Backwards Is Forward

 Why Looking Backwards Is Moving Forward

by:  Evolve Yourself

I'm a gamer.  It's how I define myself.  Sure, I have a regular work-a-day job that takes up most of my waking hours and various other hobbies that draw away more of my free time, but it's always been the games that loom largest in my mind.  Since my tenth birthday, when I unwarapped the HUGE box that contained my NES (seriously, you could charge rent on that thing if you set it up in a New York alleyway within walking distance of the Village), I've been all about the digital time sink that we all devote ourselves to.  

As I grew older, I moved on with the generations of gaming, leaping from 8 to 16 and 32 bit with each consecutive console cycle.  I dabbled in Nintendo's 64 bit, foggy-graphiced,  hand-cramping controller sporting console, and I lost my heart to Sony's sleek, black beauty (the first DVD player I ever owned) and Microsoft's big black box.  I fell back in love with Zelda on Nintendo's little purple cube that could, and I moved into adulthood with the 360 and PS3 (the first Blu-Ray player I ever owned).  Now I travel with an iPod and iPad that both play more games than music, and am eagerly awaiting my pre-ordered Ouya and all of it's Androidy goodness.  I am a multi-generational gamer and a true console agnostic.  If it's fun, I'll embrace it.  

That's the problem, though.  As the number consoles that litter my bed and living rooms has grown, and the amount of cartidges and discs have become uncountable, I find myself losing games in the shine of the next new title and the shifting around of consoles to make space and clear up plugs and outlets.  When the 360 and PS3 came into my life my Xbox and PS2 became relegated to my bedroom.  Sure, I keep them going, but mostly for older games' sake.  I modified my Xbox to take emulators for my older systems, and the PS2 is still the best PSX system you can buy.  If it weren't for those two systems, I'd almost never get around to playing the older games that I cut my teeth on.  And that's what worries me.

The PS4 and 360 successor are just around the corner, and as excited as I am for their arrival, they also scare me.  You see, I simply don't have space to keep more than five or six consoles hooked up at once.  With the news that the new systems may not be backwards compatible with the current generation's games (at least not without re-purchasing the games in digital form or buying expensive hardware add-ons) I'm worried that I'm going to have to choose between the old school games that I grew up with and the games that I'm playing now.  That's a choice I don't want to be forced to make.  I understand that the game companies want to focus on cramming as much future technology as possible into their new consoles.  Hell, that's what sells systems, the sizzle.  

The thing is, gamers are a community that has grown up.  The average gamer is no longer a squeeky-voiced teen sitting in front of the 16 inch TV that his parents bought for his room so he wouldn't hog the big set in the living room.  Now, the average gamer is a man or woman in their late 20s to early 40s.  We're playing on the 60 inch plasma screen TV that's in the living room because, dammit, we bought the fucking thing and we're damn well gonna play on it!  And, to co-opt a meme, we want to Play ALL the GAMES!  We need the people who clamor for our money to understand that while they might not look back at their old games, we do.  We want to keep playing the games we have always loved while also learning to love the new games that are yet to come.  We are a nostalgic people, and nostalgia sells.  If you don't think so, explain Pawn Stars and Toy Hunter.

My point is that I AM going to buy the next generation of consoles, and I AM going to buy the shiny new games that come out for them, but I still want to play the dusty games that got me here, and I don't want to be forced to go to my closet to do it.