Guys. I’m kind of mad
and frustrated. It’s about video games.
You may have heard about the Super NES Classic Edition. It sold out in record time. Just like the NES Classic Edition did the
year before. I didn’t try to buy one
because I saw it coming and saved myself the effort. But what I’d like to talk about is the
extensive and sometimes ridiculous lengths you sometimes have to go to in order
to play older video games.
I’m a bit of a retro gamer myself and I’d like to show you
all the various ways I’ve attempted to be able to play retro games. See picture below.
Crazy, right? Old
hardware and software, after-market consoles, plug-and-play devices, little
working collectible arcade cabinets, compilation games and even card reading
peripherals. This doesn’t even show cell
phone apps or virtual console downloads.
I’ve tried each of these things and they all have their own significant
strengths and flaws. The plug-and-plays
are difficult to store and are limited in what games they carry. The miniature cabinets and cell phone apps
have awkward controls. The after-market
consoles don’t quite get the colors of the visuals right and rely on having
working software, which is a problem in itself.
The virtual console downloads are arguably overpriced for a software
download of an older game. And as much
as I loved my e-reader and cards back in the Game Boy Advance days, I’ll admit
that the whole card scanning gimmick is actually kind of ridiculous.
And that doesn’t even cover emulators and roms. Emulators are probably most people’s first choice
for playing retro games. An emulator is
a program that emulates the workings of a video game console on a
computer. To play games on emulators,
you need to upload a game’s rom (read-only memory). Emulators and roms are big in the retro
gaming community. The reasons being that
they’re usable on pretty much any modern PC, facilitate the playing of fairly
authentic retro games, are easy to get a hold of and also allow for some
flexibility in terms of what control scheme you use. Some people have even been loading emulators
onto small computers called Raspberry Pis in order to hook them up to their
TVs. There is a big problem with
emulators and roms, though. Emulators
are great pieces of software, completely above board, and some like MAME (the
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) are devised as a means of preserving and
archiving gaming’s past for the future.
Roms on the other hand, are usually only attainable by illegally copying
copyrighted video games and distributing them.
So, that’s the deal.
Usually the only ways there are to play retro games is to fiddle around
with outdated technology, endure ridiculous gimmicks or break the law! If you’re breaking federal law in order to
play Super Mario Bros., there might be something wrong with this system.
You know what I’m waiting for? The day that the home video game market is
like the home video market for movies.
Think about it. If you want to
watch a movie from 20 years ago or more, it’s relatively easy. Almost every movie or TV show is put on DVD
as a matter of course. There’s also no
exclusivity. Unlike dealing with the
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo video game systems which have their own console
exclusives, you can play any DVD on any DVD player. If you want to watch one of the Spider-Man
movies which are produced by Sony, you don’t need a Sony device to do it. There are very few unnecessary gimmicks or
hoops to jump through in order to watch a movie on home video. The problem is, as my brother (who’s more of
a gamer than I am) rather passionately reminded me once, the market for video
games just isn’t there yet. And the
truth is that there was a time when home video wasn’t there either. During the early days of VHS, companies used
to sell VHS tapes of movies for around a hundred dollars. It wasn’t until they started running ads on
tapes right before the movies that they started to become affordable (like this Diet Pepsi ad that was on the Top Gun VHS tape). I
think the video game market will get to that point someday, but whether
it’s 20 years away, 50 years away or 100 years away is something that I couldn’t
tell you.
But what’s the big deal?
Why is retro gaming important and why do all these retro systems keep
selling out? Well, just respecting the
medium’s past is part of it, but I think there’s more to the idea. I can’t tell you for sure, but I think it may
have something to do with the demographics of gamers and how the gaming market
is evolving. On the internet, it’s easy
to see the gaming community split into two groups. There are the hardcore gamers who are really
into gaming and love having the newest games and the most up to date technology
while investing a lot of time and attention into the hobby. Then, there are the casual gamers who like
mini games and party games and really like smart phone games that they can play
on the run. Basically, they like games
but don’t get that invested. Naturally,
this is simplifying everything because nuance is hard to depict on the
internet. I think there’s a middle
ground that isn’t getting credit. A
middle ground that I’m probably a part of.
Let’s call it the semi-casual gamer. In this case, I’m talking about people who
grew up with video games, who want video games as an entertainment option but
don’t have the time or energy to make it a major daily pursuit. These are people who can’t imagine not owning
a video game console but probably wouldn’t buy all three competing
consoles. These are people who may
choose to watch TV or surf the internet before playing a game but are still
glad the option is there. For people
like that, retro games are probably pretty important. Why?
Because retro games are a known entity that they can take advantage of
when they do fit gaming into their schedule.
Playing a little bit of Mario, Contra or Street Fighter II is probably a
lot more appealing than taking a chance on some new game they don’t know. It also explains some of the continued
popularity of Nintendo among adults.
Nintendo arguably makes games for a primary audience of kids, but they
also provide a familiar product that adult gamers can get behind without doing
a lot of research or taking a lot of risks.
I’d bet anything the NES Classic Edition and SNES Classic Edition pulled
in a lot of these kinds of gamers. The
existence of this gaming demographic also says a lot about how far video gaming
has come. Imagine, video games have
become such a major presence in some people’s lives that they’ve always got to
be an entertainment option even if they’re not always first choice.
So that’s my deal as a retro gamer. Too many hoops to jump through and a market
that’s taking too long to get to the easy part.
But it will probably get there.
Of course, there’s also part of me that just wishes I could
own my own ‘80s arcade complete with big, bulky arcade cabinets. But that’s another thing entirely.
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