To all the older gamers.....what era would you have preferred growing up in?

[runback22]

A question for the OG's (Original Gamers) who were born in the 70s and grew up alongside videogames. Do you prefer the era you grew up in, or would you have loved to grown up in the 3d era (1995-2009)?

For me, I think that growing up with the 2600, Nes, and the Genesis were incredible. I'll never forget walking 2 miles everyday to play Super Mario Bros at the 7-11 and then finally getting a perfect port on the NES. I will never be more amazed then when I saw how incredible the Genesis games looked over the NES. Everything about the 16 bit era was fantastic. The gaming was the best, even the ads in the magazines were entertaining, and it was a time when every gamer was hardcore. There was no such thing as a casual gamer. Gaming mags were in their prime and actually worth reading. You could actually buy a game, open it, and return it if you didnt like it. Man, those were some fantastic times.

Still, I cant imagine what my teenage years would have been like with the internet. How would my gaming life been changed if we had xbox live, MMOs, PSN, and even handheld devices with internet. Nothing makes you seem older than when you say, "Kids today dont know how good they have it".

I would still choose the 8 and 16 bit eras because that was the golden age of gaming. Everything back then was new and exciting. We grew up with the industry. I think we have a better appreciation for gaming as a whole because we were there in the humble beginnings.

Whats your take?

[MrMatthews]

I wouldn't change a thing. It was awesome being a kid in the late 80's/early 90's.

[NeoVamp]

My take is the same as yours, I grew up while everything was still so very new,

From the text adventures on my C64 to King's Quest on the Atari ST
to Sonic on the Megadrive to Chrono Trigger on the Snes, to Mario64 on the N64.

Those games were all special because you could see the change happening,
games got bigger and more colorful and it was so very exciting.

for me that excitement is gone now, gaming has become part of the media alongside movies and music.

It was new, it was fresh, it was exciting, and if i could go back in time
I'd go back just to experience it all over again.

[TheEdge]

I wouldn't change a thing. It was awesome being a kid in the late 80's/early 90's.

^ Yep, Looking back I was somewhat fortunate to be a kid in the late 80's because I got the NES and then the Genesis right after. Both very good gaming systems. I have no complaints.

[MrMatthews]

It seems like a majority of today's gamers got their start in the N64/PS1 generation, and most of them seem to have no sense of the awesomeness that preceded those systems.

I'd hate to be one of those kids.

This may be an unfairly elitist attitude, but unless you were directly affected by Sega's and Nintendo's mudslinging marketing back in the day, you have no idea what a true console war is, and your ignorance sullies the good "fanboy" name.

[TheEdge]

It seems like a majority of today's gamers got their start in the N64/PS1 generation, and most of them seem to have no sense of the awesomeness that preceded those systems.

I'd hate to be one of those kids.

Absolutely, I feel that parent's now a days should buy their kids a retro console first before they move up to the present day consoles. If I had kids I would definitely buy them the new Sega FireCore to show them what really gaming was. Not only will they learn to appreciate past technology but its well priced.



This may be an unfairly elitist attitude, but unless you were directly affected by Sega's and Nintendo's mudslinging marketing back in the day, you have no idea what a true console war is, and your ignorance sullies the good "fanboy" name.

You have a point there but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. Some young gamers are finding a real interest in the retro scene. Which I find very positive. Hopefully more will follow and the companies will continue to cater to them and old farts like ourselves.

[5233]

I was born in the very late 80s around the time Genesis was released, but was mostly aware during the 90s, where we had the Sega vs. SNES war (although the first console I played was my sister's NES and first I owned were the Genesis and SNES). It was a great time. I also really liked the N64 and PS1 era, when even more games that were innovative and fresh were also being born in addition to the brilliant ones we had during the previous generation. I don't know what it would've been like to be born during the 2600 era, but I'm happy with what I experienced.

[gamevet]

I wouldn't change a thing, since I pretty much saw arcades evolve from shooting galleries and Pinball, to Tank and Space Invaders.

I really enjoyed growing up with the 2600, Intellevision and the countless 8-bit computers, but nothing can really match what it felt like to go into an arcade with your friends, to play the newest game of the week or month. Even the arcades of the late 80's couldn't compare to the times when arcade fever hit from 1981-1984.

[mrbigreddog]

I wouldn't change a thing. It was awesome being a kid in the late 80's/early 90's.

Agreed!!! I just wanna go back!

