Editor’s note: Mike poses an interesting question: Do you need to know gaming’s past to be a real gamer? My appreciation for the early days of film, past eras of music (I’m listening to Benny Goodman’s “Memories of You” as I edit this), and older literature certainly enhances my enjoyment of modern works. Does this apply to gaming as well? -Jason
As a historian, I try to know as much about history as I can. As a gaming fan, I want to try to experience as many “legendary” games as possible.
But to be a gamer, is it necessary to have these experiences?
Before you answer, I think it might be safe to assume that the older a person is, the more likely they are to believe that, yes, the golden age of Nintendo is worth visiting. Or the prime of console role-playing games in the late SNES/Early PlayStation days, such as Earthbound, is enough of a reason to look them up.
As a 26-year-old, I was around 12 or so when I truly became a hardcore gamer. I think this experience was vital to me continuing to pick up the hobby today. I’m not sure that I could pick up a game today without the prior skill sets I had acquired earlier in life. A kid, however, could probably do so easily. I’m not even sure my actual skill set from the old days transfers over, but I do at least generally know how games work, so that might be a help.
Can you really call yourself a gamer if you’ve never played Super Mario Bros. 3? How about The Legend of Zelda? I really think that many young gamers today are bored much more easily and are used to an influx of titles coming all the time, so they would not have the patience for a timesink that some of these games create. I love my old games, and I still enjoy them today, but I’m wondering if it’s only because I was there at the time.
The lack of effort that has gone into Virtual Console seems to prove this point. Nintendo and company have a huge backlog of excellent titles they could release, but licensing issues and general lack of interest seem to be holding everybody back. I used to look forward to Monday because new Virtual Console games would come out, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen anything worth spending my money on.
So, people: Do you think that you can call yourself a gamer if you’ve never indulged in the gaming past? Can you be comfortable with the future if you don’t know where you’ve come from?