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Video Game Industry Embraces Retro Classics
Newhouse News ^ | 8/14/04 | Laura DeMarco

Posted on 08/14/2004 12:47:49 PM PDT by qam1

The video game industry is on alert. A challenger is gobbling up players -- and her name is "Ms. Pac-Man."

Yes, the classic games of the 1980s are making a comeback, from the beribboned pink Ms. to those "Super Mario Bros." and the one-and-only "Donkey Kong." Vintage and reissued video games are the hottest trend in the usually forward-thinking $7 billion-per-year gaming industry. Gamers are expected to spend an estimated $250 million to $300 million on retro games this year.

"They're huge," says Lee Eisenberg, owner of game hub Fun City in Parma, Ohio, and a retro gamer himself. "Our older stuff is outselling our new stuff. I've never seen anything like this."

Eisenberg carries both vintage and reissued games and systems, but says the old ones outsell the new products. He has a hard time keeping those big, clunky two-decade-old Nintendo, Atari and Intellivision systems ($40) and games ($3 to $10) in stock. Fortunately, he has a warehouse supply of no-longer-manufactured consoles and cartridges acquired from trade-ins, garage sales, Web sites and other sources.

The flashback started with nostalgic thirtysomethings, says Eisenberg, 39. But "younger kids are really getting into them now, and not just with their parents."

He says the appeal is simple.

"The newer games are really really violent and expensive. A lot of people want to go back to their childhood. They want younger, simpler games."

The nostalgia factor was one reason behind game giant Nintendo's June relaunch of eight '80s classics, including "Super Mario Bros." and "Donkey Kong," all for Game Boy Advance.

"Many of us grew up playing Nintendo and have a fondness for some of the great games from our original console, the Nintendo Entertainment System," says Beth Llewelyn, public relations director for Nintendo of America.

"With the 15th anniversary of Game Boy this year ... we thought it would be fun to go back to our '80s roots and release some of the classic NES games."

Sales have been very strong, she says, already hitting the 500,000 mark. The company is also selling a Classic NES Limited Edition Game Boy Advance SP ($100) that re-creates the look of the original NES.

Nintendo's not the only company thinking retro. Toy maker Jakks Pacific recently launched a series of plug-and-play hand-held systems called TV Games, featuring classics such as "Ms. Pac-Man," "Galaga," "Pong," "Centipede" and "Asteroids" from Atari, Namco, Capcom and Activision. The $20 battery-powered system looks like a joystick and plugs into your television.

Radica Games Ltd. will release its own classic system this fall. The $30 console, dubbed Arcade Games, also plugs into your TV and features reissued Sega-Genesis games such as "Sonic the Hedgehog."

And the revival isn't limited to the home-tech world. "Pac-Man" bleeps and blurps are sampled in new songs by hip-hoppers Lil' Flip and Beanie Sigel, and game sounds and images have been used in ads for Hummer and Saturn autos. T-shirts with "Space Invaders," "Pac-Man," Atari joysticks and classic logos are a trendy urban retro-kitsch look.

Namco has even launched a "Class of '81" series of arcade machines.

Many fans aren't content with reissues, however. Vintage Intellivision, Sega-Genesis, Nintendo and Atari games and consoles are hot commodities at the eBay online auction site. A recent search on Intellivision turned up 492 games and systems. A "classic Atari" search yielded 219.

There's even an annual get-together for retro game fans. The seventh Classic Gaming Expo is set for Aug. 21 and 22 at the San Jose Convention Center in California. Last year's expo in Las Vegas attracted 1,500 people and caused organizers to move to a bigger venue, where they expect even more attendees this year, says expo spokesman Jayson Hill.

"There's a huge nostalgia factor to classic-game appeal," Hill explains. But he says the interest has grown beyond sentimental Generation X-ers. He was "shocked" by the number of kids and teens at last year's event.

But are these kids shocked by the primitive graphics and sounds of 8-bit classics, compared with today's 256-bit games?

Hill doesn't think so.

"Sometimes people don't want everything served to them," he says. "If you give a person everything, they get nothing from their imagination. It's not as much fun as if you have to fill in the blanks."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News
KEYWORDS: atari; genx; videogames
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To: Fifth Business
Did you ever play any of the rogue-like games, like ADOM or Nethack?

I never played those. I ended up going from no graphics like Adventure to graphic based games. (Did play the vector ones, but other than the Vectrex, those were only in arcades).

Emphasis was on replayability (if that's even a word) not flash.

We are finally reaching the point where the physics engines, graphics, and AI are being combined into some really kick games. Unfortunately, you need a top of the line PC to play em.

101 posted on 08/14/2004 2:52:59 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: Fifth Business

You might like FFX then. Well done and pretty linear. It had just enough side quests (that were not required) to give you the illusion of non linearity.


102 posted on 08/14/2004 2:55:23 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: Miss Marple
I did that with my son, too, only it was the Link adventure game.

When I got Zelda for the original Nintendo system, my then-ten-year-old son wasn't impressed. It hooked me, though. So, he would go into his room and I would stay in the living room playing Zelda until I came upon a monster that I just couldn't beat. Then I'd call him out, and, of course, he would defeat it easily.

I've been a Zelda fan ever since, and I'm anxiously looking forward to the new one.

