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United States15536 Posts
Some incredible things happened in the gaming world this week. Yet it may come as a surprise to the hardcore gaming crowd that two of the best were iOS releases. First, Capcom finally released the Phoenix Wright Trilogy for iPad and iPhone. If you missed these amazing DS games, FOR GODSSAKES GET THEM NOW. Phoenix Wright is a hilariously entertaining puzzle-lawyer series that makes you feel badass throwing out evidence and objections. Furthermore, another modern classic made its iPad debut last week: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, a high-caliber Bioware RPG. Since I’ve never played KOTOR myself, I was especially excited to hear about it’s iOS release.
But why are these releases so exciting? Sure, it’s awesome that old, quality games are transitioning onto new platforms, but they are just that: old games. You can buy them used in a Gamestop or on Steam just as easily as on iOS. What’s the big deal?
I’m pumped because these amazing games are now mobile. More and more old games are being republished to mobile platforms or portable systems like iOS or the 3DS and it’s always great news. After all, when it comes to replaying old favorites or picking up a retro classic for the first time, there’s nothing better than gaming on the go. In fact, playing an old game on a portable system is way more fun and worthwhile than doing so at home.
Don’t believe me? Let me explain.
New games look better and better every day. With upcoming next-gen consoles and powerful PCs churning out graphical gorgeousness galore, there’s always a visually stunning game to start. The unfortunate consequence of this is that old games continually get uglier. This observation is mostly ignorable if one considers aesthetic, time, and gameplay quality instead of graphical brilliance, but it’s hard to shake the fact that many games lost their “wow” factor long ago. At the very least, anything without high-definition is lackluster when displayed on today’s televisions or monitors, to say nothing of problems like pixelation, boxiness, or disjointed movement. Of course, this won’t prevent the dedicated from playing their old-school titles, since graphical quality usually is unimportant compared to quality of gameplay or story. However, if you have a new game with good gameplay/plot and a similar old one, the difference in visual quality will (most likely) compel you to play the old game. With beautiful new games hitting shelves every week, there’s a high possibility that you’ll want to grab the newer games before revisiting the stars of decade(s) past.
Furthermore, for those of us who enjoy games with no end, such as MMOs or competitive multiplayer games, impulse will persistently steer us to those games instead of older ones. For example, I really want to play Psychonauts at some point, but it’s very difficult for me to commit to an all-new, hours-long game when I can easily (and happily) play to a quick round of League of Legends, Halo 4, or Injustice instead. When your favorite distraction is available, you tend to choose it over starting an older game; after all, it’s not like the retro game is changing or going anywhere. It can stay on the “To-Play” list. You’ll get to it eventually… after one more pub game…
The graphical degradation and decreased priority of older games is exactly why they are perfect for portable systems. Older games may not look great on your big screen TV, but they’ll look awesome on your 3DS, Vita, or iPad. Not only do mobile rereleases typically come with a graphical update, but the smaller screen also smoothes many of the harsh edges that tend to appear on larger, high fidelity devices. Moreover, you’ll expect portable graphics rather than console graphics, and older games look especially good in that context. Additionally, you will have that older, portable game on hand when your typical favorites and powerful devices are not available. When traveling, you probably won’t be able to play Starcraft (just try playing with a trackpad), but you can definitely play that classic you’ve always wanted to try. On a more sentimental note, playing on a portable system literally brings you closer to the game, so retreading a favorite is more personal and nostalgic, like curling up in front of the fire with an favorite old book. Last but not least, replaying a game on a different system than the original gives the opportunity to experience it on a different medium, adding a dimension of novelty that might engross you more than a regular replay.
Yes, the games industry definitely wants to cash in on nostalgia with their rerelease frenzy, but the gift of older games on mobile platforms is still great for the gamer. For newer gamers that missed classics like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Tales of the Abyss, availability on new, portable platforms makes the young’uns all the more likely to partake in a timeless gaming experience. For the players that missed the first run of highly-lauded titles, keeping them off the big screen and on the small one allow them to retain more of the visual awe that powered their original popularity. For those that simply wish to revisit a favorite, doing so on-the-go allows the gamer to bring a little bit of their gaming comfort zone with them when they are away from their standard setup. If you find yourself saying you’ll play that old game “some other time” too often, look around for a version you start up on a bus, train, or plane. You’ll discover it’s even better than expected.
You can read this post and many more besides at the N3rd Dimension.
