Kids... and retro gaming!

[Lilwolf]

http://www.egmmag.com/article2/0,4364,1338767,00.asp

[Isometric Bacon]

Kirk on space invaders :

 And you can't pick up an AK-47 and go kill—hey, those aliens on the top row, you use them in EGM for stuff.

EGM: Yeah, we use them to end our articles. They do kinda look like they're from Space Invaders, don't they?

Tim: They're going to sue you.

Kirk: I'm sure everyone who made this game is dead by now.

  Hahahah that article was great.

After only just really losing my "kid" status, (young, only just turned 18) I can understand these kids mentalities, as many of my friends think along the same levels. They seem baffled when they invite me over their house to play some new fandangled 3D shooter, and I simply pull out Elevator Action and hammer away on that for hours on end.

They whine to me "Why the hell do you play that?!? It's crap!" from which I simply reply
"Why do you think it's crap?"
"well, look at the graphics!!!"

Because we all know graphics are what make games great

[Radical]

Haha fun article.  Strange though, I don't remember playing those games on a 46" plasma TV with crappy hand-held controllers.  

[ntjedi]

   Thats some funny stuff.  Its all about perspective...

[hooded_paladin]

Andrew: Someone take over before I lose my dignity. [Mario picks up the hammer power-up]

Andrew and Niko: Hey, that's from Super Smash Bros.

Andrew: So that's where they got the idea from.

haha that's great... don't these kids understand time?

[paigeoliver]

Hee hee.

Those kids sound fake to me.

I had a bunch of relative's kids over once.

Biggest hit was Jack the Giantkiller cocktail, followed by Time Pilot cocktail, followed by Prehistoric Isle 2 (that one was Mame), with King & Balloon bringing up the rear.

The King & Balloon did shoot up a bit in popularity later in the day when I exited out and brought up Ms. Pac-Man instead.

The boys played the Mame cabinet exclusively (mostly Prehistoric Isle 2, but they later figured out how to switch games).

None of the girls touched the Mame cabinet at all. But there was always at least two of them on Jack the Giantkiller, and one on Time Pilot, and every once in a while one of them would play King & Balloon too.

There were absolutely zero complaints.

[vitaflo]

Andrew: You got the hammer and you still got killed.

Tim: Mario dies way too easy.

-----

Further evidence that today's kids are weak sauce.

[hyiu]

nowadays... kids just not use to the arcade style games...

those games sucks $$ fast !!!....

even fighters nowadays.... when playing in console... they can set the difficulty to EASY... and then kick --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules-- and learn and practice all moves... get good.. before setting it back to normal... / difficult....

its almost like star trek.... first set your phaser to stun.... if they keep coming.... and we get hurt.. then turn the setting higher...

our time is like star wars... there's no stun mode in our guns... we learn the hard way......

haaa haaa haa....

[J_K_M_A_N]

Those kids sound fake to me.

I think that is a load of crap also. If my kid acted like that, I would kick his butt.

J_K_M_A_N

[Bomber]

And Donkey Kong's mouth is made of pluses. Look: Plus, plus, plus, minus. They're trying to teach you math by brainwashing you.

That had me laughing out loud.

I'm not sure how real the kids are either. I don't know many 10-year-olds who watch documentaries and use words like 'exhilarating'.

Funny article though.

[SirPoonga]

 John: But you can get this game on a cell phone. Why would you want to pay for it in an arcade?


Kirk: I'm sure everyone who made this game is dead by now.

[SirPoonga]

And Donkey Kong's mouth is made of pluses. Look: Plus, plus, plus, minus. They're trying to teach you math by brainwashing you.

That had me laughing out loud.

I'm not sure how real the kids are either. I don't know many 10-year-olds who watch documentaries and use words like 'exhilarating'.

Funny article though.

The kids that did the most talking where the 12 year olds.  Sounds like a preteen to me.

[Babu]

That is bull.... I think Im 15 and I grew up with Nes and Snes. I got a Xbox now but I still play Nes probably more than the Xbox.
Allthough most good classic games are in arcade such as joust, black tiger, robotron and a few months ago I discovered mame.

Hooked to it ever since. Anyways im about to make my 1st desktop arcade control I got limited skills in soldering and im not sure to go with psx pads or kb hack.

Cya

[TalkingOctopus]

I have to join the bandwagon and say that I highly doubt those were real kids too.

[grafixmonkey]

That is bull.... I think Im 15 and I grew up with Nes and Snes.

you think you're 15?  not sure?  

Allthough most good classic games are in arcade such as joust, black tiger, robotron and a few months ago I discovered mame.

Yes!  The arcade classics following is preserved, in their many clones for other systems.  20 years from now, when Nintendo's 1024-bit GameDodecahedron is out and kids are playing the new holographic-immersive 3D version of Smash Bros., they'll still see Donkey Kong on Mame and think "Cool!  That's where he came from!"

