Today's kids' views on retro games

[stuffedmonkey]

An article from 1up.com, where they have a bunch of 12 year olds play older games and give opinions. Funny stuff :)


http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3137498

[Dahne]

Parker: Nothing is bad publicity.

Dang. Even 11-year-olds have gotten cynical. (Not to say that it isn't accurate...)

[Aswald]

Pity they didn't make them play the 2600 E.T., or 2600 Congo Bongo...

[Leo_A]

After reading just the first few, I bet not one kid was involved in this. I bet some writer wrote everything up.

[NE146]

Actually it's a pity they let them play Adventure on that all-in-one joystick which of course has a horrendous version of it. And how did they play Star Wars arcade? On an emu? On the Rogue Squadron Bonus disk? :roll:

I mean.. it can be a funny/good experient for an article. But at least make them fucking play the real thing. Otherwise it's sort of like asking someone how they like an Elvis song and then playing a Filipino cover version of it. x_x

[Aswald]

Hmmmm, possible- except as kids we used to like to goof on things my parents liked.

Also, part of our enjoyment of the arcade games was the overall experience. The music (Journey, anyone?), the overall pop culture, being with friends away from the house or school, the then-excitement of those new games...emulators, or even a few arcade machines "just set up in a room for this thing," just cannot capture it.

[GamblinMonkey]

On the graphics of the Legend of Zelda:
"Bobby: Those bushes look like petrified snails."
That's what I always thought they were when I was a kid.

[Lady Jaye]

It's basically EGM's second annual "kids say the darndest things" article pertaining to classic gaming.

See this thread from last year for our comments and reaction to last year's piece (and yup, the same comment about how it must have been written by an adult comment was made back then too): http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19507

One comment that may bring some doubt as to the veracity of the kids' comments, is the fact that 2 of the kids know who Billy Mitchell is (and one of them actually remembered his name!)... :hmm:

Methinks that the kids did sit down and play, and they probably did say some of the stuff, but I have the feeling that the comments had been "enhanced" to add more pizzaz. I didn't really get that feeling with last year's article, but more so with this one.

[Aussie2B]

Are kids these days really that weird? O_o

And what's up with the kid that said this:

"EGM: If this game had blood and gore like Mortal Kombat, would you like it more?

Parker: Then this would be the best game ever created. Ever. Because violence is so cool-in videogames."

What the hell kind of kids is this country raising?

[Jincman]

After reading just the first few, I bet not one kid was involved in this. I bet some writer wrote everything up.

Agreed.

Kids don't know what a Ken doll is these days.

[mr_jiggles_13]

maybe its just me, but when i was 11, i didnt talk like that. i can see the 14 yr old saying that, but not the ohers.

[Aswald]

Well, let's see- there are a lot of video gamers right here, at least some of them "old school," and with younger relatives. No doubt, some of them were invited to try the older games by the older members.

Did they ever react in that fashion?

[Flack]

I liked last year's better. Last year it was kids being kind of silly and funny and I felt they were being more honest. This one just seems like the kids are trying to get attention or be cool or something. I tried something like this with my neices and nephew, I should do it again with some more games and see what they say.

[s1lence]

According to the EGM acrticle CNN was there with TV cameras which would tell me that the kids were a wee bit star struck. So my guess is that they are trying to out do each other. :hmm:

[Cleatis]

Kids don't know what a Ken doll is these days.

Sure they do. Didnt you see on the news a few months ago when Barbie broke up with ken? Seriously...it was on CNN.
Im going to try this with my nephew the next time I go down to Oklahoma. I already know he hates NES. Yeah I know...bad parenting! :roll:
LOL

[slip81]

I read this about a week or so ago when I got my EGM. To me it all sounds pretty realistic, except for the kids knowing who Billy Mitchell is, I can't even remember that guys name off the top of my head.

[MegaDrive20XX]

http://abe.simpsonsline.de/pics/grandpa.jpg

*grandpa rant*

The graphics are wasted on the young, why in my day we had arcades everywhere, and for five nickels we could play all the games we wanted! We didn't need violence in games! We had MERCS, Golden Axe, Black Tiger, Altered Beast, and many more!

I'd like to give those kids a spankin or two! Darn kids don't know a thing about games these days! Why when I was a lad we had to blow on the cartridge to make it work! Not this fancy pants Compact Disc! Ohhh Look at me! I'm so hi-tech! Bah says I! If we had a cartridge with LOCK-ON Technology, now that was hip! Speaking of which, there goes mine...oooo....

[rbudrick]

One comment that may bring some doubt as to the veracity of the kids' comments, is the fact that 2 of the kids know who Billy Mitchell is (and one of them actually remembered his name!)...

Yeah, I thought that was pretty damn weird too...

