Finding 'console'ation in retro gaming
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BY MICAH MERTES / Lincoln Journal Star
As if his Pac-Man hoodie jacket doesn’t make it obvious, Dustin Ferguson loves video games.
But, man, does he hate those Halo games.
Sure, Halo might be the most popular franchise in the modern gaming era, but Ferguson just doesn’t get it.
- Sixty percent of console video gamers are 18 or older.
- Adult gamers have been playing an average of 12 years. Among most frequent gamers, adult males average 10 years of game playing; females average eight years.
- Fifty-three percent of game players expect to be playing as much or more 10 years from now than they do today.
- Thirty-eight percent of game players are women.
Source: A report by the video game site Entertainment Software Association.
Our meaning of 'retro'
Ask video gamers what's retro, and you'll get a whole chorus of definitions. For our purposes, we broadly define retro as anything before the Playstation, which launched in America in 1995. Retro means 2D graphics, stationary or side-scrolling gameplay. This encompasses everything from Pong to Sonic the Hedgehog.
Coming Thursday
Retro gaming might be cool and have its benefits, but there's no denying the power of the Wii. On Thursday, The (402) will take a look at some of the ways Wiis are benefiting us beyond the game room.
The Arcade Fade
The heyday of the American arcade has quite obviously passed.
The advent of home video game systems means those vintage arcade machines from the late '70s and early '80s are increasingly hard to find.
Twenty years ago, you could find Pac-Man and Donkey Kong and Asteroids everywhere, but now you'll be hard-pressed to find any of the original systems, especially in these parts. On the coasts, a handful of retro arcade venues cater to that niche. But in Lincoln, you're lucky to find a Ms. Pac-Man in a laundromat.
Doug Hamer's been in the arcade business a long time. He's the owner of Cardinal Amusements, a company that deals in coin-operated machines throughout Nebraska. He said there are a few reasons for this:
One, a lot of the old games don't exist anymore. It was a trend in the '80s to convert older systems to different, newer games. Ergo, a bunch of Pac-Mans were transformed into games that nobody remembers.
The second reason is collectors. Most of the old arcade machines still in service are in collectors' basements and garages, he said.
Bottom line, said Jim Lakey, vice president of Valley Vending Service: The systems just weren't pulling in enough quarters.
"It's like anything else," he said. "They just weren't earning enough to pay for themselves.
"Basically, the novelty wore off."
Where can you find the old games?
Hey, Lincoln gamers: We're wondering where to play the good, old arcade games in town. Where are Lincoln's Donkey Kongs and Pac-Mans? If you know, e-mail Micah Mertes at mmertes@journalstar.com.
“I try to play Halo and I get my ass kicked every time,” said the 25-year-old Lincolnite. “Why would I want to do that when I can go play Pac-Man and kick everyone else’s ass?”
To be more specific, Ferguson loves old video games. The retro stuff with the primitive 8-bit graphics and the kitschy sound effects. From the golden age of gaming, when little mustachioed Italian men threw fireballs and rescued princesses from giant monkeys.
And Ferguson believes that retro gaming is making a comeback. Like black and white movies or classic cars or David Bowie, games like Super Mario Brothers have a timeless feel to them, he said, a quality that endures beyond fickle trends or cutting-edge technology.
Zelda is the new “Casablanca.”
And whether you’re trying to save some cash or recapture the joys of your childhood, there are a whole lotta reasons to go retro.
“Retro video games are always going to be popular,” said Matt Anderson, president of University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Electronic Gaming Club. “I know a lot of guys today who still play them religiously.”
Anderson said his club has such zeal for the bygone era that it’s kicked around the idea of starting a retro video-game tournament, boasting titles like Super Mario Brothers and GoldenEye.
Almost all of the club members, he said, own at least one retro system, in addition to the new ones. Anderson owns a Nintendo and a Super Nintendo.
And if you’re trying to save a buck or 400, the old stuff is the definitely way to go.
According to a report by the Entertainment Software Association, 69 percent of Americans play video games. But not all of that 69 percent can afford the latest and greatest thing. Especially right now.
A Nintendo Wii, if you can find one, will run you at least $300. Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s range from $350 to $600. Then take into consideration the $60 games and the Guitar Hero controller and the memory card and the ...
Yeah, it’s an expensive time for the modern video gamer. There’s a reason the video game industry made $18 billion last year.
But for a classic gamer, the entertainment’s relatively cheap.
At The Game Room, 1717 O St., an original Atari, Nintendo or Super Nintendo costs $40 each. A Sega Genesis is only $25. And the games for each console are only a few bucks a piece.
Game Room owner Chris Thompson, 24, opened his store this past summer and was shocked by the passion of old-school gamers in Lincoln, many of whom were college students looking to save a little money.
“We had so many people coming in who were so excited that we had the old stuff,” he said. “People would bring in their newer systems and trade them in for the older consoles. Some people just want a game you can pick up and put down and not have to play for 40 hours. There’s something to be said for that.
“I think retro video gaming is not only picking up; I think it’s becoming the popular movement in gaming.”
Thompson said that while today’s games have beautiful graphics and innovative design, they play out more like story books or Ken Burns’ miniseries than “games.”
But some of the most popular contemporary video games harken back to the classic era. The Guitar Hero games, for instance, take a simple, repetitive, hand-eye-coordination approach, similar to the most beloved retro games.
“There were limitations and technological deficiencies to those old games,” Thompson said, “that we’ve now come to view as strengths.”
But perhaps the strongest reason for going retro is the pure nostalgia of it. It’s gamers’ tenacious attempt to hold onto their youth.
Thompson pointed out that his best-selling vintage systems are the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 consoles that were popular 10 to 15 years ago. For many gamers in their 20s and and early 30s, those systems were an obsession of adolescence and teen-dom. And now, frugal college students are buying the systems to rekindle the rapidly fading flame of youth.
“People want to play games that make them happy, that bring back good memories,” Thompson said. “We even talked about making that our store motto: ‘Buying back your childhood.’”
Gustavo Carlo, a UNL professor of developmental psychology, said going back to the warm and fuzzy places of the wonder years is nothing new. But each generation’s source of nostalgia is different.
“Video games and movies and old TV shows,” he said, “things that people have positive associations with, are always going to be resources that people will tap into. They might be longing for something that helps them to feel good.”
Before the advent of video games, adults would collect the coins or stamps or train sets of their childhoods, Carlo said.
“Now, I just wonder what the next generation will come back to,” he said.
Probably Halo.
Reach Micah Mertes at 473-7395 or mmertes@journalstar.com.
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My original Nintento is now sitting on the dowstairs coffe table hooked into our Sony big-screen so my 6 and 3 year olds can play and learn how to use it. It;s hard for them to pick it up, but I was 11 when I got it. I found out that our local small town gaming store has original consoles and games for sale. I was "stoked: when I found that out. You can count me in on the retro game revolution!
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