Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Video games have been a crucial part of the world’s recreational schedule for decades now. What all began with a simple couple of buttons and a joystick in an arcade has developed into a thriving industry, with a mainstream following.
This wasn’t always the case though, gamers used to be cast aside and shunned. Becoming outcasts in society. Well, maybe not to a soul-destroying extent. What’s become interesting in recent years however is the mass exodus of hardcore gamers from today’s HD, next generation consoles to older, classic consoles. The change has been gradual and well documented, to the extent that the mainstream realm of gaming has created a retro-counterculture. It’s now become commonplace to see a ‘Gamecube’ or ‘Playstation One’ in a kooky Channel 4 sitcom. A lovely nostalgic boost for viewers in their mid-twenties, reminiscing about the golden age of the console.
Due to this counter-culture gaining so much momentum in recent times, it’s made it nigh on impossible for your everyman gamer to pick up an older machine. There was a time when a ‘PSOne’ was £20. Straight after the PS2 arrived. Now you’ll be lucky to grab one in full working condition for less than £40. Retro gaming has become an expensive past-time, making it all the more difficult to understand the desire for an outdated media box. There is one underlying attraction though, the simplicity and addictive nature of the games is a refreshing break from today’s stylized block-busters.
Games used to be based around a simple premise, to reach the end of a level or race. Today’s Xbox and Playstation games feature a vast amount of scope, and sandbox game play, which is all well and good, but it doesn’t touch the sheer basic thrill of coming first amongst three friends on Mario Kart. That’s gaming in its purest form. No thrills, just pure time killing. The way consoles were meant to be. These games obviously lacked some depth, and completing them on the hardest setting wasn’t a challenge. This isn’t what they were about though, and they could encourage social situations between friends rather than destroying them, like the time consuming RPG’s that seem to dominate the PC gaming world.
The games industry is listening though, luckily. Xbox Live has recently begun selling old Sega games such as ‘Jet Set Radio’ and ‘Sonic Adventures’. Classics in their time, and an absolute retro-gaming gift. Especially considering that you don’t need to buy an old console to play them. Despite being a bit of a nostalgic thrill, the games just doesn’t feel the same. This is compounded by the fact that they have been optimised for HD play. Although it sounds good, these aren’t high-quality games, they’re meant for picking up and playing, not for a sensual, colourful adventure. This seems like another money making opportunity for games companies, capitalizing on the retro resurgence.
Despite the attempts to re-ignite the passion of retro-console gaming however, consoles as a whole may be endangered. Both Microsoft and Sony haven’t released a next-generation console since the Xbox 360 and PS3 repectively. Admittedly, there’s been numerous updates and ‘slimline’ versions of both consoles, but the lack of any major new developments spells trouble. It seems that today’s gaming is based upon convenience. Casual gamers have moved out of the enclosed spaces of their living rooms and into the wild. It’s now just as common to see a member of the public playing a game on their Apple product as it is to behold the sight of an Xbox in their living room. Gaming has changed from a jovial past-time into a cause for embarrassment again, only captured in shy glimpses of ‘Pandemic’ on the iPhone of a fellow tube passenger.
For the time being at least though, retro-gaming is still going strong. Although older consoles aren’t still being produced, chances are you’ll find one in an attic somewhere and lose a good few hours in nostalgia soaked bliss. It seems though that consoles are merely our generation’s arcades. Anyone above the age of thirty will almost certainly remember the golden age of gaming as the arcade period of the eighties, the gaming world nostalgically repeats itself. Let’s just hope that this generation of gamers doesn’t believe that the gaming golden age is playing ‘Angry Birds’ on a 5-inch phone screen.
By Richard Lawless
Image courtesy of Marco Gomes