Some videogames are still playable, even many years after their initial release. Others are not.
Case in point, the original Metroid for the NES.
I've played Super Metroid for the SNES, and I liked it. I liked it a lot. It's not surprising that the SNES title is often considered the best game in the franchise. Having decided to play the original Metroid on my NES emulator just for the heck of it, I can see why:
YOU CAN'T SHOOT DIAGONALLY IN METROID 1!!!!!
AND YOU CAN'T CROUCH EITHER!!!!
WHAT THE HELL, NINTENDO!?!?!?!?
Okay, that's kind of harsh. Metroid did break new ground back in the day, and I must say, the soundtrack is surprisingly good for an NES game. But man, it is primitive by today's standards. It's like this; Metroid 1 is an alpha build of what would become Super Metroid. Sure, it's playable, but the mechanics just haven't been properly oiled yet. You can't dash, you don't start a game with full health, there's no map, the level design isn't as good, and . . . yeah, I think the concept of a Metroid game couldn't be fully realized on the NES.
I did play Super Metroid on my actual SNES back in the day, but not Metroid 1. I wasn't much of an NES gamer. I don't remember exactly when my family got an NES, (it was before I even started kindergarten; any time before that, I was unfamiliar with the concept of days of the week, months, and years. My memory's kinda hazy before that point.) but it was either in '89, '90, or early '91. We were late bloomers. We did rent a number of NES games, but Metroid was not one of them. It wasn't until I got my SNES in late 1992 that I became the gamer that I am today. I still have that SNES unit. I don't use it anymore though. For one thing, last time I used it, (back in the year 2000. Go on, say it like you mean it.) it barely worked. What makes you think it'll work now? Secondly, I have my SNES emulator now, which, unlike my SNES unit, can play Japanese-only games in addition to games released in America.
But some old games are still great, even today. Case in point: Super Mario Bros. 3.
I don't think I need to explain that one.
Anyways, I have a few cousins who are still little kids, yet are hardcore gamers. One of them, I swear, is a clone of the side of me that's a hardcore gamer. These kids, however, got started off on PS2 games, not NES and SNES games. I'm sure when they get to be my age, they'll reflect on the PS2/GC/original Xbox generation the same way my generation reflects on the NES and SNES/Genesis generations of games; through nostalgia filters. Now, my cousins have also played PS1 games, but they've (as far as I know) never played any games made before the N64/PS1 generation. To a kid who grew up on the PS2, the NES must seem ancient. I mean, think about it; the NES comes in mono sound, the processor is slower than molasses, the system can't display more than 16 colors at once, there's graphical glitches out the wazoo, none of the games have voice-acting, and there's no analog precision. With all these factors, I would think the next generation of gamers would be unwilling to try out old classics, even if it means missing out on games like SMB 3, Megaman 3, and Kirby's Adventure, to name a few.
Which is too bad. This already happens in another field of mindless diversions: cinema. Too many people of my generation pass up "old" movies, simply because they come in black and white, or because they have little to no swearing, or because "the violence is unrealistic." Sure, not all of my favorite movies were from earlier generations, but many of my favorite films of all time were from my parents and grandparents' time: Gone With the Wind, Casablanca, All About Eve, The Best Years of Our Lives, Double Indemnity, Now Voyager, Some Like it Hot, Rear Window, On the Waterfront, The Apartment, The Godfather I and II, and Dr. Strangelove, to name a few. Most people my age are unwilling to watch anything made before the original Star Wars trilogy. Finding someone my age who likes a movie made before 1977 that isn't a Disney movie is a task in of itself. Oh, by the way, 101 Dalmations is an underappreciated classic.
I have a feeling the same thing's gonna happen to videogames; the new kids will avoid "old" games for whatever reasons. Of course, sometimes, there's a good reason for that. Games like Metroid 1 really do become obsolete over the years. But other games, games like SMB 3, don't. Just like all those movies I listed, some games are as enjoyable now as when they first came out. But if people are unwilling to give "old" games a try, they'll never know that.
My bottom line is this: always have an open mind in mindless diversions if you want to get the most out of them. And that, that includes playing games and watching movies that came out before you were born. Go on, don't be scared.
