Editor's note: Pong, Pac-Man, Nintendo. You have to know and appreciate the classics to understand the gaming industry at large, right? Well, Nick takes a look at this topic and makes a case that not all gamers need that perspective, as much as he might want it. He also points out the conundrum he faces as a younger gamer who didn't grow up when these classics were first released and the difficulties he faces in playing catch-up. This is an interesting read that should lead to some great discussion. -Greg
As I was thinking of some sort of article/editorial piece that could serve as my “entry” into Bitmob, I found that Mike Gingras beat me to the punch in asking the question, "Gaming history...is it necessary?" I feebly attempt to reply while sounding even remotely intelligent.
I enjoy discussing games; I like discussing and learning about things in general. I’m not one to have too many friends, so maybe that’s afforded me time to internalize myself and my thoughts, ponder such things more, and think about just who I want to be as an individual. For me, history is important to this enjoyment; for others, it isn't as important. And that’s completely OK. Let me elaborate.
As a 15-year-old kid, I ask myself questions like the one above every damn day, be it about games or other aspects of life. I desire to write about games, albeit not in the professional/journalistic sense, as well as develop games. As such, my desire to further appreciate the medium I love so much more dearly than anyone of my age increasingly grows.
To help feed this thirst, I read Gamasutra to learn the lingo and terminology of games and gain an appreciation for the business and analytical sides of the history. I read Giant Bomb for coverage of current games and for its (severely limited but ever-growing) database of games. And lastly, I read Bitmob for the culture, the stories, and the boundless appreciation of games and the way that their evolution has been a part of our growing up.
But that latter point -- the way their evolution has been a part of our growing up -- I have absolutely none of that. Which leads into Mike’s question: Is it necessary?
Let’s take a more global look at history. Is it necessary to watch older films to understand the industry? Is it necessary to read older books? Is it necessary to read older comics to understand that industry? Is it necessary to listen to Mozart to truly appreciate music and where it came from? Simply put, yes and no. And I know that is a cop-out answer.
But the point rings true for any medium. I’ll illustrate my thesis via the following quote from Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis: "The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come."
If one feels so inclined as to learn, history can be a bit of a burden. But then again, Mr. Lewis (pictured below) is correct when saying that conditions will never be favorable or conducive to this. Oh, time, what a quandary you put some of us in!
History is an interesting thing. It’s impossible to believe that anybody not there from the start could go back and learn about everything there is to know. But if you’re interested, you try to experience the main pillars or parts of that history. At the rate our culture is growing and the rate that our world is expanding, that would be utterly impossible.
Too often in message boards, I find myself making up games I have played and trying to talk eloquently to another human being about the virtues of Mega Man. Dude, I’ve never actually played fucking Mega Man, but my mind would like to think that it has because I love video games and want to appreciate where they came from, despite my limited access to older games, my limited source of income, and my limited age.
It’s exceedingly hard to purchase old media, and for me, the mere sight of a Torrent site or emulator is enough to make me afraid for the stability of my laptop. I love it when games get rereleased. It’s not very conducive to pushing forward our medium from a business perspective, but it’s awesome.
I love that the old Dragon Quest games are getting remade for the DS. It allows me a window into the past. I love services like Good Old Games, the Wii's Virtual Console, and Steam because they provide me quick and easy access to the past in a direct and convenient digital form. But what fucking publisher is going to find it worthwhile to put three unknown and sloppily translated but nonetheless endearing JRPGs from 1992 on the Virtual Console? None. But do I want them? Hell yes.
Therein lies the quandary. I want to play Earthbound, but that is hard for me to do. I recently lost a job -- and many gamers of my age haven’t even had a job of any sort -- so how I am expected to be able to pay however many dollars it takes to ship a copy of the game from Canada from some guy on eBay. $100? Fuck no. It brings up an interesting discussion, one which I could probably write another entire piece on, and that is the discussion of what we expect these publishers to do with these services. Maybe the digital future holds for us a virtual cataloguing of every game ever made, but that seems illogical. Someone in my situation would hope so, though.
Another point that’s worth making is that nowadays, games are becoming increasingly more “casual” and relevant, and not everybody is going to be the same as I am in regard to their appreciation of games. In school, I’ll be in my computer animation class, and just one look around tells me what I should have already known: Games have completely and totally pervaded our culture.
The asshole freshmen across from me extols the virtues of “...blowing some fuckwad’s head off with the AK in Call of Duty 6...,” and behind me freshmen gossip about turnips or strawberries or whatever-the-hell you plant in Farmville. Next to me is a girl who constantly plays the pinball game that is preinstalled on every computer, and at the front of the class my mopey teacher talks about the relevance of animation to film, television, and, you guessed it, games. They’ve become a baseline of our culture, whether Jack Thompson wants to think they have or not.
But as I listen in on that Call of Duty 6 conversation, I often say to myself, “If only these people appreciated gaming history like me.” What a pretentious thing to say, because you know what? Video games bring enjoyment to them in a different way than they bring enjoyment to me. It’s like my mind is trying to convince myself that somehow because I have more knowledge about the history of games than they do that I am better than they are in some form as a result. I suppose I can somehow be a little bit of a know-it-all in that way, but, moving on....
