Is the classic gaming generation fading?

[outrunner]

I am a big classic gamer, but people are forgeting everything old these days even games. I am sad to see this. We as a generation have to peserve the classics. I am 19 turning 20 next month and this just dawned on me. Games, movies, music, need to be perserved. Feel free to share your feelings on this!

[TmEE]

I'm turning 18 this month, and I think everything old must be preserved... luckily I've managed to infect many of my young relatives with "Sega disease", and now they know about Mega Drive and Sonic and all other things, and like it a lot... and their infecting their friends too !!! I think I've done something good... too bad that real hardware and games aren't available here

[j_factor]

I have a 7 year old cousin who loves Shinobi III, Ristar, and Gunstar Heroes, thanks to me. Although, he played Genesis because his dad had bought one back in the day, but only ever had two games for it, and kept it in storage for years. Now that Genesis is hooked up in their home, and he plays Sonic 1 and Road Rash 2 all the time.

But uh... where was I going with this?

Oh, yeah. Interest in the classics is higher than ever. I mean, obviously people don't love Genesis as much as they did in 1992, but more people nowadays play classic gaming in general compared to even just a few years ago. Part of it is because what constitutes "classic gaming" keeps expanding. Another part is due to download services. The era of illegal ROMs has (mostly) given way to Gametap, Xbox Live Arcade, and the Wii Virtual Console. Just like how Napster was the precursor to iTunes. People still download music illegally too, but iTunes and similar services are very popular. Although they're not download services, I would put those "TV Games" things kind of in the same category, as they are popular re-manifestations of classic games.

Another part is the internet. All the information and discussion of past games has certainly rekindled interest in some people. And online sellers and places like eBay making it easier to get that particular game you're looking for also helps a lot.

Another part is that there's somewhat of a backlash against the trend of games getting more and more long and complicated, and less accessible as a result. The success of the Wii, the "minigame compilations", and games like Brain Age, is part of that backlash. In Japan it's even stronger, where they have games like the Simple DS series and Bit Generations.

There is currently a lot of interest in classic gaming. Groups of Commodore enthusiasts, Atari fans, Nintendo freaks, and this site right here, have been pretty active, both on and off the internet. Ten years ago there wasn't as much interest in Atari 2600 as there is today in Genesis (which is roughly 10 years newer than the VCS) -- and interest in the 2600 itself is also higher.

[Genesis Knight]

I think the average age of classic gamers is getting higher than the 20-something it was a while ago, but it's not a big deal. I will say that 99% of the teenagers I talk to think PS2 is archaic, which sort of tells you something about their opinion of Dreamcast and Playstation, much less Genesis or Super Nintendo.

[Iron Lizard]

I think its like music. If your really into music you get into the old stuff even if it isn't as polished. There are far less people are into underground music but those who are are fair more serious about it.

[Vehemont]

I totally agree with j factor. With Xbox Live and Wii VC younger audiences are getting the chance to play games they never knew existed.

[Mr Smith]

Of course it's getting further in the past and newer generations will not be as aware of the 16-bit awesomeness, having never grown up with them. The amount of people who I tell about our Mega Drive Tournaments and get excited by the idea, before stating something daft like "I would beat you on Sonic", is far greater than those who laugh and comment the Mega Drive is "well old."

The classics will never die because they're too much fun. Sure you can beef up graphics and have 3D environments, but most games now lack the pick-up-and-play that will enshrine the Mega Drive (and regrettably the SNES) long after your Playstations, N64s and Saturns have faded from the mind.

[Kollision]

Another part is the internet. All the information and discussion of past games has certainly rekindled interest in some people. And online sellers and places like eBay making it easier to get that particular game you're looking for also helps a lot.

I totally agree with that, in fact I'm a living example of it. And 80% of my decision was thanks to sega-16!
It hasn't been 2 months since I started to buy Mega Drive games in a rush of nostalgia (and also Atari classics and some Master System titles). My collection has now around 50 boxed games for the MD and it keeps growing.

As a part of this revival my friends and I are planning to do a weekend competition with some of the good old stuff. It doesn't get better that this!

[kylera]

I wonder, though, whether companies releasing compilations of classics have also influenced customers on classic gaming or not. Given the growing technology of storage and emulation, there is a growing market for classic compilations, or even remakes (such as the Sega 2500 series)