Thursday, May 7, 2009
The living room of my apartment is littered with older systems: A Super Nintendo, an N64 and a Playstation (as well as an Xbox 360 and Wii) rest beside the TV. This, I reason, is a testament to my sense of video game history. I grew up with a Super Nintendo, so I know how far games have come. The capabilities of the Xbox 360 and PS3 systems are amazing, but sometimes you have to appreciate where everything came from. That’s why I still go back to play those older systems time and time again.
The set-up in my living room is nothing compared with that of Overland Park senior Joe Noh. Noh has almost every Nintendo system ever made. (He even has a Famicom, the Japanese Nintendo, for crying out loud.) Noh doesn’t just keep these systems as collector’s items, though. “I’m not like a museum collector. I don’t want to put them on display. I want to play them; that’s why I own them,” Noh says.
Controllers from way back when include 1985's Nintendo Entertainment System (left), 1991's Super Nintendo (bottom), 1989's Sega Genesis (right) and 1996's Nintendo 64 (top).
Video games are quickly accumulating a celebrated history.The popularity took off with original arcade games in the 1970s. Pac-Man was the original video game icon to be popular in his own right, which furthered the popularity of games. The Magnavox Odyssey brought video games into peoples’ homes in 1972 and in 1977 the Atari 2600 system made home video games popular and laid the groundwork for the Nintendo and Sega Systems to come. Even those arcade games are still relevant. The film The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a testament to that. It outlined the battle between two men to get the high score in one of those old arcade games, Donkey Kong.
People still own those arcade systems, too, and Adam Bowman, Concord, California, graduate student, is one of them. He says he and his wife have a mutual love of older games, so he broke down and got her an arcade game with multiple games on it such as Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga.
Classic video game systems each have their own kind of controllers, which can become a mess for a video game nut.
Video games continue to steadily progress. That old Donkey Kong video game gave birth to one of Nintendo’s most famous video game characters, Mario. There are a lot of older games to choose from, so variety is not a problem. Noh says there are games he may have missed on his initial time spent with a system and he goes back to play older games because of the limitless possibilities. “If you look at the back libraries of games, you’ll find that there’s a treasure trove of games,” Noh says.
Casey Baker, Andover senior, sticks to her bread and butter, though: the original Super Mario Bros. game. Baker says it gives her a sense of past experiences playing games. “It’s fun to remember how I played it when I was little,” Baker says.
Yes, nostalgia is a driving force of the popularity of older games. Gene Nutt, owner of Game Nut, 844 Massachusetts Street, attributes nostalgia as a factor in sales but also sees the popularity of older games continuing to grow. What makes people keep coming back to the older games, though? Well, for all the progress in current video games, there are some characteristics these games lack compared with the older games.
This era of new games immerses players in realistic environments, but it can’t make up for some characteristics that older games still have (and gamers still crave). “The plotlines, the stories, and the game itself aren’t as quality as the older games,” says Sean Pesnell, owner of Game Guy, 7 East Seventh Street. Games used to be simpler, but now it seems as if newer games push the “too much of a good thing tendency.” They have to fit one storyline into three games. So, complexity in games may have hurt as much as it helped.
Noh notices that effect since games transitioned from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. “I think there was a loss of innocence between that transition,” he says.
The simplicity is what was lost. The controllers on the older Nintendo systems, the Atari and the Sega Genesis, had just a few buttons to press, which made the learning curve a lot easier on players. Bowman compares that simplicity to that of brain teasers. “It serves a similar function to Sudoku. It’s puzzles, it’s strategy, it’s working your mind, but it’s not a ton of buttons and it’s not over-complex,” he says.
The new technology hasn’t completely forgotten about older games though. The Wii includes an online shopping channel where owners can purchase older video games that range from the era of the NES to the N64. The Internet has become a haven for the older games as well. There are multiple sites where you can play those original NES games, as well as some of the arcade classics such as Pac-Man and Pole Position. For systems such as Super Nintendo, there are sites where you can download emulator software, which acts as the actual system and is saved on your hard drive.
Older video games still have an effect on characters and storylines of newer video games as well. Whether it’s a character or a remake of a classic game, older video games tend to influence this cutting-edge era of games. “I think a lot of people like the original games, and that’s why they’re continuing to bring Mario into all the newer systems,” Baker says.
The storylines help the continuity from past to present as well. Pesnell, the owner of Game Guy, says he’s seen people come in to the store to buy the original Metal Gear games so they can understand how the story has progressed up to the point of the most recent game.
Can the older video games keep up their popularity in the current environment? Nutt says he sees a growing interest in the older systems. “They’re actually growing in popularity,” Nutt says. Older games are now getting that classic reputation that old films and books earn after a period of time.
“They’re like any other medium like movies or music. Just because something’s older doesn’t mean it’s irrelevant,” Noh says. Indeed, older video games have settled in to their role and gotten a steady stream of attention.
That Super Nintendo I mentioned actually belongs to my roommate. I will have to carry my regret for selling mine. It was my initiation into the world of video gaming, a part of my history, and I let it go. Things from our past always hold that sense of nostalgia, whether it’s a book we read as a kid or a toy we played with. What’s great about the video games is they don’t lose any of their effect as they get older. “The games are still fun today too,” says Bowman.
Video games have become such a part of pop culture that it is a testament to the mass appeal they’ve gained during the past 25 years. The focus of games now is to push the envelope in terms of reality, and it creates some great entertainment, but don’t forget how it all began. Some of those images from old games tend to stand out as an art form. People grow to respect them more as the years pass. Now, there’s a certain familiarity of guiding Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom, looking for fire flowers. Chances are, whether you know video games or not, this will stand out more to you than a scene from a modern game. That shows that older video games aren’t going anywhere. They’re here to stay. JP
Getting Started
Where do you start with older games though? There are so many past generations of video games out there it leaves you with a lot of options. If you’ve never played a video game in your life, I suggest you play some games from the NES era or older. Why? In short, they’re easy to find on the Internet, so you don’t have to go through the hassle of actually getting the system. Here are some of my recommendations, and all of which can be found on www.nintendo8.com.
Super Mario Bros. — The first installment of the Mario franchise appeared on the NES and it’s right there so you can experience it on the Internet. It’s really easy to dive right into the game because the controls are so simple and you can play through it really quick. Plus, there are a lot of hidden tricks to the game.
Mega Man 5 — Looking for more of a challenge? Then don’t pass up Mega Man. It can give you fits. As simple as the original NES games could be, Capcom tried to build as many puzzles into this action game as possible. The storyline was very futuristic for the time, pitting the cyborg hero Mega Man against an army of robots. That was part of the appeal though, as was getting the robotsí weapons after you defeated them.
Joe & Mac — A personal favorite of mine, Joe & Mac is very user-friendly for new players. Everything about the game is simple. As an added bonus, the game is set in prehistoric times, so you get to beat up dinosaurs. Trust me, this game is pure, simple fun.
Xevious — I have to include one of the original arcade games that started the video game craze. Xevious is a classic shooter, for those who like to blow stuff up. You have to guide your ship through waves of enemies to win, and it takes the top-down view, making it a real classic.
Ninja Gaiden — I include Ninja Gaiden so people can see its roots. If you do, and even if you don’t, know how this series has progressed to the modern game it is, you should try out the original games. There’s definitely less brutality and the game is fast-paced with ninja action. Becoming a ninja master can be quite addictive.
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