103 posted on 08/14/2004 2:57:00 PM PDT by luigi
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To: avg_freeper
I don't understand MAME at all. Seemed like a good idea until I found out that I can't get the ROMs anywhere.

http://www.romnation.net/
or
http://www.rom-world.com/

Though Warning, They both have porn ads on their sites and they make you vote for their site as a top gaming site before they let you download any ROMS

104 posted on 08/14/2004 2:57:20 PM PDT by qam1 (McGreevy gets to enjoy his butts, So let me enjoy mine!! So NO SMOKING BANS in New Jersey)
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To: RadioAstronomer
Unfortunately, you need a top of the line PC to play em.

I have a good platform I built myself. What do you recommend?

105 posted on 08/14/2004 2:57:26 PM PDT by Fifth Business
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To: avg_freeper

That's 'cause it's illegal. This one site had all the ROMs, but they made the wrong people mad, and they got turned in and their ROMs were pulled. I haven't looked for MAME ROMs in a long, long time, but I am quite sure the ROMs are out there if you know where to look. There was a burners club--Tombstone was in the name, I believe--where you could send people blank CD-Rs, and they would return them to you with all the ROMs (never would trust that, myself). And, there are ROM groups in Usenet.

Anyway, my game playing goes back to the '70s, but I don't limit myself to old games. One game I really responded to, for some reason, was a Western shooter called Sunset Riders. I loved it in the arcade, and I played it constantly on MAME. It's basically Contra in the Old West, if you know the reference.

Other incredible shooters are the Metal Slug games. Except for the PC's Duke Nukem: Manhattan Missions, which I adore, the Metal Slugs are probably my favorite shooters of all time. Another SNK game I really took to was called Mark of the Wolves. And, I don't usually like fighters.


106 posted on 08/14/2004 2:57:31 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: luigi

I like Zelda games in all flavors--2D and 3D--so I'm also desperately looking forward to the new Gameboy Zelda--the Minish Cap. Looks terrific.


107 posted on 08/14/2004 2:59:27 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: RadioAstronomer

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into it.


108 posted on 08/14/2004 2:59:58 PM PDT by Fifth Business
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To: Quix

It's Qix. It's available for MAME, and may be available in some legal, off-the-shelf compilations. I'm not sure if it is, though.


109 posted on 08/14/2004 3:00:12 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: Fifth Business
I'm not up on what's current because the descent into real-time strategy created disinterest.

Did you like the Commandos games? I never liked real-time strategy, with resource management and all of that, but Commandos was great. I wasn't terribly fond of the Commandos III demo, so I never picked that one up. I probably will one day. Commandos, it's mission pack, and Commandos II were all among my favorite playing experiences, though.
110 posted on 08/14/2004 3:02:13 PM PDT by Rastus (Forget it, Moby! I'm voting for Bush!)
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To: luigi
I've been a Zelda fan ever since, and I'm anxiously looking forward to the new one.

Way cool! I never liked the "Cell Look" of Wind Walker.

111 posted on 08/14/2004 3:02:28 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: Rastus
Thanks! I hadn't heard of that one. I'll have to check it out!

I just got my stepson 4swords for the gamecube. He and my youngest have been playing with it--I haven't had a chance to check it out, what with preparing for the hurricane.

112 posted on 08/14/2004 3:02:57 PM PDT by luigi
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To: Rastus

I haven't seen those, but I'll take a look. Thanks.


113 posted on 08/14/2004 3:03:43 PM PDT by Fifth Business
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To: RadioAstronomer
I never liked the "Cell Look" of Wind Walker.

Me either, but if it had played more like the classic Zeldas, I would not have been as disappointed.

114 posted on 08/14/2004 3:04:41 PM PDT by luigi
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To: The Bat Lady

Pong ping. :-)


115 posted on 08/14/2004 3:10:31 PM PDT by TheSarce
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To: Fifth Business
What do you recommend?

Hard to say anymore. The industry is in a transition as we speak to PCI express and a new MoBo footprint. However, that will take some time to get off the ground.

What I have (and it works very well) is:

Asus P4c-800E Ultra MoBo
4 Gigs 3200 DDR (however 1 gig is enough)
A 3.4EE processor. Any 2.5 and up would do just fine)
Audigy2 Sound Card (There is a good sound chip on the MoBo but the 7.1 is just fantastic on the Audigy)
I have an EVGA Geforce 6800 Ultra, but an Fx5700 or 5950 Ultra will do great. The Radeon X800 series or 9800 is also a kick card. :-)
I am running dual 19" flat screens (but most games only use one screen. A 20-21" CRT would work great and they are not that expensive

As for the rest of the hardware, I have had good luck with Maxtor or WD drives. I used rounded cables just for the airflow and my case is a Lian-Li Pc-82 aluminum. (doesnt way a ton. LOL. There are lots of cases out there now that are aluminum.

116 posted on 08/14/2004 3:11:37 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: luigi

No kidding. Sigh. Glad they are going back to the old format. :-)


117 posted on 08/14/2004 3:12:30 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

ping


118 posted on 08/14/2004 3:13:00 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: RadioAstronomer

"doesnt way" = Doesn't Weigh

Sigh!


119 posted on 08/14/2004 3:14:28 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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To: qam1

120 posted on 08/14/2004 3:15:55 PM PDT by valkyrieanne
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