With Xbox Live, Playstation Network, Steam, and other online multiplayer gaming communities fueling the current yet apparently everchanging future of gaming, it’s difficult for a classic game to return to the spotlight. An existing problem with this is since computer technology is constantly busy lapping itself in innovation, its constantly making itself obsolete! The newest system and the newest game engine was new yesterday! But in two weeks, gamers will have forgotten about that and be stoked for the next big thing! This is destroying any potential for a game to have lasting power and in turn games are forgotten as soon as the consumer reads about a new innovation in gaming technology!
In turn, I believe this relatively new phenomenon is becoming more common, and it is leaving gamers with a longing for gems of the past! This nostalgic outcome leaves games almost craving any sort of reminder of the past! The 1980’s left us with ingenious games with incredible replay value, and had us hoping for more! The 1990’s gripped us with heartfelt stories, startlingly perfect game production and technical innovation which left consumers hooked and feeling touched. The 2000’s only improved upon the technical innovations of the 1990’s, threw in some great sequels with great multiplayer capability which left folks scratching their respective heads wondering what could be improved… hmmm. Since then, games haven’t been the centerpiece of the gaming industry, but instead gracing the covers of videogame magazines everywhere are the newest graphics engines, the latest wireless and motion control capabilities, and interestingly enough games which are hoping to be remade with the technologies of the future.
Game creators should recognize this pattern… gaming technology has maxed out. I know there are some fan boys out there who are tweaking out just thinking about the next big technological advance, but for the vast majority of people who plays videogames, they are content with the current situation. If anything, many dedicated gamers wouldn’t mind going back in time! Forget the next big graphics engine, lets invent a time machine! People need to figure out why a game that is ridiculously popular upon its release, is ridiculously popular upon its release. 99% of the time, a game hasn’t been great due to its perfection of a gaming technology innovation. Historically and rightfully so, a classic game is dubbed so because of how it has executed within its current technological gaming capabilities!
I realized relatively recently in relation to my video game playing history that the lifespan of a system that has been successful is based upon the brand that owns the system’s technological limitations. For example, the Super Nintend o Entertainment System (SNES) was at the top of it’s game when the Nintendo’s Nintendo 64 came into play in 1996. In fact, the Super Ninterndo – the legendary predecesor of the somewhat legendary Nintendo 64 – went on creating great games for another two years until it created its last game in 1998.
The fact that tried-and-true systems like the SNES, the PS2, and the Gameboy existed making games well after their successors is enough to prove that advancing technology is not key in creating great games. At the end of the day, lasting power is created not by a first impression, but by an emotionally charged combination of art-driven graphics, a soundtrack with an intensely enthusiastic soundtrack, and a lasting story that will leave ya wondering and hoping for the absolute best to happen to the star-studded cast of characters.
Ultimately, advancing technology is a pivotal and integral aspect of the gaming industry, and even though it has shown up as a key in regard to the next big thing for the past several generations of gaming, it is most definitely not a paramount factor when determining the quality of the game. Game quality is determined initially by the consumer playing the game. Hands down, that is the most important aspect of the determined quality of the game. In this situation, age before beauty is an accurate way to describe the relationship between perfecting technology and advancing technology.
