Thoughts on Retro Gaming Part 1

The data is out there. Jump online and "Google" this: "Retro gaming becoming popular".

You will find many articles and opinion pieces that explain how the consoles of yesteryear are now making a comeback, and have been for quite some time. Whether it is here to stay or a passing fad is debatable. But it is certainly happening now and certainly will be for some time.

I remember in the mid-1980s, just after the so-called "Atari debacle". The 2600 was showing up at yard sales and flea markets and it was not uncommon to be able to get one with 20 or so games for about $10. The system was a dead system, you see, and the video game fad was over. People just wanted to get that "junk" out of their home.

Then Nintendo came along and revived the industry. Sony expanded it. Years went by.

Then something happened: The kids who had grown up on these machines, who had graduated to more advanced machines and more advanced gaming started to yearn for their more "innocent" childhood games. Many found themselves wondering why they ever got rid of those machines. "Retro gaming" was born. But it was quite small and in all actuality, wasn't yet a movement. More years passed.

Then something happened again: The first 32-bit era game systems themselves became machines of yesteryear. The first couple of generations of machines aged 25 years or more making them real antiques. Like any other item from someones past, they became collectibles. The retro-gaming movement was and is driven by the engine that drives any retro or collectible movement: Nostalgia.

Nostalgia is powerful. Most everyone is in love with their younger years. It's what makes classic rock and '80s radio so popular. It can warp people into a mid-life crisis and make them do things like buy a '70s muscle car. And it can make gamers who have been there for years, in front of new console after new console want to revisit those old games.

Pac-Man. Galaga. Asteroids. Metal Gear. Street Fighter. Mortal Kombat. Virtua Racing. Sonic the Hedgehog. Super Mario Brothers. Tekken. Crash Bandicoot. Bigger titles.

Airlock. Discs of Tron. K.C. Munchkin!! Cosmic Chasm. Fighting Golf. Toejam and Earl. Ultra Vortek. Club Drive. Philosoma. Novastorm. Nightmare Creatures. Speed Devils. Perhaps lesser know titles. Any gamer has those games from their younger years that they want to bring back home and have again, if they are still gamers. Many choose to download retro games on one of the console services or emulate on their PC, but nothing is the same as having the ol' plastic box with those cartridges, or even Cd's, to deliver the full effect.

I have a friend who told me , "These machines all look like a bunch of old junk to me!"

But certainly most any collectible can be seen as "old junk".

And judging by the performance, these machines can only rate as old junk.

But this retro side of the video game industry coin isn't about specs or performance. Beyond the nostalgia lies a deeper fascination.

There was thought, planning, a marketing scheme, and an overall design to each and all of these machines. Each had a Research and Development team (except, perhaps the very first machines, like the Odyssey and Pong), each had serious backing, and each had it's own personality.

There was a man in a suit sweating. There were teams designing games, making deals with third parties, locking down those exclusives. There were other teams writing commercials, coming up with the slogans. "Have you played Atari today?" , "Now you're playing with Power!" , "U R not ready " , "Do the Math!" , "Play it Loud!" , "Get N or Get Out!"...

But this is the hardcore collector who makes the jump from nostalgia to a larger fascination. Because of nostalgia that old junk becomes a priceless possession that the owner promises will never leave his world again.

I don't believe that retro-gaming is a passing fad for one second, and it never will be as long as there is a video game industry, and nostalgia.