Hi, I'm new here, and I figured for my first post I'd tear down your childhood.

You might call me an oldschool gamer in the same way you might call this metaphor complete. I grew up with the NES. My first RPG was the original Final Fantasy, and I used to take shifts with my brothers to beat games with no save points like Ninja Gaiden or Super Mario. I keep this site in my bookmarks, and recommend it regularly. I have purchased and maintained consoles from every generation, and keep them at the onset of the next. But I love my new games, the ones that innovate, the ones with new stories and ideas.

It seems lately there is a rallying cry, that remakes and re-releases are the way to go, that sequels are superior to new ideas. Older games are more popular than ever, some seeing their first sequel in years to cash in on this trend. These games, games based on those in arcades, games no one even remembers are being remade. 'Retro style' is now a selling point. Why do we keep trying to go back? Why aren't we trying to move forward?



The first game I ever played on my NES was Dr. Mario. PS2 was Gauntlet. Sega was Aladdin. Gameboy was Pokemon Yellow. Nostalgia is a powerful force, and we'll never forget the games of our childhood. And it's nice to have that reminder, a game you can play that's attached to a person or place, to a time free of responsibility. But these games don't always, and in fact often don't, age well. We expect more of graphics, of game play, hell, even of the music in our games, than was capable when I was a child. Is this wrong? No, no it isn't. The way things were is not the way things will be or should be, and to think otherwise is silly indeed.

Companies need to stop relying on franchises and mascots. Mario, Link, and Samus are staples of any Nintendo console. Sega keeps churning out Sonic games even as their quality becomes a joke. Halo is as old school as the Xbox gets, and they've got five games out of the series so far with plans for more in the works. Sony has Ratchet and Clank quickly developing into a legacy IP. At some point it stops being expansion and tribute and becomes redundant and stupid.



I'm not saying we abandon the old school. They were good games for their time, and letting them fall by the wayside would be a horrible error. But using nostalgia as a crutch to foist games no one would play on us is dirty, and we can't let that happen. We need to keep moving forward, and not be held back by our memories of what was. Bigger things await.