Contribute Your Thoughts for a Magazine Article About Retro Gaming!

[cburek]

My name is Chris Burek, and I'm a journalist from Plattsburgh, NY. I'm currently working on a magazine article about retro games and want to hear from gamers like you! What special memory in your life do you associate with retro consoles like NES and Super Nintendo? What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation? What is the schism between these two generations like? How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems? When replying please include your first and last name as well as where you're from. Thank you!

[SOL BADGUY]

1)What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation?

2)What is the schism between these two generations like?

3)How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems?

My name is David Michaels from Kerrville Texas

1) To me theyre fun and people arent flame waring each other about the games. Theres not the trolling you see with modern games with classic games since the dust has settled and people who know about them are nicer about it and you can have actual conversations about them. Theres something about modern games now that brings out people's bad manners. Theres also no DRM to worry about, or patches to spend an hour or 3 downloading for the actual AAA title to work. My favorite console is the PS2 because of the PS1 compatibility, I think this generation Sony and Microsoft made game consoles into cheap badly made computers that you hook up to your tv. Nothing against PC gaming (I play retro games on emulators), but the new consoles are not console gaming like they used to be.

2) I was talking to this one guy, who a friend met playing Red Dead Redemption, about movies and I brought up the Criterion Collection. I was talking about all these international films and directors who made classic films that are in the collection, and all he said was "I just watch movies that are in theaters..." Its like I was talking about a completely different form of entertainment. I've heard a guy from Play Value say that film has only evolve technically a few times, but video games evolve every 5 or so years now. Thats a good saying, because like the guy I talked to about films when I talk to people who only play new games they get all weird when I talk about old classic games. Most people dont read much, but when they did it was in school and they were mainly reading older books. Itll be interesting when the kids who get all glazed eye when you bring up the Dreamcast talk to a similarly glazed eye kid about the PS3 in 15 years. Another thing also is the hardware difference, graphics whores are too shallow to ever play a game older than them, so you wont win them over like you cant expect a kid who only watches Disney Channel or Twilight movies to sit through Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman films.

3) Theres plenty of stuff on youtube about classic gaming. AVGN, Classic Game Room (which reviews retro and new games), G4 Icons episodes, Happy Console Gamer and RetrowareTV videos are great places to learn a lot. Actually playing, Id say either buy old games on PSN, Virtual Console or XBLA. Another great way is emulation on computers, its the only way for 99% of people to play a LOT of great old games like Earthbound or arcade titles. Plus emulation on a computer is free, so if a family cant afford a PS4 or 720 then the kid can get emulators and have decades of gaming at their finger tips and learn to love games with true variety.

[Gameguy]

Yes, I'm going to post my full name and location on a public message board just because I was asked to. Makes sense.

[cburek]

Yes, I'm going to post my full name and location on a public message board just because I was asked to. Makes sense.

I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.

Why do you want to know our personal information anyway? That seems suspicious.

[cburek]

Why do you want to know our personal information anyway? That seems suspicious.

It's just a first and last name and state you're from. If I use a quote in an article without an attribution, the reader won't know who this person is and will therefore come to the conclusion, "Well, why do I care what this person has to say?" It puts a name to a face as opposed to an "anonymous" source, which are frowned upon in the field of journalism.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Agreed, giving out names/addresses on public forums is slightly dangerous. This isn't exactly facebook.

I'll answer your other questions though.

What special memory in your life do you associate with retro consoles like NES and Super Nintendo?

Like most people, I associate retro consoles with memories of childhood, getting a certain system for Christmas or the earliest memories playing that one game. As I've gotten older and an income, I've formed far more recent memories regarding retro consoles when I first got into Famicom and import gaming in general.

What makes retro gaming more appealing than modern gaming like the Xbox or PlayStation?

Simplicity. Retro consoles were limited in what they could accomplish, and so creative ideas needed to funneled down to a level of simplicity that the hardware was capable of running and the player could figure out. These kinds of games were intended to be easy to learn and give quick, immediate enjoyment.

On the other side of the coin though, as technology has advanced, the possibilities for games have also exploded. Modern games consist of many ideas and concepts that just wouldn't be possible in 8 or 16 bit. There IS something to be said about modern gaming so looking back exclusively is to deprive yourself of something wonderful.

What is the schism between these two generations like?

I think one should have a balancing act. There's nothing wrong with enjoying games for the 2600 and games for the modern consoles or brand new PC games. The important thing to remember is that fun doesn't age.

How can younger generations be better educated about classic gaming systems?

Well, youtube channels, podcasts and dedicated Retro Gaming webshows like Retroware tv can really help, but I feel the only way to know the classics is to play the classics. A kid doesn't understand what an SNES is? have him play Super Mario World. Telling him about it will be far less impressive. Think back to when we first started gaming. Did we have people tell us about how awesome it was, or did we just start playing ourselves?

[cburek]

Agreed, giving out names/addresses on public forums is slightly dangerous. This isn't exactly facebook.

I'll answer your other questions though.



Like most people, I associate retro consoles with memories of childhood, getting a certain system for Christmas or the earliest memories playing that one game. As I've gotten older and an income, I've formed far more recent memories regarding retro consoles when I first got into Famicom and import gaming in general.



Simplicity. Retro consoles were limited in what they could accomplish, and so creative ideas needed to funneled down to a level of simplicity that the hardware was capable of running and the player could figure out. These kinds of games were intended to be easy to learn and give quick, immediate enjoyment.

On the other side of the coin though, as technology has advanced, the possibilities for games have also exploded. Modern games consist of many ideas and concepts that just wouldn't be possible in 8 or 16 bit. There IS something to be said about modern gaming so looking back exclusively is to deprive yourself of something wonderful.



I think one should have a balancing act. There's nothing wrong with enjoying games for the 2600 and games for the modern consoles or brand new PC games. The important thing to remember is that fun doesn't age.



Well, youtube channels, podcasts and dedicated Retro Gaming webshows like Retroware tv can really help, but I feel the only way to know the classics is to play the classics. A kid doesn't understand what an SNES is? have him play Super Mario World. Telling him about it will be far less impressive. Think back to when we first started gaming. Did we have people tell us about how awesome it was, or did we just start playing ourselves?

I understand your privacy concerns. Feel free to private message me with this information, or if you'd like message me contact information like a phone number, and I'd be more than willing to speak with you.