Hooked to it ever since. Anyways im about to make my 1st desktop arcade control I got limited skills in soldering and im not sure to go with psx pads or kb hack.

Trust me, you want to get an actual encoder.  Come on, for the time you're gonna spend, it's only like $30, and it does take some amount of soldering skill to not destroy the board.

But if you must...   PSX pads - then you can play Playstation games.  They had some good arcade cab style stuff out for PS1.

[Brax]

Our future is doomed.

[MaximRecoil]

They look like real kids to me. I mean, there is a picture of the kids sitting there playing the games. If you go to the trouble to set up all of those games and get the kids to play them, why not print what they actually say? Most of the kid's comments about the games are sarcastic anyway, which is par for the course with 12 or 13 year olds.

I "make" my 12 year old nephew play Space Invaders all the time. He hates that game and throws a fit. Of course he could always leave and go home to his PS2 but despite all his howling about having to play old arcade games, he always stays for hours lol. After I figure he has had enough of early 80's arcade games, Atari 2600, and Colecovision games (sometimes some Bally Astrocade and Odyssey

[grafixmonkey]

Dude, you're brutal!!!   This kid's gonna go build a bomb or something...

[1UP]

Tim: This is nothing compared to Grand Theft Auto III, because you can't steal a taxi cab, pick up somebody, then drive into the ocean with him.

Kirk: And you can't pick up an AK-47 and go kill

[MaximRecoil]

BTW, half the things they complained about was due to the "fat little characters".  It might help if EGM actually set up the games in the proper friggin aspect ratio.  

Yeah, but the look of a wide screen plasma TV was just way too "cool" to pass up for the photo-op lol.

Also, what in the hell platforms are they playing the "arcade" games on? All I see sitting on the table there is a Pong machine, an NES and an SNES. There must be more than that hidden somewhere because they played E.T. for the 2600 which needs either an actual 2600 or a PC to emulate. The picture that shows Donkey Kong being played is not the arcade version unless they have a really funky emulator that doesn't preserve the aspect ratio. In MAME the aspect ratio is preserved by default (If the picture was more of a closeup I could tell just from the graphics). I'm guessing that they are playing the NES version of Donkey Kong which sucks. They are probably playing the SNES version of Space Invaders which is pretty close to the original except for the sounds and the aspect ratio.

[StephenH]

I had a lot of middle school age kids downloading SNES Games plus ZSNES in a computer lab In my area.   Evidently SNES is popular even today in the younger age.

[1UP]

In MAME the aspect ratio is preserved by default

But HD compatible screens seem to default to stretching whatever you give it so that it fits the screen (looks dumb).  Doesn't matter what you set Mame to, you've still got to set the display to use 4:3 instead of 16:9

[CM]

Our future is doomed.

I'm with him  

[Ghoward]

I used to play a lot of up to date pc games but now I only play the old ones. Let

[jdsony]

That article seems like it was made up. A lot of the things they say totally condrict things they say later. They sound stupid and then all of a sudden they know things that most kids probably don't know. I don't believe the article at all unless it was rewritten into different wording by the editors.

As for retrogames...I find them to be a totally different breed of games. Sure there are still quite a few arcade style games around but the 2D days are much different and Arcade games are much different than most console games. Arcade is all about a quick blast and complete efficiency in playing. In Pacman you need to stay alive as long as possibly for points and in all those crazy shooters it's a great feeling to beat even just 1 level without dying. Metal Slug even goes so far as to reward you with your prisoner saves only if don't die. I think there is room for new and old games just depends who you ask.

[Richy]

Is it just me or do those kids have pretty big vocabularies for 12 year olds. I didn't speak like that when i was that age. I still don't

[SirPoonga]

Sounds like kids.  They learn a new word and they try and use it whenever they can.

[1UP]

The funniest thing about these kids is that they rip on the games for being too simple and boring, but then they get their butts kicked by these "simple" games.

Reminds me of the scene in Back To The Future II when he goes to the 80's cafe where they have that shooting game (Wild Gunman?).  Marty thinks the game is great, but the kids are like "You mean you have to use your hands?  That's like a babies toy."  That movie was friggin prophetic!  

[Howard_Casto]

The funniest thing about these kids is that they rip on the games for being too simple and boring, but then they get their butts kicked by these "simple" games.

Reminds me of the scene in Back To The Future II when he goes to the 80's cafe where they have that shooting game (Wild Gunman?).  Marty thinks the game is great, but the kids are like "You mean you have to use your hands?  That's like a babies toy."  That movie was friggin prophetic!  

Well I hate to take the side of the kids, especially considering I hate anything under the age of 18, but they are right.  

