As a game designer/programmer, I have my doubts about any significant retro resurgence. The indies 8~16 bit throwbacks are largely to save on design costs and send people our ages and above on nostalgia trips. It's not like people claim in earnest that older games "feel better" as people claim vinyl, as an analogue medium, "sounds better." I'd go further into it, but I don't feel like generating too much animosity uninvited.
No animosity here, I think this is a worthy discussion, anyhow. I did not look to any statistics (if there even are any on this topic) to defend my claim that retro gaming might be making a resurgence. I did however use my experience of going to the local record shop which also happens to sell NES, SNES, Atari, Sega, and N64 games. I'm always amazed by the young people who are drawn to the classic consoles and games. I overhear a lot of conversations of teens who realize that they have indeed stumbled upon a goldmine. You're probably right that indy developers go for the 8~16 bit "feel" for nostalgia's sake. But there is still something to the old games. A few of my friends have younger brothers who have either discovered their brothers' old systems or who have gone out to buy a NES. And they're
ecited about these games as if they were brand new. I really do think that there is something there.
As a vinyl collector myself, I'd like to explain my comparison. Some people say vinyl "sounds better." That's up to debate. A lossless digital file is pretty good. Sound quality also depends much more on recording techniques than whether the sounds are pressed onto vinyl or not. (There are, of course, exceptions to this. Some bands have recorded their music directly onto wax as opposed to magnetic tape... but I digress). A good speaker setup and free Pandora sounds better than a crappy turntable and a cheap preamp, even if hipsters insists that the vinyl sounds better. To me, the vinyl resurgence plays a little on nostalgia, yes. But more to it, people want something physical when they buy. CDs don't really offer an investment. Rip it to the computer and it's done. They're not worth much. But with vinyl, the packaging, the liner notes, the art, these all go into the sale of the album. There's something satisfying about the tactile nature of vinyl listening. Search for your album on the shelf, pull it out of the dust jacket, admire the art, place the needle, listen to half the album and follow along with the liner notes, get up, turn it over, replace the needle, pick up the album, place it in its sleeve, and put it back on the shelf. A wholly different experience than click iTunes and listen. I wonder if there isn't something similar going on with old games. The cartridge experience is similar, maybe?
This is me thinking as I type: not usually a good thing. I'm probably wrong. But I certainly didn't mean any animosity, Suffix. We've all had conversations here a lot more hard-hitting than this one.
But I like to think that TMK of the future might be a hub for those with memories of Mario games and an archive of those games all but lost to the contemporary gaming scene.
