Pac-Man Reloaded

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Toronto Star article discussing the resurgence of classic gaming. The article suggests that "..the renewed interest [in classic gaming] is not only reviving the games themselves, but also establishing them as part of cultural history", but also argues that kitsch nostalgia is playing a big part in the retro revival: "..for a culture steeped in an alleged retro-chic movement - unlikely revivals of such high-camp iconography as cocktail music, loungewear, or '80s new wave music and '60s mod styles - the draw to classic gaming seems to have some of the same sheen." Above all, though, it seems to be about "..the old games, with their simple concepts and ease of play, [as] a welcome refuge from the increasingly complicated games being released today."

Comments

A little too enthusiastic

[utawoutau]

This article seems to be a bit too enthusiastic, for example, although I may myself believe that game developers seem overly eager to push up the complexity of games - this is really the first time that I have read something that expresses that opinion.

Looking over all of the reviews from E3 - I noticed that all of the reviewers constantly fawned over the impressiveness of the visuals or the realistic quality of the games, and most never actually stated whether a game was fun or not. The love of complex and graphically stunning games (for better or worse) is not going anywhere - regardless of what this guy says.

That being said, I really do hope for a sort of "game renaissance" - which will bring more focus back onto gameplay and give developers more options as to what kind of game they would like to develop (i.e. not all new games having to be multi-million dollar projects). I personally could not care less whether grass waves realistically or not - just give me a fun game!

my stupid thoughts

[qwak]

I think older games are being recognized more for their typically good gameplay as opposed to a 'retro' movement, as at least american culture tends to obsess over all things retro (just as the years progress which retro phase is chic changes, sometimes its the 70's, sometimes the 80's, sometimes the 50's etc)

many games today seem to be showing off what our technology is capable of, and often ignoring what makes a game good (I'm not saying every game to come out in modern times has poor gameplay, just that often the gameplay seems to take a sidestep to the technology used, as much as i'm looking forward to doom 3, at the moment it still looks like the original doom in terms of gameplay).

early games didnt have as much to show off technologically, people didnt play asteroids because it looked incredible or was completely immersive, they played it because it was simple fun.

then again, maybe i just didnt notice any of the really crappy games back in the early 80's because i was too young to notice them /shrug

though I think the signifigance of gaming is different now than it was then, more and more we're moving to online games, be they MMOG's, or simple match based games (quake, counter-strike, etc) where the human element is often more important than the game itself.

at least thats my drunken opinion.

Red Rag at a Bull....

[fatboyslack]

Is what posting one of these articles is like.

Now we'll get all these 'back in my day' 'when I was a kid' 'games aren't what they use to be' comments which are as valid as "when politicians were honest back in my day".

Really, you can get fun, simple games with fantastic graphics that are modern releases. The biggest problem is usually that they are 'pigeon holed' into the 'kids games' categories (See Animal Crossing, Mario Party 1-4, most GC/nintendo games of late.... etc.) and the games that we see (I assume all ppl here are 16+) are marketed at us (FPS/Shooters, RPG's, RTS's etc.) And the argument that in the 80's games were of higher quality is so laughable I really hope that no gamer believes it. I also think you could say that in the 80's and early 90's game publishers/designers (not neccesarily the same) saw the market as being at the extreme 15 yrs old, with the majority being 8-13 (...?) Now there are finally some mature games coming out for older ppl who aren't into 'simple kiddie games' or Leisure Suit Larry like GTA in 3D, shooters with a mature storyline (Thank-you HL1&2/Doom3) Personally I get easily bored by 'puzzle' games. A game where I have to think my way out of a situation (Jedi Knight II, many Command & Conquer games, AoE2/AoK, Starcraft), to make quick decisions on the go that have consequences (Halo, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell). I'll stop here, I have to get back to work. Looking back through this streaming flow of consciousness, theres holes in my arguments, but thats what slashdots about ;)