An Analogy

When I was younger, I never understood how people could sit there and tell me how they liked the sound of vinyl over that of a CD. I knew that the audio quality of the CD (Digital vs. Analog) was far better than the quality of a vinyl record; a record that would slowly degrade with each listen. I finally did understand it with the help of my own analogy: I still really like the chunky dated graphics of the Playstation and Nintendo 64 era of games.

Now I do not think that the graphic quality of games such as Parasite Eve, Super Mario 64, and Metal Gear Solid is better than that of the current gen, HD mega games. I understand how much the technology has moved on and how dated the Playstation and Nintendo 64 games look when compared to games such as The Last Guardian and L.A. Noire. Yet it is that very dated look that makes me love them. I grew up in this world of blocks and polygon counts, and I gazed out over the pixelated skylines of the 16 bit. It was this that helped rocket my growing love of video games into my consciousness forever. The look of these games is tied to my memories of being a kid, of growing up and living out those carefree days of youth; those same days that I hope to give to my own kids, some day.

I hope that one day my own kids will look back at the games their dad loves, the archaic discs and hunks of plastic to them, and learn to appreciate them. Will the games be so outdated as to be unplayable to them, or will they be like my generation and its love of vinyl? Will the Playstation and Nintendo 64 become the hip things to play, much as the Nintendo and the Super Nintendo is for gamers of my generation? I hope that one day, I get sit down to play through these games and create new memories, with my own family.