Retro backlash from fickle gamers
When a new media device comes out like a Blu-ray player or even when CD players came out back in the day, people were excited about the addition of better looking movies and cleaner sounding music to their libraries. Along with the newer movies and music, people are also excited about getting some of their old favorites remastered for the new format, which is guaranteed to follow a new device. For just about any new media device, companies are sure to start releasing all your old favorites in the new format. But in gaming for some reason this is widely considered an insult, and I’m not completely sure why.
If the record companies never released another Bob Marley album on new formats I would go crazy, so why should games be any different? Why don’t we want to be able to play our old favorites in HD? Don’t we want our games to kick our face’s ass with 5.1 sound? Why don’t we as gamers want our classics to stay alive forever? Why is the addition of classic games to any new system considered milking a product where in the movie and music industry it’s accepted as common place that once you get a new device all your old favorites will be remade to look and sound better?
With the new generation of consoles we are seeing a flood of retro games being released across all three major platforms. The Xbox 360 has Live Arcade, the Wii has the virtual console and Sony has the PSN. Each has its pros and cons, but all offer a nice variety of games to choose from. 
Bottom line is that there is no shortage of games coming out, and they’re ranging from old classics to re-envisioned favorites and even completely new offerings of classic style games. Yet the online communities and gamers in general are up in arms and constantly complain that companies are doing this for nothing more than profit and milking a once great game.
Along with retro arcade games being offered on all three platforms, Xbox Live Arcade is now offering first generation Xbox games for $14.99, and of course this is pissing gamers off too. I think this is a great way to offer a new set of gamers a chance to play these classic games and only benefits us as gamers in the long run. If these games just died with their system and never came back in any form I would be upset and so should most gamers.
Being a gamer since nearly the beginning, there are numerous games that helped shape my view and my fascination with video gaming today. Some of them weren’t so great, but a great number of them I have fond memories of and love to go back and revisit every so often. If I had to rely on digging through my closet to find that old system, plug it in and hope it still worked, I’d be pissed. The ability to go back on a new device and replay the games you remember is a luxury that everyone should have.
These are great games and still hold a lot of enjoyment in them. The original Super Mario Bros. still holds up to the fun factor to this day and is enjoyed by a whole new generation of gamers. Not all are going to be gems, but you should at least have the option to go back and repurchase a game to play for fun if not just for nostalgic purposes.
Now, I am fully aware that game developers will throw a collection of games out on a new system just to capitalize off of the success of a franchise. Look at almost any compilation disc, these are typically thrown together with no thought other than making money off of the name. But then there are great examples where companies have gone to the effort of remaking and rethinking a game for a new audience as well as the old audience in mind.
Pac-Man C.E. is a perfect example of this. Pac-Man was a series that I could not stand when I was a kid. I never could stand it and avoided it in the arcades like the plague. But Pac-Man C.E., on the other hand, was completely overhauled and is the first PacMan game that I have ever purchased. Namco completely went through the game adding new levels, new gameplay and a full demo of the game. And it plays in 1080p HD. This is an example of doing a retro game right, they went to the trouble to fix any old problems and addressed new stuff for a whole new generation of gamers and nailed it.
Pac-Man is not a single case of striking gold either. The Xbox Live Marketplace, Wii Virtual Console and PSN all offer a wide variety of games ranging from terrible to awesome, and the best part is it’s just more options for you as a gamer. If you don’t like a game don’t get mad, just don’t buy it. The power of your dollar will speak louder than the collective whining of pissy gamers. And in the days of the Internet, there is really no reason to get burned or even feel burned on these purchases either. There are literally hundreds of gaming enthusiast sites dedicated to covering all of these games. Any one of these sites offer in-depth coverage, reviews and sometimes demos to try before you spend your hard earned cash. If gamers don’t take the time to find out if a particular game is good then they are to blame, not the developer.
I guess I’m just surprised that gamers are up in arms that they have more options and the ability to play all their old favorites that would have otherwise been forgotten in the wasteland closets of collectors.
P.S. Where is Super Dodge Ball, Killer Instinct, Killer Iinstinct Gold or Blast Corps on one of these services?
More Gaming Clarity goodness:
Want to discuss this? Then leave a comment. Also subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered right to your door. If you'd like to add a custom avatar to your comments, please visit Gravatar.com and register for a free account.
Comments
If it dulls the memory then it just wasn’t as good as you remembered it. But the important thing is that you had a chance to replay if you wanted too.
And you didn’t have to pay for Battlezone on XBLA, you tried the demo and said “F that” just the rest of us. Not holding up to the standards that we remember is a completely different topic really. Having the chance to replay any of these classics is my main point.
Vincent Lynch “If it dulls the memory then it just wasn’t as good as you remembered it.”
But as a child youre more impressionable, which is why you arent as impressed with the game now as you where when you were a child.
But im not disagreeing with you, i think they should offer the chance to replay these games, and in some cases play them for the first time, especially since most gamers my age (and younger) know jack s*** about classic games. I am just saying it might have some negatives to it
Deadite I Bought Atari Classics Evolved for the PSP for this exact reason. It may not of gotten many good reviews but it’s Great, it has 10 atari arcade classics, “evolved” versions with new graphics and tweaked gameplay AND it has 26 Atari CONSOLE games, Personally it’s my most played psp game.
Even though this has been pointed out as many times as people have asked for their old games remade but not every game stands up and in certain games cases, like battlezone which was released on XBLA last week, are a disappointment when played today. I had great memorizes of playing that game as a kid, and now that ive played it today it dulls those memories