Are Neo-Retro Game Releases a Fad?

With modern console technology making it easy to develop and distribute small games, more and more companies are taking advantage of gamers' nostalgia to re-release decades-old hits, and to create entirely new titles in older styles. Gamasutra takes a look at what the retro game fad has become, and where it can go from here. What old games or series do you think would translate well onto today's consoles? "Many gamers who bought Mega Man 9 did so because of the game's inherent nostalgia, or because they never had a chance to enjoy the older games on the Nintendo Entertainment System when they were younger. Mega Man 9 is very much a product of its context. Its gameplay is fantastic, but it too is a product of the time period in which it reigned supreme. It suggests the question: can neo-retro games stand the test of time? Will games that mimic or lampoon the 8-bit era remain relevant and interesting to the masses long after its original audience has disappeared?"

Comments

Nah

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't imagine it's a fad, it's just that there hasn't been a decent new game in years, aside from maybe Portal and Audiosurf.

Re:Nah

[grumbel]

It is worse then that. A real simulation at least is interesting because it is complex and allows many different ways how things can interact together and most importantly because it gives you plenty of freedom to act, todays games however seldomly go in that direction. Instead most of them go more into the direction of a roller coaster ride, they are flashy and noise, but ultimately they are repetitive and pointless, because the player really doesn't have all that much to do in them. Its always the same: point at enemy, pull trigger, rinse and repeat. There aren't decision to be made, characters to interact with or stories worth to listen to.

Now I don't expect games to be full of deep meaning, but I want at least some descent player involvement, if that means learning boss patterns in a MegaMan or making moral choices in a deep storyline I don't care, at least both of those keep me involved. But the roller coaster rides that most of todays games provide, which are so easy that you never have to remember much of anything, are getting really annoying.