I gave my 11 and 9 year old cousins the all in one Pac Man and Ms Pac Man joystick systems for Xmas. They were totally psyched...I had no idea they would dig them that much. I asked them if they liked old school games, and they said they loved them. They had some Ps1 compilations and said they thought they were awesome. It really renewed my beliefs I had about kids and older games. I thought all kids nowadays had 0 attention spans and dissed all old school games. Who woulda thought?

-Rob

[Kepone]

Today's kids are spoiled brats and I don't give a s*** what they think about games from yesteryear.

[Jincman]

Kids don't know what a Ken doll is these days.

Sure they do. Didnt you see on the news a few months ago when Barbie broke up with ken? Seriously...it was on CNN.
Im going to try this with my nephew the next time I go down to Oklahoma. I already know he hates NES. Yeah I know...bad parenting! :roll:
LOL

I'll be darned!!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/02/12/offbeat.barbie.breakup.ap/

Just shows you how not having kids leaves you out of the loop.

[Aussie2B]

I read this about a week or so ago when I got my EGM. To me it all sounds pretty realistic, except for the kids knowing who Billy Mitchell is, I can't even remember that guys name off the top of my head.

It was a little strange, but with G4 TechTV and such, it's possible that these kids have heard of Billy Mitchell. Then again, you wouldn't think these kids would actually sit through an episode of Icons. :P

[Lady Jaye]

At least, if they had said "that guy who looks a bit like Tom Cruise and kicks ass at Pac-Man", I'd understand. but for a kid to actually remember his name? He's either a closeted retrogamer, or he's not for real.

[Pantechnicon]

Bah! Smarmy little twits. There's nothing more annoying than kids who are too cool to be kids. Allow me to clear the air a bit:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pzcortez/alex2600.jpg
Here's an older picture of my nieces, nephew and son (seated) all enjoying some 2600 goodness. And yes, they like the machine very much. Their faves are Indy 500 and Warlords.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/pzcortez/andrew_mame.jpg
This little guy is a friend of my son's who lives on my street. He's playing Donkey Kong 3 on one of my MAME cabs. Whenever he and his brother come over the first thing they usually ask is: "Is the arcade open, Mr. Pantechnicon?" to which the answer is almost always yes. I never see them play any games newer than 1991 or so, preferring the old ones instead.

I don't knoiw who these little EGM brats belong to, but in my immediate sphere of influence the kids all have learned to appreciate the classics.

[nesgamer]

maybe its just me, but when i was 11, i didnt talk like that. i can see the 14 yr old saying that, but not the ohers.

I noticed that too.

[fennec fox]

I wasn't involved with the article, but I can confirm that none of the quotes in it were made up.

[Cleatis]

maybe its just me, but when i was 11, i didnt talk like that. i can see the 14 yr old saying that, but not the ohers.

I noticed that too.

It looks like whoever did the article attempted to un-dumbify the kids statements. They spell it out like "So you'd really spend your money on Donkey Kong Jr. Math?" instead of what the kid may have really said..."Youd buy that?"

[The Lazy Gamer]

If Mike Tyson was in this game, his special move would be to bite people's ears. Then he'd be all gloating about it, but then the sound's all low because you can't hear him because your ears are gone. [Points at the next opponent, Von Kaiser] That's Mike Tyson, and he's trying to bite off your ear.

LOL LOL LOL

This kid is funny.

[Flack]

Those articles should end with, "...and then we locked them in the room until they changed their rotten little minds."

[Sothy]

Doesnt sound like an 11 year old to me.

"How do you know its not Mike Tyson?" Because he is white... and he wears pants.

[soniko_karuto]

All that commentaries are crap, i mean, shit, can you believe that no one liked punch out? IT IS a lot better than practically any boxing game on the current gen consoles.

[Ernster]

Bullshit, as if an 11 year old would speak like that. Using words like gloat etc..

[pineapplehead2]

I am 15, and I love retro games, infact I play my NES more then my PS2 also I am a retro gaming collector and gonna try in 2005 to get a Sega Saturn and Mega Drive, i also want a Coleco and Intelllivion.

[thegreatescape]

gonna try in 2005 to get a Mega Drive

Dammit dont wait till next year, buy one tomorrow! :D

As for the article, I dont think there are many children that can resist the lure of Dig Dug.. At first it looks cute, but when it beats them down like a.. erm... red headed step child.. they will come back for more. My cousins beg me to bring my Namco 5-in-1 just for dig-dug. Worst thing is, theyre better than me at it :eek 2:

[whoisKeel]

I don't see what is so hard to believe they said these quotes. They are smart kids, sure, and very sarcastic...but i think i talked like that at age 11. That was junior high school for me and alot of other kids. and they do actually like a few of the games. i noticed they didn't like defender that much, but it sounds like they didn't let them play for more than 3 minutes anyways.