I never understood the thought process amongst gamers who utter the phrase: “I miss the old school age of gaming.” My main gripe being that this somehow implies that the games which we were born and raised on have somehow all been committed to a huge landfill in the middle of a desert (award yourself one nerd point if you got that reference).
These games still exist, and we are free to enjoy them at any given second when the urge befalls us, there’s no doubt in my mind that eBay would be a lesser company were it not for my spontaneous 3am bidding frenzies for Moonwalker on the Megadrive. I have held onto my original collection of PlayStation 1 games and consoles since I first got them 11 years ago, and I adore them no end even to this day. XBLA is a terrific substitute for my retro fix, but if I ever have an urge to pick up and play some Croc or Lemmings, it’s a mere controller swap away.
I do however agree with those nay-sayers who complain about cherished childhood games being tarnished by being subjected to newer, supposedly “improved” gameplay elements and plots. Crash Bandicoot is having a mid-life crisis with tattoos and riding mutants, Spyro appears to have settled down and got married, and (while continuing to hold my favourite gaming franchise of all time trophy) I have seen nary a single giant ant in Command & Conquer since 1999! It’s a travesty I say.
Yet in the next week I will at some point be confronted with a situation while waiting in a queue in Gamestation or in threads across gaming forums worldwide: “I remember *insert a game title which was released before the release of the SEGA Dreamcast*, I wish they would release it onto Xbox Live/PSN/Virtual Console.” Why must we wait? As gamers we demand instant satisfaction! Forget the lack of achievements or desire to finally full pack out that 120GB HDD, invade the attic for that old SNES you know you still have somewhere, and get D-padding!
I admit I’m always one of the first to snap up classics when they are revived and appear on the next gen consoles (I’m looking at you, DOOM & Wolfenstein!), but my classic jewel cases remain proudly displayed amongst my many, many, MANY gaming dedicated shelves – who knows when you’re going to Red Ring!
I am a firm believer in my newly created charity, the RSPRC, and I think many of my Ready Up brethren will agree with and support the cause. The Royal Society for the Protection of Retro Consoles hereby decrees that if you have played games which were made in the 90’s (or prior to them), then they ,and myself have some love for you.
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