The Video Game Revue

The Wastefully Temporal Nature of the Gaming Industry Today

I've ranted about this before, but one thing that really ticks me off about the gaming industry is how short-lived its products are. As gamers, we are generally expected to shell out hundreds of dollars for console hardware with an expected shelf life of four to six years along with hundreds--if not thousands--more on games that become outdated along with the hardware that they're tied to, unless one turns to emulator software. In this respect, gamers stand alone in the multi-media industry; audiophiles, bookworms, and movie buffs can all expect that whatever format they buy their media in will continue to be useable for at least ten year, if not longer. I'm confident that audio CDs and video DVDs sold today will still be playable on home media center equipment in another decade--perhaps even two. As a gamer, I long to have the same sense of reassurance about my extensive PlayStation 2 game library.

And to some extent, console makers have improved their act. That the PlayStation 2 is backward compatible with PS1 games is a huge step, and I hope that the PlayStation 3 does a better job of continuing the trend than the XBox 360 has done with its respective line of games. Nintendo is promising that the Wii will play not only GameCube games, but that classic Nintendo games of all eras will be available on it, which is exciting news. There is one problem that I have with Nintendo's plan, though: I still own a fair number of NES, SNES, and N64 games. Why should I have to repurchase the right to play them on newer hardware? And even if I do bother to pay additional fees to play games that I already legally own on the Wii, will Nintendo offer any reassurance that I won't have to repurchase these games yet again in some other form in the future? I've already shelled out money to have games on PS2 (stuff included in compilation titles like the Mega Man Anniversary Collection) that I already had in NES cart form.

For that matter, I have a bunch of Sega CD, Sega Saturn, and Sega Dreamcast games as well. They're all on CD-ROM, and it's a pain in the ass to dig out the requisite hardware to play them--and that's assuming that my old consoles (most of which are sitting in the closet gathering dust) are still in working order. Someday I hope that there will be good enough emulation software available that I'll be able to put these discs into my PC and play these great games conveniently. But then, there's still the worry that I'll lose my precious copy of Lunar: The Silver Star story for Sega CD and have no way to replace it. I'm lucky enough to have a copy in the first place, at least--there are gamers out there who would appreciate the chance to play this classic game if it were even possible to legally buy a copy at a fair price.

Can you imagine how cool it would be to walk into a game store and for it to be as well stocked as a book store or a music shop? I would love to walk into such a store and browse the Sega Saturn section for $10 import RPGs. I would love for Dreamcast games to still be relavent. I would love to be able to buy a copy of Parappa the Rapper, which was a massive hit in its day.

And you have to consider that I'm an old hat at this video game business, relatively speaking. I already have a massive library of most of my all-time favourite games. There are younger and/or newer gamers out there who have heard about games like Parappa the Rapper and Lunar: The Silver Star and have never had a chance to play them--or, if they have had a chance, it was probably because they pirated a copy using the internet. How many people still go out to the music store and buy old CDs? Nirvana and The Beatles still sell records, I'm sure. Couldn't the same hold true for video games? Is the video game industry losing a ton of money simply because they're not supplying any of what there's demand for?

Some people would say that because old games have inferior graphics, sound, and overall production values that they would not hold up in today's market. Hogwash, I say. Classic games like Space Invaders and Pac-Man are still enjoyed today, even by gamers who grew up with PlayStation 2 and XBox. People still play old fighting games like Street Fighter 2 and the original Tekken for the old school novelty factor. Retro gaming in general has a strong appeal, and there is a place for it.

That leaves us with the challenge of how gamers are going to be able to play these old console games even if they were still being published. In Parappa the Rapper, one sees a partial solution: because the PlayStation 2 is backward compatible (and the PS3 should be as well), players could already still play that game if only it were on store shelves. Things get a bit stickier with Lunar: The Silver Star, though. If one owns a Sega CD console, one can legally use emulator software on their PC to play it (even if the Sega CD is busted, which mine isn't.) But for new-comers, what is there to do?

I know just enough about computers and electronics to know that it wouldn't be hard, from a technical standpoint, to create a standard all-in-one console for playing old games. If the major players in the gaming industry could come together and develop some kind of system with roughly the same power as an original XBox that would sell for about $150 and could play all games for Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and XBox, that would be a huge deal. While they're at it, they could publish old Nintendo games on CD-ROM, and also emulate more exotic consoles like Neo-Geo, Panasonic 3DO, etc. If I could buy a brand new copy of a 3DO game for $10 at the local game store, I would do it just for the sheer novelty value--and I would buy several if I could actually play them too.

The Coup de Grace would be for this all-in-one console to have some kind of I/O port that one could buy adapters for to be able to plug in old carts for NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, N64, GameBoy, and other cartridge-based systems. For the memory cards, use a standard format like Compact Flash. For the gamepads, sell adapters for vintage console controllers, and also manufacture some new ones for good measure. The gamepads don't have to be cheap; I'm willing to bet that a lot of gamers would shell out $50 for a Sega Saturn controller redux to play Street Fighter on, or for a brand new, bona fide NES controller. My point here is that the hardware could easily be sold at a break-even (or near break-even) price point and people would still buy it.

As for the software, this is perhaps the best part of the whole idea: the games have already been developed. All the publishers have to do is dig out the old images for CD-ROM games for PlayStation, Sega CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast, and take those suckers to press. Those games are pure profit; people like me would pay $10 per title to buy dozens of them at a time, and the publishers would incur no additional development costs. The profit margin would be so huge that it makes my head spin. That only leaves me with one burning, almost haunting question:

When is somebody going to get their shit together and actually make this dream a reality?

posted by Parappa @ 1:37 PM