Classic video games are the silent movies of our time

[Bratwurst]

Before I hit the sack I leave this thought to you all! Consider the fledgeling birth of film. Monotone and without sound it exploded in popularity nontheless, yet faded into obscurity with the advent of better technology. I myself am not above absorbing a few silent films and can actually name a few that aren't mere Charlie Chaplins or Nosferatu. The great majority of them have been preserved so that people like myself can still enjoy them, but the fact remains that they have a very miniscule audience at any given moment.

My point then transposes to games found on obsolete hardware such as the Atari 2600 or even as recent as the Sega Genesis and original Playstation. There may be a healthy retro boom right now with everyone clamouring 'preserve the classics!' but it's all within a 30 year bubble. It's comprised of people who grew up with the software and may be dragging along a few younger individuals in their nostalgia consumption. These people will eventually die off, as will the 'new blood' dwindle in numbers because each younger generation won't have the same incentive to pay attention. Give it another 70 years and check on the scene then.

[classicb]

Before I hit the sack I leave this thought to you all! Consider the fledgeling birth of film. Monotone and without sound it exploded in popularity nontheless, yet faded into obscurity with the advent of better technology. I myself am not above absorbing a few silent films and can actually name a few that aren't mere Charlie Chaplins or Nosferatu. The great majority of them have been preserved so that people like myself can still enjoy them, but the fact remains that they have a very miniscule audience at any given moment.

My point then transposes to games found on obsolete hardware such as the Atari 2600 or even as recent as the Sega Genesis and original Playstation. There may be a healthy retro boom right now with everyone clamouring 'preserve the classics!' but it's all within a 30 year bubble. It's comprised of people who grew up with the software and may be dragging along a few younger individuals in their nostalgia consumption. These people will eventually die off, as will the 'new blood' dwindle in numbers because each younger generation won't have the same incentive to pay attention. Give it another 70 years and check on the scene then.

Well said.

I have to agree although only time will tell. I've taken some film classes and I can see the comparison to classic gaming. It might be hard now since some of us have lived through it but as stated above as those people die off (sorry) it will become more relevant as too what part it played in history.

[roxybaby]

I agree to a point...certainly most of the people snapping up classic games and systems are the people who grew up with them new, but I think this kind of stuff can keep finding an audience. To me, 3-D games are neither brilliant or particularly aesthitically pleasing. And while 3-D adds something to some games, most games would just as much fun, if not better, to play in 2-D. So I kind of see classic games like drive-in movie theatres. Drive-ins were very popular and then they almost died off. They seemed dated for awhile and maybe old-fashioned. But now a whole new generation is discovering them and giving them some love. And that's how I think it will be with classic games and systems.