Everything Old is Old Again 106
TechDock writes "GameDaily interviews some of the folks involved with retro game services, including GameTap, XBox Live Arcade, and assorted standalone retro game devices. They discuss the new business models associated with the retro business, and why 25 year-old games are still popular." From the article: "Want to feel really old? It's been 26 years since the sound of 'waka-waka-waka' first resounded in an arcade. Yes, 1980 was the year Midway licensed and installed the coin-op version of Namco's Pac-Man in the U.S. And 2006 is the year that Pac-Man has become one of the most popular downloads on Xbox Live Arcade and GameTap. Talk about a game with legs."
I still play chess (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Nostalgia (Score:5, Insightful)
Granted, you could make a pretty faithful Pac-Man clone in a few hours, maybe less if you weren't too picky about how close it was, but to make an exact duplicate would be difficult for a few reasons.
First, the Ghosts aren't exactly random, and they aren't exactly "patterns". They more or less respond in accordance to the player and almost precisely at that. A really good player with excellent timing can develope a pattern that will result in the ghosts moving in exactly the same way each time. The best players have a pattern for each level up to level 18 at least.
Each of the four ghosts have a response different from the others so while in a very indirect way the player may be "controlling" the ghosts they are designed to respond in a way that makes them more or less close in on the player.
Pac-Man is a brilliant game in a lot of ways. Some people really appreciate how brilliant it is, and they're the ones with the 50,000+ scores. Some people just acknoledge that it's a classic. Others only know it because it's famous. But no matter how you look at it Pac-Man is going to stick around a long time because it just happens to be fun.
Re:I'll tell you why... (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know that that's necessarily true. I think part of retro popularity is that sometimes things have inherent value. It's the same way that William Shakespeare's plays don't go away after so many years. Now I know that I'm comparing Shakespeare to Pac Man, but bear with me here.
I love listening to the Beatles and the Doors, I was born after these bands were long dead and buried (well maybe not buried in the case of the Doors), I discovered them anew in my own life and formed my own kinship with their recordings.
In the same way the first video game my little nephew ever played (at about 2 or 3 years old) was the first Super Mario Brothers. There are newer, better, more graphically entertaining games available, but my nephew is just as happy playing Super Mario Brothers as he is playing anything else (and he's now a bit older).
I would argue that old games have inherent value, they are classics for a reason. There are a million old games which straight up suck, but they don't get the downloads because nobody cared then and nobody cares now. Just like music, film, plays, books, novels, etc. videogames have retro value because they are inherently entertaining, not because they are the newest technology and the best EFFECTS EVER... Many of today's games that are great graphically will be forgotten quickly after they are released, because they lack the same things that make classics strong. Mario, Pac Man, Duck Hunt and friends will bridge the gap generation after generation because they are as good now as they were then, even if we have better graphics.
There are certain things which defy trendiness because they are good art and good entertainment, and these things will remain when everything else crumbles. People get so concerned with pushing units that they forget these facts in every one of the trades I just mentioned. Some things are eternal, some are rubbish. Those which only have nostalgia value (because it was the only game you had one time as a kid growing up) won't get exceptional attention now just as they didn't then. It's not just being old that makes them popular, it's the fact that they were great.
Mona Lisa's Smile (Score:4, Insightful)
Firstly, it's simplistic, and not filled with greater meaning. Secondly, it's popular/famous, and present in 'popular culture'. If you asked somebody who wasn't into games/art about Gradius/Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch, they'd greet you with a blank stare, but mention EVERYONE knows Pacman/Mona Lisa to one extent or another. Thirdly, it's deeply layered. Despite simplistic gameplay/subject matter, there is a rich possibility under the surface.
Okay, i'm now officially a giant nerd.
Well.... Back in my day...... (Score:3, Insightful)
However, back then, they promoted game play, not eye candy. I don't care how low my ride is or how much it's been tricked out on my "underground" racing game. If I race my NFS car around a track, I can bang it up for a while and come out unscathed. I just make it to the finish line faster by bouncing off the other cars.
However, in Pole Position, you needed more skill. You blew up when you hit another car or road sign. You had to be careful around the turns or you didn't place in position for the next race. Let's see how many young NFS players even qualify in Pole Position.
The other thing about retro gaming is that the older gameplay works well on a handheld platform. You may not always have your DS or PSP with you, but you do have your mobile phone.....
I want a spinner on my next phone. I want to take Tempest with me wherever I go.
Re:Super Size Me (Score:3, Insightful)
Slashdot makes external links heavy on the text by adding the domain name in brackets after the actual link. It's not my fault, that's the way Slashdot works. I hate it myself, and I'm too lazy to go check my account settings to see if there's a way to disable that "feature".
Re:I'll tell you why... (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't forget The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway!
No, but seriously, time is a good filter. Usually the higher end of things tend to be remembered, at least all the crap gets forgotten. As big as Disturbed are, in 20 years, hardly ANYONE will remember who they are. If you really think back to the early 80s in gaming, there was a whole lot of shit out there... I'm a proponant to think that creativity is pretty constant among humans... no matter how corporate we get, or how primative we become, there's usually always about the same amount of truly inspiring things out there, and it may take decades for it to get all sorted out, which is why you are guarenteed at least some semblance of quality if you look back at stuff in the past.