Newer "retro gamers" and pre-NES titles

[Crazy Climber]

When I say Atari killed the market I don't mean the company, I mean the format. the poor games for it mostly from third parties killed gaming. People can only spend so much on crap before giving up. Games also cost a lot more in the 80s than they do even now so people were doubly upset to get something barely playable home. The only thing that saved them as long as it did was that in the 80s and 90s you could return video games.

There was more to it...

 

The system in general had just run it's course with a large part of it's audience. Not everyone is like us, not everyone eats/breathes/sleeps video games. A big part of the atari 2600 market bought an atari just because it was popular, the neighbors said how great it was, it was the next big thing, etc etc.. It was the first super mainstream home console and really was the big "gadget" of the era. Those people probably bought 5 or 10 games and the system had run it's course and they had no interest in it anymore.

 

You can see the same thing happened with the Wii. It was the next big thing and I bet a lot of people you know that are not really "gamers" bought one. I know my parents and Uncle both bought one and the last system either of them owned was.....you guessed it, the Atari 2600!!

Lets see how many people that bought a Wii end up buying a Wii U...probably the same amount of 2600 owners that bought a 5200, lol. Like I said, the video games thing has run it's course for many Wii owners, just like the 2600 did in it's era....which caused a huge crash in sales, and contributed greatly to the overall fall of videogames in the mid 80's...

 

Shovelwear does have an impact too but is not the sole reason. Shovelware effects the "gamer" type but just lack of interest because it's no longer the next big thing effects the casual audience, which was a HUGE audience back then too

Edited October 31, 2013 by Crazy Climber

[Cynicaster]

You can see the same thing happened with the Wii. It was the next big thing and I bet a lot of people you know that are not really "gamers" bought one.

Yes, no doubt. Over the course of the current generation I've heard a lot of talk about the Wii sales figures and how out of sight they were, but I've always wondered, what would the sales numbers look like if you didn't count all of the sales where somebody bought it because it looked neat, used it for 2 weeks, then stuffed it in a closet.

[Rhomaios]

Yes, no doubt. Over the course of the current generation I've heard a lot of talk about the Wii sales figures and how out of sight they were, but I've always wondered, what would the sales numbers look like if you didn't count all of the sales where somebody bought it because it looked neat, used it for 2 weeks, then stuffed it in a closet.

 

To be fair, I know plenty of people who bought 360s and PS3s and did the exact same thing, or bought it for 1 game. I know a guy who only plays MLB, and only bought a PS3 just because the PS2 wasn't getting the games anymore. Some of us are even collectors who buy a console and then let it gather dust for a while, preferring our favorite consoles instead. I think I've fired up the GameCube once or twice in several months. Sadly, the PS2 has also been majorly neglected for 8–32 bit.

[Crazy Climber]

 

To be fair, I know plenty of people who bought 360s and PS3s and did the exact same thing, or bought it for 1 game. I know a guy who only plays MLB, and only bought a PS3 just because the PS2 wasn't getting the games anymore. Some of us are even collectors who buy a console and then let it gather dust for a while, preferring our favorite consoles instead. I think I've fired up the GameCube once or twice in several months. Sadly, the PS2 has also been majorly neglected for 8–32 bit.

Yeah, I get what you are saying but still a different crowd. Guys like your friend are probably still active "gamers" even if they only play MLB or Madden/etc.. The Wii tapped into that market of people that NEVER play video games, hell grandma's were buying Wii's, lol. The same was true for the early video game market, everybody had an atari, it was just the next big thing and you had to have one I will bet money the majority of grandmas and grandpas/etc will not be buying a Wii U but your friend will probably continue playing MLB for generations to come

Edited October 31, 2013 by Crazy Climber

[AtariLeaf]

I can understand that pov as I've considered getting a ps3 just for certain racing games like mod nation racing or the latest need for speed hot pursuit. I'm sure there are other games I'd like but its the racing games that interest me enough to buy a (still currently) modern console.

[Tangentg]

The Atari 2600 and NES have been the two defining retro games and video game consoles for me ever since I really started video gaming around 10 years ago. I was on the internet and the games I stumbled across happened to be all retro remakes, which shortly brought me to online emulation for Atari 2600 and NES games. I might be one of the few people to grow up playing 2600 and NES games (though it's through emulation) after the early 90s. Most of my peers don't know about the Atari 2600 even.

[Andromeda Stardust]

The Atari 2600 and NES have been the two defining retro games and video game consoles for me ever since I really started video gaming around 10 years ago. I was on the internet and the games I stumbled across happened to be all retro remakes, which shortly brought me to online emulation for Atari 2600 and NES games. I might be one of the few people to grow up playing 2600 and NES games (though it's through emulation) after the early 90s. Most of my peers don't know about the Atari 2600 even.

