Alonzo DeLeon
Alonzo has been an avid gamer ever since he fired up his first Atari 2600 as a child. He has spent most of his adult life working in the IT industry, including several years for several game publishers. He now lives in Eastern Europe, and spends his time doing various projects, including writing and helping to develop games for classic gaming consoles. Be sure to follow him on Twitter: @Alonzo_DeLeon
Most people over the age of 30 probably remember the good old days of classic gaming, what many of both the fans and press alike refer to as the “golden years” of gaming. Most gamers at the time had little interest in discussing politics or social issues when it came to discussing games, and the press was more concerned with getting their content put out and circulated rather than focusing on social justice crusades. Games were generally much simpler affairs, with relatively thin plots meant to give gamers extended twitch entertainment rather than used as vehicles for preaching.
While most gamers are not at least familiar with classic gaming, most focus extensively on modern gaming, and with good reason: the march of technology has allowed developers to give us gaming experiences that simply weren’t possible back in the day. However, that doesn’t mean that gaming is in a better state now than ever before. While Reaxxion has already covered many of the benefits of classic gaming, here are five reasons why classic gaming may actually provide a superior experience to modern gaming.
1. A more balanced range of genres
Okay, most people are probably going to disagree with this reason, but a closer look at the facts reveals it to be true. Classic gaming consoles (including computers) had a wider (and more balanced) range of genres available for gamers than most modern consoles do. Let’s try an exercise for comparison. Quickly make a list of your ten favorite games for your PS4 or Xbox One, and count the number of first-person shooters. Then, make another quick list, this time of your ten favorite Sega Genesis or SNES games, and count the number of platformers.
Even overhyped puzzle games from the past are still fun to play.
I think it’s safe to say that the number of first-person shooters for your favorite modern console will easily dominate (if not outright sweep) your top ten list, while your favorite classic console’s list will probably only have a few platformers (mostly Mario or Sonic games), while most likely including at least one fighter and one RPG, and maybe even a puzzle game or two. Yes, this won’t work for everyone, but I’m willing to bet it will work for the majority of you who actually try this.
2. More focus on single-player gameplay
With the rise of the Internet and online services for consoles, it’s hard to find a game nowadays that isn’t made with multiplayer gaming in mind. Sure, we have the Call of Duty and Halo franchises to give gamers the “epic” single-player story, but let’s face facts: a large number of both console and PC games nowadays are focused on multiplayer.
Just go back a couple of console generations, however, and you’ll find plenty of single-player goodness. With such a tight focus on single-player gaming due to necessity, you’ll find some of the deepest and most tightly tuned gaming experiences ever. If you want your epic storylines, you can’t go wrong with one of the many renowned RPGs from days past, such as the Phantasy Star or Final Fantasy series. Yes, you can’t spend hours laying waste to your friends and strangers in epic multiplayer battles, but who needs that when you’ve got a treasure trove of single-player experiences waiting for you?
3. More games to choose from
While most modern consoles have extensive libraries, most of them hold up to the old game console axiom: 90 percent of the library is mostly just filler. Even with the remaining 10 percent of quality games, there’s still plenty of gaming choices available.
So, why do I mention this? Because at some point during every console gamer’s time with a system, there comes a point where they’re bored with the current selection of games. Cue: our look at old consoles. You don’t have to wait for the next AAA title to come out, as their libraries are already full of them. Most gamers in their lifetime just don’t have enough time to go through every quality title for one system, let alone dozens, so it shouldn’t be hard for anyone to find more quality titles when you’ve played your current pile of games to death.
So, what if you actually have played every quality game available for your classic system of choice? Again, you’re not out of options here. Thanks to the marvel of modern technology coupled with the skill and acumen of some hobbyist programmers, many classic systems have a wide range of homebrew games available for them.
With the advanced development tools, extensive documentation, and years of fine-tuning their craft, many developers have been able to create homebrew games that match (and in some cases, even surpass) the quality that was available for the systems back in the day. Even the humble Atari 2600 has been made to do things that were never thought even remotely possible, and most every homebrew released for this system is available as a free download for your favorite emulator. Which brings us to the next point…
4. They’re more affordable and accessible
This point may be a bit controversial with some, but there’s no use in leaving it out. Emulation has brought extensive libraries of games to anyone with a computer or other device capable of running emulators. You don’t have any of your old systems anymore? No problem. Just download an emulator for your available system. Finding ROMs for old games is as easy as using a search engine.
You even have access to nearly every arcade game ever made, thanks to the MAME emulator. If you’re tired of playing poor arcade ports on your classic systems, you can easily solve this problem by firing up MAME and playing the arcade original.
On top of all of this, you simply can’t beat the price of emulation: free. While there’s the legal gray areas to consider, ROMs for almost every home system ever made can be easily downloaded. As good as it is that most of the modern systems have classic games available for them for a price, none of them can compete with the price or selection of games available through emulation.
5. There are no SJW narratives shoved down your throat
No amount of SJW outrage can censor General Custer.
Last, but not least, we come to probably the hottest topic in gaming right now. Despite the influx of SJWs trying to take over gaming and dictate their narratives to current developers, there is little they can do to change the thousands upon thousands of games that have been released over the years.
A quick look back at the libraries of some of the older consoles can easily show the difference, especially regarding games that came from Japanese developers. You can find plenty of material that will trigger most SJWs into epileptic fits in games such as Custer’s Revenge or King of Fighters. In fact, you don’t have to go very far at all to find something, as even the previous generation of consoles had plenty of non-PC moments.
It’s also impossible for classic games to have any “mistakes” removed from them through forced patching, which means that the game you get is the game you will always had. Censorship just isn’t possible with games released for long-dead systems. As much as SJWs may whine and complain about Guy and Cody beating up “transvestites” in Final Fight, there’s nothing they can do to change the game.
While most gamers will always be interested in following the advance of technology and the evolution of the modern gaming industry, we will always have our past library of games to show us our roots and provide us with quality entertainment. If the current invasion of SJWs and political correctness is not stemmed, then one day we may find ourselves but with no other choice but to relive the past. Hopefully, that day will never come, but classic games will always be around to provide us with hours of fun.
Read More: 4 Classic Games That Changed Gaming Forever
