Reply With QuoteThis program is so goddamned awesome.Originally Posted by James
I've been playing a lot of old PC stuff recently. It feels like new games aren't as ambitious conceptually but maybe I'm just a nostalgic hipster asshole.
Electric bug
I just played the first level of Descent II last night using DXX Rebirth. There are arcade games from the 80s I will always pop a quarter or two into, and don't even get me started on the fun of playing really old pinball. But retro for the sake of retro? Ick.
James
Please look forward to it!
This program is so goddamned awesome.
I've been playing a lot of old PC stuff recently. It feels like new games aren't as ambitious conceptually but maybe I'm just a nostalgic hipster asshole.
At this point in the game I'm not really sure if I have nostalgia from the way you guys use the word. You use it like it means "something I remember fondly, but will hate now if I actually see it again"
For the most part, I still love all the same stuff I loved then. I still enjoy playing the gen sonic and lunar games. I still like the Transformers animated movie. I still like transforming my old macross/transformers Jetfire.
Other stuff hasn't changed much. I remember thinking transformers being a better cartoon than voltron or thundercats but the toys to all of them being pretty good. I still think that is true. I remember the Real ghostbusters being a better show than the filmation ghostbusters, and that is still true.
I would even say Dark Souls changes (or reinforces) one's perception on gaming.
Really, what makes "retro" good are those old games that, even after decades, still play well. I figure, better that those kind of games are as available as possible, than some crazy personal trial to obtain on the source hardware as the only possibility. Plus, those original carts/systems exist, so people can preserve and be pure or whatever if they want.
Alright, I read the article.
Its pretty clear what the dude's problem is. He has nostalgia for how back in the day he used to hunt game stores for special games.
It is in the second from last paragraph:
He's chasing the "I have something special and unique" high.Pouring over tiny, stamp-sized screenshots in the latest issue of my favorite monthly magazine; saving up pocket money for weeks on end to fund a purchase; trawling the shelves of my local indie store in search of that undiscovered import gem. These are all things that I treasure as a gamer and will do until the day I shuffle off this mortal coil, yet the opportunity - and need - for modern players to experience these elements of our hobby are gradually dying out.
It also sounds like he is a bit of a completionist, and that is the worst fucking thing you can be as a collector. Ebay and the internet have kind of ruined being a completionist. There is an endless supply now. You'll end up penniless and have a house full of shit you don't even want to play.
IMO, to really enjoy collecting, you should only collect pieces that you enjoy. Don't spend your time, money and give space to things you don't enjoy. If you get something and stop enjoying it, cut it loose so someone else can.
But that is easy for me to say, I have never been a completionist. I've always been a hunter, deal finder and/or archeologist collector. I enjoy looking for unique things or bargains. And that probably goes back to me going to flee markets with my dad. There was something super awesome about finding a toy or game at a flea market that was really cool that you'd never seen before AND know you'd be able to buy it with your kid money because it was only a buck or two.
I still do that with records, books, and games. I don't know what that mother fucker in the article feels bad about, other than being addicted to wasting money, because I still enjoy "my" process. Finding a record I've never heard before for 50 cents and coming home and listening to it for the first time is just as fun for me as when I was 4 and I was finding constructicons for 50 cents in a junk box at the flea market.
Last edited by Fe 26; 12 Sep 2012 at 11:24 PM.
I think this is perfectly ok so long as you make sure your shit goes to someone who wants it.
People who collect for investment (read: assholes and fags) cry about reissues (which is really what legal digital games are) but fuck'em.
If you really love a hobby, you should be happy when other collectors get to enjoy something fun. Legal (and illegal) game downloads do that. If a bunch of people dump their hardware, well, the price drops and now that shit is freed up for someone else to enjoy.
Electric bug
The Age of the Internet means "special and unique" doesn't happen on a personal basis. Tokyo Jungle? It's getting coverage. Akai Katana? It got coverage. Asura's Wrath, Binding of Isaac, and don't even get me started on Terraria and Minecraft, all would have been lost on store shelves and covered in Gamefan secretions back in 1995, but are easy to learn about today. The guessing game is dead, you don't have to hope that bizarre obscurity is as good as you want it to be because there's a dozen articles minimum giving full details. Honestly, it's better this way.
James
Electronic cigarette.
Ridiculously so.
Throat punch: the musical
There's been a modest shift toward the portable market, plenty of decent DS and PSP games have gone under the radar and the gulf in the import market has widened as Japanese developers hunker down.
the portable market wouldn't go unnoticed if they would release more stuff like the GBA player or some kind of emu built into xboxlive or pxn.
I really can't be bothered with handhelds. I didn't get an HD tv so I could play shit on a screen as big as the palm of my hand.
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