It's quite simple. Atari VCS/2600 launched the video game revolution. NES saved and perfected it. Then in the 90s you had the great 16-bit Sega / Nintendo wars and the rest is history...

[Tangentg]

Yes I know about it. In fact it's the 80s consoles (excluding the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive) that I got myself acquainted with first. I didn't know about any consoles starting from the 90s until recently, except for the Wii, cause my parents never let me have any consoles.

Edited September 7, 2016 by Tangentg

[zetastrike]

First I want to ask: Does anyone else think that Mario Bros (arcade game) is waaaaay better than Super Mario Bros? I never gave the original much thought, but I tried it a handful of years ago and loved it. The unpredictability, quickness, and strategy of the gameplay give it a longevity that its sequel just doesn't have to me. Every time I've tried SMB in the past 5 years or so, it doesn't hold my attention at all. Been there, done that, yawn.

 

I'm only 25 years old and feel the opposite of most people in my age group. I greatly prefer the type of games that were on pre-NES consoles and computers. Sometime in the past 10 years, the arcade score chasing concept just clicked with me and those "put down and continue later" platformers just lost interest.

 

I have one real world example: It's frustrating when I show my friends games like Donkey Kong Jr and they say things like "It's just four levels, you can beat it in 2 minutes!" They don't take the time to notice how fun each of those four levels are, the different challenges they bring to the table, the different methods you can use to maximize your score in each one, the different paths through them, the progression in difficulty in each wave. They'd rather play a game with 64 boiler-plate/copy-paste levels than a game with 4 great/different ones. It's the same thing with Mario Bros. All they can see is one stage, no scrolling, no power ups, no (in stage) music and think "boring".

[Andromeda Stardust]

First I want to ask: Does anyone else think that Mario Bros (arcade game) is waaaaay better than Super Mario Bros? I never gave the original much thought, but I tried it a handful of years ago and loved it. The unpredictability, quickness, and strategy of the gameplay give it a longevity that its sequel just doesn't have to me. Every time I've tried SMB in the past 5 years or so, it doesn't hold my attention at all. Been there, done that, yawn.

 

I'm only 25 years old and feel the opposite of most people in my age group. I greatly prefer the type of games that were on pre-NES consoles and computers. Sometime in the past 10 years, the arcade score chasing concept just clicked with me and those "put down and continue later" platformers just lost interest.

 

I have one real world example: It's frustrating when I show my friends games like Donkey Kong Jr and they say things like "It's just four levels, you can beat it in 2 minutes!" They don't take the time to notice how fun each of those four levels are, the different challenges they bring to the table, the different methods you can use to maximize your score in each one, the different paths through them, the progression in difficulty in each wave. They'd rather play a game with 64 boiler-plate/copy-paste levels than a game with 4 great/different ones. It's the same thing with Mario Bros. All they can see is one stage, no scrolling, no power ups, no (in stage) music and think "boring".

Late PAL exclusive Classic Serie Edition controls loads better than the original and has missing arcade animations.

 

I never really liked the sloppy controls in Ice Climber and MArio Bros and the "Classic Serie" version of Mario Bros makes it perfect! It's like playing my DK:Complete Edition (Pie Foundry) repro. I cannot go back to classic DK again...

[Rick Dangerous]

Yeah dude I retro game! I've got a gamecube so i'm a total Nintendo Retro Fanboi! 8 Bit? Yeah i've seen that on T shirts...so retro!

[leods]

I do think the pre NES and early NES titles did have that gamey arcade elegant design that slowly got lost over the years. These games were games first, video games second. They had a clear set of rules, and focused on game balance and trategy. I am not sure I'd play mario brothers more than super mario brothers, but I do think it has the better game design.

 

Obviously the same applys to games like centipede, Asteroids, Warlords, defender etc.. To be honest even as the Atari 2600 was the main system we saw many games tray away from that and try to deliver something that looked cool over actually having good game design.

 

It's quite sad people aren't invited to at least experience the old arcade games to understand the basics of gaming. It is very clear to me even many game developers never got to experience and understand the greats of old before they start developing their own new growndbreaking open world cinematic story driven action adventure shooter RPG with perks and stealth elements. How about make a decent basic game to get a grip on strategy and game balance before you try to revolutionize the industry with your new Call of Assassin's Skyrim? Oh, sorry. NEVER forget the crafting and micro management. You gotta have that. And trophies. You can't call it a game if it doesn't even have those.