ReEmergence of Retro and Arcade Games

I have been playing games since I was 4. Started my life with Atari and played lots of games since then on different consoles. Now I have an Xbox360, PC and Wii for killing time and I am playing quite a handful of games released today and still having fun. However when there is any news of any retro games getting a remake or makeover, I jump out of excitement. This is an excitement I never have when any new next-gen game is launched (well I just want to exclude few titles, coz I am an avid fan of such titles). I would like to share why arcade and retro games are so popular these days. So I distinguish the differences between AR (arcade-retro) and next-gen games (Crysis, Halo, Mass Effect) in several factors:

 

1. Replaybility

This is the first and possibly the main factor for the popularity of games. Think about games like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. People would love to play again and again just to beat the high score, a practice performed by gamers, especially in arcade. I am almost finished with Dead Space and GTAIV and I am not thinking to play them again for a long time (since Dead Space is scary and I will be completing 100% in GTAIV so no reason to play for a while). I would definitely love to play a round of Geometry Wars or 1942: Joint Strike or ever difficult Ikaruga. Some arcade games are short but filled with fun-stuffs so it adds up some replaybility. In any next-gen game if there are no variances in gameplay and plots, there is no reason to play that game again (provided the game is too long and straightforward).

 

2. Fun-factor

Any new next-gen games can take away the fun at certain point. Most of the gamers will disagree, I was seriously bored while playing Bioshock. So bored that I stopped playing. I am not saying that Bioshock is awful game. It is one outstanding game with innovative elements. It is possible that I am getting so bored in FPS games. That’s why I temporarily shifted my interest to Bionic Commando: Rearmed for two reasons: gameplay is still fun and you can play for hours even you are getting killed at Super Hard and it also brings back my childhood memories. Geometry Wars is insanely fun when you become insame when you get big multipliers.

 

3. Challenge

Any arcade game can be challenging. It makes people spend their precious quarters a lot. Most of the retro games are pretty hard. Anyone remember Battletoads? Even new arcade games like Ikaruga are super hard even in Easy mode. Getting high score and getting into the top of the leaderboards in Geometry Wars is an insane task. The addition of online leaderboards made things even challenges. It drives players to play more. This applies mostly in arcade games. You dont expect this in Dead Space or Mass Effect or any other majority of new games. Halo series and COD series are exceptions since these games are meant to be played like that. I finished COD4 in veteren mode, but I still havent finished Bionic Commando: Rearmed Super Hard mode or even Battletoads (which is I think impossible). It seems arcade game developers like their games to be as hard as possible to make us cry.I newer games we can finish any game without a cheat code, but there was a time when cheat code was bound to be introduced for the first time in a game (I am referring to Contra).

 

4. Co-op

Co-op gameplay in arcade and retro games has been one of the primary fun-factors and still it is. You will find co-op functionality in most of sports games and few other games. People cant deny the fact that co-op increases the fun-level of gamplay to a significant level.My young sister dont play games that much at all, but she would love to play a round of Streets of Rage with me. Sometimes she forces me to play with her. True, Street of Rage is fun. I was introduced to the world of arcade games with a beat em up game. Now, thanks to XBLA, I can play a round of 1942 Joint Strike or Ikaruga with my dormmates (cause I naturally dont like to play alone when they are sitting for no reason).

 

5. Money?

It is safe to say that Arcade games are big money makers. Although they are sold for 5-15 dollars, a lot of people buy it. Most people naturally read reviews of any 60 dollar game before buying it.

I just ran out of categories. Maybe you fellow gamers can fill up the rest. Till then, I sign off.