In my previous articles, I have mainly moaned and griped about how bad the gaming industry is and the fact that it’s going down hill. But I must admit that it isn’t all bad and one reason for this is the re-emergence of retro games and the introduction of indie developers.
Every gamer, both old and new, loves to sit and reminisce about how many controllers you destroyed whilst playing Sonic the Hedgehog or how M. Bison from Street Fighter was maybe the ultimate bad guy. It is because of titles like these that I find myself wishing that I had kept ahold of my N64 or Sega Mega drive.
But for many retro gamers, their wish has been granted. This week sees the release of the amazing mini SNES with thirty classic games built into it. This is a huge step forward because retro gaming shops are popping up everywhere and for a big player in the industry to jump on board and recognise the growing trend in retro is a good thing.
This is also where Microsoft have the slight edge on Sony with the Xbox backwards compatibility. Ok, the choice of games is a little thin at the moment and the prices of the games are a little higher than I would like to see, but it is all a step in the right direction.
One of the absolute gems that is available on the Xbox Marketplace is Comix Zone. This was one of the first games I played all the way through and was a huge influence in me becoming a gamer. The graphics were amazing for its time and the simple control layout and gradual increase in difficulty, coupled with a gripping plot, made this game a must for any Sega owner. I recently picked up Comix Zone again and found that I was still captivated by it some fifteen years later.
Gaming and the industry itself has come an exceptionally long way from the days of Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. With VR just around the corner and the new generation of consoles throwing some really pretty and interactive games out there, it’s hard to want to go back to the times of a pixelated Mario, but people still do.
I am a strong believer that retro gaming may be one of the industry’s saving graces. Remastering old titles is a sure fire way of grabbing a company some extra money, but it just doesn’t seem to bring back the memories. Nintendo even went as far as re-releasing Star Fox 64, Zelda Ocarina of Time and Majora’s mask onto the 3DS and they all had a certain amount of success.
Indie gaming is also making a huge dent in the industry as well. Games such as Layers of Fear or The Park have been released onto the Xbox and Playstation stores and again have been met with reasonable success. Sure, you can finish these games in an afternoon, but they tell incredible stories and for a relatively small amount of money. Supporting indie developers through the Game Preview programme on Xbox and by investing in their games will lead to more and more variety.
What is disappointing is how far below the radar these games went. I don’t recall ever seeing any marketing for The Park leading up to its release except for a single trailer on YouTube a few days afterwards. Yet when it comes to COD or Battlefield 1, there was a huge ad campaign that saw it plastered on TV and all over the internet.
I also find that up and coming YouTubers are playing games such as Layers of Fear and We Happy Few in the hope of gaining followers and become famous. If this is the case, surely these videos should be widely available.
That isn’t to say I am taking anything away from the blockbuster games that are out there today. There have been some belters released over the last twelve months and with a couple of other games due to be released, it is looking promising. But from a gamer perspective, I believe that we all should rally behind the indie developers and the companies willing to throw retro games out there if we have any chance of keeping this industry from crashing.
With the cost to produce games increasing and the overall quality of these games lagging, is there really another alternative?
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