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I have a funny feeling that writing this rambling is going to make me feel really old.
They just don't make games like they used to.
Now, it doesn't take a genius to realize that this is true for many reasons. Technology for video games has advanced like crazy, and with it, the style of the games have changed. Most people would probably say that this is a good thing, and for the most part, I'd probably agree.
But if the "incredible" new games that keep coming out are so great, why do I spend a large portion of the time I spend on my computer downloading and playing old Nintendo games? My senior year of college, I got an Atari 2600 emulator on my computer and starting playing around with it. People actually came up to my room just to watch Pitfall or play Combat. I actually had a few multi-hour Combat tournaments...in the year 2000! Now, I'm playing Super Mario Brothers and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out (both circa 1984 or so) on my Nintendo emulator. I have NBA Live '99 on CD-ROM, but I haven't played it in months. I've been too busy playing Double Dribble, the classic Nintendo game. I could get most any puzzle game imaginable on my computer, or even play a lot of them online, but Tetris Attack for the Super-Nintendo (which I also have an emulator for) is still the best. Sure, all the newer games have much better graphics and are more realistic, but to me, that doesn't always translate into more fun.
Am I just weird?
Well, yes, of course, but that's not the point. The point is that there is something to be said for a game you can just pick up and play. When I get a new Playstation game, I have to spend an hour reading through the controls so I can figure out what to do. The controller has 10 buttons, after all. The Atari controller had 1. Nintendo had 4 (if you count the select and start buttons). You tell me which is easier to figure out.
Yes, the newer games, with their fully digitized pictures, 3D graphics, and digital audio are great, but I guess I'm just not a huge fan of games that take a long time to master. A few days ago, I played Mike Tyson's Punch-Out for the first time in years (probably not quite as long as you'd expect, because I played it a few times in college). Anyhow, I made it through the first 9 or 10 guys without getting beat. I still remember the code to go straight to Mike Tyson...007 373 5963. How in the WORLD do I remember that? I still remember where most of the hidden levels and free lives are in Super Mario Brothers.
Maybe I'm just getting old, and I enjoy the familiar, but it's nice to take a trip down memory lane and play some old games. They sure are more fun than these new ones...