Since the console revolution of the 80’s, gaming has been fairly mainstream. You’d be hard pressed any more to find a household that doesn’t have some kind of game console (or PC with some games on it). I was thinking about that when it hit me: there are kids out there who’s first system was the N64 or Playstation or even the GameCube or XBox.
I can almost hear you saying, “Duh.”
Okay, so it wasn’t that big of a revelation, but it is important to note that a large number of these gamers haven’t played some of the ‘classic’ games and likely never will.
“So what?” I hear you say.
Okay, so it’s a minor ‘So what,’ but let’s say someone between the ages of 8 and 16 picks up a copy of Super Smash Brothers: Melee, a game that is rife with classic game references. Unless he, for some reason, seeks out the older games that the characters appear in, he’s not going to know where Ness comes from, or that the song from Hyrule Castle is from Zelda II (and remixed very nicely), or what a Birdo is, or… well, you get the idea.
Will this make the game any less enjoyable for him? Absolutely not. You don’t need to know the full character history of every character in the game to get enjoyment out of it, but having that knowledge greatly enhances the experience. All of those connections to the past make the game that much more ‘complete.’
Maybe I’m looking through the Fog of Nostalgia(TM) at this issue. Maybe I think that since I had so much fun playing those games that everyone else should play them too. I’d say that’s at least partially true, but I also firmly believe that several of the games I played growing up were just simply good games. Sadly, they often get dismissed because of their ‘graphics’ or because they’re ‘old’ or for any other number of reasons.
The ‘classic’ games are, however, making a return on the Game Boy Advance, which is certainly a good thing. I just hope they’re successful enough that game companies will keep on releasing them. My NES won’t last forever, I’m afraid.
That’s it. I’m heading off to play some Castlevania.