Retro vs. Modern Gaming: Arch enemies or father and son?

So you’ve just bought yourself a shiny new PlayStation 3. It’s stood proudly on your desk boasting high definition graphics, motion gaming and some of the best titles on the market. Your old PS2 is discarded on the floor amidst a flurry of cables awaiting its fate. Will you trade it in and grab yourself a few second hand games for your latest toy or will it be destined to gather dust in the loft with the Sega Megadrive and an army of old teddy bears? Is it worth keeping your old consoles or does newer instantly mean better? If that’s true, then why do people keep going back to retro games?

A/N: This article was originally destined for Bullet magazine but as apparently the entertainment editor has no say here it is for your reading pleasure.

Classic games are now being rebooted for the modern market. Characters such as Mario and Pikachu, who first appeared on Nintendo 64s and Gameboys are now enjoying their time on the latest consoles. Now 25 years old, Mario is actually older than most of his target audience. Solid Snake, famous in the Metal Gear Solid series originally hit the mass market on the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) but since then he’s been seen on each generation of the Sony PlayStation. Are games developers giving the people what they want, introducing a younger audience to the classics or are they simply running out of ideas? I think it's the former... Only this morning I got out my Gameboy colour after I had the urge to go out and catch a few Pokemon. Pokemon SoulSilver and HeartGold are the latest incarnation of the Pokemon series and they're as popular as their predecessors.

Jumping around and sweating a lot...

Yup, that just about sums up Kinect. Though I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. Within the first few minutes of using Kinect I was taken back to the  wonderment I experienced when I first plugged in my PlayStation EyeToy or when I first played with the Wii. Although without the painfully disappointing graphics.

I can't review the Kinect in any huge depth, I can't have played on it for more than an hour, not including watching my friends Jerry (the Kinect owner), James and the boyfriend, Joe on it. It's good, in fact, the hardware is amazing. It's incredibly responsive and even though you need a MAHOOSIVE room to use it in (we just about had enough space in Jerry's studio) I'm still impressed. However there's one big problem, and The Three Js agree. The software has potential but the games? Aren't that much better than we get on the Wii. They're arcade games, games you play with your family and friends. There's no games with any story, no adventures or campaigns. And anyway, how are you meant to shoot a gun or run around? Driving is strange and awkward even with the skilled hardware. There's no tangible controls so the range of ways to interact with the game is limited even if there is a dozen different ways to step to the side.

Gimme a game wear I can go on an adventure and cast spells with my hands, and fight people as if they were in front of me and then maybe we could talk. Bring the price out of the clouds and I'm getting more persuaded. But for the "next big thing" it's really just the same kind of device as the EyeToy and the Wii... but it works.

It's fun... but for £130 I want more than just arcade games.

On a side note...

A Beginner's Guide To Losing At Poker

Here I am, sat cross-legged, eyebrows furrowed, staring at an untidy pile of poker chips and I find myself in and I’m wondering whether pocket Queens are worth the imaginary money that i’m betting. It’s a Sunday evening and I’m been playing my first ever game of poker. I’m surrounded by a small selection of a student poker society, various empty cans of Carlsberg and a mountain of Maoam wrappers. It’s my turn to bet or fold. Jake, the player to the right of me picks up his cards checks them for the third time since he raised his bet. I think he’s bluffing. It’s now the turn of my recently appointed poker tutor, Ellie. She looks at me then trains her eyes on Jake. He checks his facedown cards again. Ellie folds. I’m starting to get a little nervous now but I’m still sure that he’s bluffing. I open another Maoam and stare at my cards. “Call.” Jake picks up his cards and throws them down triumphantly. The ten of hearts and the King of hearts. A royal flush. I look to Ellie for sympathy but she just laughs. “I told you! You can’t trust him!”

Nintendo 69

I just watched Mario do an handstand on the top of a tree. And earlier today I watched two of my besties scream at the TV because of the infuriating nature of a game called Tertrisphere. “ESCAPE YOU LITTLE FAT FUCK!”... and the like. Why a little cute ball creature would be trapped in the centre of a sphere made of Tetris blocks, I do not know. And the reason for all these happenings? I did a wonderful thing in early January... I bought myself a Nintendo 64.