turned his chair twords us, glance at the screen for a few seconds, and said "why the heck do you guys play this crap"?. He then went on to critisize the graphics, and the "beep boop", "retarded" music. I tried to explain that there is more to video games than graphics, but he just didnt get it....I saw a shirt somewhere that summed up my feelings on this subject. It had a pic of a nintendo controller, and in big bold print it said "DON'T FORGET YOUR ROOTS!"

Its "Know your roots" 8-)

[atomicthumbs]

I agree with the kid. I can't STAND playing anything before the PS2. It's just too old. I mean, I played that crap when I was a kid, and thought it kinda sucked even then. That's why I don't bother collecting anything older than the PS2... It just dosen't make any sense why anyone would want to play Super Metroid with the crappy graphics, when they can play NBA Ballers!

[bluberry]

Maybe you could recommend a few games like Contra: Shattered Soldier or something to him... you know, games with good moden graphics but more SNES style gameplay.

[punkoffgirl]

I think that's pretty neat. The kid didn't put down the older systems at all, he just thought they were all black and white. It's really not that hard to see why. Think back to when you were younger; I bet you used to think your parents watched tv all in black and white for a while, right? Same sort of thing, in my opinion.

[Dire 51]

I think that's pretty neat. The kid didn't put down the older systems at all, he just thought they were all black and white. It's really not that hard to see why. Think back to when you were younger; I bet you used to think your parents watched tv all in black and white for a while, right? Same sort of thing, in my opinion.

That's exactly what I was thinking when he said that. I know I did... to take it one step further, my sister used to think my parents watched silent movies when they were growing up. So I guess I really didn't wonder how he came to that conclusion...

I did recommend Shattered Soldier to the kid before his dad chased him off. Hopefully he'll check it out, get interested in the series and go backwards from there. I ever see him again, I'll drop him a few URLs, including this one. :D

[Ed Oscuro]

you know, games with good moden graphics but more SNES style graphics.
@_@

For myself, I tend to like arcade originals, or the best pre-3DO/PSX/Saturn ports (I hate discs!) Make no mistake, I'm definitely sold on graphics.

Retrohaters: It doesn't have to be OLD to be GARBAGE!

[Flack]

Hey Dire, you should make up some Digital Press business cards. If any customers show an interest in retro gaming, hand them a card with the URL on it. Heck, you could probably even make a little money on the side selling older systems to people. Of course, I'm sure Blockbuster wouldn't like it when people realize that instead of renting a game for $5 they could buy one for half that price.

[DasCrewShtool]

I was born with an atari controller and a blister on my thumb.

[bluberry]

you know, games with good moden graphics but more SNES style graphics.
@_@

For myself, I tend to like arcade originals, or the best pre-3DO/PSX/Saturn ports (I hate discs!) Make no mistake, I'm definitely sold on graphics.

Retrohaters: It doesn't have to be OLD to be GARBAGE!

Er... that should read SNES style gameplay. Damn you, typos!

[brykasch]

I think alot of the "ignorance" if you wanna call it that all comes down to age, remember alot of these kids are the same idiots who pay 100 for a shirt just because its a designer label, when they can get the same shirt for 35 somewhere else. I shudder to think that one day the psx will be retro, infact thats real hard as most retro systems can't be played on their follow-up systems. I have been slowly getting my nephew into some of the older stuff, like the older ff on psx etc, he has no older systems, I would get him one but I think it would just gather dust.

[Cmosfm]

When i was working at target i got those types of kids in all the time, there was one family i got alot though, husband, wife, son , daughter probably around 9-10 years old, and they started getting into gaming , they'd stop by all the time and hit me up for some knowledge, on prices, good deals and so forth, i remember them telling me they picked up a saturn with 2 controllers, 2 light guns and 20 games including gaurdian heroes, first 2 panzer dragoon games, nights, and a few others for 15 bucks at a flea market, they said it almost....teasingly....i think what got to me is they ran across it by accident, i LOOK for deals like that and rarely find em, but anyways, i get adullts and i get kids who are ignortant of video games, and once i get started my mouth keeps going, just like my fingers on the dp forums :P but now that im starting at GameCrazy in a week im sure i will get even more people like that ^_^

I know exactly what you mean, doesn't it piss you off to get someone into the hobby and then have them turn around and throw there finds up in your face with a "hahaha, I got this and you don't, loser" attude? :angry:

[Dire 51]

Hey Dire, you should make up some Digital Press business cards. If any customers show an interest in retro gaming, hand them a card with the URL on it. Heck, you could probably even make a little money on the side selling older systems to people. Of course, I'm sure Blockbuster wouldn't like it when people realize that instead of renting a game for $5 they could buy one for half that price.

heh... that's an idea. Maybe Joe can send me some to distribute? :D

Selling older systems... first I'd need to get some to sell, but that shouldn't be too hard...