Classic games are too simple and boring.  It's just that doesn't mean anything.  Take tetris for example.  Very simple, very boring, and yet people will play it for hours on end.  Why?  Nobody knows, it's a mystery, but the fact remains that it's a very pimitive and "boring" game.  

Old games were kind of like commercials, not a whole lot of substance or depth, but just enough to keep your attention long enough to steal another quarter from your pocket.  I like em anyway, but I do realize that they pale in comparison to newer games in terms of depth and complexity.  

It's comparing apples and oranges though.  

If they were to review classic games soley designed for consoles (in other words no arcade ports)  I would expect them to get totally different results.  

If you notice their reactions to super mario bros was very positive and the bad tetris review had a lot to do with the fact that they couldn't figure out how to play.  
In other words, the more "consolish" the game, the better the review.  

Kids today don't understand arcades. If there were arcades with these games in them today then maybe they could understand better, but emulation just isn't the same.  

[1UP]

Ah, well, someday these cocky kids will get to feel old about their games....

"What is this?  Soul Calibur 2?  Never heard of it.  The graphics suck.  Look at the characters--they move so stiffly, and their faces look like they're painted on!  Their mouths aren't syncing perfectly.  How come their hair moves like a piece of cloth?  Look at the aliasing!  What resolution is this?  Only 60fps?  Looks so fake!  Wait, how do you play this?  I keep getting hit.  You mean it came with a printed manual?  How prehistoric!  Where's the sensory feedback?  Oh, the controller wobbles when you get hit.  How exhilirating!!  I can imagine back then it was like 'wow this is amazing' but now it sucks.  I mean, why the hell did he jump off the cliff when he was about to kick my butt?  And it's not even stereoscopic.  This is so boring, I might just go play outside rather than play this *^%*%!  No, wait, I said 'might'."

[Sasquatch!]

In other words, the more "consolish" the game, the better the review.  

Kids today don't understand arcades. If there were arcades with these games in them today then maybe they could understand better, but emulation just isn't the same.  

I agree.  Console and PC games (especially, although not limited to RPG-type games) are soooo different.  You can play a single game for hours or days, versus the old-school arcade, where your one single game is usually over in under a minute on your first try.

[1UP]

Console and PC games (especially, although not limited to RPG-type games) are soooo different.  You can play a single game for hours or days, versus the old-school arcade, where your one single game is usually over in under a minute on your first try.

That's why arcade games are great for when you don't have time to play the latest 3 week long epic RPG.  I remember one of the kids saying "if this game was on a cell phone, I might play it."  Meaning if they were stuck out somewhere with nothing to do, they might play it.  Maybe if they saw it standing in a theater lobby while waiting for mommy to pick up their spoiled little --I'm attempting to get by the auto-censor and should be beaten after I re-read the rules--, and they had a quarter in pocket, they might even play it.  But they wouldn't admit enjoying it...  

Remember, these kids were being "forced" to play the games their parents used to play, so that's the attitude they brought with them.  Your pre-teens are where you start to believe that your parents are complete idiots, and therefore you must hate anything that your parents like, lest you be judged as "lame".  Peer pressure would keep anyone who actually enjoyed the games from admitting as much (on the contrary, the tendency would be to rip on them as much as possible.)  Plus, most of those games were VERTICAL, which means they were being played in the exact opposite aspect than they were intended for, which would make them harder to play, let alone enjoy the aesthetics of them, crude as they may be.

[Malachai]

During the E.T. session one of them said, "Didn't they bury this game in Mexico or something?"
I'm surprised they have heard of this.  One of his parents must be a classic gamer.  

[Nailz]

I'll have to agree with HC and 1UP.  I have a 13 year old step son and aside from the Metal Slug series, he won't have anything to do the MAME cab.

But then this is coming from the same kid who a few years ago was telling me that the graphics for his Pokemon game on the N64 beat out Counter Strike on the PC, go figure that one out....

It's all relative, anybody that started out playing balck and white games and was introduced to a color atari 2600 is sure to think the classics rule, but when a kid remembers a classic console as being a SNES and Gameboys have better graphics, how do you compete?

[Zapper]

Andrew: The point of E.T. is to see how bad they can piss you off...

Nico:

[1UP]

Andrew: The point of E.T. is to see how bad they can piss you off...

Nico:

[Apollo]

Ahhh game play V's graphics that old chestnut.
Take a look at Nethack if you want a totally primitive game with virtually zero graphics but at the same time completely addictive game play.
I can just see a kid in 200 years looking at historical gaming archives and not being able to understand what a CP or hand held controller is when to play his/her games he simply hooks himself up via a neural port imbedded in his skull, lol.
And I think those kids conversations have been altered to be more entertaining than they really were ( mind you they did a pretty poor job ).