With us moving forward into the new year & 2011 already showing promise of being the better year we've all desired, it also shows promise that the memories of our previous gaming memories can be made available again for a whole new generation. Retro games are already available though, this is nothing new. There are platforms like Wii's Virtual Console & The Microsoft Game room. With the dwindling support & updates that these aforementioned services suffer suggest against the claim I've made with Modernized-Retro gaming getting much better, there's a change that's slowly taking place & it caters to everyone.
The Playstation Network has recently secured a partnership with SNK Playmore to re-release Neo Geo games through the Playstation Network for the PS3 & PSP. Though we have seen Neo Geo games already re-released on the Virtual Console, Neo Geo Station promises to deliver something that we have should have gotten in the first place & that's online integration. SNK Playmore promises to deliver Multi-player options online for all two player games as well as Cooperative support along with leader boards. Why is this so important? Let's compare Neo Geo Station to Virtual Console if we were to only compare it to its Neo Geo component.
We have already been given not only the opportunity of utilizing a pseudo save state system with VC (there can only be one save state at a time & the game will automatically load the save state without giving the option of starting a new game & storing the save state data) as well as the possibility of import Neo Geo games that have never had the opportunity to make it stateside before (again though we haven't seen this utilized all too often especially with licensing issues & an apprehensive business tactics on Nintendo of America that suggests that all too familiarity of why the game didn't make it state-side in the first place) & convenient affordable pricing that makes the effort of seeking out the game significantly easier then hunting down the original copy & its respective platform of play. This article is not intended to bash on the Virtual Console as I'm grateful for it & what it has brought to this generation of gaming, but it also brought about an enlightenment towards the digital distribution of retro games. Neo Geo Station as a whole brings about all the functionality that should be used in a retro gaming distribution service, being able to play classic games in it's original form caters to the purist in all of us but why not have the additional options of multiplayer, online leader boards, trophies/achievements, & social networking integration? To this very day we see competitive play with older titles that attempt a fantastic display of skill that will hopefully make a spot within a record placed in Twin Galaxies, what's not to say that we may one day have a special option for Twin Galaxies where you can update that mythic score of yours directly into their data base instead of a leader board & be recognized beyond the scope of the leader board?
The trick to Retro game distribution to be successful is for it to cater to the entire gaming base. Retro games will immediately hit a tune with the older generation that still enjoys the trips of nostalgia & the capability of doing so through a convenient format but repackaging these games again the exact same way they were originally released is just not enough. The Purist will enjoy the game being accessible regardless but the younger generation that has simply only heard of these older games & gets the opportunity to experience them now? Some older games age well while other are simply kept alive in our hearts through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia we put on our faces. The modern conventions that some gamers take for granted will be lamented for the "lack of" when going back to these classic titles & the initial impression may sour those individuals from ever attempting a retro game again. Neo Geo Station is the prime example of what could be the revolution on how gamers enjoy modernized-retro gaming this generation. By keeping the original version in tact for those purists while also providing enhancements to certain mechanics like multiplayer, score-keeping, & save systems, this can be what finally pushes forth the much needed surge for the digital distribution of retro games & further motivate publishers to license out their aged rights all over again while Microsoft, Nintendo, & Sony can provide legitimate support & may just see something that evolve retro gaming properly beyond the scope of this shallow Neo-Retro game craze we've been seeing.
The Turbo-Grafx 16 Game Box is the prime example of a more bare bones approach to the digital distribution for Retro-gaming being done right. Hudson has introduced the Turbo-Grafx 16 Game box as a free-mium app that includes one game free right off the bat & gives you the opportunity to experience one of the games it has for play for free for ten minutes that change daily. This gives consumers much more leg room in any apprehension they have towards the meager monetary investment that's put forth & with each game being at a 2.99 price point the price of curiosity has much less of a bite to your wallet as opposed to price point in the 5.99 & up range. This app is accessible in the way it provides the same authentic presentation of TG-16 games the way they were for it's time & done in a much more approachable fashion to where new comers who stumble through the app market can appeal to the free-mium nature & take whatever route that best suits them through the flexibility found in the app.
So we can only climb up from here. Retro gaming has climbed its way past the label of having a niche audience & is now becoming a facet that's seen in every gamer's collection, new or old, in some way shape or form. Though I personally consider myself a purist in this aspect, I definitely welcome this subtle change & hope to see that the industry fully takes notice
-GeorgieBoysAXE
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