 
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I guess I might be inclined to agree with you if what you were to mean by retro games were old mediocre-good quality titles. In that case, I would say your arguments would indeed work. However, if what you mean by retro games were the legendary classics (and it seems like that's what you are talking about), then I would disagree with everything you said.
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United States15536 Posts
On June 05 2013 01:40 Sauwelios wrote:
I guess I might be inclined to agree with you if what you were to mean by retro games were old mediocre-good quality titles. In that case, I would say your arguments would indeed work. However, if what you mean by retro games were the legendary classics (and it seems like that's what you are talking about), then I would disagree with everything you said.
In what existence were Final Fantasy Tactics, LoZ: OoT, or KOTOR "mediocre-good" quality? They definitely fall under legendary classics to me and are just as good on a mobile system as anywhere else. Better, since they move.
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I am waiting for D3 on my ipad. Bastion plays ok!
Also FF6 on ios... Soon?!
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Actually, after re-reading this blog, my previous post was not a good one. I can't actually agree or disagree with anything you said because your arguments are actually invalid. The only argument that is valid is the one that says that playing on a mobile device is more 'personal' because you are 'close to the game'. I'm not sure why playing a game on a tiny mobile device is supposed to be more immersive than playing it on a large screen with high quality headphones or somesuch though, so I don't find your only valid argument very convincing either.
EDIT: Oh, the one about games looking bad on a large screen is also valid. Unfortunately it's not very good. I'll write more on it in a sec.
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eh, outside of the whole bit where you mentioned playing newer games over older ones if theyre on the same platform, i disagree. you can tweak resolution settings and your game will look fine on a big screen. id much rather have that + good speakers, especially if it is a classic like megaman that has awesome music.
ive never found playing a portable to be anything like a book vs ereader
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Here's what's problematic in a bit more detail (and why I believe you warrant the 1/5 I gave you, no offence):
First, the thing you set out to convince us is that playing or replaying great games is best done on the go, i.e. that playing them on a mobile platform when traveling is more fun and worthwhile than doing so at home.
Your first argument to prove the above claim is that at home, the visual fidelity of newer titles entices us to choose those games over older games that are less visually impressive. If it were indeed true that the visual fidelity of newer titles would make us play those instead of the old greats, then all that would show would be that we are more likely to play one game over the other for whatever reason. But this has nothing to do with whether or not playing old greats on the go is better than doing so at home, so it misses entirely what you initially set out to prove.
Your second argument is that because we don't have access to other titles (that have no end) on the go, we are more likely to play the old greats on the go (because they are the only ones available). However, this has once again nothing to do with the value of playing those games. You set out to show that playing the old greats on the go is more worthwhile than at home, but this second argument only says that we are more likely to play the old greats on the go, not that it is more worthwhile to do so.
Your third argument (finally!) says that the old greats are more worthwhile on the go because they don't look as bad as they do on a big screen. However, you do admit at the start of the article that visual fidelity has nothing to do with how great a game is, and if you were to retract that statement, you would have to tell us why visual fidelity does have something to do with greatness after all. But even if you were to say that it does indeed determine greatness, then your argument would still not work because almost all of the old greats can be modded to look vastly superior to the original - and this is only possible on the PC, meaning playing them on the PC would be more worthwhile compared to mobile platforms, which can only run the unmodded version of the game.
Last but not least, replaying a game on a different system than the original gives the opportunity to experience it on a different medium, adding a dimension of novelty that might engross you more than a regular replay. The 'might' in that sentence sounds very undecisive: and it clearly should be, because replacing it with 'will' would result in a very strong and very unlikely claim. But once again the problem is that you set out to show why playing the old greats -is- more worthwhile on the go, not why it -might- be so. And if you do settle on the 'might', then all I can say is: You 'might' achieve novelty on the PC too, namely via mods.
I have already addressed the argument about playing games on mobile devices being 'more personal' in my previous post, so I won't repeat that here.
Finally:
For newer gamers that missed classics like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy Tactics, or Tales of the Abyss, availability on new, portable platforms makes the young’uns all the more likely to partake in a timeless gaming experience. This once again misses entirely what you initially set out to prove to us. Whether or not younger gamers get to play the old greats has nothing to do with whether or not playing the old greats is better on the go compared to playing them at home.
So for next time, make sure to keep your conclusion in mind when you formulate arguments! It's easy to slip away into things that are actually irrelevant to the topic at hand.
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To be fair, anyone who hasnt played LoZ:OoT can gtfo of my presence anyway, if they play it on 3DS, i dont care
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EPT
