The Rise of Retro Gaming

Nicole Stewart Rushworth

A lot is forecast to happen, in the world of gaming, during 2011. In March we see the release of the new Nintendo 3DS, which is a portable console that allows 3D gaming – without the glasses. We also anticipate the release of the next generation of the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Black and White.

I remember the Christmas I got my GameBoy Advance. I thought it was the best thing in the world, my prize possession. I remember the game I got with my Gameboy, Pokémon Crystal. I played the game for about 8 hours straight, engrossed in the pixelated images and scratchy music. The GameBoy Advance came out in 2001, 10 years ago. Before that there was the N64, in 1996, and another 5 years earlier there was the SNES. 2 years prior to the SNES, Nintendo released the GameBoy Colour and a year before that they release the original GameBoy, in 1989. If you were to go into the New York Nintendo store you would see an original GameBoy that survived an American bomb attack. The GameBoy still works today and you can play the original Tetris game on it. Now that’s what I call robust!

I found that in comparison to more recent modals of the Nintendo DS’, the old GameBoy Advance was likely to be more longer lasting, as the Nintendo DS’ top screen has been known to fall off on its own accord – after minimal usage!

I must say that it does seem like companies bring out out a new console every few months. I bought the DSi, a short while back, and months later the DSiXL came out. Anything I seem to have bought in the gaming world is out of date within the first year of it being released and if I want to stick with the trends, I will obviously have to update my systems. So as a by product of the mass production, I am now spending way too much money on consoles that will be classed as retro, and not in a good way, before my next pay check.

Something I have also noticed, when talking to my friends and people I know, is that people are turning their backs on the new high-tech consoles. People are welcoming their old reliable games consoles, with yearning finger tips for the good old days of gaming.

If you look on sites like Amazon you can find old games for the PlayStation, GameBoy, Xbox and even the Sega Mega Drive. These games are being sold for pittance; as they have been round for years, played by many, still work and will most likely work for years to come. So for the hundreds of pounds I would have to spend to keep up with the latest technology, I could spend a small fraction of the money on several older games and consoles. In addition, I reckon that these won’t break down on me when I’m one level away from beating the game!

However, I do fear that the amount of people who honestly love and support retro gaming, won’t be enough to keep the older products in the shops. Therefore, there is a chance we will see them die out and for people, like me and my friends; there won’t be retro gaming supplies to support our more enjoyable, more cost effective gaming.