[mrbigreddog]

It seems like a majority of today's gamers got their start in the N64/PS1 generation, and most of them seem to have no sense of the awesomeness that preceded those systems.

Luckily, I've taught my 11 year old son very well! He loves retro games!!! He kicks my butt in Breakout!!! He really like MJ Moonwalker. He's really into NES Zelda! Crazy into Final Fantasy 3!! (or 1 in the US) or whatever!!

[runback22]

nothing can really match what it felt like to go into an arcade with your friends, to play the newest game of the week or month. Even the arcades of the late 80's couldn't compare to the times when arcade fever hit from 1981-1984.

I'll never forget getting dragged to the mall and having $5 last me hours in the arcades....Those were the times...I miss inserting coins and not having to deal with this card swiping so you dont know how much the game costs to play crap.....I will never forget my pure addiction to Street Fighter 2.

Playing someone over the internet will never, and I mean never, come close to the feeling of kicking someones ass when they are standing next to you. That was a time when only real men talked trash while kicking your ass, not little 12 year olds cussing at you when mommy is out of the room.....

[NeoVamp]

Agreed!!! I just wanna go back!


Me too http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7503/doodlecryingsmiley.gif

[JDB]

Agreed!!! I just wanna go back!

Hold on to your Calvin Kleins!!!

[Rusty Venture]

I an active gamer in the 8/16-bit years, what do I need to change?

[QuickSciFi]

I wouldn't change one aspect of my life, it is the collective of my experiences that make me who I am today. Personally, I believe growing up in the 80's and 90's was undeniably a period when games and systems were fully appreciated (and for a reason).

Nowadays, almost every game can be ported without much depreciation. It wouldn't matter which consoles you buy, unless you're looking for killer engines (which don't really matter anymore). And that is my point exactly, the battle for the killer engines is over, there are too many now to consider one individually as a novelty.

That was the beauty of growing up in the 80s and early 90s. One could fully appreciate the importance of owning a sega genesis, a SNES, a NES, an Atari 2600, Jaguar, Neo Geo, Saturn, and so on. These consoles were completely different. Consoles nowadays are short of being termed Personal Computers (PCs you use exclussively for gaming).

The 80s and early 90s were very transitional times in terms of gaming. The technology was there to produce far better systems (and they did), but understandably for considerably higher prices. Nowadays the concepts and venues achieved by the turbografx-16, a 3DO, an Atari Jaguar, a NEO GEO AES, or a sega genesis that did what nintendon't is unheard off. Video gaming has peaked in technology.

Nowadays every manufacturer remains on a standstill. Innovation of the same kind as the 80s and early 90s needs to take place to bring back the feelings and appreciation that surged when you once looked at video games. That is why I wouldn't change a thing.

However, it doesn't mean we're not still "growing up" in this generation. Every new system that arrives will certainly grasp us. We will always be gamers (those who are like me). Hopefully one day, soon perhaps, innovation will produce a noticeable "kink" in the "saturated" market of video games (biochemistry, anyone?), and thus a new age shall arrive that others will deem grand and worthy of future nostalgia (as we who grew up in those early days experienced).

[Kogen]

Well I think it would be better to grow up in the 70/80s, that way there would be disposable income to buy eveything that started coming out in the late 80s through 90s.

[TmEE]

91...98 for me, lot of awesomness got created during those years

[Devil N]

Sometimes I do wish I was born 5 to 10 years earlier. Not only because of the games though. Of course, I would've seen more of the Sega vs. Nintendo years (I only really experienced the final stages), the NES would probably have been my introduction to gaming, and I would have had a better appreciation at the time for 16-bit games in general, as well as a bigger collection.

But also because, as a computer scientist, I feel like I just missed out on all the big technological revolutions in computing. For example, the step from 2D to 3D was a big one, and many heroes were born from that era, but I was just too young to really play a part in that. I could only watch in amazement and hope that some day it would be my turn.

But now that I actually am a computer scientist with enough knowledge and experience under my belt, it seems like all the technological revolutions have already played out and we're just coasting along, making only minor improvements every once in a while. Right now I don't see any real adventures on the horizon, just more of the same. Ten years ago, there were some really interesting developments going on, but I could only watch and not participate. If I had been my current age back then, I could really have made a difference.

Ah well, it's no use thinking of all the ifs and buts. The only thing they do is to help me feel depressed. The best thing I can look forward to now is to finish my studies on a high note and then to get a good job doing something I enjoy.