With the brand new Nintendo Switch getting released this March, I wonder... Is retrogaming style worst than modern gaming? What is retrogaming? By taking Nintendo's time line, I'd say... Super NES was the last one for home consoles. The Gameboy handhelds + Nintendo DS kept the retrogaming for a few more years... until the 3DS "upgrades" the experience. A bit of history + own opinion + a bit of demency ^_^;; Let's go.
1. The CD was the meaning of evolution from cartridges. Initially, the long loading times were considerated "normal" for the PSOne and NeoGeoCD. The Nintendo64 came out in 1996 (?) with... cartridges - a crucial point of failure in sales/development of new games, probably for being too expensive. As result, take the CD idea + "innovation" = Nintendo GameCube in 2002. It used MINI (!) DVDs reverse-spinning (!!), and an "updated" N64 controller. It looked much more a toy than an hardcore controller. Well, it was really cool for that time... until the innovation strikes again with the Wii.
2. Now it's the crucial point of retro x modern gaming - the virtual console success. A few boys love them, but many others don't. They prefer to play something like GTA or another 3D-war-themed game. The Wii itself had the retrogaming option of turning the Wiimote horizontally to play the VC games... and Mega Man 9. Wow... MM9 was a big gift to me, a true retrogamer.
3. From the Wii... nothing more to analyze. We had Paper Mario and New Super Mario Bros. as something close to a retrogame style, but all the new Mario games are in 3D. Well, I'd say "must be in a 3D immersive world because it simply must be". Not really. With the success of Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 + "innovation" = Super Mario "Crap" Galaxy. >_<;;
4. A retrogaming experience must happen in a retrogaming model. A standard console, standard controllers without the stupid batteries, bluetooth or a must-have internet connection! Multiplayer was your friend and YOU; sometimes, a team of 4 guys (first native model in Nintendo64). Cartridges! Wait... no... it's "innovation", so... let's create a... GAMECARD! A stupid memory card + game, because it's easier to store terabytes in it, if compared with a heavy and big Neo Geo cartridge within 2 boards - one for CPU, another for PPU. Wow.
5. I don't see value (morally saying) for having a certain game nowadays. In early times, you had the NES Mega Man IV cartridge in your bedroom, hands-on! You could carry the game to a friend's house and play it. You could show your cartridge to your friends, it had a HUGE value! Now... I buy a game in the Playstation Store and download it to my console, and I can redownload it when I need it. Where's the value of this game for you and your friends... wait... friends!? Do you mean the friends list in my Playstation 4 account?
6. About the Nintendo Switch, well... I don't believe it'll have a long life. A lot of people is no more playing like the Nintendo wants you to play AGAIN like in the Wii times... but worst. A lot of people is no more interested in virtual reality - just tell me if the motion-stuff released on Playstation 3 was a success or not. The disc is no more a default, but gamecards. The home console is no more a default, but mobile devices. The friends side-by-side is no more a default, but a PSN account with tons of virtual friends around the globe. The classic gaming is no more a default, but a modern shooter in a 3D environment with DLCs ready to buy and buy and buy. The closed-game is no more a default, but the entire game needed to be updated. It is the case for the brand new (and horrible) Final Fantasy XV - I bought the PS4 disc... and had a HUGE update once I launched the game! I wonder about a guy that buys "The Witcher 3" and go play the disc... a update is over 20GB!!!
- Let me play my Virtual Console games... or take the dusted old consoles and play them. Modern gaming is going to nowhere! I'm 39 years old. My first console was the Atari 2600 in 1984. From this point, I played every Nintendo console, a Mega Drive console in my friend's house a few times... and so on, I know exactly how the gameplay experience was changing with the years. Unbelievable. Another item of value is gaming magazines! I had a collection of them! Now tell me - what's the value of a gaming magazine nowadays with the internet+Google-God? None.
1. The CD was the meaning of evolution from cartridges. Initially, the long loading times were considerated "normal" for the PSOne and NeoGeoCD. The Nintendo64 came out in 1996 (?) with... cartridges - a crucial point of failure in sales/development of new games, probably for being too expensive. As result, take the CD idea + "innovation" = Nintendo GameCube in 2002. It used MINI (!) DVDs reverse-spinning (!!), and an "updated" N64 controller. It looked much more a toy than an hardcore controller. Well, it was really cool for that time... until the innovation strikes again with the Wii.
2. Now it's the crucial point of retro x modern gaming - the virtual console success. A few boys love them, but many others don't. They prefer to play something like GTA or another 3D-war-themed game. The Wii itself had the retrogaming option of turning the Wiimote horizontally to play the VC games... and Mega Man 9. Wow... MM9 was a big gift to me, a true retrogamer.
3. From the Wii... nothing more to analyze. We had Paper Mario and New Super Mario Bros. as something close to a retrogame style, but all the new Mario games are in 3D. Well, I'd say "must be in a 3D immersive world because it simply must be". Not really. With the success of Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3 + "innovation" = Super Mario "Crap" Galaxy. >_<;;
4. A retrogaming experience must happen in a retrogaming model. A standard console, standard controllers without the stupid batteries, bluetooth or a must-have internet connection! Multiplayer was your friend and YOU; sometimes, a team of 4 guys (first native model in Nintendo64). Cartridges! Wait... no... it's "innovation", so... let's create a... GAMECARD! A stupid memory card + game, because it's easier to store terabytes in it, if compared with a heavy and big Neo Geo cartridge within 2 boards - one for CPU, another for PPU. Wow.
5. I don't see value (morally saying) for having a certain game nowadays. In early times, you had the NES Mega Man IV cartridge in your bedroom, hands-on! You could carry the game to a friend's house and play it. You could show your cartridge to your friends, it had a HUGE value! Now... I buy a game in the Playstation Store and download it to my console, and I can redownload it when I need it. Where's the value of this game for you and your friends... wait... friends!? Do you mean the friends list in my Playstation 4 account?
6. About the Nintendo Switch, well... I don't believe it'll have a long life. A lot of people is no more playing like the Nintendo wants you to play AGAIN like in the Wii times... but worst. A lot of people is no more interested in virtual reality - just tell me if the motion-stuff released on Playstation 3 was a success or not. The disc is no more a default, but gamecards. The home console is no more a default, but mobile devices. The friends side-by-side is no more a default, but a PSN account with tons of virtual friends around the globe. The classic gaming is no more a default, but a modern shooter in a 3D environment with DLCs ready to buy and buy and buy. The closed-game is no more a default, but the entire game needed to be updated. It is the case for the brand new (and horrible) Final Fantasy XV - I bought the PS4 disc... and had a HUGE update once I launched the game! I wonder about a guy that buys "The Witcher 3" and go play the disc... a update is over 20GB!!!
- Let me play my Virtual Console games... or take the dusted old consoles and play them. Modern gaming is going to nowhere! I'm 39 years old. My first console was the Atari 2600 in 1984. From this point, I played every Nintendo console, a Mega Drive console in my friend's house a few times... and so on, I know exactly how the gameplay experience was changing with the years. Unbelievable. Another item of value is gaming magazines! I had a collection of them! Now tell me - what's the value of a gaming magazine nowadays with the internet+Google-God? None.